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This purpose of this study was to determine to what extent programs for language-minority students at TBR community colleges adhere to the recommendations contained in the Conference on College Composition and Communications 2009 Statement on Second Language Writing and Writers and to investigate the factors beyond these professional recommendations that influence administrative decision-making about these programs and their designs. This study contained a survey sent to individuals at all 13 community colleges in the Tennessee Board of Regents system and follow-up interviews with 5 survey respondents from different institutions. Analysis of the results of the study indicates all TBR community colleges across the state are utilizing the CCCC’s 2009 recommendations to some degree but that no single institution has fully implemented every recommendation. Additionally, the survey showed that, across the system, the most followed recommendations are those related to classroom practices. Other areas assessed including placement, available resources, administrative decisions, and instructor qualifications were all implemented in decreasing order. The least followed recommendations are those concerning recruitment of learners into the program. Results also show that other factors beyond professional recommendations which influence the design and delivery of programs for language minority students include financial or budgetary considerations, administrative considerations beyond budget, misconceptions or a lack of knowledge about language minority students, the presence of experienced or dedicated ESL faculty, partnerships between offices on campus, the local, state, and national political climate, and an understanding that no program can meet the needs of all learners. These conclusions yield a number of considerations useful to individuals looking to implement or improve services for language minority students at their institution.

Human knowledge of the food and fiber systems affects nearly every facet of the society we live in. While this industry affects billions of lives daily, little research has been conducted to identify the level of knowledge on this industry in college age students. This replicated study was produced to evaluate and assess the agricultural knowledge and personal perception of the industry of undergraduate students at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU) in the Fall 2018 semester. Participants completed a 25-questionnaire food and fiber literacy test to assess their knowledge and 14 questions regarding personal characteristics and perceptions of the agricultural industry. The average score on the agricultural literacy test was an 18.23 out of 25 questions correct. College of Agricultural Sciences and College of Science scored the highest while College of Education and Human Services and College of Applied Sciences and Arts scores were among the lowest. Comparisons of student demographic information such as hometown size, organization participation and gender were conducted to determine correlation between specific groups and their agricultural literacy levels. Females slightly outscored males. Cities and Rural communities achieved the highest averages when comparing community sizes. Students who enrolled in agricultural education courses in high school seemed to score higher on the agricultural literacy test. A majority of respondents stated they strongly agree that agriculture is important to society; but when asked how knowledgeable they considered themselves to be in agriculture, an overwhelming amount of students responded below average. The results of this study found a hopeful advancement in agricultural literacy but also revealed possible influential factors in poor agricultural knowledge. It is recommended that such a study be continually conducted at Southern Illinois Universities and other institutions of higher education.

Orientador(a): Lígia Márcia Martins / Banca: Adriana de Fátima Franco / Banca: Guillermo de La Paz Arias Beatón / Banca: Juliana Campregher Pasqualini / Banca: Francisco Jose Carvalho Mazzeu / Resumo: Esta pesquisa representa um desdobramento da necessidade didático-pedagógica da pesquisadora - em sua condição de professora alfabetizadora e formadora de professores alfabetizadores -, pela apropriação de conhecimentos científicos acerca do ensino da leitura e da escrita numa perspectiva crítica de educação. À vista desta necessidade, empreendemos uma investigação teórico-conceitual fundamentada na psicologia histórico-cultural e na pedagogia histórico-crítica, cujos objetivos foram: investigar as articulações entre o desenvolvimento da linguagem oral e da linguagem escrita, desvelando o alcance abstrativo desse processo; identificar os fundamentos psicológicos e linguísticos requeridos à alfabetização; e corroborar com a formação de professores, apontando conteúdos imprescindíveis para o trabalho com a língua materna. Guiamo-nos pela hipótese de que a secundarização, pelas teorias pedagógicas hegemônicas (em especial as construtivistas), do ensino dos conteúdos linguísticos fundamentais para a apropriação da escrita, conduziu a uma negação dos mesmos, condicionando a aprendizagem da escrita pela criança a um repertório verbal próprio e circunscrito à vida cotidiana - em detrimento dos elementos linguísticos mais elaborados e requeridos pelo sistema de escrita. Diante do apresentado pelo aporte teórico-conceitual constitutivo desta investigação, concluímos ser de fundamental importância o resgate do ensino de conteúdos imprescindíveis à apropriação desse instrumento cultural... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This research represents an unfolding of the researcher's didactic-pedagogical necessity - in her condition as literacy-teacher and literacy-teacher trainer, by means of the appropriation of scientific knowledge about the teaching of reading and writing through a critical perspective of education. In view of this necessity, we embarked a theoretical-conceptual investigation based on the historical-cultural psychology and on the historical-critical pedagogy, whose aims were: to investigate the links between the development of oral language and written language, exhibiting the abstractive reach of this process; to identify the psychological and linguistic foundations required to literacy; and to support teaching training, pointing indispensable contents in the work with mother tongue. We were guided by the hypothesis which states that the teaching of major linguistic contents' second place, established by hegemonic pedagogic theories (notably the constructivist one), to the writing appropriation conducted to the rejection of these contents, conditioning the child's learning of writing to a personal and limited to daily life verbal repertoire, rather than more sophisticated linguistic elements, which are required by the writing system. In light of what is shown by the research's theoretical-conceptual basis, we concluded to be of paramount importance the rescue of teaching of contents that are crucial to the appropriation of writing, which is a complex cultural instrument. Aiming to contribute to fulfilling this demand, we elaborated three didactic principles required to a historical-critical teaching practice, which, due to its dialectic foundation, overcome the commuter movement between using one certain literacy method at one time, and another one at another time. With these propositions we expected to assist literacy-teachers when performing their tasks, knowing that the writing and... (Complete abstract eletronic access below) / Doutora

Information literacy (IL) is recognized as the overall critical literacy for the 21st Century. Although large amounts of digital information are available, there is concern within higher education that students lack the competencies to assess and analyse sources in terms of relevance to their courses. Information literacy skills are of critical importance in teaching medical students to engage with evidence-based medicine (EBM), often within a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. Information practices that underpin academic and professional life should be embedded into the learning experience of the subject, and not taught extraneously in isolated silos. Attitudes of teaching staff at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand towards embedding evidence-based information literacy skills into the Graduate Entry Medical Programme 1 and 2 curriculum were examined. Existing integration of IL skills into the curriculum was shown to be limited, and not as high as perceived by educators. Five barriers against the integration of IL skills, and six opportunities for embedding information literacy, were identified in the curriculum. Awareness of evidence-based practice was found to be high, and collaborative teaching of IL skills with librarians was accepted by a large majority of educators. Dynamic Purposeful Learning (DPL) was proposed as a constructivist framework into which collaborative teaching of IL skills could be placed. DPL draws on active and collaborative learning, as well as cognitive scaffolding and apprenticeship, and is suited to PBL in the context of medical education.

The purpose of the research was to investigate academic writing challenges faced by first year B.Ed. students at the University of the Witwatersrand in order to assist tutors support these students. One of the main findings is first year B.Ed. students find it challenging to move from school literacies to academic literacy, and thus they need to be ‘initiated’ into academic literacy. The findings indicate that students need assistance with reading the articles on which essays are based, with understanding what essay questions require them to do, with quoting and referencing from sources and with the ‘mechanics’ of writing. A further finding is that some students face academic writing challenges because they resist being initiated into academic conventions for several reasons. The study concludes with some recommendations to course designers and tutors including the recommendations.

Idéerna som ligger till grund för den genomförda studien bottnar i ett intresse för undervisning, specifikt i ämnet svenska, och vad vi kan lära av nya och alternativa mediers möjligheter avseende meningsskapande och lärande. Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka vad som händer vid brädspelande, med utgångspunkt i frågeställningarna ”Hur reflekterar eleverna över sina upplevelser av att spela brädspel” samt ”Hur skapas berättande i samband med elevers brädspelande?”. Med grundad teori som metodologisk ansats genomfördes observationer samt intervjuer med ungdomar i år 2 på gymnasiet i samband med att de spelade brädspel. Analysen av observationer samt intervjuer visar att spelen innehåller såväl multimodalt berättande samt inslag av socio-relationella aspekter – ett resultat som överensstämmer med tidigare forskning med anknytning till ämnet och som visar på det multimodala berättandets möjligheter.

Thesis advisor: Scott Fulford / Thesis advisor: Mathis Wagner / This dissertation consists of three chapters. The first chapter investigates how the historical development of Protestantism may contribute to explain current literacy disparities in India. Combining information about the spatial distribution of Protestant missions in India at the end of the nineteenth century with contemporary district-level data, I find a strong long-term relationship between the historical exposure to Protestant missions and current literacy. I then verify that this relationship is not driven by unobserved characteristics that may affect both current literacy outcomes as well as the missionaries' location decisions. The second chapter exploits local variations in the historical exposure to Christianity to explain current differences in individual HIV-related sexual behaviors in Africa. I find that exposure to the presence of Catholic missions at the end of the nineteenth century is associated with a decrease in current HIV infection rates. I also examine whether historical Catholic and Protestant missions have a different impact on individual sexual behaviors. I find that Catholicism, while having a small negative impact on the propensity of condom use, is positively associated with the adoption of safer forms of sexual behavior (pre-marriage sexual abstinence, delay of first sexual intercourse and marital faithfulness). Finally, in the third chapter I examine the impact of international migration and remittances on the labor supply of the family members left behind. Using data from Albania, I find that international migration has a significant impact on labor force participation. Remittances receipts from abroad determine a substitution effect away from the labor market, particularly for the female population. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

Thesis advisor: Maria E. Brisk / The influence of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has increased attention on the argument writing genre in K-12 writing and literacies. Approaches to argument have been informed by cognitive and structural approaches, with some attention to social dimensions (Newell, Beach, Smith, & VanDerHeide, 2011). Less attention has been given to language and the manner in which purpose and audience inform language choice, especially at the secondary level (Fang & Schleppegrell, 2010). Further, audience and language use are affected by context, culture, and community. To date, rural contexts have often been overlooked in education research, and particularly in writing and literacies (e.g., Azano, 2015). Drawing on appraisal theory (Martin & White, 2005) to inform the interpersonal dynamics present in student-audience relationships that inform language use, the current study explored five experiences of an argument writing project developed as a collaborative initiative by three secondary English / Language Arts (ELA) teachers participating in a rural education network in the Pacific Northwest region of the US. The study explored the relationship between writers’ audience and students’ language choices in their argument writing, as well as teachers’ instruction and support of language. Data collection sources included students’ argument writing samples, teacher interviews, student interviews, and instructional artifacts. Findings indicate that multiple factors inform students’ audience awareness and language choices, including the relationship between students’ rural identities and audience, and teachers’ instruction and support of audience and language. In student writing, audience awareness led to more intentional selection of reasons and evidence to support a claim, as well as effective use of technical and evaluative language. Having an explicit, authentic audience broadly resulted in more effective language use, but students experienced difficulty negotiating between local audience and global perspectives. Findings suggest that incorporating explicit, authentic audiences and providing instructional support in audience and language will lead to more effective argument writing. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed, emphasizing interpretation in rural contexts. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Orientador: Andreia Osti / Banca: Claudia da Mota Daros Parente / Banca: Elvira Cristina Martins Tassoni / Resumo: Este trabalho apresenta uma pesquisa que teve como objetivo investigar as contribuições do PNAIC (Pacto Nacional pela Alfabetização na Idade Certa) para prática docente de professores alfabetizadores que participaram do programa no ano de 2013. O PNAIC consiste em um programa do Governo Federal criado em 2012 que tem como principal objetivo garantir o direito de que as crianças estejam alfabetizadas até o 3º ano do Ensino Fundamental. Desse modo, o objetivo geral da pesquisa consiste em investigar as contribuições da formação do PNAIC para a prática de professores alfabetizadores; como objetivos específicos, pretendeu-se conhecer a proposta de formação do PNAIC; compreender como se deu a implementação do PNAIC no município de Rio Claro-SP; descrever as contribuições e mudanças possibilitadas pelo PNAIC para a prática dos participantes e investigar como os professores compreendem o uso dos recursos lúdicos no período inicial da alfabetização. Assim, discutem-se os contextos da educação brasileira que propiciaram a criação do programa, por parte do Governo Federal. Também se discute as concepções de formação continuada e alfabetização do PNAIC, compreendendo a relevância destes temas na proposta formativa. Foi realizado um levantamento documental sobre o PNAIC e um estudo bibliográfico de pesquisas já realizadas sobre o tema. Para melhor compreender a dinâmica da implementação do programa no município de Rio Claro-SP, realizou-se entrevistas semiestruturadas com dez professoras... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Mestre