The study looks at Lesotho Science teachers' understanding, practice and explanation of learner-centred education (LCE) prior to, during and after different activities. Six Physics teachers from Maseru were selected from 20 who attended an initial meeting and workshop. The selected teachers participated in the research for two years, completing a Baseline Study, then 3 cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting in the action research on LCE. During the Baseline Study and each of the action research cycles, the teachers' explanations, understandings and practices of learner-centred education were determined through analyses of discussions and meetings, lesson plans, classroom practices, responses to the literature and other support activities, and interviews with the teachers. The process was collaborative, with the teachers and the researcher working as a team in the planning, observations of classrooms, reflections and analyses. The teachers changed their understanding and practices significantly in the course of the study. Consistent with the Concerns-based Adoption Model (CBAM), their primary concerns shifted from classroom management issues and impediments to learner-centred education in their schools at the start, to adaptation, innovation, and conducting teacher-workshops at the end. Early in the project, they opted for a model of learner-centred education comprised of three levels: caring for learners and their learning; adopting learner-centred teaching methods and allowing learners to influence the content and desired outcomes of the learning. During the research, within the team and in classrooms, the teachers developed each of these levels, though they applied the third level more in their own learning as part of the action research, than in their classrooms. At the end, the teachers co-constructed a model of LCE which they felt was doable under the conditions in Lesotho (including school constraints and competing demands on teachers and curriculum), and which would meet the expectations of principals, parents and learners. The teachers changed not only in their professional knowledge and skills, but in social-professional and self-professional aspects. For example, they began inviting other teachers to observe their classes, they conducted workshops in their schools, and enrolled for higher degrees. The teachers persisted with the study for two years, not because of school expectations or pressures, but because they wanted to participate. Their motivation was high, arising from a mix of personal, professional, career and school factors. Their motivations shifted during the research, as their knowledge and concerns changed, and they came to see different opportunities from what they had imagined at the start. Through participation and collaboration, they extended the objectives and outcomes of the study beyond its initial focus on learner-centred education in classrooms: they defined and addressed their own personal, social and professional interests. The data demonstrated that teachers' engagement with in-service activities that provide for long-term project-based learning, critical collaboration, support and reflection, can bring personal and group change more significantly than in conventional district and national workshops. / Theses (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu Natal, 2005.

Thesis (Ph.D) -- The College of Saint Elizabeth, 2010. / Typescript. Available at The College of Saint Elizabeth - Office of Graduate Programs. "May 2010"

"A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education." Title from PDF of title page (Georgia Southern University, viewed on May 6, 2010). Delores D. Liston, major professor; Grigory Dmitriyev, Hsiu-Lien Lu, David Alley, committee members. Electronic version approved: December 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p.167-181).

Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-26T18:49:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PAULA_stuch_DISSERTACAO_EDUCACAO_novo.pdf: 548465 bytes, checksum: 01bf3ed10087e3663bd575d2282c0ca8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-01-26 / The present work is a research about the influence of the software Cabri-Géomètre in Geometry teaching. It has as goal to verify if Cabri-Géomètre collaborates with the learning of geometric concepts in Ensino Fundamental. The adopted methodology was of qualitative nature of the kind research-action of Phenomenologic approach. The research was accomplished in the State School Colonel Francisco Whitacker, in Anhumas SP, it was developed in 13 sessions of 50 minutes and it had as participants 27 students from 7th grade, all them with ages among 13 and 14 years. About the theoretical foundation we punctuated some ideas that were taken as categories of analysis: a) explore what the student have already known collaborating the significative learning; b) aspects that difficults or makes impossible the learning; c) the importance of the didactic contract which establishes teacher and student s reciprocal obligations; d) use the computer as tool to help on the learning; e) allow the student to discover and construct his own ideas, giving emphasis to the concrete knowledge according to the construcionist approach; f) work the sequence of five levels of the model Van Hiele: visualization, analysis, informal deduction, formal deduction and inflexibility. As result, we verify that the software brings contributions to the learning because it helps to establish na inviting didactic contract for good terms in classroom, allows the exploration of previous knowledge, it is na environment that helps the hypothesis be formulated and testified and it also can be used in a construcionist environment. / A presente dissertação trata de uma pesquisa sobre a influência do software Cabri-Géomètre no ensino de Geometria. Teve como objetivo verificar se o Cabri-Géomètre favorece a aprendizagem de conceitos geométricos no Ensino Fundamental. A metodologia adotada foi de natureza qualitativa do tipo pesquisa-ação de abordagem Fenomenológica. A pesquisa foi realizada na Escola Estadual Coronel Francisco Whitacker, de Anhumas SP, desenvolveu-se ao longo de 13 sessões de 50 minutos e teve como participantes 27 alunos de 7ª série, todos eles com idades entre 13 e 14 anos. Da fundamentação teórica pontuamos algumas idéias que foram tomadas como categorias de análise: a) explorar o que o aluno já sabe favorecendo a aprendizagem significativa; b) aspectos que dificultam ou impossibilitam a aprendizagem; c) a importância do contrato didático que estabelece as obrigações recíprocas do professor e do aluno; d) utilizar o computador como ferramenta para auxiliar na aprendizagem; e) permitir que o aluno descubra, pesquise e construa suas próprias idéias, dando ênfase ao conhecimento concreto segundo a abordagem construcionista; f) trabalhar a seqüência dos cinco níveis do modelo Van Hiele: visualização, análise, dedução informal, dedução formal e rigor. Como resultado, constatamos que o software traz contribuições para a aprendizagem, pois ele ajuda a estabelecer um contrato didático convidativo a boas relações em sala de aula, permite a exploração de conhecimentos prévios, é um ambiente que favorece que as hipóteses sejam formuladas e testadas e também pode ser usado em um ambiente construcionista.

Orientador: Fernanda Keila Marinho da Silva / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T22:25:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Castro_PauloBussabLemosde_M.pdf: 3523182 bytes, checksum: abb53ab54f498d132bca320cfe290231 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: A partir de um projeto voltado à formação continuada de professores com foco na elaboração de conhecimentos escolares relacionados à Ciência, à Sociedade e ao Ambiente derivou-se uma vivência intitulada "Construção coletiva de um projeto de revitalização e primeira intervenção em uma Área de Proteção Permanente urbana, Campinas-SP" que contou com a participação de alunos do ensino médio vinculados ao "Programa de iniciação Científica Júnior, CNPq/UNICAMP (PIC-Jr.)". Essa pesquisa apoiou-se nessa vivência, objetivando refletir sobre as apropriações feitas por estudantes de ensino médio durante sua participação em pesquisa científica, visando identificar o impacto da parceria da Universidade e escola para estes alunos. Para o desenvolvimento da presente dissertação realizou-se entrevistas semiestruturadas e análise dos relatórios de pesquisa dos alunos bolsistas PIC-Jr., bem como entrevistas com as respectivas orientadoras desses estudantes. As análises foram feitas à luz da metodologia da pesquisa qualitativa e da análise de conteúdo de Bardin. As análises do conteúdo das entrevistas somadas aos relatórios dos estudantes indicaram a construção de conhecimentos científicos vinculados ao local da escola, uma vez que o entorno foi tomado como problema de ensino, possibilitando desenvolver uma concepção ambiental que conduziu os alunos a compreenderem não só as ações de uma determinada área cientifica, mas também relacioná-las com outras áreas do conhecimento. A natureza dos conhecimentos adquiridos sugerem as vertentes de um educação científica voltada para a Ciência-Tecnologia- Sociedade-Ambiente. Nesse contexto, a parceria entre a universidade e a escola proporcionou a compreensão de conteúdos científicos, mas também possibilitou o desenvolvimento e a aplicação de atividades que tiveram por meta envolver a comunidade local buscando discussões e possível consenso acerca de problemas vivenciados pela mesma. Os dados apontam também que a parceria entre a universidade e a escola conduziu os estudantes a desmistificarem a instituição universitária, propiciando-lhes refletir sobre a possibilidade e a importância de sua inserção nesse espaço / Abstract: From a project to continuing teacher education focusing on preparing the development of school knowledge related to Science, Society and the Environment, another experiment was derived entitled "Collective construction of a revitalization project and first intervention in a Urban Permanent Protection Area, Campinas-SP "which featured the participation of high school students bound to" Scientific initiation Junior program, CNPq / UNICAMP". This research was supported in this experience in order to reflect on the appropriations made by high school students during their participation in scientific research, aiming to the identify the impact of the partnership of University and school for these students. For the development of this dissertation was held semi-structured interviews and analysis of research reports of these scholarship students PIC-Jr., as well as interviews with their guiding of these students. Analyses were made in light of the qualitative research methodology and content analysis of Bardin. The analyzes content of the interviews added to the reports of the students indicated the construction of scientific knowledge linked to the school site, once the place has been taken as a problem of teaching, allowing to develop a design of environment conception that led students understand not only the actions of a particular scientific area, but also to relate them to other areas of knowledge. The nature of the knowledges acquired suggest the areas of a scientific education directed at the Science-Technology-Society-Environment. In this context, the partnership between the university and the school provided an understanding of scientific content, but also possibilited the development and application of activities which had the goal to involve the local community, seeking discussions and possible consensus about problems the experienced by the same. The data also indicate that the partnership between the university and the school led students to demystify the university, allowing them to reflect on the possibility and importance of their inclusion in this space / Mestrado / Ensino e Historia de Ciencias da Terra / Mestre em Ensino e Historia de Ciencias da Terra

An information ecology, in the words of MIT Press, is “a system of people, technologies and values in a local environment” (2000:[online]). This inquiry uses the elements of the information ecology – the interdependent system, its wealth of diversity, the co-evolutionary nature of the relationships within the environment, the leadership of keystone species, and the relationships and technology within its locality – to provide a framework within which to reflect on my learning as a postgraduate student at the Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg). Situated in a postmodern philosophical perspective and informed by constructivism, deconstructionism and critical theory, the phenomenological inquiry uses John Dewey’s model of reflective thought (1933) to examine the reasons for the disparity in the transfer of their new expertise by students who have participated in postgraduate programmes at the University, and to determine the principle factor that led to my incorporating such new skills into my own teaching practice. Evidence of this transfer of skills is presented in the description of an action research intervention that I designed and implemented in teaching basic computer skills to a group of ACE students in 2004. / Mr. G.V. Lautenbach

The project describes the action research implementation, and evaluation of learning, of a service-learning component in a second year undergraduate organic chemistry course. The research aims to explore the learning that takes place in a service-learning context while utilizing an action research methodology within the critical theory paradigm. This occurs in response to the world-wide call for Higher Education to produce people with civic competencies and responsiveness to the society in which they live (Boyer 1996). Educating young Chemists to see the importance of their knowledge and their responsibilities in society is an important pedagogical step in the effort to cross boundaries and make connections between people communities (Eyler and Giles 1999). The goal of this project was to explore and categorize the learning that takes place in a service-learning context and discover how these areas of learning impact the awareness of the parties involved with regard to the discipline of chemistry as well as social issues. The project makes use of Kolb‘s (1984) Experiential Learning Theory, and Eyler and Giles‘ (1999) categories of learning in service-learning and results indicate that service-learning can be a powerful pedagogical tool to increase learning in chemistry as well as in the areas of critical thinking, personal and social development, reflection and citizenship. Students‘ perceptions of themselves, their discipline and their responsibility to society were transformed by their experience of service-learning in their undergraduate chemistry course.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-18T17:54:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PAULA_stuch_DISSERTACAO_EDUCACAO_novo.pdf: 548465 bytes, checksum: 01bf3ed10087e3663bd575d2282c0ca8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-01-26 / The present work is a research about the influence of the software Cabri-Géomètre in Geometry teaching. It has as goal to verify if Cabri-Géomètre collaborates with the learning of geometric concepts in Ensino Fundamental. The adopted methodology was of qualitative nature of the kind research-action of Phenomenologic approach. The research was accomplished in the State School Colonel Francisco Whitacker, in Anhumas SP, it was developed in 13 sessions of 50 minutes and it had as participants 27 students from 7th grade, all them with ages among 13 and 14 years. About the theoretical foundation we punctuated some ideas that were taken as categories of analysis: a) explore what the student have already known collaborating the significative learning; b) aspects that difficults or makes impossible the learning; c) the importance of the didactic contract which establishes teacher and student s reciprocal obligations; d) use the computer as tool to help on the learning; e) allow the student to discover and construct his own ideas, giving emphasis to the concrete knowledge according to the construcionist approach; f) work the sequence of five levels of the model Van Hiele: visualization, analysis, informal deduction, formal deduction and inflexibility. As result, we verify that the software brings contributions to the learning because it helps to establish na inviting didactic contract for good terms in classroom, allows the exploration of previous knowledge, it is na environment that helps the hypothesis be formulated and testified and it also can be used in a construcionist environment. / A presente dissertação trata de uma pesquisa sobre a influência do software Cabri-Géomètre no ensino de Geometria. Teve como objetivo verificar se o Cabri-Géomètre favorece a aprendizagem de conceitos geométricos no Ensino Fundamental. A metodologia adotada foi de natureza qualitativa do tipo pesquisa-ação de abordagem Fenomenológica. A pesquisa foi realizada na Escola Estadual Coronel Francisco Whitacker, de Anhumas SP, desenvolveu-se ao longo de 13 sessões de 50 minutos e teve como participantes 27 alunos de 7ª série, todos eles com idades entre 13 e 14 anos. Da fundamentação teórica pontuamos algumas idéias que foram tomadas como categorias de análise: a) explorar o que o aluno já sabe favorecendo a aprendizagem significativa; b) aspectos que dificultam ou impossibilitam a aprendizagem; c) a importância do contrato didático que estabelece as obrigações recíprocas do professor e do aluno; d) utilizar o computador como ferramenta para auxiliar na aprendizagem; e) permitir que o aluno descubra, pesquise e construa suas próprias idéias, dando ênfase ao conhecimento concreto segundo a abordagem construcionista; f) trabalhar a seqüência dos cinco níveis do modelo Van Hiele: visualização, análise, dedução informal, dedução formal e rigor. Como resultado, constatamos que o software traz contribuições para a aprendizagem, pois ele ajuda a estabelecer um contrato didático convidativo a boas relações em sala de aula, permite a exploração de conhecimentos prévios, é um ambiente que favorece que as hipóteses sejam formuladas e testadas e também pode ser usado em um ambiente construcionista.

“In what ways does teaching with folk arts inspired visual arts-based instruction enhance community building among elementary students in a Title I school?” was the primary research question in this study. Agreeing with past and present day research that the construct of community is vital to social and cultural capital, this research attempts to determine how the notion of community benefits both students and teachers in the elementary art classroom. Folk art was utilized because this genre was accessible in terms of locality and familiarity among students and teachers. The purpose of this investigation was to produce teaching strategies and methods that show how community can be formed in the art classroom. The participants were elementary students, Grades 2 and 3, in a Title I school located in Denton, Texas. This investigation was conducted under an action research methodology. This approach to research is intended to be transformational, emergent, and accommodating. I recorded observations, field notes, and conversations from the participants. Emergent themes were discovered through content analysis and conceptual maps. Results from this investigation concluded transformation is only possible if the person wants change to happen. Data also showed that community and art education are symbiotic. Transformation, growth, and cultivation are demands that must be met in order for this relationship to flourish. In addition, data suggested that the role of folk arts-based lessons played a significant role in building community among second and third graders.

Bibliography: pages 299-310. / This study explores the contribution that the learners and the teacher made to curriculum development in a process approach to English as a second language for adults. The research was carried out with a group of workers attending a basic English course in an adult education programme on the East Rand. This study covers the entire sixteen month period from 1986 to 1987, and was carried out by the teacher-as-researcher. The research methodology was a form of illuminative evaluation, using syllabus accounts. These accounts provided a record of what took place in the classroom and were organised into three main themes. Subsequent analysis of the accounts focussed on learner and teacher roles in determining the learning experiences generated in the classroom. These findings were then re-examined in the light of the literature on process approaches. Conclusions were drawn about these roles and the implications for teacher development and learner training. Subsequently these conclusions were presented as illuminative data to reflect upon the curriculum framework underlying process approaches. The conclusions drawn in this study challenge the assumption that learners and the teacher jointly and equally negotiate learning in a process approach. Instead they suggest that the teacher is very much in control as the overall manager of curriculum development, and that learners are secondary agents in this endeavour. The roles of both parties are also more complex and more interlinked than the literature implies. Following this, conclusions were drawn about the roles that learners and the teacher played in curriculum development in this study. The research went on to examine the broader implications of these findings, by assessing the feasibility of a process approach for large-scale adult basic education work in South Africa. From this assessment, a new 'hybrid' approach was proposed which retains important features of a process approach while modifying it to make it more accessible and appropriate for South Africa's needs. Finally, the study identified future research directions.