D ATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS METHODS

Referring back to the research aims mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, the first aim is addressed in the conceptual part of this study (Chapter 3) and the contextual analysis is presented in Chapters 2 and 6. At the end of Section 5.3.1 the importance of development research in realising the second aim was already mentioned. The research questions of this study have been presented in Table 5.4. The table also mentions the chapters in which these questions are addressed. This section gives, per chapter that deals with the design, development or implementation of the curriculum, an overview of the research questions involved, the data collected and the methods used to analyse the data.

Chapter 6: Towards a competence-based curriculum for the Faculty of Education

The chapter describes the period May 1997 – May 2000 and includes the context analysis (together with Chapter 2) and the design phase of the curriculum (together with Chapter 3), including the design and development of the needs analysis. Together with chapter 3 an answer is given on the first aim of this study, mentioned in chapter 1. Phrased as a research question: How could a competence-based approach to the education and training of education professionals contribute to improving the quality and efficacy of the education system? The conclusion of the chapter (section 3.8) approximates the description of an ideal competence-based curriculum.

As shown above in Table 5.4 this aim leads to the research question to be answered in the design phase: What might be the characteristics of a competence-based curriculum that may result in competent educational professionals for the Mozambican society? It is, in fact, the question about the characteristics of the intended curriculum. Thus, in this chapter the design of the intended curriculum and the formative evaluation related to this phase are presented.

Research design

161

In Chapter 1 the analysis framework based on three viewpoints (lenses) has been mentioned. Substantive questions related to the design phase are related to the various aspects of the intended curriculum. Two questions in this chapter address the rationale of the curriculum:

ƒ Why should the Faculty of Education be re-opened?

ƒ Why should a competence-based curriculum be developed for the Faculty of Education?

Van den Akker (2003) has introduced the metaphor of a (curricular) spider web with ten 'spokes'. Just as pulling one thread/spoke in the web will also affect the others, the ten curriculum aspects have a synergetic relation and should be aligned in all curriculum manifestations (cf. Biggs, 2002). The ten curriculum aspects in the curricular spider web are rationale, goals/objectives, content, learning activities, roles of teaching staff, materials & resources, ways of grouping, time, space, and assessment (cf Klein, 1991).

The technical professional point of view is represented by the research question: "How should the curriculum design and development process be organised?", while the socio-political view is phrased through the question: "What role did the various actors play in the curriculum design and development process influence and what conditions and activities further influenced the design and development process?"

These questions are answered using the data and research methods presented in Table 5.6, on the next page.

The document database, mentioned in the second column of Table 5.6 was put together from minutes of meetings, important e-mails, official small documents, etc. The documents got, apart from a title and a description a date field and a code of the category in which they were put. A list with the contents of the database is given as Appendix 1 (in Excel format the list can be found as Appendix 5.1). The third column of Table 5.6 gives other documents that are larger in size, such as workshop reports, documents from working groups, etc. A list of the material consulted can be found on the Website, accompanying this study. The last column ('Data from actors') refers to data obtained from stakeholders in the development process, through a variety of methods, e.g. questionnaires, interviews etc.

Table 5.6. Data collection and analysis during the design phase of the curriculum Research question Analysis of data from document database Analysis from additional

documents Data from actors

Why a Faculty of Education?

9 See also data from

needs assessment, Chapter 7 Why a competence- based curriculum 9 Material workshop November 1999 What educational programmes at the Faculty of Education? 9 ƒ Final Document Commission on re-opening faculty, April 1999 ƒ Material work- shop November 1999 Outcomes mini- workshop on research (brainstorm, round table)

How to start the design of the curriculum? 9 ƒ Material workshop November 1999 ƒ Material workshop February 2000 Results workshop February 2000:

ƒ Ideas on the roles

of staff and stu- dents in the 'new' curriculum (brainstorm).

ƒ Initial proposals

for the needs assessment (brainstorm in groups). ƒ Internal evalua- tion of workshop (round table). ƒ External evalua- tion of workshop (questionnaire).

Research design

163

Chapter 7: From idea to start-up: towards a curriculum document and course outlines This chapter describes the period May 2000 – August 2001 and includes the description and analysis of the development phase of the curriculum.

The chapter reconstructs and analyses the activities that led to the presentation of a curriculum document to the academic council (May 2001) and the further elaboration of course outlines. Both can be labelled representations of the formal curriculum. The formal curriculum is compared to the intended curriculum using a checklist with characteristics of competence-based education. This comparison will partly address the second aim of this study (formulated in 5.1): What are the characteristics of an effective competence-based curriculum for the Faculty of Education at UEM and how can such a curriculum be designed, developed and implemented?, and the research question related to this aim: What are the characteristics of a competence-based curriculum in the context of the Faculty of Education at UEM?

Technical-professional and socio-political aspects of the process during this development phase are stated in the research questions: What procedures and principles have been followed during the development of a competence-based curriculum for the Faculty of Education at UEM?, and What conditions and activities have influenced the development of a competence-based curriculum for the Faculty of Education at UEM and what was the infleucne of the various actors?

The research questions will be answered using the data and research methods presented in Table 5.7, on the next page:

Table 5.7. Data collection and analysis during the development phase of the curriculum Research question Analysis of data from document database

Analysis from addi-

tional documents Data from actors

What are the characte- ristics of a competence- based curriculum in the context of the Faculty of Education at UEM?

9 ƒ Outcomes of the

July 2000 workshop

ƒ Recommendations

from the December 2000 workshops

ƒ Outcomes of the

February/March 2001 workshops

ƒ Personal notes/

report from wor- king visit to Twente University (March 2001) ƒ Reports of meetings of Installation Committee ƒ Reports on mee-

tings about deve- lopment of course plans ƒ Needs assessment data (structured interviews) ƒ Staff opinions on assessment (brainstorm in groups) ƒ Brief questionnaire to Mozambican staff at beginning of visit ƒ Questionnaire to

Dutch staff after visit

ƒ Interviews with 2

Mozambican staff after visit

What procedures and principles have been followed during the development of a competence-based curri- culum for the Faculty of Education at UEM?

What conditions and activities have influen- ced the development of a competence-based curriculum for the Faculty of Education at UEM? What was the influence of various actors?

9 ƒ Personal notes/

report from wor- king visit to Twente University (March 2001) ƒ Reports of meetings of Installation Committee ƒ Reports on mee-

tings about deve- lopment of course plans ƒ Brief questionnaire to 7 Mozambican staff at beginning of visit ƒ Questionnaire to 6

Dutch staff after visit

ƒ Interviews with 4

Mozambican staff after visit

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165

Chapter 8: The curriculum in operation: implementation of the common core part of the post-graduate programmes

This chapter describes the period August 2001 – May 2003. It covers common core part of the masters programmes in Curriculum & Instruction Development, Science & Mathematics Education and Adult Education, with an emphasis on the first two. In 'Goodlad' terms this chapter deals with the perceived and operational curriculum and the experiential curriculum. It is presumed that the difference between formal and perceived curriculum is small, because all staff have been involved in development activities. Still, the perceptions of members of staff might differ from the intentions of the formal curriculum. A large difference could indicate a lack of ownership (staff were present but did not really have a say in the development of the curriculum) or a conceptual backlog (staff were present but did not really understand the ins and outs of CBE).

Along the same lines as outlined for Chapter 7, the research questions are part of the second main research aim of this study, reflected in the question: What are the characteristics of an effective competence-based curriculum for the Faculty of Education at UEM and how can such a curriculum be designed, developed and implemented?

Data and research methods are presented in Table 5.8, on the next page, following a reconstructive approach, that is, a more or less chronological order of events during the implementation phase of the curriculum.

Table 5.8. Data collection and analysis during the implementation phase of the curriculum Research question Analysis of data from document database

Analysis from additional

documents Data from actors

What are the cha- racteristics of the implemented competence- based curriculum in the context of the Faculty of Education at UEM, as operatio- nalised by the staff and expe- rienced by the students?

9 ƒ Notes and observa-

tions in research diary (field notes)

ƒ Course outlines

ƒ Additional course

documents

ƒ Course report (on ICT

course) ƒ Results of self-assess- ment by 19 students on generic competencies. ƒ Evaluation of 6 courses by students. ƒ Interviews with 7 students. ƒ Interviews of 6 staff.

ƒ Staff evaluation and re-

flection on the first part of the common core.

ƒ Class observations (11).

ƒ Students' view on the

role of students and staff in competence- based education (brainstorm in groups).

ƒ Students' view on

competence and CBE (questionnaire).

ƒ View of staff on CBE

(questionanire). What procedures

and principles have been follo- wed during the implementation of a competence- based curriculum for the Faculty of Education at UEM?

9 ƒ Notes and

observations in research diary (field notes) ƒ Evaluation of 6 courses by students. ƒ Interviews with 7 students. ƒ Interviews of 6 staff.

ƒ Staff evaluation and

reflection on the first part of the common core. What conditions and activities have influenced the implementa- tion of a compe- tence-based curri- culum for the Faculty of Educa- tion at UEM?

9 ƒ Notes and

observations in research diary (field notes)

ƒ Evaluation of 6 courses

by students.

ƒ Interviews with 7 stu-

dents.

ƒ Interviews of 6 staff.

ƒ Staff evaluation and

reflection on the first part of the common core.

CHAPTER 6

Towards a competence-based curriculum for the