A confirmatory approach based on a multidimensional model (Douglas, Roussos, & Stout, 1996; Shealy & Stout, 1993; Stout & Roussos, 1995) was used to identify sources of differential item functioning (DIF) and differential bundle functioning (DBF) for boys and girls on the British Columbia Principles of Mathematics Exam for grade 12 (PME12). Data consisted of a total of 9404 examinees; 4335 girls and 5069 boys. There were 45 multiple choice items in the exam. Analyses were completed in two stages. In stage 1, patterns present in the gender DIF research in mathematics were identified. Stage 2 was the statistical confirmation of these patterns. Sources of gender DIF were confirmed for the content areas: polynomial, quadratic relations, logarithms and exponents. Items tapping higher cognitive levels dealing with patterns and relation, word problems, and items containing visuals were also confirmed as a source of DIF. Exploratory analyses indicated that computation items for which no equations are provided may be a source of DIF along with trigonometry items. This study contributes to an increased understanding of sources of gender DIF that may assist test developers to ensure that mathematics items measure the construct that they are intended to measure and that the test as a whole measures that which it purports to measure. The findings of this research provide an additional source of information about the differential performance of boys and girls that may be used to develop guidelines and test construction principles for reducing gender DIF in mathematics. This research also contributes to a greater understanding of gender differences in mathematics learning and achievement.

The time required to identify a common object depends on several factors, especially pre-existing knowledge and episodic representations newly established as a result of a prior study. My research examined how these factors contribute to identification of objects (both studied and non-studied) and to performance on explicit memory tests. The overall goal was to explore the link between memory and object perception. One series of experiments examined influences due to object orientation in the plane of the page. Subjects were shown color photos of objects, and memory was assessed either with an old/new recognition test or with a test that required them to identify objects that were slowly faded in on a computer monitor. The critical variables were the type of photo — each showing either an object with a predominant or cardinal orientation (e.g., helicopter) or a non-cardinal object (e.g., pencil), and the orientation at which the photos were displayed at study and at test (e.g., rotated 0°, 120°, or 240°). For non-studied targets, identification test performance showed a large effect due to display orientation, but only for cardinal objects. For studied targets, study-to-test changes in orientation influenced priming for both non-cardinal and cardinal objects, but orientation specific priming effects (larger priming when study and test orientations matched rather than mismatched) were much larger with cardinal than non-cardinal objects, especially, when their display orientation, at test was unusual (i.e., 120°, 240°). A second series of experiments examined influences due to object size (size of an object presented alone) and relative size (size of an object relative to another object). Size manipulations had a large effect on identification of non-studied objects but study-to- test changes in size had only a minimal effect on priming. In contrast, study1to-test changes in relative size influenced recognition decision speed which is an index of priming. The combined findings suggest that both semantic and episodic representations behave as if they coded orientation but only for cardinal objects. They also suggest that episodic representations code relative size but not size information. The findings are explained by the instance views of memory.

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The purpose of this study was to compare first- and second-language text comprehension across passage types. / Results indicate that there was no main effect for language when the total texts were compared. In contrast, a large difference was found for the type of passage read. Significantly higher recall and inferencing were found on the passages for which subjects had prior knowledge, regardless of the language of presentation. Although global comprehension measures did not reveal differences in text processing, more detailed paragraph-level analyses indicated that text processing differences were present. / Total reading times indicated that there was a large effect for the language in which the passage was read, with significantly longer reading times recorded for passages read in the second language. / These findings were interpreted as an indication that second-language reading comprehension capacity is underestimated. The findings also suggest that the type of passage read influences text comprehension more than the language in which it is read.

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The study is part of the first phase of a broader action research project that focuses on reading at a foundational level among both adults (Levels 1 and Levels 2) and children (Grade R – 4) in both IsiZulu and English, with the purpose of promoting a reading culture among educators, learners and other stakeholders in the learning community of the school. The study focused on the assessment of reading in English among Grade 4 learners at a rural primary school in Kwazulu-Natal. This focus included the methods and techniques used to assess learners reading at Grade 4 level. Also, it focused on the skills that are being assessed in reading. The broad purpose of the study was to investigate, analyse and understand the assessment of reading and the impact it had on Grade 4 learners’ development and growth in reading. The study shared the same objective as the broader project, which was to promote a reading culture. However, in order to create a reading culture, teachers need to use appropriate forms and tools of assessment and need to understand the role of assessment in the development of reading skills among young children. The purpose of reading assessment is to monitor the development of reading skills, to observe each learner’s progression in reading, and to allow teachers to design methods to assist learners in achieving desirable reading strategies. In the light of this, the study’s purpose was to identify the methods and/or forms of assessment that a teacher used to assess reading in her classroom as the basis for an intervention to improve the culture of reading at the school. The study attempted to answer the following questions: · What forms of assessments do teachers use in their reading classroom? · What reading skills are being assessed and developed? · How does the teacher assess reading? What process is used? · What types of texts are being used to assess reading in the reading classroom? In order to answer these questions the researcher used case study as the methodology and collected data using questionnaires, observations and interviews with the Grade 4 English teacher and school principal as well as kept a personal reflective journal. The data was analysed by means of content analysis and was coded according to the themes and patterns that emerged during the transcription process. To briefly sum up the findings that surfaced from the study, it was clear that the participants were aware of the importance of teaching and assessing comprehension of reading however, these were not practised in the classroom. In other words, the teacher focused on assessing decoding, pronunciation, fluency, accuracy and book handling skills; there was no assessment of comprehension. Furthermore, reading was only reading aloud and was repetitive in that learners first listened while the teacher read the text aloud, then they read the same text together as a class aloud, they read it again in groups aloud and finally were called individually to the front of the class to read a few lines from the text aloud for assessment. This reading assessment was a formative form of assessment, however reading was also assessed on a continuous weekly basis but was informally conducted. Lastly, there was a recurrence in the way the participant assessed reading in her classroom and the way in which her teacher assessed her reading while she was at school. These findings were just a few of the many findings that have been discussed in detail in Chapter Four of the dissertation. / Thesis (M.Ed)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

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There is no abstract available for this thesis.