Masters Dissertations

Permanent link for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10292/476
The Masters Dissertations collection contains digital copies of AUT University masters dissertations deposited with the Library since 2007 and made available open access. From 2007 onwards, all dissertations for masters degrees awarded are required to be deposited in Tuwhera Open Theses & Dissertations unless subject to an embargo.

Dissertations submitted prior to 2007 are usually recorded in the AUT Library catalogue where the full text, if available, may be accessed with an AUT password. Other people should request an Interlibrary Loan through their library.

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Browsing Masters Dissertations by Supervisor "Begg, Andy"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Item
    Exploring experiences of the re-accreditation process: a case study
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2009) Heow, Janise
    Over the last decade ‘Quality’ and ‘Quality assurance’ in education have become global issues. To ensure students are provided with high quality education, educational institutions around the world have been focusing on the design and implementation of quality assurance systems. The development of national systems of quality assurance in many countries, including New Zealand, has sometimes created confusion and controversy. The conflicting perspectives of different groups, mainly governments, academic staff and administrators, and the significant voices of students, employers, and the general public, contributed to this confusion and controversy. Although each is committed to quality, their perspectives of quality differ. This study set out to explore the perceptions of the senior academic staff and administrators on the quality assurance system and the related institutional processes within the New Zealand College of Chiropractic. The study examined the participants’ understanding of the term quality and the significance of quality assurance measurements and outcomes. It explored how quality might be improved, and to what extent staff members’ involvement was required to enhance continuous quality improvement. Face-to-face interviews were used in this study to investigate the perceptions of the participants within the institution of institutional processes. Participants’ reflections on past experiences of recent self assessments and of external inspection team visits were sought and their individual perceptions on how institutional processes can be enhanced were explored. Common themes across the participants were drawn from the data collected from the interviews. The intent of this study was to explore how senior members’ experiences and perspectives of the re-accreditation processes might contribute to enhancing how institutional processes be maintained or improved through quality assurance processes? The findings are tentative as this was an exploratory study.
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    Teachers' perceptions of technology and technology education, years 7 to 10
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2009) Almutairi, Abbad
    Technology has become an essential learning area in the New Zealand Curriculum. The concept of technology has undergone a change during three eras prior to the present. These eras are: (1) pre-1975 (Technical Education), (2) 1975 to 1995 (Technical/Technology Education), (3) 1995 until the present day (Technology Education) (Harwood, 2002). A key development in the concept of Technology accrued between 1995 and 2006 when the three strands of technology in New Zealand Curriculum 1995 (Technological Knowledge and Understanding, Technological Capability, and Technology and Society) were changed into the current three strands of Technological Practice, Technological Knowledge, and Nature of Technology. These shape the new concept of technology that exists today. The aim of this study was to explore technology teachers’ perceptions of technology and technology education. The study was undertaken in the period between 12 July 2008 and 24 December 2008, during the time that the new concept of technology in the New Zealand Draft Curriculum 2007 (Ministry of Education, 2007) was being introduced. While it was not compulsory for teachers to implement this new concept of technology, it was encouraged. I was interested to find out how teachers perceived this new concept. The research initially addressed the questions: 1-What are the teachers’ perceptions of technology education and the subject of technology that has recently been included in New Zealand Curriculum? This led to four further questions: 2-How do teachers address the aims of technology in the New Zealand Curriculum in practice? 3-What are the influences of teaching technology on students’ technological literacy? 4-What are the difficulties that teachers might face implementing technology in classrooms? 5-What would teachers suggest for improving teaching technology in schools? The study involved a review of the literature and qualitative research in 3 schools (Year 7-10) in Auckland with four technology teachers. The data collection was from interviews with the four technology teachers. Semi-structured questions were used to obtain findings that helped me to understand the situation with technology in schools and provide decision-makers with ways to improve the teaching of technology in New Zealand. The findings of this study showed that technology was seen by technology teachers as a very important subject that improved their students' technological literacy, particularly if it was taught as a separate learning area. This study also explored teachers’ perceptions of the concepts of technology and of technology education according to New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007a). Interviewed teachers had different perceptions of these concepts, variously shaped by their level of academic experience and professional development. Considering these differences led to an identification of some obstacles that face technology teachers today, namely: (1) insufficient funds; (2) a lack of mentoring for new teachers by senior teachers; (3) a lack of regular meetings for technology teachers; (4) a lack of professional development; (5) a lack of understanding of the nature of the new concept of technology; and (6) timetable issues. I believe that this study will also help me to advise the Saudi Ministry of Education relative to integrating the concept of technology into its Curriculum (the Saudi Ministry invited me to help develop its curriculum, which was why I undertook this dissertation).
Dissertations are protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The dissertation may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use:
  • Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person.
  • Authors control the copyright of their dissertation. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the dissertation, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate.
  • You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the dissertation.