The aim of the study is: (1) to investigate effects of new science and technology curriculum on 4th and 5th grade students&rsquo / achievement in terms of knowledge and understanding levels outcomes and higher order thinking skills, (2) to investigate effects of new science curriculum on the students&rsquo / attitudes towards science and (3) to examine teachers&rsquo / classroom activities in lessons. The study was conducted in three conveniently selected public elementary schools throughout Yenimahalle district of Ankara with a total of 302 4th and 5th grade students in 2004-2005 spring semester, two pilot schools implementing new science and technology curriculum were assigned to experimental group and one school applying the traditional science curriculum was assigned to control group. The researcher developed the measuring tools, Science Achievement Test for 4th grade, Science Achievement Test for 5th grade, Science Attitude Scale and Teachers&rsquo / Classroom Activities Scale. v The data were analyzed through multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA). Results showed that the new science and technology curriculum made no difference on the fourth grade students&rsquo / knowledge and understanding level outcomes and higher order thinking skills. On the other hand, it was effective on the fifth grade students&rsquo / higher order thinking skills. The statistical analyses also showed that there were significant differences between the pilot and control group students&rsquo / attitudes towards science in terms of interest, anxiety, and self-efficacy sub-categories in favor of pilot groups. In addition, there were significant differences between the classroom activities of the teachers of pilot and control groups.

For the first time a representative Theory of Mind (ToM) scale (Wellman &amp / Liu, 2004) has been cast into three different linguistic forms in order to show the impact of evidential markers on ToM understanding. With Turkish children, we studied (i) a control form without explicit evidential markers, as conducted by Bayramoglu &amp / Hohenberger (2007), (ii) a verbal form with &ndash / DI (marking factuality in the past ) and (iii) a verbal form with &ndash / MIS (marking hearsay in the past). To predict ToM performance of children, we also conducted a working memory task and two language tasks for complex syntax understanding. Our analysis showed that Turkish children, ranging from 4 to 7 years of age, performed significantly better with the form &ndash / DI than the control form. Also one of the language tasks which measures relative clause understanding was found to be a significant predictor of ToM performance. We conclude that evidential markers may help Turkish children in their online reasoning of ToM. We think that the relation between evidentiality and ToM may be understood clearer with cross-linguistic studies by varying the presence of evidentials and also their linguistic properties (i.e. lexical or morphological) while controlling the materials across languages. Theory of Mind (ToM), Evidentiality, ToM scale, Cognitive Development, Language.

<p>The situated approach in cognitive science and artificial intelligence (AI) has argued since the mid-1980s that intelligent behaviour emerges as a result of a close coupling between agent and environment. Lately, many researchers have emphasized that in addition to the physical environment, the social environment must not be neglected. In this thesis we will focus on the nature of social situatedness, and the aim of this dissertation is to investigate its role and relevance for natural and artificial intelligence.</p><p>This thesis brings together work from separate areas, presenting different perspectives on the role and mechanisms social situatedness. More specifically, we will analyse Vygotsky's cognitive development theory, studies of primate (and avian) intelligence, and last, but not least, work in contemporary socially situated AI. These, at a first glance, quite different fields have a lot in common since they particularly stress the importance of social embeddedness for the development of individual intelligence.</p><p>Combining these separate perspectives, we analyse the remaining differences between natural and artificial social situatedness. Our conclusion is that contemporary socially artificial intelligence research, although heavily inspired by empirical findings in human infants, tends to lack the developmental dimension of situatedness. Further we discuss some implications for research in cognitive science and AI.</p>

Beliefs--mental representations of particular propositions as true--are fundamental to social cognition. Among the most influential beliefs are ideologies, which concern the way things should be and help people understand the social structures within which they live. Ideologies occupy a unique position because they contain elements of other types of beliefs. For example, to a Biblical literalist, the belief that the earth is 4000 years old may seem fact-like. Because not everyone agrees about ideologies, however, such beliefs may seem somewhat preference-like even to their strongest adherents. To investigate the role of social experience in reasoning about ideologies, we examined children and adults. Because children have significantly less experience with ideologies, their reasoning may diverge from adults. On the other hand, if children and adults respond similarly, this would indicate that vast amounts of experience are not necessary for adult-like belief-based cognition to emerge. Part 1 showed that 5-10 year old children and adults distinguished ideological beliefs from factual beliefs(a domain in which, if two people disagree, at least one must be wrong) and preference-based beliefs(a domain in which it is acceptable for people to disagree), indicating that much experience is unnecessary for this ability to emerge. Given that even young children recognize that those who disagree with their ideological beliefs are not necessarily wrong, it is possible that children would not show strong social preferences in this domain. On the other hand, given children’s propensity toward group-based preferences in other areas, even young children may show religion-based preferences. In Part II, 6-8 year old Christian children showed implicit pro-Christian preferences regardless of the comparison target’s religion but only reported pro-Christian preferences when the two targets were very different from one another. In Part III, 6-11 year old children preferred peers who shared their religious, factual, and preference-based beliefs and selectively attributed pro-social behaviors to individuals who shared their religious views. Taken together, these findings suggest that children and adults differentiate ideologies from other types of mental states and that, despite its complexity, ideology influences social judgments even among young children. / Psychology

Maternal psychological well-being is one of many factors that shape the interactions a woman has with her infant. According to Belsky's (1984) Determinants of Parenting Process Model, he suggests that maternal personality and psychological well-being play a significant role in the observation of parenting behaviors. This model was utilized as the overarching framework for this dissertation. The dissertation, in the form of three manuscripts, outlines important factors within the marital relationship that impact postpartum depression, then exploring the moderation of depression by knowledge of infant development in four behavioral scales observed during a mother-infant interaction. Finally, two maternal behaviors that impact child outcomes were utilized as predictors of infant social-emotional and cognitive outcome, while testing for moderation by infant age.Results. In study one, women were more likely to report postpartum depression when they experienced more arguments with family and lower relationship depth. The second study found that knowledge of infant development moderated maternal reports of postpartum depression, thus allowing women with higher knowledge to maintain positive behaviors compared to women with low or average knowledge. The third study indicated that verbal stimulation resulted in higher scores for infant social-emotional and cognitive development, whereas maternal sensitivity was the only variable impacting social-emotional development. The test of moderation by infant age found mothers of older infants did speak more to their older infants, but the differences were minimal.Conclusion. Marital relationships play a significant role in promoting healthy maternal psychological well-being during motherhood. When psychological well-being is compromised via postpartum depression, decreases in maternal behaviors result in lower scores during maternal-child interactions. Maternal sensitivity and verbal stimulation uniquely contributed to infant outcomes. In addition, infant age may impact the observance of these two maternal behaviors resulting in increased or decreased observances based on the infant's age.Thus, use of Belsky's Determinants of Parenting Process Model within this dissertation confirmed the importance of maternal personality and psychological well-being in parenting behaviors. Mothers impacted by postpartum depression suffered a reduction in parenting behaviors, though higher knowledge appeared to buffer these negative effects. Implications for interventions and future work are discussed within each study.

The nurturing of critical thinking skills is one of the cornerstones of Outcomes Based Education (OBE). This study investigated to what extent teachers create classroom climates that nurture the development of critical thinking abilities. A literature study was undertaken to highlight the importance and nature of the development of critical thinking skills, and to establish the relationship between classroom climate and the development of critical thinking abilities. The use of teaching methods and strategies, learning activities, questioning techniques, the role of the teacher and the role of the learner during teaching and learning in the classroom were explored. The literature review provided the conceptual framework for the study, as well as the framework for designing a questionnaire that was utilized to obtain the perceptions of teachers and learners regarding the opportunities provided by teachers for the development of critical thinking abilities in the classroom. By means of quantitative, non-experimental descriptive survey research, a self-constructed questionnaire was administrated to a convenient sample of a purposively selected group of Grade 9 and Grade 11 teachers (n=241) and learners (n=403) in the Sedibeng West District of the Gauteng Department of Education. The triangulation of learner and teacher data revealed differences and similarities in opinion related to the classroom climates that teachers create for nurturing critical thinking. In essence, the data revealed that teachers are, to some extent, creating classroom climates that nurture critical thinking through their choice of teaching methods and strategies, questioning techniques and the learning activities that they choose. However, the responses did not convincingly indicate to the researcher that the nurturing of critical thinking skills takes place on a regular and frequent basis. According to the learner responses, it appeared that teaching and learning methods and strategies that promote interactive learning, are underutilized by the teachers. This study is concluded with recommendations to teachers on how to create classroom climates that promote the development of critical thinking skills. Key words: cognition, cognitive development, critical thinking, classroom climate, teaching methods and strategies, learning activities, questioning techniques. / M.Ed., North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010

School and learning readiness are continually being placed under the spotlight in an attempt to protect the grade 1 learner from possible learning failures, since unsuccessful learning experiences have negative effects even on a person's adult life. A factor that plays a significant role in the current teaching situation in the RSA is the fact that many grade 1 leamers are not instructed in their mother tongue and that they are not familiar with the concepts which are used in the language of learning and teaching. Another important factor is the fact that since 2004 learners may enrol as grade 1 learners at primary schools if they are five and a half years old and did not attend a grade R class. In this study the problems experienced by grade 1 leamers in primary schools since the implementation of Outcomes-based Education in the RSA in 1998, were determined by means of a pilot study. It was followed up by a literature study on the brain and factors that influence the working of the brain among young learners, as well as learning and factors that cannot only promote learning among this age group, but also disadvantage it. The literature was also consulted to look at stimulation of the child's development in the early development stage (0-9 years). As cross control for the study, the influence of the implementation of the RNCS was determined by means of a Likert-type questionnaire that was sent to grade1 teachers. As a result of factors that were identified from the above-named literature study and from the information acquired from the pilot project and Likert-type questionnaire, a conceptual stimulation programme for multicultural grade 1 classes was developed to provide in the shortcomings that currently occur among grade 1 learners. The Aptitude Test for School beginners (ASB), a standarised school readiness test of the HSRC, was used as a measuring instrument to acquire a differentiated image in a scientific way of the grade 1 learners (n = 39) for the purpose of this study. Thereafter, the learners were divided into an experimental and a control group. The conceptual stimulation programme was presented to the experimental group for ten consecutive weeks. The AS6 test was then conducted again with all the grade 1 learners involved. Both the first and final tests were marked according to the prescribed marking keys, interpreted according to the norm tables and statistically processed. The pre and post test scores of the two groups were compared and the experimental group improved in all 8 sections of the test battery, namely perception, spatial, reasoning, numerical, Gestalt, co-ordination , memory and verbal comprehension. In each of these categories there was an increase of d = 0.5 and more which according to Cohen's d-values, can be regarded as practically meaningful. The above-mentioned results indicate that the effective presentation of a conceptual stimulation programme to a group of multicultural grade 1 learners provides positive results and that the didactical methods used during the presentation can be recommended to grade 1 teachers in the current multicultural schools in the RSA. The programme can serve as a prototype to adress the shortcomings identified in the practise (questionnaires) and the literature study. Keywords for indexing are: stimulation programme, schoolreadiness, schoolreadiness programme, cognitive development, learning theories, conceptual learning, brain development. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the language proficiency and critical thinking abilities of Grade 11 learners in the ACE system. This would aid to direct learners in the FET phase to enhance their critical thinking skills and language proficiency. ACE is referred to as the Accelerated Christian Education or School of Tomorrow. Accelerated Christian Education is the trade name of School of Tomorrow. The School of Tomorrow program is individualised and non-graded. It allows each learner to work on his performance and achievement level which can differ from learning area to learning area (School of Tomorrow, 1995:29). Language proficiency is of utmost importance when it comes to cognitive development within the classroom, the curriculum or life in general, especially when a learner has to learn his subjects in another language of learning and teaching (Donald, Lazarus, & Lolwana, 2005:73). According to Cummins (in McKay, 2007:2) each learner should be taught in his mother-tongue to a threshold level of proficiency in order to transfer the knowledge to the other language and ensure positive cognitive growth. If a learner is not proficient in the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) his academic achievement will be poor as well as his critical thinking skills. South Africa has II official languages in terms of Act 108 of the Constitution (Department of Education, I997). In the Further Education and Training phase, learners have to take two of the 11 official languages as their core majors and other languages can be taken as electives (Department of Education, 2005:11). Since parents have the right to choose their child's language of learning and teaching and are not bound by law to choose their mother-tongue, English is mainly chosen as it is seen as the language of educational and economic empowerment (De Klerk, 1995:28). However, it is emphasised by Schroeder (2004:383) and Woolfolk (2004: 179) that mother-tongue education is by far preferable. Weideman and Van Rensburg (2006:157) are of the opinion that it is better to be taught and be academically successful in one's mother tongue before choosing another language of learning and teaching. De Klerk (1995:50) asserts that a lack of language proficiency in the language of learning and teaching is a main reason for low academic performance. One of the main aims of education is to gain as much information as possible. However, information is gained through communication and communication through a language (De Bono, 1969:9). If, however, the individual is not able to understand the language with all its nuances, certain information is missed. And as information is missed, it is thrown away. A person cannot think about something he does not understand (Strydom & Du Plessis, 2000: 129). Critical thinking is necessary for every day decision making. No matter what one's circumstances, a person with good thinking skills will be more successful in life. Poor thinking causes frustration, a waste of time, ineffective use of energy and pain (Paul & Elder, 2002: xiii). A critical thinker will be able to apply the knowledge he/she has learnt in real life situations. Vygotsky (McGregor, 2007: I 0) asked the question: "Does language mirror thought or thought language or both?" In educational psychology it is generally accepted that language and thinking are interwoven (Donald, et a!., 2005 :219). The descriptive research method was used. For the purpose of this study, 10 Grade 11 learners from the ACE system were conveniently sampled. These learners included six English Mother Tongue (EMT) learners and four English Second Language (ESL) learners. For the empirical research the ELSA test was used for language proficiency and the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test for testing critical thinking skills. Descriptive statistics were employed to interpret the results since the sample was too small for correlations and inferences. Generally the language proficiency of the EMT learners was on a Grade level 10. The language proficiency of the ESL learners was generally also on a Grade level I 0, which is acceptable for ESL learners. Critical thinking skills such as evaluation and interpretation were overall adequately developed. However, most of the learners performed poorly with inferences. Although statistical correlations could not be made, because of the small sample, with 8 of the learners it appears as if there was a link between language proficiency and critical thinking skills. These 8 learners' language proficiency and critical thinking results were either equally good or equally poor. / Thesis (M.Ed. (Learning and Teaching)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the language proficiency and critical thinking abilities of Grade 11 learners in the ACE system. This would aid to direct learners in the FET phase to enhance their critical thinking skills and language proficiency. ACE is referred to as the Accelerated Christian Education or School of Tomorrow. Accelerated Christian Education is the trade name of School of Tomorrow. The School of Tomorrow program is individualised and non-graded. It allows each learner to work on his performance and achievement level which can differ from learning area to learning area (School of Tomorrow, 1995:29). Language proficiency is of utmost importance when it comes to cognitive development within the classroom, the curriculum or life in general, especially when a learner has to learn his subjects in another language of learning and teaching (Donald, Lazarus, & Lolwana, 2005:73). According to Cummins (in McKay, 2007:2) each learner should be taught in his mother-tongue to a threshold level of proficiency in order to transfer the knowledge to the other language and ensure positive cognitive growth. If a learner is not proficient in the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) his academic achievement will be poor as well as his critical thinking skills. South Africa has II official languages in terms of Act 108 of the Constitution (Department of Education, I997). In the Further Education and Training phase, learners have to take two of the 11 official languages as their core majors and other languages can be taken as electives (Department of Education, 2005:11). Since parents have the right to choose their child's language of learning and teaching and are not bound by law to choose their mother-tongue, English is mainly chosen as it is seen as the language of educational and economic empowerment (De Klerk, 1995:28). However, it is emphasised by Schroeder (2004:383) and Woolfolk (2004: 179) that mother-tongue education is by far preferable. Weideman and Van Rensburg (2006:157) are of the opinion that it is better to be taught and be academically successful in one's mother tongue before choosing another language of learning and teaching. De Klerk (1995:50) asserts that a lack of language proficiency in the language of learning and teaching is a main reason for low academic performance. One of the main aims of education is to gain as much information as possible. However, information is gained through communication and communication through a language (De Bono, 1969:9). If, however, the individual is not able to understand the language with all its nuances, certain information is missed. And as information is missed, it is thrown away. A person cannot think about something he does not understand (Strydom & Du Plessis, 2000: 129). Critical thinking is necessary for every day decision making. No matter what one's circumstances, a person with good thinking skills will be more successful in life. Poor thinking causes frustration, a waste of time, ineffective use of energy and pain (Paul & Elder, 2002: xiii). A critical thinker will be able to apply the knowledge he/she has learnt in real life situations. Vygotsky (McGregor, 2007: I 0) asked the question: "Does language mirror thought or thought language or both?" In educational psychology it is generally accepted that language and thinking are interwoven (Donald, et a!., 2005 :219). The descriptive research method was used. For the purpose of this study, 10 Grade 11 learners from the ACE system were conveniently sampled. These learners included six English Mother Tongue (EMT) learners and four English Second Language (ESL) learners. For the empirical research the ELSA test was used for language proficiency and the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test for testing critical thinking skills. Descriptive statistics were employed to interpret the results since the sample was too small for correlations and inferences. Generally the language proficiency of the EMT learners was on a Grade level 10. The language proficiency of the ESL learners was generally also on a Grade level I 0, which is acceptable for ESL learners. Critical thinking skills such as evaluation and interpretation were overall adequately developed. However, most of the learners performed poorly with inferences. Although statistical correlations could not be made, because of the small sample, with 8 of the learners it appears as if there was a link between language proficiency and critical thinking skills. These 8 learners' language proficiency and critical thinking results were either equally good or equally poor. / Thesis (M.Ed. (Learning and Teaching)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

Calculus at the university level is taken by thousands of undergraduate students each year. However, a significant number of students struggle with the subject, resulting in poor problem solving, low achievement, and high failure rates in the calculus courses overall (e.g., Kaput, 1994; Szydlik, 2000; Tall, 1985; Tall & Ramos, 2004; White & Mitchelmore, 1996). This is cause for concern as the lack of success in university calculus creates further barriers for students who require the course for their programs of study. This study examines this issue from the perspective of Tall’s Three Worlds of Mathematics (Tall, 2004a, 2004b, 2008), a theory of mathematics and mathematical cognitive development. A fundamental argument of Tall’s theory suggests that connecting between the different mathematical worlds, named the Embodied-Conceptual, Symbolic-Proceptual, and Formal-Axiomatic worlds, is essential for full cognitive development and understanding of mathematical concepts. Working from this perspective, this research examined, through the use of calculus task questions and semi-structured interviews, how fifteen undergraduate calculus students made connections between the different mathematical worlds for the calculus topics of limits and derivatives. The analysis of the findings suggests that how the students make connections can be described by eight different Response Categories. The study also found that how the participants made connections between mathematical worlds might be influenced by the type of questions that are asked and their experience in calculus courses. I infer that these Response Categories have significance for this study and offer potential for further study and educational practice. I conclude by identifying areas of further research in regards to calculus achievement, the Response Categories, and other findings such as a more detailed study of the influence of experience.