This portfolio is a compilation of beliefs about effective foreign language (FL) teaching. The core of this portfolio is a teaching philosophy, in which theories, such as comprehensible input, teacher and student roles, and activities are explained. The teaching philosophy is accompanied by a reflection of the authors teaching observed from a video. Following the teaching philosophy and personal teaching reflection are three artifacts centered on language, culture, and literacy. The language artifact contains an observational study in which instructors’ practices are compared with their beliefs. The cultural artifact is focused on storytelling. Many civilizations employ storytelling in the form of oral traditions to pass on learning. In the artifact, effectiveness of storytelling as an approach to FL teaching and learning is examined. The literacy artifact is a proposal for a research study. In the proposal, questions are raised about the effectiveness of computer-aided support materials offered to students as they navigate various texts. The final sections of the portfolio contain a “looking forward” section, an annotated bibliography, and references.

Mathematics presents a stumbling block to many students, particularly those majoring in scientific fields, business administration, or elementary education. Improvement of student achievement in mathematics at the lower division college level is needed. Seven instructional methods were investigated in terms of student achievement: programmed instruction (P.I.), individualized instruction (I.I.), computer based instruction (CBI), laboratory and discovery methods (Lab), television (TV), audio-tutorial (A-T), and tutoring. The research questions were: (1) What is the relative effectiveness of the innovative instructional methods as measured by student achievement and compared to the traditional lecture method? (2) What is the relative effectiveness of the innovative instructional methods on students of differing ability and course levels. (3) What is the effectiveness of combinations of the innovative instructional methods? A meta-analytical approach was used. Studies comparing an innovative method to the lecture or to another innovative method were located, and the summary data in each were used to calculate an "effect size"--a standardized measure of the effectiveness of the innovative method--to which statistical procedures were applied. The meta-analysis found that (1) Relative to the lecture method, six of the innovative methods produced a positive effect on student achievement. The ranking of the methods in order of decreasing effectiveness was: tutoring, CAI, A-T, I.I., P.I., Lab, TV. (2) The most effective methods by level of course were: (a) Precalculus level: CAI, A-T, and tutoring; (b) Calculus level: tutoring, I.I., P.I., and A-T; (c) Foundations of Mathematics (elementary education majors): P.I.; Descriptive Geometry: TV. The most effective methods by ability level of the student were: (a) High ability: CAI and Lab; (b) Middle ability: CAI, I.I., and P.I.; (c) Low ability: P.I. and A-T. (3) The lack of empirical studies prevent a determination of the relative effectiveness of combinations of the innovative methods. Recommendations include the following: (1) Variation of instructional methods; (2) Incorporation of specific, effective elements of innovative methods into the lower division college mathematics instructor's repertoire; and (3) Empirical investigation of the effectiveness of combinations of methods and of various instructional methods on students of different ability levels.

Responding to recent calls throughout the field for more studies of teaching, I present case studies of four elementary teachers--two fourth grade, two fifth grade--implementing process pedagogy in writers' workshops. Specifically, I examine how they teach, why they succeed and fail, and what they need to teach more effectively. Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the study, explaining my purpose and rationale. Chapter 2 builds a knowledge base by presenting a survey of the recent literature on elementary school writing teaching. Focusing primarily on the works of Donald Graves, Lucy Calkins, and Nancie Atwell--the prime movers in the field--it details the major principles and components of the writing-process movement. Chapter 3 lays out the concrete particulars and theoretical bases of my research, explaining context, methodology, and presentation. Chapters 4 through 7 present individual case studies of the teachers I studied. Each chapter includes four sections: (1) Teacher Profile, (2) Classroom Observations, (3) Interview, and (4) Interpretation. Chapter 8 analyzes why these teachers teach writing as they do, re-evaluates the revolution in elementary writing, and speculates on the future of writing instruction at this school. In line with the experimental movement in contemporary ethnography, I have written this dissertation in a conversational tone and confessional voice. Through alternative text-building strategies, I attempt to make my epistemology visible and to represent this teaching community completely.

<p>The inclusion of technology in the school curriculum has been a concern in many countries following the 1990 Jomtien World Conference on Education for ALL (Jenkins, 1996). However, there are different perspectives and views about technology education. As a result technology has been included in the school curriculum in varied ways.</p> <p><br /> In recognition of the importance of technology in economic development, Lesotho has attempted to include technology in the school curriculum by incorporating science and technology. This study evaluated the Lesotho science curriculum which incorporates technology. The evaluation study is based on the framework first proposed by Stake (1967). Stake&rsquo / s model addresses the relationship between the intended curriculum and the implemented curriculum (Stenhouse, 1988). In this study the intended curriculum is defined as the curriculum plan as depicted in the curriculum materials such as the syllabus, the examinations questions papers and the textbook which was used as an exemplary material for teaching the science-technology curriculum. The implemented curriculum is viewed as what actually happened at school level as teachers tried to interpret the curriculum developer&rsquo / s plan. Although Stake&rsquo / s model served as a guide in the collection and analysis of empirical data, other theoretical areas supported it. These included Gardner&rsquo / s (1990) approaches to the incorporation of science and technology / the constant comparative approach (Merriam, 1998) / and some aspects of curriculum theory, particularly curriculum development and curriculum evaluation as espoused in the works of certain scholars (e.g. Ornstein and Hunkins, 2004 / Stenhouse, 1988). The study was designed as a multiple-site case study (Merriam, 1998). The sites where in-depth study of the implemented curriculum was done were four high schools in Lesotho. The intended curriculum was mainly examined by analysing the curriculum materials such as the syllabus, the examinations question paper and the textbook. The methods that were used for collecting the data were interviews, classroom observations, document analysis, and the achievement tests.</p>

The purpose of this study was to determine if one hour of field instruction by a specialist would significantly increase fifth graders' knowledge and understanding of the concepts of ecological succession in abandoned fields at the Trumbull Area Land Laboratory in Trumbull County, Ohio.The research included the development of educational objectives and a curriculum to teach these objectives. An evaluation instrument was administered to a sampling of six classes before and after instruction. The results were analyzed to determine each question's discrimination index and difficulty level. A control group was utilized to measure the test's reliability.Data proved the test to have high reliability, but too high a degree of difficulty. A positive discrimination was shown on all items, but five were less than satisfactory. Three questions were shown to be invalid and none of the objectives were completely achieved. The conclusion reached was that the topic "Ecological Succession in Abandoned Fields" is too difficult to effectively convey in one hour to fifth graders at the level of understanding which the objectives were written.

The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze perceptional differences among department chairs, faculty, and instructors toward the barrier to using multiple teaching strategies in two-year technical and community college electronics courses. The literature review focused on defining multiple teaching strategies and identifying and discussing four major perceived barriers to implementing them in the electronics classroom: student, resources, classroom environmental, and teacher training/teaching technology. The targeted population consisted of 150 out of 231 electronics teaching technical and community college department chairs, faculty, and instructors throughout the state of Texas. In actuality, the targeted population's breakdown consisted of 36 full-time electronics teaching department chairs, 96 full-time electronics teaching faculty and instructors, and 18 part-time electronics teaching faculty and instructors who were actively involved in the delivery of instruction in their respective schools. Analysis of the data revealed that: (1) there are no significant differences among the perceptions of department chair people, faculty, and instructors toward the four perceived barriers to implementing multiple teaching strategies in a post-secondary electronics program; and (2) there are no significant differences in the perceptions electronics faculty members categorized by years teaching experience toward each of the four perceived barrier categories to implementing multiple teaching strategies in a post-secondary electronics program. However, further research is needed to substantiate what other barriers exist that may have an impact upon utilizing multiple teaching strategies in two-year technical and community college electronics courses.

This thesis describes an investigation into the outcomes of a developmental project focussed on improving the word reading skills of a group of (n=77) secondary school students across five different school settings in a South West of England Local Authority. The 'Plymouth Precision Teaching Project' was conducted during the 2007/8 academic year commencing in September 2007 through to April 2008. The project involved the delivery of regular Precision Teaching (PT) programmes across two cohorts (1 and 2) of students by Teaching Assistants (TAs) in each school who themselves received ongoing training and support throughout the project. This thesis reports on three inter-connected aspects of research stemming from the project: Aspect One considered the impact of PT interventions delivered by trained TAs on groups of secondary school students with literacy learning needs through a quasi-experimental design. Aspect Two investigated the adaptations made by TAs within PT programmes to improve student word reading skills; from here a framework for systematic teaching adaptations was formulated, trialled and reviewed. Aspect Three drew on the experiences of school staff and their learning throughout the initiative. The value of participating in the research was investigated through exploring TAs’ reflections on the development of their understanding of the processes and practices surrounding ‘teaching and learning’. Outcomes of the research point to the continuing contribution of PT to addressing basic reading skill needs through heightened structure to intervention delivery, promotion and scrutiny of ‘treatment fidelity’ and an ongoing, systemic approach to the development of staff skills. This thesis also emphasises the mutual benefits that a collaborative project such as this can bring about; not only can staff contribute to the development of intervention approaches and provide high-quality interventions, but they can also develop their professional knowledge too. As a venture networking schools, a local authority educational psychology service and a university department, it is suggested this thesis reflects a description of the ground modernised educational psychology services should seek to occupy more and more.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

This research was motivated by introduction of the topic of evolution in the Grade 12 curriculum in South African schools in 2008. Overseas research shows that evolution is a very controversial topic to teach, raising serious concerns for teachers. The need for appropriate professional development was urgent, but many Life Sciences had been dissatisfied with government workshops they had attended in preparation for the new curriculum. Furthermore, the teachers were sceptical about their ability to explain the theory of evolution because they did not have adequate content knowledge to teach the subject. Curriculum change theory dealing with „stages of concern‟ suggests that teachers implementing a new curriculum move through a series types of concern, and that if their initial concerns are not addressed teachers will be slow to move on to more task-related matters. This study aimed to identify the early concerns and needs of teachers who had to teach evolution for the first time in a new Life Sciences school curriculum, in order to provide crucial information for service providers who have to design appropriate support workshops. Data were gathered using seven activity-based questionnaires, from a convenience sample of two groups of teachers (n = 45 and n = 74) from various districts in Gauteng, attending 2007 and 2008 in-service training workshops on the teaching of evolution. The data were analyzed using open coding and frequency counts. The data revealed that teachers had concerns on different levels, the majority of concerns identified being „self-concerns‟ dealing with personal worries and need for information. Late concerns were less prevalent. A further analysis of self-assessed knowledge levels of teachers as well as actual levels (based on definitions of biological evolution provided by the teachers and results of an evolution quiz designed to diagnose possible misconceptions) was done. The data showed that the knowledge of most teachers was poor, and that many teachers over-estimated the adequacy of their own knowledge. This information is useful for the teachers themselves, curriculum developers and those involved in professional development.

A research project submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, Wits School of Education, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Science Education. November 2014 / This study was on the investigation of the effectiveness of the Sci-Bono outreach programme in the teaching of electrochemistry at grade11. Two aspects were used to measure effectiveness. The first aspect was a change in learners’ ability to answer questions before and after intervention. The second aspect was the programme’s ability to eliminate common misconceptions in electrochemistry. A sample of five schools was used in the study. At each school a pre-test was given to learners before intervention and a similarly structured and equally difficult task was given after intervention as a post-test. The marks for each learner were compared and the results for each school were analysed using a Wilcoxon signed rank test and a paired data test. Results from both methods of analysis reflected significant improvement in learners’ ability to answer questions after intervention at all five schools that made the sample of the research. A question by question analysis was also done to check a change learners’ ability to answer specific questions. Improvement in answering particular questions differed significantly, pointing out that certain concepts had been grasped better than others. Interviews were held with both learners and their teachers. These interviews were held to try and determine the extent to which misconceptions had been identified and eliminated. Pre-tests and post-test analysis reflected that one common misconception, where learners define oxidation and reduction in terms of addition and removal of oxygen was completely eliminated. Learner interviews however reflected a 75% success rate in the elimination of the misconception. Analysis of pre-tests and post-test results also showed a 75% success rate in the elimination of a misconception of the second misconception, where learners take an oxidising agent as a substance that has been oxidised and a reducing agent as a substance that has been reduced, compared to 76% from analysis of the learners’ interview results. Teacher interview results also reflected that the Sci-Bono outreach programme is to a high degree able to eliminate common misconceptions electrochemistry. From lesson observation and teacher interviews another misconception came to light. The misconception held by some learners is that ‘the oxidation number is the number of oxygen atoms in the molecule of a compound.’ This misconception was also tackled. During teachers’ interviews it emerged that all host teachers perceive the Sci-Bono Subject Matter Experts as effective in eliminating the identified common misconceptions in electrochemistry. The researcher is convinced that the Sci-Bono outreach programme improves the learners’ ability to answer questions in electrochemistry and that they address misconceptions in their teaching. The intervention however does not completely eliminate common misconceptions in electrochemistry. The Sci-Bono outreach programme is thus only effective to a certain extent in the teaching of electrochemistry at grade 11. The study also revealed that the teachers at schools expect the Sci-Bono Subject Matter Experts to have better pedagogical skills and they also expect them to bring scarce resources when they visit schools. They expect them to be able to tackle all formal and informal experiments covered in the grade11 curriculum. They believe that, in addition to enabling the elimination of misconceptions, the practicals carried out by the Sci-Bono SMEs also enhance understanding and provide practical skills to learners.