The aim of this study is to investigate teachers&rsquo / perceptions of constraints on improving student thinking skills in schools, and to find out whether there are differences in teachers&rsquo / perceptions of constraints in terms of subject area, educational background, teaching experience, gender, geographical area, and school location. A survey design was used in this study. The questionnaire used in the study was developed by making use of the related literature, and it was administered to 522 teachers working in the public high schools in four different regions of Turkey during the fall semester of 2002-2003 academic year. The data gathered are analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics (one-way ANOVA and t-test). There were four major constraints on improving student thinking, namely, teacher-related, student-related, curriculum-related, and external factors to classroom. The results indicated that the most agreed constraints were the student-related ones. The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences in teachers&rsquo / perceptions of the constraints on improving student thinking based on the background variables, i.e., subject area, educational background, teaching experience, gender, geographical region, and school location.

Currently, there is no standard protocol to identify students who are gifted in science. If students are identified as gifted early on in elementary school, teachers and parents can foster their interest, increasing the students’ knowledge, value, and affect as well as their willingness to re-engage science (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; Gottfried & Gottfried, 1996; Häussler 1987; Neber & Schommer-Aikins, 2002; Osborne, 2003; Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008). In this study, a brief student identification form was developed for elementary school teachers to complete. The form was based on Hidi and Renninger’s (2006) four-phase model of interest development. The form was one piece of a more comprehensive identification protocol. Students in grades second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth from six Warren County elementary schools were asked to participate in this study. However, due to insufficient data, grades two and six were not used after collection. Few sixth grade teachers completed the forms and second graders did not take the ITBS. This study primarily focused on identifying students from underrepresented populations. These six schools, Cumberland Trace, Bristow, Lost River, Oakland, Richardsville, and North Warren, were chosen based on their larger population of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

This study assessed the most valid predictors of success of students entering into an undergraduate teacher preparation program in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Using existing institutional data from a small, private, urban university in Philadelphia, analyses of the data identified variables with the greatest predictive ability. The variables were then used to develop a prediction model that predicts performance on the Basic Skills Math Test and Basic Skills Reading Test. The results of this study provide the university with an instrument to identify students most likely to pass the basic skills test and gain entry into the teacher preparation program. The results of this study also provide the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania support for using SAT scores as a measure of proficiency of basic skills in gaining entry into an undergraduate teacher preparation program. Implications of the research on admissions practices, teacher preparation program development, and education reform are discussed in the recommendations. / Educational Leadership

South Africa needs an economy which is competitive and successful. Therefore, it is important that an education system will provide a skilled work force. Learners need to develop biology skills that will equip them for life, enable them to solve problems and think critically. Unfortunately South Africa is presently encountering a lack of skilled citizens. The reasons for this most probably is that the biology curriculum is mainly discipline-based, content-loaded and largely irrelevant, resulting in learners not furthering their studies in biology and related fields. The biology matriculation examination has a strangle hold on what is taught. Lengthy, content-loaded curricula emphasise the memorising of facts by means of expository teaching methods, leaving little opportunity to teach the application of information and skills to solve problems in real life situations. The teaching methods of biology are thus not sufficiently stimulating and motivating. Biology teaching should not only concentrate on facts or explain facts to learners, but should also concentrate on ways or processes by means of which these facts can be obtained. To implement a process approach where learners can develop basic- and integrated skills is not an easy task for those involved. The empirical research of this study, confirmed the findings throughout the literature study that various factors hamper the effective implementation of the process approach. It is important that negative factors such as 'large classes' and 'a lengthy syllabus' (in historically disadvantaged [HD] and advantaged schools [HA]) and 'lack of equipment' and 'resource material' (only in HD schools) which received high percentages in the survey, will duly be considered when implementing the process approach, curriculum 2005 or 21. These factors can exert a powerful influence on the success of any changes in biology education. To ensure the successful implementation of the process approach it is important that all teachers receive adequate in-service training to keep abreast with new teaching strategies and methods / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Didactics)

One of the U.S. Army's requirements for reenlistment of first term soldiers is a minimum score on the General Technical composite of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery of one hundred. The score is a measure of academic ability. The primary goal of the Basic Skills Education Program is to assist the soldier in gaining basic skills, with a secondary goal of enabling him or her to retest at a sufficient level to become eligible for reenlistment. While most soldiers are able to meet this goal, a few are unable to achieve an acceptable score on the retest. It was hypothesized that some of these soldiers are learning disabled. The Army has not recognized learning disabilities or the need of the learning disabled for special teaching and testing methods. This study was designed to identify students enrolled in the Basic Skills Education Program who are learning disabled. Two instruments were involved: the Revised BETA II, which yields a measure of aptitude, and the Tests of Adult Basic Education, which produce achievement scores in the areas of reading, mathematics, language, and spelling. The instruments were correlated on 112 soldiers from the Training Brigade at Fort Bliss, Texas. They were then administered to 100 first term soldiers enrolled in the Basic Skills Education Program at Fort Bliss. Two formulae acceptable in the field of learning disabilities were applied to the results. The Frequency of Regression Prediction Discrepancy model identified nine soldiers as learning disabled in ten academic areas. The Standard Score Difference model, which does not account for regression, identified sixteen soldiers in twenty four areas. With evidence that learning disabled soldiers exist in the Basic Skills Education Program, recommendations were made that the U. S. Army recognize and address learning disabilities and incorporate appropriate testing and teaching methods to accommodate those soldiers.

Multiple approaches have been used in U.S. community colleges to address the learning needs of postsecondary students who are underprepared in basic skills math. The purpose of this exploratory interview study was to gain a deeper understanding of community college basic skills math learning through instructors' lived experiences using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach and its technology tool, a computerized pen. The conceptual framework for this study used Knowles's adult learning and Kolb's experiential learning theories with UDL principles. The central research questions investigated the professional development and teaching experiences of community college basic skills math instructors in their basic skills math curriculum in the California Community College system using a Smartpen. Interviews were conducted with 4 instructors, 2 of whom also participated in the 2011-2012 community college pilot project of the approach. The analysis consisted of coding and theme development in relation to the experiential learning process and the instructors' andragogy practices. This study identified 4 themes for use in understanding the instructors' experiences teaching with a Smartpen: instructor preparation, technology use and savvy, student needs, and instructor flexibility/adaptability. The study findings are of interest to community college basic math skills instructors, who can use these findings to inform their teaching preparation and teaching approaches, improving pedagogy and helping their students successfully complete their math courses.

Until 2014, admission requirements for the educator preparation program at a university in the north central United States included a minimum competency level on the Praxis I basic skills writing test and completion of one general education writing course. However, evidence from the university's ETS reports showed that less than 60% of students as first-time test-takers met the required score. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the required writing course in assisting students to meet the Praxis I writing competencies. In 2014, the ETS Core Academic Skills for Educators test replaced the Praxis I. Because only 3 years of accumulated data on 88 examinees were available for the new test, the Praxis I writing test was used for this study. The learning theories of Albert Bandura, Jerome Bruner, John Dewey, and Lev Vygotsky guided the study. Utilization-focused program evaluation was used to investigate the problem. Data collected in this study were 5 faculty interviews, 2 student focus groups, and archival institutional data and national student engagement survey data. Data analysis was completed using curricular mapping and Atlas.ti 7 software. Findings indicated that the general education writing course did not provide students with the skills needed to meet minimum competency on Praxis I writing test. The study project, a curriculum plan for an education course, was developed to address test preparation and students' writing competency. The positive social change implications of this project are to increase the number of successful first-time test-takers on the writing test and to initiate collaborative discussions that would drive partnerships regarding the development of smooth transitions of writing expectations across K-16 institutions.

The current investigation supports the objectives of Project GEMS (Roberts, 2008), a grant funded program whose objectives include the development and validation of a protocol to identify students from underrepresented and diverse populations as gifted in the content areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Identification of students from low-income and diverse populations as gifted has been a struggle with current assessment techniques (Baldwin, 2005). Project GEMS aims to address this problem through development of interest measures specific to the STEM areas for use within an identification protocol. The current project developed a measure to assess interest in mathematics. The construct of interest was targeted as it is correlated with many positive factors in education that lead to increased academic performance (Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008). Existing math interest inventories are designed for older populations, lack good psychometric properties and are atheoretical. To improve upon existing interest measures, Hidi and Renninger’s (2006) four-phase model of interest served as the theoretical basis to inform and guide the process of development and validation of a math interest inventory. A twenty-seven item self-report math interest measure was designed to assess the four phases of Hidi and Renninger’s interest model (emotion, value, knowledge, and engagement; 2006). Pilot and field testing of the measure were conducted in elementary schools selected on the basis of a high proportion of low-income students in a south central Kentucky school district. The sample consists of 1,429,429 students in grades two through six. The measure was hypothesized to evidence good internal consistency, a four-factor structure, and a significant and positive correlations between the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the composite and subscales of the math interest inventory. The first hypothesis found support with an internal consistency reliability coefficient of .916 for the overall score. Results of confirmatory factor analysis supported a four-factor structure resembling Hidi and Renninger’s (2006) four phase model of interest and including the four components emotion, value, knowledge, and engagement. The correlations between the math scores from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the math interest inventory total score and scales partially supported the last hypothesis. The correlations were small and positive for the Values and Knowledge scales but small and negative for the Emotion and Engagement scales. The correlations for the total score of the math interest inventory were significant; however, their values had little practical significance. While the math interest measure evidences good reliability and support for the structure of the scales through confirmatory factor analysis, the current study did not provide evidence for a significant relationship with math achievement as measured by a standardized group administered math achievement test. These results are discussed in relation to limitations of the current study and recommendations for further investigation.

South Africa needs an economy which is competitive and successful. Therefore, it is important that an education system will provide a skilled work force. Learners need to develop biology skills that will equip them for life, enable them to solve problems and think critically. Unfortunately South Africa is presently encountering a lack of skilled citizens. The reasons for this most probably is that the biology curriculum is mainly discipline-based, content-loaded and largely irrelevant, resulting in learners not furthering their studies in biology and related fields. The biology matriculation examination has a strangle hold on what is taught. Lengthy, content-loaded curricula emphasise the memorising of facts by means of expository teaching methods, leaving little opportunity to teach the application of information and skills to solve problems in real life situations. The teaching methods of biology are thus not sufficiently stimulating and motivating. Biology teaching should not only concentrate on facts or explain facts to learners, but should also concentrate on ways or processes by means of which these facts can be obtained. To implement a process approach where learners can develop basic- and integrated skills is not an easy task for those involved. The empirical research of this study, confirmed the findings throughout the literature study that various factors hamper the effective implementation of the process approach. It is important that negative factors such as 'large classes' and 'a lengthy syllabus' (in historically disadvantaged [HD] and advantaged schools [HA]) and 'lack of equipment' and 'resource material' (only in HD schools) which received high percentages in the survey, will duly be considered when implementing the process approach, curriculum 2005 or 21. These factors can exert a powerful influence on the success of any changes in biology education. To ensure the successful implementation of the process approach it is important that all teachers receive adequate in-service training to keep abreast with new teaching strategies and methods / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Didactics)

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