The present study sought to alleviate the response cost inefficiency of the behavioral approach to controlling classroom hyperactivity by increasing the observer-student ratio via behavioral-electronic technology. A portable, integrated-circuit, counting and timing device was developed to enable immediate time-sequenced data recording and reinforcing of eight target behaviors by a single observer. A multiple-baseline design, across matched individuals was utilized to demonstrate the reinforcing effects. The results indicated a significant increase over mean baseline frequency in attention-to-task behavior for the group of eight students. It was concluded that by utilizing the behavioral-technological intervention strategy applied in this study, one observer could accurately monitor and reinforce eight students simultaneously and subsequently increase task attentiveness.

The problem of this study was to develop a set of workable guidelines that could be implemented in the development of an industrial arts program for the superior high school student.

D.Ed. (Psychology Of Education) / The writer's personal experience as educational adviser at a TED aid centre shows that theft amongst children often occurs. Of significance is the frequency of theft occuring in younger children. Statistics obtained from the Central Statistics Service show that theft amongst children in South Africa is reaching alarming proportions. Theft is one of the misdemanours of a child that is commonly not handled pedagogically correctly by the parent It may well be that people steal due to a physical need, however, the reason for theft by children is more complex and profound than mere physical need. Before therapeutic action can be taken, it is imperative that some attempt be made to get to know the child better. This study includes a literature study as well as an empirical investigati m. Within the framework of the literature study, an attempt is made to gain perspective on the problem of theft by children. Attention is given to information obtained from literature pertaining to tl e child who steals in respect of contributory causes: personality theory, learning theories and personality development theories; a short discussion of the child in the senior primary and junior secondary school phases; as well as the treatment of the child who steals. The empirical investigation includes the pedo- and psycho-diagnostic testing of a number of children that steal. By means of case studies an attempt is made to uncover those factors that cause these children to steal. For this purpose school children in the senior primary and junior secondary school phases who had been reported to TED aid centres on the East Rand for theft behaviour were included in this investigation. Information was obtained by using the form which is completed upon reporting to the centre; the results of selective tests; interviews with the child's parents or custodians; and discussion with the child himself or herself. The analysis of the case studies is largely qualitative, although it includes quantitive facets as well...

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A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Audiology in the faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, January 2017 / Background: The benefits of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) services on communication, cognition and socio-emotional development, including academic and vocational outcomes are well documented internationally. However, reports on EHDI services in South Africa are limited to the establishment of programmes for early detection of hearing impairments, with little focus on the outcomes of the subsequent early intervention (EI) for children diagnosed with a hearing impairment. Objective: This study explored the outcomes of two EI preschool programmes in the Gauteng province, South Africa. The current study aimed at describing the communication and school readiness abilities of hearing-impaired children who were enrolled in the EI preschool programmes, as well as to determine the factors that influenced the attainment of school readiness abilities. Methods: A descriptive research study was conducted on eight hearing-impaired children who graduated from two EI preschool programmes in the Gauteng Province. Content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data while frequency distribution and measures of central tendency were used to analyse the quantitative data. Results: Participants were late-identified with subsequent late provision of amplification devices and commencement of EI services. Consequently, participants demonstrated sub-optimal communication and school readiness abilities for their age. Early access to EHDI services and age-appropriate communication abilities were identified as factors that influenced the attainment of age-appropriate school readiness abilities for children with a hearing impairment. Conclusion: There is a great need for the establishment of more EI programmes that will meet the unique needs of hearing-impaired children in different contexts and ensure that they also have an opportunity to develop on par with their peers with normal hearing. Further research in this area needs to be undertaken exploring similar objectives to the current study with a larger, diverse sample for improved generalisability of the findings. / XL2018

A research report in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Audiology by coursework and research report in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / Auditory-verbal therapy (AVT) is an intervention approach used as part of an aural (re)habilitation programme conducted by an audiologist with deaf or hard-of-hearing (HOH) children. AVT is a refinement of the oral-aural approach and emphasizes listening instead of visual input. Previous research has focused on AVT in developed countries; however, there is limited available research in developing countries such as South Africa. This study explores and describes the relevance of AVT provided by audiologists in Gauteng, South Africa. The specific objectives of the study were to explore the differences between AVT and general paediatric aural rehabilitation therapies conducted by audiologists; the impact of language on the implementation of AVT and the challenges associated with AVT training. A qualitative research design was used. A purposive sampling strategy was used to identify and recruit participants. Ten audiologists currently conducting aural rehabilitation were selected to participate in the study. The sample size was divided into five audiologists who had obtained the LSL certification (equivalent to AVT certification) and five audiologists without the LSL certification. A pilot study was conducted prior to data collection to determine the applicability of the research study. Thereafter semi-structured interviews were conducted, using an interview schedule. Thematic analysis was employed and themes were described qualitatively. Results revealed the emergence of three resounding themes which included challenges, differences in therapy approaches, and implementation and contributing factors to the success of AVT. The results concluded the need for the implementation of newborn hearing screening programmes to assist with early identification and detection of hearing loss. The study identifies a strong need for the increase in the number of certified LSL therapists in South Africa and additional AVT comprehensive programmes to be implemented at various institutions in Gauteng. Awareness regarding the success of AVT implementation needs to be raised. Finally, the HPCSA needs to revisit and explicitly define the role of audiologists interacting with deaf or HOH children with the LSL qualification being a mandatory postgraduate pre-requisite for working in the field of aural rehabilitation. Key words: Auditory-verbal therapy; aural rehabilitation; deaf; hard-of-hearing. / GR2017

O presente projeto de pesquisa teve por objetivo analisar as condições das práticas esportivas escolares (PEEs) do ensino fundamental no município de Santos-SP, com relação a: a) existência ou inexistência das mesmas; b) descrição dos recursos materiais e financeiros; c) caracterização dos professores/treinadores; d) planejamento do programa desenvolvido. Para isso, aplicaram-se questionários compostos de questões abertas e fechadas aos coordenadores/diretores (n=15) e professores/treinadores (n=85) de escolas que oferecem PEEs. Verificou-se que 85% das escolas de Santos oferecem as PEEs, entretanto, poucas crianças são atendidas nos programas. Os recursos materiais e financeiros das escolas privadas são melhores do que os das escolas públicas, embora as escolas municipais apresentem boas instalações, já que utiliza espaços cedidos pela secretaria de esportes e comunidade. A maioria dos professores/treinadores é do sexo masculino e ex-atletas das modalidades que ministram. Os professores/treinadores de escolas privadas e estaduais possuem melhor formação do que os das escolas municipais. A maior parte dos diretores/coordenadores de escolas privadas e municipais acredita que as PEEs não estão inseridas no projeto político pedagógico (PPP) da escola. Os objetivos das PEEs são diferentes nas redes de ensino avaliadas e na comparação entre os discursos dos diretores/coordenadores e professores/treinadores. Apesar do potencial das PEEs de possivelmente contribuir para a formação para a cidadania e democratização da prática esportiva, observamos que na cidade de Santos-SP tal fato não vem ocorrendo, uma vez que os programas avaliados atendem a poucas crianças e jovens, e parecem distantes do PPP das escolas / The objective of the current research project is to analyze the elementary School Sport Conditions in Santos-SP, regarding the following: a) existence and inexistence; b) equipment and financial description; c) coachs characterization; d) the program planning. A questionnaire with some open and closed questions was made to the schools coordinators/directors (n=15) and teachers/coaches (n=85) for this research. It was apparent that there was a need for 85% of the schools in Santos have the School Sports Condition, although, just some children are in the program. Regarding the financial and equipment resources are better in private schools than publics, however, the municipal schools have better places, because they are given from the Sports Department of Santos and from community. The most teachers/coaches are mainly male and ex-athletes. The teachers/coaches from the privates and publics schools have a better graduation than the municipal schools. The most part of the directors/coordinators from the privates and municipal schools believe that the elementary school project is not in the Pedagogical Political Project from the school. The objective from the Pedagogical Political Project is different from the schools evaluated and comparing the directors/coordinators and teachers/coaches speeches. Besides that, in Santos the Pedagogical Political Project has not been working, once that the programs evaluated have just some children and teenagers, and they are not connect with the Pedagogical Project from the schools

O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar a possibilidade de articular, na prática pedagógica da educação infantil, elementos teóricos e procedimentos didáticos que viabilizem o movimento, a simultaneidade sígnica (linguagens) e as relações comunicativas. A compreensão do movimento como significativo deriva da teoria do Se-Movimentar, de base fenomenológica, para a qual o movimento é ação expressiva e significativa dos sujeitos na relação com o mundo e com os outros, e por isso é o fio condutor da prática pedagógica com crianças e coexiste com outras linguagens. Para tal, recorre-se à Semiótica ou Lógica Geral dos Signos, desenvolvida por Charles S. Peirce, a qual propõe um método geral de produção do conhecimento, ao considerar que investigar é condição própria de todas as inteligências capazes de aprender com base na experiência. Entende-se, então, método como modo de pensar e agir na prática pedagógica em coerência com o modo específico de ser-criança: corpo-movimento. As estratégias de intervenção em campo, realizada em uma instituição de educação infantil, seguiram princípios da pesquisa-ação, e privilegiaram os jogos, brincadeiras e atividades rítmicas. No processo investigativo, observou-se, especialmente, se os apelos expressivos e significativos das crianças afetavam a percepção das professoras, de sorte a confrontar suas crenças, instaurar-lhes dúvidas e admitir a necessidade de rever suas futuras condutas docentes em direção às crianças e seus processos de significação. Ou seja, ao possibilitar experiências sensíveis/significativas às crianças, buscou-se criar para as professoras oportunidades de reflexão sobre a qualidade (princípios e concepções) das práticas pedagógicas, de modo a efetivamente incluir as crianças como partícipes de um processo pedagógico entendido como relações comunicativas. As quatro professoras participantes revelaram diferentes graus de engajamento na pesquisa-ação, e apenas uma delas envolveu-se intensamente até o final do processo. A conclusão é que essa professora incorporou à sua vida o hábito da investigação, de tal sorte que é possível afirmar que a observação de si mesma e de seus alunos foi o principal instrumento para o seu aprendizado como professora-pesquisadora, na medida que somente o hábito da reflexão voluntária, insistente e sistemática é capaz de levar um sujeito a dominar e superar crenças e hábitos rumo à criação de novos conhecimentos e, portanto, à transformação das condutas docentes. Assim, a atitude investigativa da professora levou à generalização dos conhecimentos que ela produziu a partir de sua própria prática. Pode-se perceber, no caso dessa professora, a concretização de dois princípios necessários para uma prática comunicativa: (i) a capacidade de perceber e interpretar as expressividades significativas das crianças; e (ii) a disposição para o compartilhamento das experiências pedagógicas. Conclui-se que o processo de mediação sígnica (quer dizer, relações e produções sígnicas) é o nutriente da ação pedagógica. Nessa medida, a ação pedagógica é configurada em uma estrutura semiótica, de permanência contínua, que alcança todas as dimensões e níveis de um sistema educativo concebido como processo dialógico-comunicativo. / The aim of this thesis is to investigate the possibilities of articulating theoretical elements and didactic procedures, in Child Education pedagogical practice, to promote movement, simultaneity of signs/languages and communicative relationships. Understanding movement as meaningful in itself comes from the Self-Movement theory, based on Phenomenology, which sees movement as a significant and expressive action of Subjects in their relationship with the world/others: the main basis in childrens pedagogical practice, coexisting with other languages/signs. Thereupon, we have recurred to Semiotic, the Logical Theory of Signs developed by Charles Sanders Peirce, which proposes a general method of knowledge production based on the principle that inquiring is the particular condition of all minds able to learn from experience. We then consider method as the way of thinking and acting in pedagogical practice in coherence to the specific way of child-being: body-movement. The intervention strategies realized in the field of a childrens education institution followed the principles of action-research and privileged games, plays and rhythmic activities. It has been observed, during the process of investigation, if teachers perception was affected by the expressive and significant childrens appeals, confronting their beliefs, casting doubts and admitting the need to reconsider the future teaching attitude towards children and their processes of signification. By enabling sensitive/significant experiences to children, teachers have also been given the opportunity to reflect upon the quality of educational practices (principles and conceptions), in order to effectively include the children as participants in an educational process seen as communicative relations. The four participant teachers showed different levels of commitment in the action-research, whereas only one was involved until the end of the process. In conclusion, the latter teacher applied the habit of investigation in her life, making it possible to state that the main tool for her learning process as a researcher/teacher was the observation of herself and her students. Only the voluntary, persistent and systematic habit of reflection can make someone master and overcome habits and beliefs, with the aim of acquiring new knowledge and transforming educational behaviors. Therefore, the teachers investigative attitude led to the generalization of the knowledge she acquired from her own practice, that is, the achievement of two necessary principles for a communicative practice: (i) the ability of noticing and interpreting childrens significant expressiveness, and (ii) the willingness to share educational experiences. Hence, the process of sign mediation (relations and sign productions) is the nutrition for the pedagogical action. Based on that, educational action is represented in a permanent semiotic structure, which reaches all dimensions and levels of an educational system designed as a dialogic-communicative process.

The purpose of this qualitative research, which utilized a narrative design strategy, was to describe the process of self-regulation of a child who has bilateral cochlear implants within the social environment of school. The study investigated the use of self-regulatory strategies by the cochlear implant recipient. It also examined how the child made modifications and monitored learning during activities within the classroom as related to Vygotsky's activity theory and John Dewey's theory of social control. Through data collection of documents, observations, interviews, and researcher field notes, it was found that the child demonstrated several self-regulatory strategies. / Kristin L. Patton. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.