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To achieve multiple learning objectives, the ideal preschool activity center should promote development across all domains, from adaptive to social-communicative. Though early childhood practitioners describe the sensory table as capable of doing so, empirical accounts stand in stark contrast and suggest that it is a non-social functional activity. The intent of the present investigation was to reconcile this distinct dichotomy through the systematic manipulation of four sensory table substances (sand, soil, rocks, and water) and provision sets that differed in realism to determine their effect on preschoolers' free play behavior. Preschoolers' play forms and social participation were observed at the sensory table as they used a novel surface, which was introduced weekly without repetition, and either a set of minimally structured objects or realistic toys. Preschoolers' play and social participation were indeed influenced by the arrangement of the table. The sand, water, and provision sets yielded the most salient effects. Sand pulled for more sophisticated cognitive and social play forms while water pulled for more rudimentary ones. Regarding provision sets, the highly structured toys pulled for the most mature cognitive play form while the minimally structured toys pulled for the most sophisticated social context. The highly structured toys, with realism that lent to specific themes, appear to have functioned as a thematic anchor and cultivated a greater occurrence of dramatic play as compared to the minimally structured objects, which pulled for more functional play. Conversely, the minimally structured toy set, containing objects that loosely represented realistic objects and/or were capable of multiple functions, fostered a greater amount of socialization through parallel, social, and social-constructive play. Aside from its motoric and adaptive value, findings from this investigation suggest that under certain ecological conditions the sensory table fosters the development of cognitive and social skills. Recommendations for early childhood education practitioners are provided.

Sammanfattning Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur svenska lärare inom Idrott och Hälsa upplever hantering av elevgrupper, samt vilka metoder lärarna använder för att skapa en hållbar undervisningsmiljö i högstadiet och gymnasiet. Studiens frågeställningar är följande: Vilka utmaningar möter lärare med elevgrupper som stör undervisningen? Vilka strategier använder lärare för att hantera dessa utmaningar i undervisningen?   Metod Genom ett subjektivt urval hittades sju erfarna lärare inom gymnasie- och grundskolenivå som deltog i undersökningen. Lärarna blev intervjuade om hantering av elevgrupper med hjälp av en semi-strukturerad intervjuguide. En innehållsanalys användes för att bearbeta empirin. Med hjälp av teoretiska ramverket ‘ecological perspective’ strukturerades resultatet i tre huvudområden: Instructional task, Managerial task och Student Social task system. Resultat De teman som presenteras utifrån första frågeställningen är: Störande moment, Konflikter och Lärarens erfarenhet. Dessa aspekter var kopplade till vilka utmaningar lärare möter med elevgrupper. De teman som presenteras utifrån andra frågeställningen är: Tydlighet, Meningsfullhet, Regler, Gränser, Konsekvenser, Lågaffektivt bemötande, Åldersskillnader, Lärarens inställning, Relationer, Trygghet, Elevsamtal och Kollegialt samarbete. Dessa aspekter var kopplade till vilka strategier lärare använder för hantering av elevgrupper. Studien visar att många lärare upplever beteendeproblem i undervisning och presenterar många olika strategier för att hantera dessa. Alla deltagare upplever att skapa relationer med eleverna är en av de viktigaste strategierna för effektiv hantering av elevgrupper.   Slutsats Studien belyser kunskapen om vilka utmaningar lärare kan uppleva i undervisningen, samt strategier för att hantera dessa utmaningar. Både lärare och lärarstudenter kan få användning av ytterligare kunskap om hantering av elevgrupper och mer möjligheter för utbildning är nödvändigt inom detta område. / Abstract Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate how teachers in Physical Education experience classroom management and what methods teachers use to create a sustainable class environment. Specifically, we want to identify the challenges teachers experience with students in class and the classroom management strategies they use in Physical Education.  Two research questions guide the overall investigation:  What challenges do teachers face with students in classroom management?  What strategies do teachers use with students in classroom management?    Method: Using purposive sampling, seven experienced Physical Education teachers working with high school or junior level classes participated in the investigation. The teachers were interviewed on the topic of classroom management with the help of semi-structured interview guides. The data were content analyzed. A theoretical framework ‘ecological perspective’ structured the results in three areas: Instructional task, Managerial task and Student Social task system.   Result: The themes that were discussed in the first research question were: Disturbing situations, Conflicts and Teachers experiences. These aspects were connected to the challenges that teachers face with students in classroom management. The themes that were discussed in the second research question were: Clarity, Meaningfulness, Rules, Limits, Consequences, Low-affective approach, Year-differences, Teachers attitude, Relationships, Safety, Student communication and Collegial cooperation. These aspects were connected to the strategies that teachers use with students in classroom management. The result is that many teachers experience many challenges and present different strategies within classroom management. All the participants in the study agreed about creating relationships with students is one of the most important strategy for effective classroom management.   Conclusion: The study highlights points regarding the challenges that teachers can experience in teaching, as well as the strategies they use for managing these challenges. Both teachers and pre-teachers may benefit from further knowledge in the area of classroom management and more opportunities for professional education in this area is needed.

The aim of the research was to investigate how South Africa Further Education and Training learners acquire, recall, process and present information in a digitally enabled environment. To determine how a changing society and technology have influenced the way learners interact with information in an educational environment, recent changes in society and their influences on young people were examined as well as the traits of the generations with respect to character, family life, the future, peers and technology. This revealed that learners today need · material in visual format; · to find or create their own learning content; · fast access to learning material; and · learning material with long-term career value. It was also apparent that they are motivated by technology used in information transfer, are active learners and regard learning as a social activity. The methodology of case study action research was used. Note was taken of measures to ensure reliability and validity and applied to this research to ensure that the findings are valid and reliable as well as generalisable in South Africa beyond the confines of Pinelands High School (PHS). Two case studies observing the learners at PHS were undertaken:- creating web sites for the ThinkQuest web design competition and a building a web-based CV. The learners were heterogeneous and displayed a range of skills, ages, academic abilities and prior experiences. Many different management formats were employed, such as learning at a distance, in a contact environment, with examples and specific or open-ended instructions as well as different forms of motivation, time for the work in hand, etc. The major findings of the research were the influence of peers and importance of external motivation in the form of grades on the learners’ cognitive, affective and physical learning activities in the computer laboratory. Secondary findings indicated the importance of content, examples, instructions, time, mental state, classroom ecology, contact environment and software in the way learners acquired, recalled, processed and presented information. The research concluded with a set of actions that should be taken to ensure successful interaction with information in a digitally enabled environment. / Dissertation (PhD (Computer Assisted Education))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

La thèse vise à contribuer au raffinement des modalités d’étude de l’agir de l’élève dans l’action conjointe en didactique. Elle décrit les conditions de l’engagement disciplinaire productif des élèves dans l’enseignement de la gymnastique en Tunisie. Elle montre comment les ruptures du contrat didactique qui sont à l’initiative des élèves participent à l’avancée du savoir en classe et permettent aux élèves de contribuer au processus didactique in situ. Nous étudions l’engagement des élèves dans le cadre théorique de l’action conjointe en didactique que nous articulons à deux courants anglo-saxons : « l’Écologie de la classe » et « l’engagement disciplinaire productif ». Les données proviennent d’observations ethnographiques et d’enregistrement vidéo, couplés avec des entretiens menés lors de deux cycles d’enseignement de gymnastique conduits par deux enseignantes. L’étude est conduite en deux étapes : une analyse macroscopique des comportements de coopération des élèves lors de trois séances de chaque cycle de gymnastique, et une analyse micro-didactique décrivant l’agir des élèves lors d’épisodes significatifs de leurs comportements de transformation de tâches. Les résultats caractérisent finement les conditions mésogénétiques dans lesquelles les élèves s’enseignent à eux-mêmes. À travers la comparaison des pratiques des deux enseignantes à un même niveau (classe de terminales) l’une dans un établissement public et l’autre dans un établissement privé, les résultats mettent en évidence certaines manières de faire génériques des élèves relevant de processus topogénétiques susceptibles d’inscrire les élèves dans un engagement disciplinaire productif / This PhD dissertation aims to theoretically refine the studying of student’s actions within the didactic joint action. The research describes the conditions of students’ productive disciplinary engagement in the teaching of gymnastics in Tunisia. It calls attention to how the breaches of didactic contract initiated by students may participate in knowledge progression is the classroom and how students contribute to situated didactic process. Students’ engagement was investigated within the didactic joint action theoretical framework in conjunction with two other Anglo-Saxon’s frameworks: ‘Classroom ecology’ and ‘Productive disciplinary engagement’. The data were collected through classroom ethnographic observations using video recording and teacher’s interviews during two gymnastic units conducted by two female teachers. The study was conducted in two steps: a macro analysis of students’ cooperation during three lessons of each unit, and a micro-didactic analysis which focused on student’s actions during significant episodes of task transformations. The findings characterize in depth the conditions under which students teach themselves through modifications of the didactic milieu (mesogenesis). The comparison of the two teachers’ teaching practices, one in a public high school and the other in a private high school, points out generic patterns linked to a specific topogenetic process that enrolls students in a productive disciplinary engagement