The research aims to investigate the responses of teachers and learners in a particular rural context to a chapter from a South African English First Additional Language textbook which is currently being developed for commercial publication. The activities and content of the chapter aim to encourage learners to think critically about power relations in teenage relationships. The material was used in two classes of Grade 11 English learners by two English teachers from the same school. Data from classroom observations, from learners’ writing and from interviews with teachers and learners was analysed in order to respond to a series of questions which focus on teachers’ and learners’ responses to a theme which was assumed to be a sensitive and controversial one and responses to the design features of the material. Firstly, the theme appeared not to be considered sensitive or controversial by either teachers or learners. Secondly, the teachers ignored almost completely the pedagogic design of the materials and in doing so negatively affected opportunities for learners to learn. Possible explanations for both findings are discussed.

Este trabalho aborda a necessidade de um ambiente adequado ao novo paradigma de ensino de desenho, considerando as atuais propostas metodológicas e inovações tecnológicas. Visa levantar e analisar algumas questões relativas a problemas gerados pela improvisação e inadequação dos ambientes dos laboratórios de computação utilizados como salas de aulas de desenho e projeto, buscando propor diretrizes e parâmetros de projeto para um ambiente informatizado de ensino. Para a avaliação da adequação desses laboratórios, estudou-se a dinâmica entre a metodologia de ensino, a tecnologia utilizada, o arranjo do espaço físico e a ergonomia. Obteve-se como resultado uma série de critérios para a avaliação e/ou novos projetos de salas de aula e apresenta-se sugestões de parâmetros para projetos de salas de aula adequadas ao novo paradigma do ensino de desenho. Os critérios e parâmetros sugeridos neste trabalho foram empregados em um estudo de caso, no qual se desenvolveu o projeto da remodelação de uma antiga sala de aula de pranchetas utilizada como laboratório para aula de desenho com utilização dos sistemas CAD. A análise permitiu a comprovação do modelo simplificado para a dinâmica da sala de aula que serviu para guiar os esforços da melhoria do ambiente de ensino. Através de uma metodologia racional de projeto, direcionada em função dos critérios e dos parâmetros estabelecidos, chegou-se a uma proposta para a reforma da sala. Por fim, foi feita a avaliação do projeto que em comparação com a sala original e algumas alternativas possíveis encontradas demonstrou ser a mais adequada. / In this paper, the analysis of the physical environment for the teaching of the Design Graphics is carried out considering the requirements generated by thetechnological innovations, new teaching methodologies, the layout and the ergonomics of the classrooms. At first, a survey on the classrooms equipped with computers that are used for the teaching of Technical Drawing and CAD is done. The results show the inadequacy of the classrooms for the teaching purpose. Focusing on the layout and ergonomics of the classroom, two basic layouts are identified. The characteristics of both layouts are analyzed comparatively in the viewpoints of the students and teachers. The criteria for the design of the physical environment for the teaching are identified and the weight of the criteria, which is to be used in the evaluation of the designs, are determined by using AHP method and by direct interview. Finally, a design method is established and a case of study for design of the teaching environment is carried out. The criteria and the weights are use to evaluate the improvement of the new design over the original one.

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The aim of this study was to assess the validity of an objective method of speech intelligibility, the Rapid Speech Transmission Index (RASTI), in elementary school classrooms, The RASTI can be obtained more quickly than subjective measures of speech intelligibility and has been shown to be highly valid with adult listeners in auditoriums. In this study RASTI values were correlated with scores on a subjective test of speech intelligibility, the word intelligibility by Picture Identification (WIPI) test, for 45 students in two elementary classrooms (grades 1 through 3 and grade5). Results indicated that the RASTI value is a poor predictor of subjective speech intelligibility (WIPI) scores for these students. There was no significant difference between the correlations obtained in the two classrooms or between the correlations obtained with the average and largest of the three RASTI values and the WIPI scores. Further study needs to be done to determine the applicability of the RASTI to classroom environments.

This thesis documents the findings of an intrinsic case study examining the impacts of a digital or e-classroom environment on the social, affective, and cognitive development of a group of 33 year 5 and 6 students, in an urban primary school in Northland, New Zealand.It examines the manner in which the e-classroom concept was developed and implemented, the rationale behind its development, and the role of key players in this process. It further examines the impact of this environment on student work processes and practices, and identifies the unique blend of teacher philosophy, curriculum design and organisation, and computer application that comprised the learning environment for these students.Results of this study indicate particular issues associated with the successful operation of this e-classroom. These issues relate to such aspects as difficulties in managing and monitoring student progress when engaged in the multiplicity of learning tasks enabled by such an environment, the importance of student group composition and selection, the limitations of computers in supporting important knowledge development, and the manner in which students interact with and manipulate the features of software.The thesis concludes by presenting an analysis of the impact that these, and other vital areas of student engagement with computers, have on the effectiveness of utilising technological resources in this manner. It presents a series of recommendations for changes to improve the effectiveness of the learning environment in this e-classroom, and identifies a series of considerations for other schools considering undertaking similar initiatives.

This study explored the classroom learning environment in science among kindergarten students. In particular, I investigated both students' and their parents' perceptions of both preferred and actual learning environments. Additionally, I explored associations between student outcomes (achievement and attitudes toward science) and the nature of the classroom learning environment (as perceived by students and by their parents). The study involved the construction and validation of a learning environment questionnaire that was used by both parents and kindergarten students. Although the questionnaire was validated for use with five- and six-year-old kindergarten students, the same format was used for both parents and students. Prior learning environment studies (Fraser, 1998a) typically have involved the use of questionnaires neither by parents (with a notable exception being the recent study by Allen and Fraser, 2002) or by such young students. There is little doubt that, in just two decades, the field of classroom learning environment has progressed enormously (Fraser, 1998a) and that research involving qualitative methods and research involving quantitative methods each have made outstanding contributions to this overall progress (Tobin & Fraser, 1998). A historical look at the field of learning environments over the past few decades shows that a striking feature is the availability of a variety of economical, valid and widely applicable questionnaires for assessing student perceptions of classroom environments (Fraser, 1998b). This learning environment study is significant not only because it involves very young students (kindergarten) and their parents, but also a classroom learning environment questionnaire was developed and validated in Spanish, for both students and parents. / The design of the study involved a sample of 172 kindergarteners from six classes and 78 parents of the same students from the same six classes. The ethnic make-up for this group of 172 students was 11.8% White, 49% Black, 33.6% Hispanic, and 5.6% of other nationalities. The gender breakdown was 40.4% boys and 59.6% girls. Approximately 45% of the kindergarten student population was made up of English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students. The instruments used included modified versions in English and Spanish of the What Is Happening In This Class (WIHIC)? questionnaire and of the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA). A major finding of the study was that the modified version of the What Is Happening In This Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire in the English and Spanish languages displayed satisfactory factorial validity and internal consistency reliability when used with kindergarten students and their parents. Secondly, parents perceived a more favorable actual classroom environment than did kindergarten students, but students preferred a much more favorable classroom environment than did their parents. The magnitudes of differences between students and parents are greater for the preferred form than the actual form. Finally, statistically significant associations were found between kindergarten students' perceptions of the. classroom environment and the outcomes of achievement and attitudes to science.

Graduation date: 1998

Thesis (M.I.D.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-65).