The paper is a review and evaluation of software used for the purpose of its correlation to content standards, ease of classroom use, ability to keep the student on task, and student appeal. This project was to create a software review based on instructional standards and the principles of Bloom's taxonomy, which is a classification of levels of thinking.

The paper is a review and evaluation of software used for the purpose of its correlation to content standards, ease of classroom use, ability to keep the student on task, and student appeal. This project was to create a software review based on instructional standards and the principles of Bloom's taxonomy, which is a classification of levels of thinking.

This diploma thesis focuses on the use of documentary films in English lessons with secondary school students. It consists of theoretical and practical part; this being further divided into didactic and research part. The theoretical part covers four main areas: aims of current education and language teaching, multimedia in teaching, authentic materials in English lessons, and documentary films as a didactic tool. By an eclectic combination of the most suitable findings, approaches and methods from these areas, three complex educational materials based on documentaries were constructed for English lessons. These materials contain worksheets for students, instructions for teachers, presentations for online teaching, and a set of additional sheets and present a ready-to-use tool for English classes. In the practical part, design of the materials is described, along with their subsequent evaluation by experienced English teachers. Based on the materials design and evaluation, the overall aim of this thesis is to find out whether documentary films and lessons based on them are effective for English language teaching (where the main criterion is whether they lead to fulfilling the aims of language teaching and current educational aims in general) and what their main benefits are. The data collected are...

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Vision and mission statements are believed to play an important role in organisations in their quest to provide clear and concise guidance to their ambitions and purpose. This is especially true for not-for profit organisations as they do not have a ‘bottom-line’ to drive performances and other strategic decisions. Although several studies have been conducted on the effect of effective vision and mission statements on organisations, there is no evidence of a study having been conducted on secondary schools in the Helderberg area, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which the vision and mission statements are communicated and used within the two secondary schools as part of their decision making processes, especially by the principals of these schools. In order to sufficiently address the implementation, communication and integration of the vision and mission statements in the secondary schools, the following research questions were formulated: • What is the level to which the school’s mission and vision statements are used by its principals to guide decision-making processes and the setting of goals and ambitions? • How well are the school’s mission and vision statements communicated to – and understood by its stakeholders? • How to properly create and integrate the school’s vision and mission statements in order to ensure improved and sustainable academic performances This study explores the levels of communication of the vision and mission statements most notably by the principals to the rest of the school’s stakeholders and the integration of these statements into the daily decision making processes. Furthermore, the study investigates the review process of these statements and whether the principals embody the values and visions of their respective schools. From the analysis of the findings, it was clear that these statements are still largely unknown within the two schools, as only 54% of the correspondents have ever seen these statements. The views were varied about whether principals have communicated the vision and mission statements to the stakeholders of the schools. According to Sherman (2001: 24) the ability to clearly and concisely communicate the vision and mission of the organisation is a critical characteristic of leadership. The study also concluded that the statements appeared to not have been fully understood, embodied and communicated by both the principals interviewed. The lack of a clear strategy and the focus on solving crisis issues at the schools were evident during the interviews with both principals. This research findings were analysed, concluded and recommendations made on the factors that could assist the establishment, communication and integration of the vision and mission statements within secondary schools within the Helderberg area.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This observational study involving intact groups and convenient sampling examined learning communities at four North Texas Community Colleges. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in cathectic learning climate, inimical ambiance, academic rigor, affiliation and structure among students in learning communities and freestanding classes. Learning communities are gaining nationwide popularity as instruments of reform in Higher Education. Recent studies have discussed the benefits of learning communities to student, faculty and institutions. As learning communities are gaining popularity, especially at the community college level, there is a need to determine if the learning communities are significantly different than freestanding classes. The College Classroom Environment Scales, developed by Winston, Vahala, Nichols, Gillis, Wintrow, and Rome (1989), was used as the survey instrument for this study. Using SPSS 10.1, a multivariate analysis of variance, (Hotelling's T2) was performed on five dependent variables: cathectic learning climate (CLC), inimical ambiance (IA), academic rigor (AR), affiliation (AF), and structure (ST), which yielded a significant difference. The independent variable was learning community compared to freestanding classes (group). Follow-up independent t tests were also conducted to evaluate the differences in the means between the two groups and to explore which dependent variables contributed to the multivariate difference, which resulted in significant differences in inimical ambiance, affiliation and structure. The researcher concludes that learning communities make a difference for some learners, but not necessarily all and that more research needs to be conducted to find the answers to the questions concerning the efficacy and sustainability of learning communities in higher education.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of examining the work and leisure values in the industrial society and identifying objectives and methods which develop these two values in the student through industrial arts. Information was gathered from the written works of industrial arts, general education, sociology, and psychology. The study offers a survey of work and leisure values which have evolved in the twentieth century. Also, it presents a historical perspective of industrial arts objectives relating to work and leisure values as they are influenced by the vocational, social, and general education movements. Finally, the study presents specific strategies and tactics which develop work and leisure values through industrial arts.

M.Ed. / Democracy is the focal point of this discussion. South Africa is a new democracy and its success depends on the quality of the contribution that her citizens will make. Enthusiasm alone will not work, but if coupled with a knowledge about democratic principles, it can make a difference. This study focuses on participation and co-responsibility as democratic principles. The school is seen as a place where these principles can be taught in a systematic way. The problems which are therefore addressed in this dissertation are, whether children are sufficiently informed about participation and co-responsibility by the time they reach Std. 10 and whether there are any aspects with regard to these principles about which children have almost no knowledge.

The purpose of this study is to examine the driving forces within the non-profit organization, Läxhjälpen. This study will limit itself to examining the non-profit organization Läxhjälpen which provides homework assistance throughout the country with its seat located in Stockholm - Sweden. In order to fulfill the purpose of this study, the following two questions are put forth: what motivates collaborators within Läxhjälpen, and which societal contribution dose the collaborators within Läxhjälpen see themselves contributing with to society as a whole? The data was collected with the help of semi-structured interviews. Interviews were held with a homework assistant, a coworker in charge of contacts, a coach and the person in charge of the region. The gathered material was subsequently analyzed with the help of the leading theories in motivation and sustainable development. The conclusions of this paper shows that the employees of the organization that has participated in this study get their motivation from multiple sources including but not limited to: autonomy, a feeling of responsibility, self-realization needs, competence development, and last but not least an opportunity to help the less fortunate. / Att arbeta ideellt fyller ett syfte i samhället. I Sverige existerar det cirka 251 000 verksamma ideella organisationer. Det är inte helt lätt att definiera vad en ideell organisationen är. Wijkström och Lundström (2002) diskuterar inom vilket ramverk en organisation skall befinna sig för att betraktas som ideell. Bland annat ska en organisation för att betraktas som ideell inneha en ideell målsättning, samt att den inte delar ut något ekonomiskt överskott till varken ägare eller andra involverade parter. Istället återinvesteras vinsten i organisationen. Att själviskt avvara tid från sin vardag för att hjälpa andra mot en symbolisk ersättning, eller ingen alls kan ses som en altruistisk handling som är nyttig i gemenemans liv då det inger känslor av glädje. Syftet med denna studie är att belysa drivkrafterna inom den ideella organisationen, Läxhjälpen. Studien har avgränsats till Stiftelsen Läxhjälpen som bedriver läxhjälpsprogram runt om i Sverige med sitt huvudsäte i Stockholm. För att kunna besvara studiens syfte har följande forskningsfrågor legat till grund: vad motiverar medarbetarna inom Läxhjälpen, samt vilket samhällsbidrag anser medarbetarna inom Läxhjälpen att de bidrar med? Insamlingen av data har skett med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer, där intervjuer skett med en läxhjälpare, kontaktansvarig, coach samt regionansvarig. Det insamlade materialet har sedermera analyserats med hjälp av teorier rörande motivation samt hållbar utveckling. Slutsatserna inom denna studie påvisar att medarbetarna som medverkat i studien inte motiveras av en ensam faktor utan att det är en samling av faktorer som innefattar; autonomi, en känsla av ansvarsfullhet, självförverkligande, kompetensutveckling, och kanske viktigast av allt, en chans att få hjälpa mindre lyckligt lottade människor och bidra till att dem får en möjlighet att förbättra sina livsvillkor.

The purpose of the current outcome study was to investigate the difference in grade 9 completion rate and student engagement between grade 9 students in the treatment group who received the Student Success Sills (SSS) classroom program (Brigman & Webb, 2010) and grade 9 students in the comparison group who did not receive the SSS classroom program. The sample consisted of grade 9 students enrolled in Intensive Reading classes, a required course for all high school students in the state of Florida who are below reading proficiency. School A served as the treatment group (n=98) and School B served as the comparison group (n=99). Certified school counselors in the treatment group implemented five, 45 minute SSS lessons and three booster lessons after being trained in the manualized use of the program and other related study procedures. A quasi-experimental pretest posttest research design was employed to examine the impact of the SSS classroom program on grade 9 completion rate and student engagement. The unit of analysis was individual grade 9 students. Grade 9 completion rate was measured by academic credits. Student engagement was measured by attendance rate and the Student Engagement in School Success Skills (SESSS) instrument. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection