In the theoretical part I summarized nowadays Framework educational program at schools in the Czech republic and nowadays educational methods to teaching plants. Also, the thesis describes basic characteristics of plants, methods of plant preservation and research methods that have been used during writing the thesis. The research part indicates the results of the research conducted at grammar-schools in Ústí region and indicates the level of the pupils' knowledge of plants. Furthermore, I have tried to suggest how to make the plant identification tests more intriguing and comprehensible. The thesis uses information obtained from interviews with teachers and survey research carried out among the pupils of Ústí region grammar-schools. Based on the research results I have laid out an optimal number of plant species for teaching the plant identification. Unfortunately, there is a limited number of publications, so I exploited the knowledge and experience of Biology teachers at grammar-schools, and I followed their advice when creating worksheets.

Background: This mixed-methods dissertation is multi-layered and exploratory in nature. It provides methodological contributions to the fields of evaluation and research methods by demonstrating how the root cause analysis (RCA) method can be utilized to evaluate program improvement and assist in the development of research questions and hypotheses. Additionally, it adds to the literature on reproductive genetics decision-making by contributing to the knowledge of this complex process. Research Aims: This dissertation includes the following three aims: 1) to illustrate how the RCA interview method can be a useful tool to improve programs that have not been implemented with fidelity; 2) to demonstrate how the RCA interview method can be adapted for research by elucidating research questions and hypothesis development processes; and 3) to glean information pertaining to reproductive genetics decision-making knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among genetic counselors and women who were pregnant and had reproductive genetic counseling. Methods: Mixed-methods research took place over a 13-month period in Arizona and across the U.S. between June 2015 and August 2016 among two separate groups. The qualitative research includes semi-structured, in-depth interviews with genetic counselors (n=22), and RCA interviews (n=9) with genetic counselors sampled from 12 southwestern and western states. The quantitative research comprised of piloting two survey instruments. Survey #1 for genetic counselors (n=22) and Survey #2 for women who had genetic counseling and were pregnant between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2015 (n=104). Results: The results by manuscript are: 1) RCA is a useful evaluation tool for evaluating program improvement when programs have not been implemented with fidelity; 2) RCA is a beneficial methodological approach for researchers for focusing areas of inquiry, generating research questions, and developing research hypotheses; and 3) Women with a master's degree or higher are more likely to have reproductive genetic testing than women with a bachelor’s degree or under. Women who received reproductive genetic testing had significantly higher genetic testing knowledge scores than women who did not have genetic testing. Women who held a master's degree or higher had significantly higher genetic testing knowledge scores than women with a bachelor’s degree or under. Conclusions: RCA is a flexible and adaptive tool that works well for evaluation and research purposes. Reproductive genetic testing is a complex field that is rapidly changing, and there are significant differences in knowledge among women facing testing decisions calling for tailored interventions around genetic testing literacy. Recommendations: Evaluators and researchers alike should be aware of RCA as a useful methodological tool that they can use to help evaluate program improvement as well as facilitate the process of developing research questions and hypotheses. Genetic literacy interventions and decision-making resources must take into consideration the role education has on genetic testing decisions as well as its part in understanding the appropriateness, benefits, and limitations of specific genetic tests. This research further advocates for women to have access to certified genetic counselors to tailor the information to meet the individuals' needs in order to promote informed, autonomous genetics decision-making.

The number of translation programs within a university context has multiplied in many countries worldwide, which led to the need to question their quality (Gambier, 2012). In the Arab world, especially in the Gulf region, translator education is an emerging practice. For instance, in Qatar, the first translation programs were launched in 2012 at both Qatar University (BA minor in translation ) and the MA programs in translation studies at the Translation and Interpreting Institute (College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Hammad bin Khalifa University). Arabic scholars in the field of translation have highlighted the ongoing curriculum and pedagogical issues at the regional level. Many university programs in the Gulf region prefer to import foreign curriculum packages rather than invest in creating localized programs (Badry & Willoughly, 2015); hence, there is a need for programs relevant to the local and regional communities and contexts (Taibi, 2016). This could only be done through ground exploratory research to identify the problems and address them through a consensus process between the various stakeholders: academia, society and the profession. This doctoral thesis is a result of an exploratory and descriptive study carried out on the two existing translation programs in Qatar (a postgraduate program at the translation and interpreting Institute at Hammad Bin Khalifa University; and an undergraduate program at Qatar University) to identify the type of pedagogical and curricular practices in these institutions and align them with the findings from the practices in the translation and interpreting professions as well as translation professionals' perceptions in the state of Qatar. The present study has focused on the following objectives: 1) the identification and description of the professional translator profile in the Qatari context; 2) the identification of the pedagogical (teaching and learning) practices used in translation programs at Arabic universities in the Gulf region, such as Qatar; 3) knowledge required according to the opinions of professionals working in the field, and the competencies that these professionals believe should be developed in a translation program; and 4) a description of the necessary conditions to integrate such professional requirements in these types of professionally-oriented programs. The findings obtained from the study suggest that a knowledge of the working environments of translators and the required knowledge, skills and abilities to exercise the translation profession is crucial to a translation instructor as well as to a translation or interpreting curriculum developer. Such an awareness would result in the transfer of a different meaning of translation and translator status in society than the one it carries at present in Qatar. Also, there is a need to update the pedagogical and curriculum practices within a university context in Qatar to further integrate professionally oriented types of content, and adopt innovative pedagogies to educate multilingual service providers in the country. Although participants claimed that they are willing to integrate dynamic teaching practices, at the same time they also declared that they would keep the same curricular practices privileged by the institutions. The Interviewees from the profession reported the poor students’ performance in an internship in the local context. Other interviewed practising translators - who graduated from one of the translation programs in Qatar- suggested that the current modes of instruction need to be revised and that more situated, project and problem-based types of activities need to be implemented in the classroom. The results may be useful for teaching staff, instructors, administrators, and the management to improve and reconsider their existing curriculum and pedagogical practices within a university-based program by including the integration of research-based professional practices in the initial design of courses. The positive and consensus-based partnership between academic instances and the professional practitioners is a key solution in this regard. The addition or deletion of courses in a program and the focus on the importance of textbooks without diagnosing the social and community needs, as well the lack of a clear framework to assess faculty or instructor competency and eligibility to educate and train translators, has led to quality issues in existing programs.

Insufficient research training contributes to the current shortage of researchers in the field of speech-language pathology, but also to the dearth of multicultural and multilingual (MCML) research. There is limited information regarding how MCML issues are addressed in Research Methods courses in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). One of the ways in which this problem can be addressed is to include MCML issues into CSD research methods courses. A survey, “Integration of MCML Issues in Research Coursework” was developed based on an in-depth literature review. The aim of the survey was to gain information from instructors by examining the extent to which MCML issues are included in their CSD research methods courses. A total of 56 instructors responded to the survey. In the survey, 41.03% respondents indicated that it was very important to include MCML issues but only 28.21% included this topic in their course objectives. Time constraints, curricula overload, and specific courses on MCML were most cited as reasons for not including MCML. 44.44% used Research Ethics and 27.78% used EBP as strategies to infuse MCML into courses. 61.11% had further interest in the topic. By addressing MCML issues and culturally responsive research in CSD research methods classes, it is hypothesized that future speech-language pathologists will be better equipped not only to provide evidence-based services to the diverse populations they serve, but also be better prepared to conduct research on these diverse populations.

This study explores and describes the beliefs of teachers and learners with regards to the concept of biological evolution and how those beliefs affect the teaching and the learning of the concept. Multiple research methods were used to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data from Grade 12 Life Sciences learners and teachers from five secondary schools in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province. Quantitative data included biographical information. The Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) was used to assess acceptance of evolution by learners. Qualitative data included opinions of teachers and learners about evolution and how it was taught and learned. The results showed that the background of the participants, such as religion and from whom they had first heard of evolution, had a strong influence on their beliefs about evolution. Most of the learners and the five teachers in the study held Christian beliefs and some of them perceived evolution to be in conflict with those beliefs. There was moderate acceptance of evolution by learners. In teaching evolution, all the teachers engaged learners in discussions and debates about evolution, and encouraged them to separate their beliefs from evolution in order to avoid ‘the conflict’. Despite their Christian beliefs and the dissonance between them and evolution, learners were motivated to learn evolution. They felt that evolution was responding to some of the questions they had about themselves, and therefore wanted to understand it more. There was a perception from both teachers and learners that there was not enough evidence in support of evolution, and this is what brings the doubt about its validity. The research encourages further exploration of learners’ and teachers’ beliefs, and assistance of teachers in the nature of science, better understanding of the concept of evolution. In addition, the research advocates assistance for teachers on how to deal with Life Sciences topics perceived to be controversial. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

This overview paper aims to present general approaches to variation in Swahili, both from a structural/typological and from a sociolinguistic angle. Recently, building upon earlier dialectological studies of Swahili, varieties in the periphery have been the focus of scholarly attention, as well as urban dialects from East Africa and Swahili in the diaspora. This introductory paper intends to summarize some of the approaches and directions that address the geographical and sociolinguistic diversity of Swahili, studied from different angles. These include both traditional approaches (descriptive sketches, dialectological and dialectometrical analyses, lexicostatistics etc.) and more recent directions in Bantu studies, such as micro-parametric analysis in the field of microvariation. Moreover, current (socio)linguistic trends are discussed, which mostly deal with language contact, diversity and change in touristic settings, in relation to new media, and in regard to youth language practices, or with new approaches to urban fluidity such as metrolingualism and translanguaging. In this contribution, we aim to give an overview of current trends in the study of Swahili by analyzing processes of linguistic and scholarly diversification and variation in the Swahili-speaking world.

This presentation will present primary data collection techniques using archival data to identify participants and how to leverage existing datasets to conduct secondary data analyses. It can often be difficult for new professionals and students to access data or may be unaware of the pros and cons of using either research technique. Data from three different studies will be presented including Long Term Care in Arkansas, Co-Parenting Across Households, and Identifying At-Risk Early Career Servicemembers. Results discussed will provide detailed comparisons of collected samples to target populations. The presentation will aim to assist students and new professionals in better understanding data driven research and provide tools for future use of both secondary and primary data.

Active learning approaches have shown to improve student learning outcomes and improve the experience of students in the classroom. This article compares a Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning style approach to a more traditional teaching method in an undergraduate research methods course. Moving from a more traditional learning environment to a student-centered approach proved an enjoyable experience for the students and the instructor as well. The learning method forces students into an active role in the classroom and allows the instructor to be the facilitator of the learning experience. Students are able to explore course content and gain valuable group skills in the process.

This thesis contributes practical and conceptual tools for discovering and understanding the variation of quantitative patterns in social and political survey data. It uses regression modelling as an exploratory method with a focus on deep rather than wide model specifications, i.e. on interaction terms rather than control variables. Our main research question is how can we learn from survey data with an exploratory approach of regression modelling. We also seek to answer two more specific questions, what sort of quantitative variations should an exploratory approach seek to model, and how do we deal with statistical uncertainty within an exploratory approach. Our work shows how to use regression modelling for exploratory purposes by interpreting the results descriptively, and connecting these summaries to theory through an act of interpretation. Using data from the Partirep electoral survey of the 2014 elections in Belgium, we illustrate how the emphasis on group variations and interactions has both empirical and theoretical value. We propose to summarise the results of exploratory modelling in a notebook containing a series of increasingly disaggregated prediction graphs. These notebooks help researchers to increase their domain numeracy, i.e. develop a quantitative understanding of the patterns in the data. Regarding statistical uncertainty, we mitigate the risks of modelling sampling noise by using standard errors of binned averages as precision hints that serve as an indication of excessive disaggregation. We also lay out the path for regularising the estimates of the final results with Bayesian models by exploring methods of including the sampling weights in these models. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Quantitative Research Methods for Political Science, Public Policy and Public Administration for Undergraduates: 1st Edition With Applications in Excel is an adaption of Quantitative Research Methods for Political Science, Public Policy and Public Administration (With Applications in R). The focus of this book is on using quantitative research methods to test hypotheses and build theory in political science, public policy and public administration. This new version is designed specifically for undergraduate courses. It omits large portions of the original text that focused on calculus and linear algebra, expands and reorganizes the content on the software system by shifting to Excel and includes guided study questions at the end of each chapter. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-oer/1003/thumbnail.jpg