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.

Angiogenesis has a crucial influence on tumour development and identification of microvessels in malignant breast cancer tissue is an indicator for worse prognosis. Angiogenesis is partially governed by the family of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) and their receptors, by which the VEGF-A-protein seems to be the most important factor.     The aims of this work were to first establish a method for immunohistological (IH)-staining of the VEGF-A-protein for clinical use and then to label and evaluate the expression of this protein in 31 Nottingham Histology Graded (NHG I-III) breast carcinoma.      Formaldehyde-fixated tissues from invasive breast neoplasms and control tissues were labelled with monoclonal antibodies against VEGF-A and CD31-proteins using a semi-automated IH-system from Ventana BenchMark. Positively stained vessels were counted from digital copies of microscopic pictures related to mm2 tissue.     A method of IH-labelling with VEGF-A protein was successfully established before staining of the breast tissue and in 19 of the 31 breast cancers. Vessels were counted for both antibodies. The VEGF-A-antibody stained 2.7 ± 2.3 (mean ± SD) vessels/mm2 and the CD31-antibody stained 27.3 ± 19.3 in the breast carcinoma tissue. The percent of VEGF-A-stained vessels in relation to CD31-stained were 7.6% in the NHG-I- (n=3), 7.8% in the NHG-II- (n=10) and 15.0% in the NHG-III-group (n=6).     The results demonstrate that increased NHG-grade and lower differentiation can be associated with higher percent of vessels expressing VEGF-A-protein. The result was not statistically certified because of the small number of stained breast cancers and additional investigations are recommended before clinical use.

ABSTRACT INVESTIGATION OF STUDENTS&rsquo / PROBABILISTIC MISCONCEPTIONS MUT, Ali ihsan M.S. in Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Safure BULUT December 2003, 86 pages The purpose of the study was to investigate the students&rsquo / probabilistic misconceptions with respect to grade level, previous instruction on probability and gender. The sample of the study was 885 students from different types of the schools (general high schools, private collages, Anatolian high school, vocational high schools, and elementary schools) and from grade levels (5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10). The sample represented a range of students with respect to socio-economic level and cultural background. To collect data for the study Probabilistic Misconception Test (PMT) and a questionnaire were administered. The test consisted of 14 problems from 8 probabilistic misconception types. Its content validity was tested. The data of the study were analyzed by means of SPSS. Each misconception type is investigated with respect to all variables. The results of the study revealed that: (a) The frequencies of all misconception types varied across grade levels. (b) The percentages of students who received instruction on probability in the school were higher than those who did not received instruction in terms of misconceptions on Effect of Sample Size and Time Axis Fallacy. In addition, the other misconception types were more frequent among the students who did not receive a certain instruction on probability than the students who received a certain instruction probability before the study / (c) The frequencies of all misconception types varied across gender.

Research focused exclusively on the participation trends of male high school students in physical education is limited (Allison et al., 2005). The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical education experiences of Grade 10 high school males to explore their decisions to either enroll or not enroll in elective physical education in Grade 11. Semistructured focus group discussions elicited information on the experiences of Grade 10 male high school physical education students. Eight major themes emerged from the findings: value of physical activity, engagement in physical activity, disengagement from physical activity, Physical Education 10 status, teacher as leader, program knowledge, program status, and disenchantment with Physical Education 10 experience. The thesis discusses these themes and comments on the educational significance of the findings as possible impetus for future investigations into the programming needs of male high school students and their lifelong pursuit of physical activity.

The start of school is an important period in life. For some children, it is critical and affects their first time in school. It might have great importance for their learning and well-being. The aim of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of how different children face the school, based on the conditions that have been set for participation and learning, with special regard to literacy. Attention will be given to the start of school as an important transition in life, literacy activities, and special support in preschool-class and first grade. Both children and teacher perspectives are considered. The theoretical framework is a dynamic and interactional perspective.  This ethnographic study is inspired by the hermeneutic tradition. The empirical material has been collected through a case study at two schools, where two different groups of children have been observed from the latter part of preschool-class up until first grade. Furthermore, qualitative interviews have been held with special pedagogues at nine schools. The results show that the strive of teachers in preschool-class to create social security and ensuring close-knit group seem to have an impact on children during their entrance into school. Children appear well-prepared and comfortable in the school environment of first grade. Nevertheless, an organization that requires two transitions is inherently problematic, given the change in activities, roles and relations for children within one year. In terms of didactics, preschool-class and first-year class are weakly linked. There is no clear association between the reading and writing activities in the two forms of school, and there is no arena for teachers to develop a common ground for the didactic effort, a borderland. This can have consequences in terms of halting or interrupting children’s learning process.  A well-developed special-pedagogical work strategy and careful surveying is made of children’s learning processes. But, with the cautious attitude shown, the support of individual children is not put into process until the spring of their first school year or later. The issues of when and how special support should be offered are tied to different dilemmas.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Alabama, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-98). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Alabama, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-98).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1988. / Bibliography: leaves 114-123.

Research paper (M.A.) -- Cardinal Stritch College -- Milwaukee, 1970. / A research paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education. Includes bibliographical references (p.35-37).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Bowling Green State University, 2009. / Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 123 p. Includes bibliographical references.