Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MSc (Chemistry))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Chemistry / unrestricted

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / This dissertation focuses on how the MAT program in Earth Science at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH MAT), a one-of-a-kind, museum-based urban teacher residency, conceptualized and enacted the project of learning to teach science for urban school contexts. The AMNH MAT is situated within the two nested contexts. The first context is its emergence as one of a number of new, state-approved graduate schools of education that offer teacher preparation, endorse teachers for certification, and grant master’s degrees but are not part of or connected to universities. The larger study of which this case study is part termed this phenomenon “new graduate schools of education,” or nGSEs. The second context is the program’s mission of preparing teachers for urban schools, a goal that is shared by other teacher preparation programs within the domain of nGSEs. This descriptive, interpretive case study analysis poses two major questions: How and to what extent does the American Museum of Natural History infuse its long-standing beliefs about science learning and public service into a teacher preparation program? How and to what extent does the museum conceptualize and enact science teacher preparation for the specific context of urban high needs public secondary schools? Analysis of multiple data sources revealed that theAMNH’s mission of disseminating science knowledge in service of a more science-literate public was instantiated in a teacher preparation program that centralized and continually reinforced a vision of preparing science teachers but had a less central and more limited approach to preparing urban teachers. This case study analysis of an innovative teacher preparation program in one of our nation’s largest cities has important implications for urban science teacher education research and practice. First, the AMNH MAT’s model of science teacher preparation offered two key features that are useful for the field. The first feature was its coherence around the developmentof a science teacher identity that included deep science content knowledge and a commitment to bringing informal science teaching and learning practices into schools. The second model feature was the MAT program’s required four-residency structure, which essentially reinvented the “field” in teacher preparation fieldwork. At the same time, the project of learning to teach at the AMNH MAT, like that of many other urban teacher preparation programs, revealed the difficulties and dilemmas involved in preparing teachers for urban contexts, particularly the responsibility of developing a new generation of antiracist educators. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

This study sought to determine perceptions of former English Language Center (ELC) students of their readiness for university reading tasks after completing their ESL training. Former ELC students who now study or have studied at 10 different American post-secondary institutions provided insights for the study. Through questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, the study collected and analyzed many interesting and revealing comments from participants. Their comments demonstrated that even though the majority of students overall were satisfied with their learning experiences at the ELC, some significant changes still have to be made to be able to fully meet students' educational needs. Participants expressed the need to start rigorous university preparation earlier, beginning with an intermediate level of proficiency, by reading more advanced university-level texts and spending more time on developing and practicing critical reading strategies and test-taking skills.

<p> The synthesis of 2-ethoxycarbonyl-1-hydroxymethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6,7-methylenedioxyisoquinoline 117 and 2-acetyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6,7-methylenedioxyisoquinoline-1-carboxaldehyde 126 are described. These compounds are potentially useful intermediates for the asymmetric synthesis of two tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids, (1R,7'R)-decumbensine and (13R,14R)-ophiocarpine. Decumbensine is a simple 1-benzyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloid having a hydroxyl group at the carbon atom adjacent to C-1 of the isoquinoline ring. Ophiocarpine belongs to the tetrahydroprotoberberine group of isoquinoline alkaloids and has a hydroxyl group in the same relative position in its ring system as that found in decumbensine.</p> <p> The first synthesis led to a racemic intermediate which would require resolution before proceeding with the asymmetric synthesis. The second synthesis led directly to an optically active aldehyde and would appear to be the more satisfactory route.</p> <p> A procedure for the preparation of 3-benzyloxy-4-methoxy bromobenzene is also described. This compound, after halogen-metal exchange, would be used to introduce the second aromatic ring in the ophiocarpine synthesis.</p> <p> The literature on asymmetric synthesis of tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids has been reviewed in the introduction. (Diagrams included in thesis)</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

The purpose of this study is to identify novice teachers’ perception of their preparedness to teach a class designed for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) after graduation from a traditional university-based special education program or from a special education alternative certification program. Teacher preparedness and the need for highly qualified teachers of students with ASD are relevant topics, as the prevalence rate of ASD continues to increase. This phenomenological qualitative study explores novice teachers’ perceptions of preparedness to teach students with ASD and their knowledge about teaching students with ASD. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with six novice special education teachers of students with ASD. Results indicated that novice teachers of students with ASD have knowledge of autism and evidence-based practices (EBP), which they ascertained primarily through experiences such as; working directly with students with ASD, however, preservice education programs provided the participants with cursory information related to knowledge of ASD and EBP.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to describe the role that mentors played in the development of school principals. This study focused on the role of mentors as described by retired school principals on the informal mentoring process. It also identified and discussed differences the retired principals found in mentoring relationships among males and females. Qualatative methodology was used in this study. Principals who retired between 1960 and 1997 were interviewed and described the role that mentors played in their professional development and what role, if any, they played in a formal mentoring process. The mentors of the retired principals contributed significantly to their career development. During the time that they were serving as principal the nature of the mentor network was primarily informal. Most of the retired principals made no application for the principalship but were invited to serve in that position. Most participants believed that women were more likely to climb the career ladder with the help of a mentor. As their careers were nearing an end, some of the participants were involved in the development of formal mentoring programs. Whether engaged in formal or informal mentoring processes, all of the participants made contributions. Those participants who had mentors all chose to mentor others. Ultimately, the retired principals described mentoring as having made an important contribution to their development as school principals. They encouraged continued use of mentoring in both formal and informal venues. / Ed. D.

The need for more collaboration and co-teaching emerged from the standards-based and accountability movement as a result of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) legislation. The purpose of this study is to identify the perceived skill set needed by general and exceptional education teachers in order to be successful in a co-teaching classroom, discover if collaborative coursework is being offered to pre-service teachers as part of their university experience, and identify specific strategies, programs, and field experiences in which pre-service general and exceptional education teachers can engage in to better prepare them for their first co-teaching/collaborative teaching assignment. This qualitative study was based on the naturalistic inquiry design (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) and was comprised of one focus group from each of the three school divisions. The purposeful sample selection of teachers for each focus group included five to eight general and exceptional education probationary (zero to five years experience) teachers who have current or previous experience in a collaborative or co-taught classroom, and who graduated from a Virginia institution of higher education. A focus group protocol was used for data collection based on the ten revised (2011) Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium standards. When comparing the data of what general education teachers perceived were most important compared to what training, coursework, and experiences were actually provided as part of their pre-service training, 53% of the training received matched the skills they felt were most important. Forty-seven percent of their pre-service training focused on "other" skills, knowledge, performance, and critical dispositions. When comparing the data of what exceptional education teachers perceived were most important compared to what training, coursework, and experiences were actually provided as part of their pre-service training, 60% of the training received matched with the skills they felt were most important. Forty percent of their pre-service training focused on "other" skills, knowledge, performance, and critical dispositions. These data suggest that there is a disconnect between what pre-service teachers perceive as important and what is actually being taught through coursework and experiences in teacher preparation programs. / Ed. D.

It is common practice to add oxygenates, such as ethers or alcohols, to gasoline in areas suffering from ozone or smog problems in order to reduce pollution. The most commonly used oxygenates are ethanol (EtOH) and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). However, MTBE is now forbidden by the environmental protection agency (EPA) because of the possibility of ground water contamination. The current trend is to use EtOH, therefore this work focuses on the analysis and quantification of EtOH in gasoline by solid phase microextraction (SPME). The major problem in quantifying EtOH in gasoline is the coelution of hydrocarbons with EtOH. There have been several approaches to solve this problem; among the chromatographic ones, three major types have been proposed: (1) the first one uses a detector selective for oxygen containing compounds; (2) the second one uses two or more columns; (3) and the third one uses an extraction step prior to GC analysis. In this work an extraction step with water is used prior to a solid phase microextraction (SPME) sample preparation coupled to a gas chromatographic (GC) analysis. Solid phase microextraction is a recent technique, invented by Pawliszyn in 1989, and available commercially since 1994. A fiber is used to extract small amounts (ppm, ppb, ppt) of analytes from a solution, usually water. The fiber is beneficial in concentrating analytes. Most work using SPME has been done with hydrophobic (non polar) analytes, extracted using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS; non polar) coating on a fused silica fiber. Since very little work has been done with polar analytes, the novel approach of this work is the extraction of EtOH. Since EtOH is the analyte of interest, a polar fiber, carboxen/polydimethyl siloxane (Car/PDMS) is used. Two methods are used for quantification of EtOH in gasoline: the method of a standard calibration curve, and the method of standard addition. They are both successful in quantifying the amount of EtOH in gasoline. The relative errors, with the method of standard addition, vary from 5.3% to 14%, while the ones with the method of calibration curve vary from 1.6% to 7.2%. Moreover, some extraction time studies for both direct and headspace sampling are performed. Direct sampling shows the presence of an equilibrium condition for the carboxen/PDMS fiber, for which no extraction theory is available. Conversely, headspace sampling shows no equilibrium state; after a sampling time of one hour, the amount of EtOH extracted decreases with sampling time. This is probably due to displacement of EtOH by other compounds in the fiber. / Master of Science

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