Portfolio assessment in primary school mathematics: a study of pedagogical implications

This thesis records a study of major change. The study was designed to reveal and address the implications for teachers of primary mathematics, of moving from test-based assessment to a base built upon a balanced blend of norm-referenced and criteria-based assessments. In developing embedded authentic assessment through a process portfolio model, the teachers looked to change from the assessment of learning to assessment for learning. Consequently, through the efforts of the teachers involved, their students and those students’ parents, the study traced a substantial pedagogical restructure. Based on an interpretative methodology, this study of significant assessment restructure used mainly qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis, supplemented by limited quantitative data. Interviews, participant observer interactions, surveys and joint teacher discussion and planning sessions were effective in mapping the change. Through frequent interaction, participating teachers shared their emerging understandings, along with difficulties and successes in the evolution and implementation of an effective, flexible process portfolio. From the beginning of the evolution, teachers working together to bring about improvements that would lead to students perceiving mathematics as meaningful, engendered a strong feeling of excitement, curiosity and ‘team’. As the change progressed the team identified and met a range of challenges, not the least of which was gaining an understanding of the nature and function of a process portfolio strategy as against the product portfolio which was in use at that time in the study school. The resultant change was not implemented without barriers.Of prime concern across the group of teachers involved was the perennial problem of finding development time in what were already busy teaching days. However, for the change to be meaningful and lasting, it was imperative that the teachers invested considerable time in assuming ownership through genuine engagement in the evolution of the new concept. The engagement saw teachers experience first-hand the application of constructivist learning theory. It was an approach to learning that was largely unfamiliar to them and one they needed to understand in developing a successful process portfolio model. The study of that learning and the resultant change illustrated that a well-designed process portfolio structure offers widely diverse opportunities for teachers and students to work meaningfully with authentic mathematics. The enthusiastic prolonged engagement on the part of the students, with notable parental support, was deemed by the participant teachers to be suitable reward for the time and effort that they invested over the two years of the study. Following the teachers’ prolonged commitment, the emergent portfolio was shared through an in-house booklet written to encourage other teachers to adopt authentic assessment, Process Portfolios in Primary Mathematics: A Guide. Within the booklet, explanation and illustration of the rationale, form and function of the unique process portfolio model offers starting points for others, should they embark on a similar course of assessment change in search of real student engagement in understanding mathematics. Subsequent sharing of the results of the study with the wider profession through journal articles and conference workshops is to be based on the contents of the guide booklet

Soft Systems Methodology for Modeling Business Processes in EDI Implementation

EDI is a complex and inter-organizational innovation, hence, using traditional development methods in developing EDI applications is no longer appropriate. Several issues - technical, political, economics, intra- and inter-organizational - need to be simultaneously given serious considerations to ensure the adoption and integration of EDI into an existing information systems will truly benefit the adopting organization. Here, the authors proposed the use of the soft approach advocated by Peter Checkland as an alternative to conventional methods

A SOFT SYSTEMS APPROACH TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS QUALITY

Traditional approaches to Information System (IS) development have concentrated upon a production view of quality associated with a controlled development process and metrics that monitor attributes such as software usability, the number of software errors, and developer productivity. IS quality is also concerned with a use view of quality-how those software artefacts are used within an organisational context, recognising the need for a never-ending learning cycle based on experience of the product in use. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is proposed as a framework for considering a relevant notion of IS use quality, enabling discussion to take place about the quality requirements of a technical artefact within the context of an organizational setting. Using the rigour of systemic thinking as a basis, criteria for the assessment of IS quality, labelled the 5Es (efficacy, efficiency, elegance, effectiveness and ethicality), are introduced as a way of identifying the aspects of IS quality that are of concern. A modified form of SSM that incorporates stakeholder analysis and an emphasis on the cultural aspects of quality is proposed for the definition of a relevant (in-context) notion of IS quality

Choice of Target Audience for IS Research: Reflections on Discussions with IS Academic Leaders in the UK

The IS field prides itself on its closeness to practice and needs to ensure its relevance under growing pressures from governments and business for improved utilisation of research results. In this paper we consider choice-making in the research activity from the perspective of Resource-Dependence Theory, with a particular focus on the choice of target audience for research results. IS academic leaders in UK universities were interviewed to gain insights into the influences affecting their choices, taking a broad view of the research context and process, the researchers themselves, and the stakeholders of IS research. The paper aims to provide insights for IS researchers as they reflect on their own individual practice of research and to encourage the explicit inclusion of Resource-Dependence Theory into stakeholder analysis within IS theory. For practitioners it should provide some illumination on the world of academia

Understanding Big Data Driven Decision Making in British Financial Organisations

Although big data can enhance financial decision-making in organisations (e.g., predicting financial performance), the epistemological argument of big data is that knowledge or truth which relies on (big) data needs to first be generated to make key decisions. Despite big data having the potential to enhance organisational decision-making, little empirical research has been conducted on the epistemology of big data driven financial decision-making. This paper uses knowledge management reliability (KMR) theory, as well as an interpretive strategy and expert interviews to contribute to the existing body of knowledge to understand the epistemological implications of decision-making with large data sets to predict financial performance in British banks. Our findings reveal a shift toward knowledge based data-driven decision making for predicting financial performance

A Multiple-Perspective Approach as an Inquiry System in Understanding Innovation Adoption and its Level of Use

EDI forms a complex and inter-organizational innovation, hence, using the Innovation Diffusion Theory alone is found insufficient to study the diffusion of EDI across organizations. The Innovation Diffusion Theory is concerned with individual perception (pro-innovation bias and individual blame) while lack in organizational and inter-organizational perspectives of a diffusion process. The multiple perspective approach as advocated by Mitroff and Linstone (1993) consists of assumption surfacing technique and stakeholder analysis, which emphasize the perceptions of the participating stakeholders, is proposed to provide multiple ways of looking at the diffusion process. The approach which is meant for a study of an organization is slightly expanded to deal with the inter-organizational feature of EDI

Hard Failures - Soft Solutions

The traditional view is that hard problems - those susceptible to the software engineering approach - are in some sense easier to solve than soft problems / problem situations. Hard problems are (in theory) more easily scoped and their solutions more precisely defined and more easily achieved than is the case for soft or messy problems This paper suggests that this is not necessarily the case: reasons for failure in hard and soft environments have much in common. A case study will be used to support the argumen