<p>The research reported in this paper involves the use of dialogical argumentation in scientific context with 7-9 year olds as part of teaching and learning in primary classrooms. To develop an understanding of scientific concepts, four suitable collaborative activities on river pollution were used as a stimulus to effectively engage learners in scientific reasoning and use evidence for decision-making through cognitive harmonization. The research, involved four groups of five children each. Data were collected through analysis of children&rsquo / s Water Pollution Questionnaire (WPQ), classroom observation, documentation of field notes, conversations and focus group interviews. The study found that all groups were able to engage in the activities to some extent, but that good quality argumentation develops when children are familiar with working in this manner. This study sought to investigate the opportunities, possibilities and challenges associated with a dialogical argumentation teaching and learning approach in a primary school science class A mapping technique was used to analyze the children&rsquo / s discussions and identify the quality of their different &ldquo / levels&rdquo / of argument. This study confirmed that an argumentation based instruction was an effective way of enhancing learners&rsquo / understanding of river pollution. The learners&rsquo / listening skills improved tremendously and they were actively involve during discussions and provided claims with valid grounds or reasons. They were also very enthusiastic and challenged each other&rsquo / s claims during these argumentation lessons, but most of all was the enjoyment that was visible on their young faces. Further research needs to be carried out over a longer period to determine the effectiveness of an argumentation based instruction.</p>

National tests have an important function in ensuring reliable grades, and grades at many schools function as a sorting instrument to upper secondary school and higher education, the purpose of this essay has been to investigate if the assessment of English national tests is fair and consistent. The purpose has also been to find out if teachers consider the national test as an important basis when determining a student’s final grade.  This particular investigation showed that national tests are assessed differently by different teachers. The investigation also showed that final grades are strongly influenced by national test grades.  It is of great importance that the assessment of the national test is fair and consistent and that the result of the assessment will be the same no matter who carries it out; however the result shows that it is open to question if the national test can be considered to contribute to comparability and fairness of grades.  The assessment differences indicate otherwise.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to determine if distinct subgroups of high achieving children could be identified using a recently redeveloped intelligence measure—The Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability, 3rd edition (WJ-III). Students were referred for further testing based on their scores on the Indiana State Test of Educational Progress (the ISTEP+). Students were included in the study if they scored at or above the 90th percentile on the ISTEP+ Cognitive Skills Index, or the reading and/or math portions. Using these criteria, 202 students were referred for further testing. These students were clustered with Ward's method of cluster analysis using their scores on the seven CHC factors of the WJ-III. Their individual scores on two other intelligence measures (the Stanford-Binet IV and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test), as well as other scores from the WJ-III were used to further describe the clusters that emerged. The following three subgroups were identified: (a) decidedly gifted, (b) problem solvers, and (c) slow-paced achievers. Not all subgroups obtained the gifted score ranges expected on the three measures employed. The clusters were better described as displaying a slight levels effect, in that the groups were most different from one another in terms of the overall intelligence quotient and mean CHC factor scores, with one group scoring in the superior to high average ranges, one in the high average to average ranges, and one in the average range overall. This study provided evidence for the use of intelligence measures in describing gifted individuals' specific strengths and weaknesses. It also has significant implications for the use of intelligence measures in assessing giftedness within an applied setting. This study is useful as a validation study for the three intelligence measures employed. / Department of Educational Psychology

Math anxiety is a greatly understudied construct in children. In adult and adolescent samples, research shows that a number of factors are related to math anxiety including negative self-perceptions and outcomes. It is unknown if these same factors are related to math anxiety in children. This study was conducted to identify factors related to math anxiety in second grade children. Using Bandura's (1989) theory of triadic reciprocity as a theoretical model, children (n=91) and their parents (n=81) completed a series of self-report measures on math anxiety, math self-concept, reading self-concept, math self-efficacy, and aspects of the home math environment. Results indicated that the strongest predictor of math anxiety in second grade children was their level of math self-concept. The addition of environmental factors did not significantly increase the amount variance explained in math anxiety. Furthermore, despite research with adults that shows strong gender differences in math anxiety, no gender differences in math anxiety were found in second grade children. The discussion focuses on possible explanations for these findings as well as directions for future research. / Department of Educational Psychology

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an intervention of five researched reading strategies on fifth-grade students’ “word callers” reading achievement. Twenty-one fifth-grade students attending elementary schools in midwestern United States participated in this study. Students were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. The students in the experimental group received 50 minutes of small-group intervention, twice weekly, after-school, for 12 weeks focusing on the use of five research-based reading comprehension strategies. The control group received 50 minutes of small-group intervention, twice weekly after-school for 12 weeks, focusing on Common Core reading curriculum. Triangulation of data sources was achieved through analysis of the running records including comprehension retelling and answering of questions, a metacognition survey, an oral fluency rater scale, observational notes, and a reflective interview protocol on students’ strategy use. General findings included statistically significant changes in reading comprehension levels in all students (control and experimental) who participated in the after-school reading intervention. Importantly, statistically significant changes began to take place in “word callers” in the 12-week study. This was seen in their overall reading comprehension levels, and ability to report comprehension strategies and apply them to their reading. In summary, an after-school intervention explicitly using the Reciprocal Teaching model plus visualizing appears to play a large role in helping “word callers” improve their reading comprehension ability. / Department of Elementary Education

Two overlapping situations in the American educational environment have given fuel for this study: the NAEP reported that 34% of fourth grade students read below grade level and NCLB mandated that all children read on grade level by 2014. First grade students from a Midwestern elementary school participated in an after school reading club that met daily. This reading experience was different from others because these first grade students were grouped by learning style preferences. Meanwhile, many classroom teachers respond to the challenge of differentiating reading instruction based solely on students’ reading ability levels creating a forever “reading below grade level” for struggling readers placed in low reading groups. The primary purpose of this study was to explore reading instruction utilizing learning style preferences of first grade students. An overarching question for this study, “How might reading instruction (nurture) aligned with the child’s learning style preference (nature) impact the child’s reading achievement?” To investigate this question the researcher created a supplemental reading experience after school by grouping children by their learning style preference to differentiate instruction. Utilizing the right kind of quality instruction with the right level of intensity and duration with the right children at the right time created an effective preventive program (Torgesen, 1998). That is differentiated instruction! A pretest and posttest assessment was conducted using running record reading assessments focusing on the total number of errors recorded. This quantitative research design, randomized pretest-posttest control group analyzed the collected data using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the one-way ANOVA analysis showed there was no significant difference in the posttests of the learning style treatment and the leveled reading control groups. Further analysis of the data revealed there was a significance comparing the pretest to the posttest within the treatment group and within the control group. This was important and implied grouping children by learning style preference for reading instruction may be an effective form of differentiation for small group reading instruction. / Department of Elementary Education

Academic underachievement potentially redirects the future of adolescents. The specific sample for this research was Grade nine learners. Grade nine is when subject choices are made and the last year of compulsory education. Academic underachievement during Grade nine becomes a barrier to career enhancing subject choices. Subject choice is a first step to greater specialisation of skills and a future career path. This study focused on the investigation of factors that could possibly contribute to the academic underachievement of Grade nine learners to the extent that they would fail. The findings will make teachers more aware of the influence that the internal and external fields of Grade nine learners have on their academic achievement. From the results it was found that academic underachievement is influenced by peer acceptance, parental involvement, cognitive development, the ability to handle examination anxiety, the Grade nine learner's perception of academic identity as well as other factors. A mixed method approach was used. Interviews with underachieving Grade nine learners, Grade nine teachers and Grade nine parents, as well as questionnaires completed by a cluster sample of the general Grade nine population of this study indicated the influence of the underachievers' external and internal fields on academic performance. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This study was conducted to determine if differentiated instruction improved student growth. The overall effectiveness was studied as well as that of gender and the aptitude of average and above average students. The study was that of a quasi-experimental design using student subjects in the classrooms of three second-grade teachers. The school in the study was located in an affluent suburb outside of a major city in the Midwest. This quantitative study concluded that differentiated instruction did not have an overall effectiveness at a significant level. Students with a higher academic ability benefited significantly with opportunity to be challenged at a higher level while students of average ability did not. There was no significant difference between the achievement of males and females. / Department of Elementary Education

This study explored the relationships among visual and auditory perception, academic aptitude, sex and achievement in reading, language arts and mathematics. The study also sought to determine if scores on visual and/or auditory perception would contribute additional predictive information about achievement beyond that already known through knowledge of sex and academic aptitude scores.Subjects in this study were the entire first grade population of an East Central Indiana rural and suburban public school corporation. The subjects were in the first grade in the school year 1974-1975.The data collected for each subject came from four sources: (1) the Primary Mental Abilities Test K-1 (PMA), (2) the Motor-Free Visual Perception Test (MVPT), (3) the Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Test of Auditory Discrimination (GFW), and (4) the Science Research Associates Achievement Series, Level 1-4, Form E.The data were treated by canonical and multiple regression analysis. Separate canonical correlation coefficients were computed for boys and girls. A canonical R of .725 (p <.O1) between the predictor and criterion variables was computed for boys. The greatest association was between the predictor variable MVPT and language arts and to a lesser extent, mathematics. The PMA was also associated with these criterion variables, but to a lesser degree. Results of the study also indicate that visual perception added significantly to prediction of achievement beyond that which is already known through knowledge of a subject's sex and academic aptitude score. Auditory perception when added as a fourth variable did not make a significant contribution to predictive ability in any of the three criterion measures.Within the possible limitations resulting from a delay in the administration of the perceptual measures the following conclusions are drawn from this study. 1. There is a relationship between a set of scores on visual and auditory perception and academic aptitude and a set of scores on achievement in reading, language arts and mathematics.`2. This relationship is different for boys and girls. Girls outperformed boys on all three measures of achievement. For girls, scores on language arts and, to a lesser degree, mathematics tend to be associated with visual perception and academic aptitude. For boys, scores on reading and language arts tend to be associated with academic aptitude.3. Visual perception accounted for variation in the dependent variables of reading, language arts and mathematics beyond that accounted for through knowledge of the subject's sex and academic aptitude score.4. Visual perception had a stronger relationship to later achievement -for girls than either academic aptitude or auditory perception.5. The academic aptitude measure PMA, correlated higher with achievement for boys than it did for girls.6. Academic aptitude was a stronger predictor of later achievement for boys than either visual or auditory perceptual measures.7. Auditory perception was not significantly related to any of the achievement measures and made no significant contribution to the multiple regression equations.