Edublox is an educational training facility with headquarters in Pretoria, with branches nationally and their programme marketing internationally. Their latest development was the Edublox Online Tutor (EOT) programme that claims to enhance cognitive functioning in children. This retrospective study thus seeks to establish whether exposure to the EOT programme has an impact on the cognitive functioning (specifically working memory - comprising of visual working memory, auditory memory, and logical reasoning) of primary school children. The conceptual structure for this study was formed using The Cognitive Information Processing Theory and Vygotsky’s Social Cognitive Theory. A convenience sampling method was chosen and comprised of grade 2 children (n=64) who formed 3 groups; 2 experimental groups (EOT and educational computer games) and a control group (usual schooling). A quantitative, experimental research design was adopted throughout the study and included pre-and post-assessments of cognitive performances. Varying data analysis techniques, such as mean plots, paired samples t-tests, and one-way repeated measures ANOVA tests were utilised. Overall, analyses revealed that exposure to the EOT programme significantly improved children's conceptual skills in one out of the 4 variables tested in cognitive performance. Other findings revealed that while there were overall improvements in mean post-test scores, there were no significant differences in mean post-test scores between the experimental groups and the control group. The differences in strength of changes between the pre-and post-test scores were influenced by the length of exposure, the type of intervention, the delivery environment, and the sample size, among other factors. It was recommended that the treatment period is lengthened, a multimodal approach is adopted, and the treatment environment is varied to investigate effect sizes and enhance the validity and comparability of this study. / Dissertation (MA (Research Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Psychology / MA (Research Psychology) / Unrestricted

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur elever upplever berättelser, samt hur berättelser påverkar deras bildarbeten i bildundervisningen.  Deltagarna i studien var fyra andraårs gymnasieelever som hade kursen Bild och form 1b. Det empiriska materialet insamlades genom deltagande observationer och intervjuer, vilket sedan analyserades ur ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv. Elevernas berättelser presenterades även i form av elevarbeten på Konstfacks vårutställning 2023, där gestaltningen syftar till att visuellt presentera deltagarnas upplevelser och fantasier om berättelser. I resultatet framkom det att deltagarna i studien upplevde inspirationskällor som värdefulla inför bildarbeten, då detta väckte fantasin och underlättade vid beslutsfattningar i hur de ville forma sina arbeten. Detta visade att det kan vara lärorikt att utgå ifrån teman som berättelser, då det ger fler ingångar till elevernas olika visuella kulturer.

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Colleges and universities face a critical challenge in addressing the educational needs of their academically underprepared students. With college dropout rates increasingly rising, post-secondary institutions must ensure that these students have both the knowledge and the skills necessary to succeed in higher education and beyond. The aim of this study was to investigate the learning and study strategies and skills of students participating in a university summer bridge program (SBP), which is a 6-week, high-school-to-college transition program for academically underprepared, at-risk, first-year students (as defined by the university). The relationships between SBP students' learning and study strategies and two measures of college achievement (first-year GPA and first-to-second-year persistence) were investigated using a two-phase, mixed-methods explanatory design. In Phase 1 of the study, the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) profiles of SBP students (N = 266) were examined. The LASSI, an 80-item, self-report questionnaire, is used to assess students' knowledge and use of various cognitive, motivational, and self-regulatory strategies that contribute to strategic learning. In Phase 2 of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted to follow-up with purposefully selected SBP students (n = 4) during their sophomore year at the university. Results of the study found that selecting main ideas and test strategies (LASSI) scales were significant predictors of first-year college GPA. Motivation, as assessed by the LASSI, was a significant predictor of first-to-second-year college persistence. Interviews conducted in Phase 2 of the study expand on these findings. Implications for educational policy and practice are highlighted. / Educational Psychology

En el entorno universitario actual, particularmente en los primeros ciclos, es palpable la necesidad de mejorar la instrucción en comprensión de textos. Esto se desprende de un detallado estudio que buscaba establecer tácticas tecnodidácticas para enriquecer la interpretación textual de los estudiantes. El estudio se ancló en una mirada cuantitativa y positivista, con un diseño básico propositivo en su investigación. Se administró una evaluación de comprensión lectora que mostró una validez (V. Aiken) de 0.769 y una confiabilidad (Kuder-Richardson, KR20) de 0.72, demostrando su solidez metodológica. Los datos revelaron una distribución en la competencia lectora donde solo un 18% de los estudiantes demostró un rendimiento sobresaliente. La mayoría, un 78%, se concentró entre los niveles de deficiente a suficiente, señalando un área crítica de intervención académica. Con un promedio de 14.6, una mediana de 13.9, y una variabilidad del 19.58%, se evidencia una marcada disparidad en las habilidades de comprensión de textos entre los encuestados. En consecuencia, el estudio identificó el perfil para una serie de estrategias tecnodidácticas, cuya finalidad es la de cultivar habilidades críticas y analíticas en los estudiantes. Estas estrategias están diseñadas no solo para mejorar la interacción con una amplia gama de textos sino también para potenciar la expresión y argumentación efectiva, habilidades esenciales para triunfar en el ámbito académico y laboral. / In the current university environment, particularly in the early cycles, the need to improve instruction in text comprehension is palpable. This emerges from a detailed study that sought to establish techno-didactic tactics to enrich students' textual interpretation. The study was anchored in a quantitative and positivist view, with a basic purposeful design in its research. A reading comprehension assessment was administered that showed a validity (V. Aiken) of 0.769 and a reliability (Kuder-Richardson, KR20) of 0.72, demonstrating its methodological soundness. The data revealed a distribution in reading competence where only 18% of the students demonstrated outstanding performance. The majority, 78%, were concentrated between the levels of deficient to sufficient, pointing out a critical area for academic intervention. With an average of 14.6, a median of 13.9, and a variability of 19.58%, a marked disparity in text comprehension skills among respondents is evident. Consequently, the study identified the profile for a series of techno-didactic strategies, whose purpose is to cultivate critical and analytical skills in students. These strategies are designed not only to improve interaction with a wide range of texts but also to enhance effective expression and argumentation, essential skills for success in academia and the workplace.

Essay 1: Several countries practice a system where laymen, who lack legal education, participate in the judicial decision making. Yet, little is known about their potential influence on the court rulings. In Sweden lay judges (nämndemän) are affiliated with the political parties and appointed in proportion to political party representation in the last local elections. This paper investigates the influence of their partisan belonging when ruling in asylum appeals in the Migration Courts, where laymen are effectively randomly assigned to cases. The results show that the approval rate is affected by the policy position of the laymen's political parties. In particular, asylum appeals are more likely to be rejected when laymen from the anti-immigrant party the Swedish Democrats participate, and less likely to be rejected when laymen from the Left Party, the Christian Democrats or the Green Party participate. This indicates that asylum seekers do not receive an impartial trial, and raises concerns that laymen in the courts can compromise the legal security in general. / Essay 2: Although economic circumstances have been argued to be a major determining factor of attitudes to redistribution, there is little well identified evidence at the individual level. Utilizing a unique dataset, with detailed individual information, provides new and convincing evidence on the link between economic circumstances and demand for redistribution (in the form of social benefits). The Swedish National Election Studies are constructed as a rotating survey panel, which makes it possible to estimate the causal effect of economic changes. The empirical analysis shows that individuals who experience a job loss become considerably more supportive of redistribution. Yet, attitudes to redistribution return to their initial level as economic prospects improve, suggesting that the effect is only temporary. Although a job loss also changes attitudes to the political parties, the probability to vote for the left-wing is not affected. / Essay 3: A well-functioning labor market is characterized by job reallocations, but the individual costs can be vast. We examine if individual's ability to cope with such adjustments depends on their cognitive and non-cognitive skills (measured by the enlistment tests). Since selection into unemployment is a function of skills, we solve the endogeneity of a job loss by using the exogenous labor market shock provided by the military base closures in Sweden following the end of the Cold War. We find, first, that, on average, labor earnings decrease and unemployment and labor-related benefits increase for those affected. Second, there are heterogeneous treatment effects in terms of unemployment; the treated individuals with high non-cognitive and cognitive skills face lower unemployment effects than the treated individuals with low non-cognitive and cognitive skills.

La tesi propone evidenze empiriche e teoriche sull’importanza delle abilità cosiddette non cognitive come elemento fondamentale del capitale umano individuale. In particolare, ci si propone di discutere se, e in che portata, queste capacità relazionali incidano sulle performance lavorative e sulle decisioni concernenti la salute. La tesi propone le reti sociali, o “social networks”, come possibile misurazione di queste capacità interpersonali. Il primo capitolo presenta una dettagliata rassegna della letteratura sulle abilità non cognitive, e sui loro effetti su salari e stato di salute, e discute l’appropriatezza dell’utilizzo delle variabili di “social networks” come misura per tali abilità. Il secondo capitolo stima a livello empirico l’impatto delle capacità relazionali sui salari. Per una completezza di metodologia e per verificare la robustezza dei risultati, le stime vengono effettuate con diverse metodologie econometriche. Il terzo capitolo analizza gli effetti di queste abilità sociali sul consumo di sigarette, e discute la loro importanza rispetto ad altri fattori rilevanti, come tasse e comportamenti dei genitori. Il capitolo applica diversi stimatori, lineari e non, ed esamina le differenze, in termini di grandezza e significatività statistica, nei risultati ottenuti. / This thesis provides further evidence on the importance of including non-cognitive and social skills as a component of individual human capital. In particular, it aims to assess whether interpersonal skills, measured through social network metrics, influence labour market and health attainment. The first chapter reviews the literature on non-cognitive skills and their impact on various outcomes, and discusses the use of social network metrics as measure of interpersonal skills. The second chapter empirically estimates the impact of these social skills on earnings. The effect is estimated comparing alternative empirical strategies to model social interactions, to fully examine the robustness and the meaning of the results obtained. The third chapter examines the effect of these skills on individual smoking behaviour over the young adulthood life. In particular, it examines the role of popularity and social skills on smoking decision, and compares the relative importance of these skills to other factors, such as cigarette taxes, and parents’ smoking behaviour. It also analysed the extent to which using non-linear estimators affects the significance and the magnitude of the effects of these factors.

Why do girls and boys perform differently in school? In this paper, we examine the gender gap in educational achievement for Language and Mathematics using a novel dataset of 10,000 students in the Public School System of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The broad set of available information allows us to test the relative importance of skills and incentives to schooling on the educational outcomes of boys and girls. We summarize a unique socioemotional profile of boys and girls in Brazil and find significant gender differences in skills and incentives to schooling. Performing a decomposition exercise, we find that the gender gap in educational outcomes is significantly explained by differences in the levels of observed inputs, especially incentives to schooling. We bring new evidence on the importance of incentives to schooling in explaining the gender differences in both classroom grades in standardized test scores. / Por que meninas e meninos têm desempenhos diferentes na escola? Nesta pesquisa, vamos examinar as disparidades de gênero no desempenho escolar em Linguagem e Matemática utilizando um novo conjunto de dados de 10.000 alunos do Sistema Público de Ensino de São Paulo, Brasil. O amplo conjunto de informações disponíveis nos permite testar a importância relativa das competências socioemocionais e incentivos à educação sobre os resultados educacionais de meninos e meninas. Nós traçamos um perfil socioemocional único de meninos e meninas no Brasil e encontramos diferenças de gênero significativas nas habilidades e incentivos à educação. Realizando um exercício de decomposição, descobrimos que a diferença de gênero nos resultados educacionais é significativamente explicada pelas diferenças nos níveis de insumos observados, especialmente incentivos à educação. Ainda, encontramos novas evidências sobre a importância dos incentivos à educação para explicar as diferenças de gênero em notas de sala de aula e resultados de testes padronizados.