The purpose of this study is to examine secondary mathematics teachers’ perceptions about technology integration in teaching the grade 9 Linear Relations Unit and to investigate the impact of these perceptions and teachers’ everyday practices on the development of student tasks, construction of content knowledge, and facilitation of students’ mathematical communication within the context of the Linear Relations Unit in grade 9 mathematics. Case studies were conducted with three mathematics teachers teaching in three urban secondary schools in Ontario. Qualitative data was collected through a series of ongoing classroom observations of the teachers. Additionally, interviews were conducted at the beginning and end of the data collection phase with each teacher. The results from this study suggest that the teachers perceived that the integration of technology in the Linear Relations Unit assisted them to: 1) create interactive and dynamic learning environments which helped make the content meaningful to students; 2) guide their instruction and to closely monitor students’ understanding and track their progress, by providing real time feedback; 3) help struggling students move forward in their learning when they did not master the prerequisite skills required to build upon a new math concept and to help them develop math interpretative and problem solving skills; 4) differentiate instruction and address different learning styles and skills making abstract content more tangible and helping students connect words to images and graphs; 5) teach students to verify and validate their answers and check for their correctness, as well as to avoid relying only on the visual aspect of mathematics; and 6) assist students build mathematical communication skills. Implications of the findings for future research and suggestions to secondary mathematics teachers integrating technology, in the context of the Linear Relations Unit, are also included.

The purpose of this study is to examine secondary mathematics teachers’ perceptions about technology integration in teaching the grade 9 Linear Relations Unit and to investigate the impact of these perceptions and teachers’ everyday practices on the development of student tasks, construction of content knowledge, and facilitation of students’ mathematical communication within the context of the Linear Relations Unit in grade 9 mathematics. Case studies were conducted with three mathematics teachers teaching in three urban secondary schools in Ontario. Qualitative data was collected through a series of ongoing classroom observations of the teachers. Additionally, interviews were conducted at the beginning and end of the data collection phase with each teacher. The results from this study suggest that the teachers perceived that the integration of technology in the Linear Relations Unit assisted them to: 1) create interactive and dynamic learning environments which helped make the content meaningful to students; 2) guide their instruction and to closely monitor students’ understanding and track their progress, by providing real time feedback; 3) help struggling students move forward in their learning when they did not master the prerequisite skills required to build upon a new math concept and to help them develop math interpretative and problem solving skills; 4) differentiate instruction and address different learning styles and skills making abstract content more tangible and helping students connect words to images and graphs; 5) teach students to verify and validate their answers and check for their correctness, as well as to avoid relying only on the visual aspect of mathematics; and 6) assist students build mathematical communication skills. Implications of the findings for future research and suggestions to secondary mathematics teachers integrating technology, in the context of the Linear Relations Unit, are also included.

In Canada, obesity and associated chronic diseases disproportionately affect First Nations children. The objectives of this research were to assess obesity, physical activity, and perceptions of lifestyle behaviors in Cree First Nations children (5-12 years) in one Alberta reserve community. Levels of obesity (20.0%), abdominal obesity (49.5%), and physical inactivity (64.0%) were high. Most overweight and obese children were also abdominally obese (88.0%). Focus groups interviews indicated that cultural/traditional knowledge was overarching and integral to childrens understandings of health, food, and activity. Discussions revealed that family members were childrens main source of health knowledge. Explanations of the meaning of health included healthy foods and activities, respectful relationships with nature, and the absence of chronic conditions. Children preferred foods and activities they considered to be healthy. Our findings indicate the need to develop local strategies that integrate cultural/traditional practices and ensure family participation to promote healthy weights in First Nations children. / Nutrition & Metabolism

Overall, this thesis purports to make two significant contributions to knowledge. The first is a foundational critique of political economy in the context of an emergent global knowledge economy. The second is a method for analysing evaluations in language. The relationships that give coherence to those two contributions are as follows. The widely-heralded emergence of a knowledge economy indicates that more intimate aspects of human activity have become exposed to commodification on a massive scale, specifically, activities associated with thought and language. Correspondingly, more abstract forms of value have developed as the products of thought and language have become dominant commodity forms. Historical investigation shows that value has moved from an objective category in political economy, pertaining to such substances as precious metals and land, to become situated today predominantly in “expert” expressions of language, or more precisely, their institutional contexts of production. These are now propagated and circulated on a global scale. Legal, political, and technological developments are key in the development of new, more abstract forms of labour and value, although the relationships connecting these are neither simple nor direct. They are, however, inseparably related in the trajectories that this thesis describes. Consequently they are dealt with inseparably throughout.

Doctor of Philosophy / This study investigates teachers’ perceptions of risk and risk-taking behaviours in the context of ICT-related educational change. Perceptions and behaviours are examined through teachers’ talk about risk: their individual perceptions of risk-taking, and how perceptions relate to risk perceptions in the wider school culture. When teachers implement new teaching practices and experiment in the classroom they are taking risks. Without the risk-taking, change is not possible. The research presented in this thesis examines teachers’ perceptions of risk in the area of ICT integration – utilizing ICT in the classroom to support student learning effectively. The research was carried out in Australia and the United States. A two-phase, mixed-method strategy was employed in the study. The first phase was primarily questionnaire-based, and captured data from both secondary and primary-level teachers, concerning aspects of teaching-efficacy, computer-efficacy, measures of playfulness & anxiety, and school culture. This phase made it possible to explore some of the relationships between these variables, develop and test instrumentation to distinguish between more and less risk-averse teachers and then select some contrasting teachers for further investigation. Phase two involved observation of these eight teachers’ teaching, several rounds of in-depth interviews, and the gathering of field notes from school visits. The thesis shows that risk-taking needs to be understood as an interaction between personal (teacher) and cultural (school) variables. Findings revealed that a primary area of concern in teachers’ perceptions of risk was risk to student achievement. Teachers who showed more potential to take risks talked about student achievement in terms of intrinsic motivation and engagement, while teachers with less potential to take risks saw achievement in terms of quantifiable results and test scores. Depending on a teacher’s risk-taking habits, perceived risks had more or less impact on the decision to integrate ICT into the classroom. Risk-taking behaviours related to teachers’ perceptions of the teacher role and school expectations of ICT-integration. Teachers’ risk perceptions proved to be related to their school’s cultural type, categorized using a grid-group typology. The two case study schools were found to be hierarchical cultures. In hierarchical cultures, technology is viewed as low-risk, as long as the manner in which it is used is approved by an expert. The findings have significant implications for the introduction of new technologies into school cultures, particularly in relation to the impact of school leadership and trust when schools are introducing ICT-related change initiatives.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2009. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 88 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

In many African countries, women’s disempowerment and subjugation affect their reproductive health services utilization. This situation becomes even more problematic for women during their vulnerable moments of childbirth. Although copious literature exists on women’s experiences in navigating socio-cultural, religious, economic and structural barriers during childbirth, there is paucity of literature on women’s perceptions of childbirth globally. Extant studies generally focus on health professionals’ and researchers’ perspectives on childbirth. This case study was conducted in two rural communities in Girar Jarso woreda of Ethiopia to explore women’s experiences and perceptions of childbirth. The purpose of this study was to understand the local contexts in which women live and their implications for women’s choice of place of birth and/or birth attendants in Girar Jarso woreda. It is hoped that this study would inform efforts to improve maternity health services delivery and uptake in Ethiopia. This case study was conducted within intersectionality theoretical framework. Data were collected through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, observation, fieldnotes and cultural interpretations. The data were analyzed and interpreted through social constructionist epistemological lens. This study employed inductive thematic analytical approach. The findings of this study were presented under themes consistent with research questions and were later analyzed and discussed in detail. The findings revealed that institutional birth is gaining popularity in Girar Jarso woreda in the face of socio-cultural, religious, economic, structural and personal barriers. The improvements in institutional birth can be attributed to the Ethiopian government’s persistent efforts to improve maternal, newborn and child health through policies, programs and initiatives. Despite improvements, transportation, health system characteristics, communal decision-making, preference for traditional birth among others, impede efforts to increase institutional birth. This study concluded that women’s experiences and perceptions of childbirth in Girar Jarso woreda are varied. Women’s powerlessness and men’s dominant decision-making position in Ethiopian society affect women’s birth experiences. To improve women’s overall birth experiences, mechanisms need to be established to address patriarchy, women’s rights, transportation challenges, and attitudes of health professionals towards laboring women. The health development program needs reconfiguration to involve men, elderly women and community leaders in reproductive health communication efforts. Efforts should be made to integrate traditional birthing practices into modern obstetric services in the health system. Finally, there is a need for greater collaboration between health extension workers, traditional birth attendants and women development armies in the delivery of community maternity health services.

This study examines how knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are associated with experiences of caregivers working with AD patients at long-term care facilities in the United States. This study was found understanding the relationships is important to provide a quality of healthcare services for optimal health outcomes among AD patients. This study employed a cross-sectional paper-pencil survey to collect the data. The survey asked participants to self-report quantitative information as to social demographics, knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes (independent variables) of AD, and perceived experiences (dependent variable) of caregivers working with AD patients at long-term care facilities. This result showed positive relationship between the perceived experience of the AD caregivers and all the three variables. While the relationships were not significant. The findings of the study provided implications for scale work practice, police, and research.

This study was based on the assumption that classroom teachers were in an advantageous position to judge their principal's role behavior and their principal's administrative performance. The problem of this study was to determine whether or not significant differences existed between teachers' perceptions of their principal's role behavior; whether or not significant differences existed between teachers' perceptions of their principal's administrative performance; and whether or not there was any relationship between teachers' perceptions of their principal's role behavior and his administrative performance. The findings in this study led to the following conclusions: Factors such as sex, education level, teaching experience, school level, school size, and school district do not effect principal’s behavior or administrative performance. However, differences were found in teacher perceptions for teachers with 5 years or less of teaching experience, rural/urban school setting, principal’s sex don’t differ in their role behavior; differing instead in educational leadership ability. It is concluded that principals are least effective in the area of educational leadership when comparing the four areas of administrative decision-making, communications, general administrative behavior, and educational leadership. They are most effective in general administrative behavior. Principals, in general, tend to exhibit transactional behavior. The majority of teachers do not indicate that their principal's role behavior has any relationship to their administrative performance as school principals.

Childhood obesity is a prevalent subject of research currently, and many researchers have studied the effectiveness of school programs in battling obesity among students. This case study, utilizing ethnographic tools of observation, interviews, and investigation of artifacts, examines educators' perceptions of the role of the school in the prevention of this epidemic, how perceptions affect practices, and the barriers to prevention efforts. The lens of caring theory, social justice, and critical theory frame the analysis of how educators in a medium-sized elementary school contend with the problem of childhood obesity. Educators in this setting perceived their role in the prevention of childhood obesity as limited and tended to blame parents for the condition of obese students. Because of this perception, attempts at prevention were somewhat sporadic and individualistic in nature. Barriers included a lack of training in critical reflection and the stresses of mandated testing and budget cuts. Teachers and staff members cared for their obese students' well-being, but generally lacked the resources to help them. They were often uncomfortable discussing obesity with parents and tended to avoid the subject, and unfortunately, this conversation needs to occur in order to find help for their obese students.