Magister Educationis - MEd / Little attention is usually given to the disadvantaged pupils' lack of problem solving skills and thinking skills needed for successful learning of differential calculus. Factors like what makes (disadvantaged) pupils not function (cognitively) very well are usually overlooked. The only factor considered by (some) teachers being only to comment on the impairments that already exists. That is for example labelling students as unintelliqent "foolish" or "dull". In some cases the blame is placed fully on the system (Government and its hidden agenda). While others blame the environment in which the pupils live without finding what impact the situations have on the learners' cognition. There is a need to know where and what causes cognitive impairment in general. This study looks at the domain of differential calculus. This research therefore sets out to find what the causes of cognitive deficiencies are in the learning of differential calculus. To find out some of the causes 67 High School pupils and 40 first year University students completed the questionnaires, 34 pupils wrote the differential calculus test, 10 final year matric teachers ,also contributed some information about some causes of cognitive deficiencies and how they could possibly be remedied. 4 first-year university mathematics students and 7 high school pupils were involved in the thinking - aloud interviews. The interviews were audio-taped and then subjected to a protocol analysis. Special references to this study were made to the works of Feuerstein, Perkins and Sternberg Thus in general the research set out to answer the following questions: 1. Which problems do pupils think they have with regard to learning differential calculus? 2. Which cognitive deficiencies or difficulties do pupils have in the learning of differential calculus? 3. What role do motivation and affective processes and other non-cognitive processes have in the learning of differential calculus? 4. Is there any relationship between the pupils' cognitive deficiencies, motivation and affective processes as well as the problems they think they have with regard to learning differential calculus? 5. What perception do practising teaching have on the above? 6. Is there any change or changes for first year university mathematics students? 7. Which instructional strategies can be used to rectify such deficiencies? 8. What are the implications and recommendations for further study? .... It was found that there are many cases of deficiencies among high' school pupils. These can briefly be summarised as follows: lack of effective institutional processes, poor socio-economic and political climate for blacks, inadequate research (thinking aloud) among the pupils. Finally the list of 28 recommendations and implementation for further study were suggested. These 28 recommendations were further divided into 5 general headings that teachers could experiment with in the classroom and school.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of teachers attending Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) professional development on students' problem solving strategies and the effect of students' use of strategies on their mathematics achievement as measured by a standardized test. First, the study analyzed the differences in students' use of strategies between treatment and control groups. The treatment was CGI professional development, and the teachers in the treatment group attended CGI workshops whereas the teachers in the control group did not. Next, the study analyzed the differences in the mathematics achievement of students between different strategy groups. A student posttest, which was ITBS (Math Problems and Math Computation), was used to compare students' mathematics achievement. A student pretest was used as a covariate. The results of this study showed that there were statistically significant differences in the students' use of strategies between the treatment and control groups at the second grade level. A greater percentage of treatment students used derived facts / recall strategies (the most advanced strategy for single-digit addition and subtraction) than control students did. The results related to the effect of students' use of strategies on their mathematics achievement showed that the students who used derived facst/recall strategies for single-digit problems had significantly higher mathematics achievement than students who used counting or concrete modeling strategies. Furthermore, the students who used invented algorithms for multi-digit problems had significantly higher mathematics achievement than the students who used standard algorithms.

We describe CoSMo, a Cognitively Inspired Service and Model Architecture for situational awareness and monitoring of vehicular traffic in urban transportation systems using a network of wireless sensors. The system architecture combines (i) a cognitively inspired internal representation for analyzing and answering queries concerning the observed system and (ii) a service oriented architecture that facilitates interaction among individual modules, of the internal representation, the observed system and the user. The cognitively inspired model architecture allows one to effectively respond to deductive as well as inductive queries by combining simulation based dynamic models with traditional relational databases. On the other hand the service oriented design of interaction allows one to build flexible, extensible and scalable systems that can be deployed in practical settings. To illustrate our concepts and the novel features of our architecture, we have recently completed a prototype implementation of CoSMo. The prototype illustrates advantages of our approach over other traditional approaches for designing scalable software for situational awareness in large complex systems. The basic architecture and its prototype implementation are generic and can be applied for monitoring other complex systems. CoSMo's architecture has a number of features that distinguish cognitive systems. This includes: dynamic internal models of the observed system, inductive and deductive learning and reasoning, perception, memory and adaptation. This thesis describes the service oriented model and the associated prototype implementation. Two important contributions of this thesis include the following: The Generic Service Architecture - CoSMo's service architecture is generic and can be applied to many other application domains without much change in underlying infrastructure. Integration of emerging web technologies - Use of Web Services, UPnP, UDDI and many other emerging technologies have taken CoSMo beyond a prototype implementation and towards a real production system. / Master of Science

A doença de Alzheimer produz alterações nas funções cognitivas, entre eles, de processos que são responsáveis pela linguagem e memória. Com o intuito de termos uma melhor compreensão das alterações da linguagem, este trabalho investigou características presentes em redes semânticas de pacientes com diagnóstico de provável Alzheimer, com foco nos verbos. Os resultados das comparações entre as redes de indivíduos saudáveis e pacientes com Alzheimer indicam diferenças topológicas entre eles. Neste trabalho, também foram construídos classificadores que poderiam captar as diferenças entre os vários perfis de indivíduos, e que podem ser utilizados para classificar novos indivíduos de acordo com o perfil mais próximo. Esse esforço se deu com o intuito de ajudar no diagnóstico de doenças que afetam a linguagem, como a doença de Alzheimer. / Alzheimer’s disease produces alterations of cognitive functions and of processes that are responsible for language and memory. In order to have a better understanding of language changes, we investigate the characteristics of the semantic networks of patients diagnosed with probable Alzheimer, focusing on verbs. The results of comparisons with networks of healthy individuals and patients with Alzheimer disease highlight some topological differences among them. We also constructed classifiers that could capture the differences between the various profiles of speakers, and that can be used to classify unknown speakers according to the closest profile. We made this effort in order to help the diagnosis of diseases that affect language, such as the Alzheimer’s disease.

A doença de Alzheimer produz alterações nas funções cognitivas, entre eles, de processos que são responsáveis pela linguagem e memória. Com o intuito de termos uma melhor compreensão das alterações da linguagem, este trabalho investigou características presentes em redes semânticas de pacientes com diagnóstico de provável Alzheimer, com foco nos verbos. Os resultados das comparações entre as redes de indivíduos saudáveis e pacientes com Alzheimer indicam diferenças topológicas entre eles. Neste trabalho, também foram construídos classificadores que poderiam captar as diferenças entre os vários perfis de indivíduos, e que podem ser utilizados para classificar novos indivíduos de acordo com o perfil mais próximo. Esse esforço se deu com o intuito de ajudar no diagnóstico de doenças que afetam a linguagem, como a doença de Alzheimer. / Alzheimer’s disease produces alterations of cognitive functions and of processes that are responsible for language and memory. In order to have a better understanding of language changes, we investigate the characteristics of the semantic networks of patients diagnosed with probable Alzheimer, focusing on verbs. The results of comparisons with networks of healthy individuals and patients with Alzheimer disease highlight some topological differences among them. We also constructed classifiers that could capture the differences between the various profiles of speakers, and that can be used to classify unknown speakers according to the closest profile. We made this effort in order to help the diagnosis of diseases that affect language, such as the Alzheimer’s disease.

abstract: The need for improved mathematics education in many of America's schools that serve students from low income households has been extensively documented. This practical action research study, set in a suburban Title I school with a primarily Hispanic, non-native English speaking population, is designed to explore the effects of the progression through a set of problem solving solution strategies on the mathematics problem solving abilities of 2nd grade students. Students worked in class with partners to complete a Cognitively Guided Instruction-style (CGI) mathematics word problem using a dictated solution strategy five days a week for twelve weeks, three or four weeks for each of four solution strategies. The phases included acting out the problem using realia, representing the problem using standard mathematics manipulatives, modeling the problem using a schematic representation, and solving the problem using a number sentence. Data were collected using a five question problem solving pre- and post-assessment, video recorded observations, and Daily Answer Recording Slips or Mathematics Problem Solving Journals. Findings showed that this problem solving innovation was effective in increasing the problem solving abilities of all participants in this study, with an average increase of 63% in the number of pre-assessment to post-assessment questions answered correctly. Additionally, students increased the complexity of solutions used to solve problems and decreased the rate of guessing at answers to word problems. Further rounds of research looking into the direct effects of the MKO are suggested as next steps of research. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2013

A doença de Alzheimer produz alterações nas funções cognitivas, entre eles, de processos que são responsáveis pela linguagem e memória. Com o intuito de termos uma melhor compreensão das alterações da linguagem, este trabalho investigou características presentes em redes semânticas de pacientes com diagnóstico de provável Alzheimer, com foco nos verbos. Os resultados das comparações entre as redes de indivíduos saudáveis e pacientes com Alzheimer indicam diferenças topológicas entre eles. Neste trabalho, também foram construídos classificadores que poderiam captar as diferenças entre os vários perfis de indivíduos, e que podem ser utilizados para classificar novos indivíduos de acordo com o perfil mais próximo. Esse esforço se deu com o intuito de ajudar no diagnóstico de doenças que afetam a linguagem, como a doença de Alzheimer. / Alzheimer’s disease produces alterations of cognitive functions and of processes that are responsible for language and memory. In order to have a better understanding of language changes, we investigate the characteristics of the semantic networks of patients diagnosed with probable Alzheimer, focusing on verbs. The results of comparisons with networks of healthy individuals and patients with Alzheimer disease highlight some topological differences among them. We also constructed classifiers that could capture the differences between the various profiles of speakers, and that can be used to classify unknown speakers according to the closest profile. We made this effort in order to help the diagnosis of diseases that affect language, such as the Alzheimer’s disease.

Avec l’allongement de l’espérance de vie, il devient essentiel de mieux comprendre les changements cognitifs qui accompagnent le vieillissement normal. La mémoire de travail (MDT) est un système qui permet de maintenir temporairement et de manipuler une petite quantité d’informations ; c’est une fonction cognitive particulièrement importante, impliquée dans la réalisation d’un grand nombre d’activités quotidiennes complexes. L’affaiblissement de la MDT affecte l’ensemble du fonctionnement cognitif et a ainsi un impact sur l’autonomie. Cette thèse porte sur les effets du vieillissement normal sur la MDT et sur les fonctions de contrôle attentionnel (FCA) qui la sous-tendent : l’inhibition, l’alternance et la mise à jour. Nous nous intéressons également à l’éducation et à la pratique d’activités cognitivement stimulantes comme facteurs de protection du déclin de la MDT. L’objectif de la première étude (Chapitre II) était d’examiner les changements liés à l’avancée en âge sur la MDT et les FCA, sur une période de 5 ans. Les participants ont été évalués à deux reprises à 5 ans d’intervalle (Temps 1 ; Sylvain-Roy, Lungu, & Belleville, 2015a) avec trois tâches complexes de MDT (empan de phrases, Brown-Peterson et empan alphabétique) et plusieurs mesures d’inhibition, d’alternance et de mise à jour. Afin d’explorer la possibilité que le déclin sur 5 ans soit modulé par l’âge, nous avons séparé les participants en « jeunes-âgés » (âge moyen au Temps 1: 65,79) et « âgés-âgés » (âge moyen au Temps 1 : 75). Des analyses de variance répétées ont été conduites afin d’examiner l’effet du temps et l’interaction entre le temps et le groupe d’âge. Les analyses ont révélé un effet significatif du temps suggérant un déclin des performances après 5 ans sur l’ensemble des épreuves de MDT ainsi que pour les mesures d’inhibition et d’alternance. Aucune interaction entre le temps et le groupe d’âge n’a été mise en évidence, suggérant que les âgés-âgés ne présentent pas de déclin plus important que les jeunes-âgés. Cette étude montre que le vieillissement normal est marqué par d’importants changements généralisés aux trois tâches de MDT et à la plupart des FCA après seulement 5 ans et que le déclin est similaire quel que soit l’âge. Les implications théoriques et cliniques de ces résultats seront discutées. La deuxième étude (Chapitre III) avait pour objectif d’explorer l’effet de l’éducation et de la pratique d’activités cognitivement stimulantes sur le déclin de la MDT lors du suivi à 5 ans. Des régressions linéaires simples et multiples ont permis de mettre en évidence un effet protecteur de la pratique d’activités cognitivement stimulantes sur le déclin au Brown-Peterson pour l’ensemble des participants. Concernant l’éducation, les résultats indiquent une interaction avec l’âge pour les performances de base (Temps 1) et pour le déclin à la tâche de Brown-Peterson. Plus précisément, seuls les jeunes-âgés semblent protégés par l’effet de l’éducation au Temps 1 puis cet effet disparait entrainant même un déclin plus important des jeunes-âgés les plus éduqués par rapport aux âgés-âgés. Aucune interaction entre l’éducation et la pratique d’activités cognitivement stimulantes n’a été mise en évidence. Les deux autres tâches de MDT (empan de phrases et empan alphabétique) ne semblent bénéficier ni de l’éducation, ni des activités cognitivement stimulantes. Cette étude met en évidence un effet protecteur indépendant de la pratique d’activités cognitivement stimulantes et de l’éducation sur une tâche complexe de MDT. De plus, cette étude suggère que certains facteurs de protection pourraient avoir un effet différent selon l’âge. / With increasing life expectancy, it is becoming essential to better understand the cognitive changes associated with normal aging. Working memory (WM) is a limited capacity system that temporarily holds and manipulates a small amount of information; it is a particularly important cognitive function, involved in numerous complex daily activities. A WM impairment affects the whole cognitive functioning and thus has an impact on autonomy. This thesis assesses the age effects on WM and on attentional control functions (ACFs) that underlie this system: inhibition, shifting and updating. We are also interested in the effects of education and cognitively stimulating activities as protective factors on age-related WM decline. The first study (Chapter II) aimed at examining the age effects on WM and ACFs over a five-year period. Participants were evaluated twice over 5 years (Time 1; Sylvain-Roy, Lungu, & Belleville, 2015a) by three complex WM tasks (i.e., reading span, Brown-Peterson and alpha span) and multiple measures of inhibition, shifting and updating. In order to explore the possibility that decline over 5 years is modulated by age, we separated the participants into a “young-old” group (mean age at Time 1: 65.79) and an “old-old” group (mean age at Time 1: 75). Repeated analyses of variance were conducted in order to examine the effect of time and the interaction between time and group. Results showed a significant decline, over 5 years, for all three complex WM tasks and for measures of inhibition and shifting. Results showed no interaction between time and group, which indicated that the old-old group did not show a greater decline relative to young-old participants. This study shows that normal aging is marked by important and pervasive changes in WM and in most ACFs over a relatively short five-year period. Moreover, old-old and young-old participants show a similar rate of decline; theorical and clinical implications will be discussed. The second study (Chapter III) aimed at exploring effects of education and cognitively stimulating activities on WM decline. Simple and multiple linear regressions showed a protective effect of cognitively stimulating activities on decline for the Brown-Peterson task for all participants. Results also showed an interaction between age and education for baseline performances (Time 1) and for decline on the Brown-Peterson task. That is, only young-old participants seemed to benefit from education on baseline performances. This protective effect then recedes, leading to a greater decline over time for young-old compared to old-old participants. No interaction was found between education and cognitively stimulating activities. The other two WM tasks (i.e., reading span and alpha span) did not seem to benefit from protective effects of education or cognitively stimulating activities. This study shows a protective independent effect of education and the practice of cognitively stimulating activities on one complex WM task. Moreover, this study suggests that the impact of some protective factors could vary with age.

This study investigated the effects of journal writing with or without giving feedback and grade, compared to the traditional teaching on integral achievement of students with different learning styles. In addition, students&rsquo / ideas about the journal writing activities in the mathematics classes were investigated. The study was carried out with 87 first year engineering students at Atilim University from three classes. Two groups were assigned as experimental groups (EG1 and EG2) and one group was assigned as the control group (CG). Students in all groups received the same instruction on integral. Experimental groups (EG1 and EG2) also engaged in journal writing activities besides lectures. Journal writings of the EG1 students were graded and feedback was given. Journal writings of the EG2 students, however, were not graded and feedback was not given. Two open-ended achievement tests on integral were developed. One of them was used as pre-test / the other was used as post-test. In addition, Kolb&rsquo / s Learning Style Inventory was administered as pre-test to determine the learning styles of the students. Follow-up interviews were conducted with ten students from EG1 and EG2. Additionally, v classrooms were observed during the treatment. The results of the ANCOVA suggest that neither the groups&rsquo / achievement nor the achievement of the students having different learning styles in each group differ significantly on integral. The results of the interviews, however, showed that students found journal writing activities as an effective teaching method and wanted to be engaged in the activity for the future.

abstract: The purpose of this study is to impact the teaching and learning of math of 2nd through 4th grade math students at Porfirio H. Gonzales Elementary School. The Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) model serves as the independent variable for this study. Its intent is to promote math instruction that emphasizes problem-solving to a greater degree and facilitates higher level questioning of teachers during their instructional dialogue with students. A mixed methods approach is being employed to see how the use of the CGI model of instruction impacts the math achievement of 2nd through 4th grade students on quarterly benchmark assessments administered at this school, to see how students problem-solving abilities progress over the duration of the study, and to see how teacher practices in questioning progress. Quantitative methods are used to answer the first of these research questions using archival time series (Amrein & Berliner, 2002) to view trends in achievement before and after the implementation of the CGI model. Qualitative methods are being used to answer questions around students' progression in their problem-solving abilities and teacher questioning to get richer descriptions of how these constructs evolve over the course of the study. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2012