M. Tech. Public Relations Management / The Internet and the emergence of social networking sites have brought about remarkable changes in the communication process, changing mass communication from a one-way to a two-way communication approach. Many countries around the world ranging from organisations to universities have embraced and adapted to the new phenomenon. Social networking sites present many opportunities such as connecting with consumers, soliciting feedback, bringing people together, as well as encouraging social networking and dialogue. Facebook is cited as one of the most popular social networking sites with increasing use by organisations and universities.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The problem of this study was to determine whether the advance organizer would affect students' perception of instructor communication competence. The study also sought to determine any effect the organizer would have on student achievement.

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, August 2014. / The general poor performance in physical science in South Africa is a cause for concern. The reasons for this situation includes lack of basic content knowledge by science teachers, unprofessional attitudes, ineffective teaching approaches, lack of resources and failure to understand the language of science by the learners. This study investigated South African grade 12 learners’ meanings of everyday words when used in science context. The study focused on grade 12 physical science learners from four different government secondary schools in Johannesburg. These learners had different home languages and socio-economic background. Data was obtained through a questionnaire given to learners followed by group interviews with the learners. A face-to-face interview with each physical science teacher from each school was also conducted. This study reveals that learners face difficulties with meanings of everyday words when used in science context as was reflected by their response in the questionnaire. The physical science teachers from the four secondary schools were not aware that everyday words (nontechnical words) are misunderstood by the learners when they are teaching them. As such teachers were not explaining the meanings of these words to learners in their context of use. Also the teachers did not know the difference between technical words and non-technical words. The study seeks to make the science teachers aware of this problem so that they can take time to explain the meanings of these words when teaching and this might improve understanding of science concepts. It is hoped that if there is shared meaning of words used in the instructional language between the teacher and learners it would improve the general performance in physical science.

A educomunicação define-se, a partir da perspectiva do Núcleo de Comunicação e Educação (NCE) da Universidade de São Paulo, como uma prática social que tem como resultado o fortalecimento do protagonismo infanto-juvenil tanto na área da recepção qualificada das mensagens midiáticas (Media Education) quanto no do uso das tecnologias para o exercício do direito universal à expressão (Media Empowerment). Visível nas ações de atuantes organizações não-governamentais, na América Latina, o conceito tem como seu principal desafio, no momento, legitimar-se junto às políticas públicas, para beneficiar, num país como o Brasil, não apenas - e de forma experimental - pequenos grupos de crianças, mas um público hoje representado por um total aproximado de 50 milhões de estudantes do ensino básico. Em outras palavras, a educomunicação enfrenta o desafio de apresentar-se como um paradigma em condições de mobilizar sistemas formais de ensino para mudanças conceituais, para além da didática ou das práticas de ensino. Diante deste cenário, o objetivo geral da pesquisa é identificar e entender se e de que forma a educomunicação se insere e se desenvolve num programa complexo de política pública, como o Programa Mais Educação, realizado pelo Ministério da Educação (MEC), como parte das políticas públicas que visam melhorar a educação básica no país. O programa, na época de sua implantação, contava com dez áreas interdisciplinares de ação educativa, denominadas de \"macrocampos\", a partir das quais as escolas passaram a desenvolver suas atividades. Entre os macrocampos encontramos a área da \"Comunicação e Uso de Mídias\", que usa o conceito da \"Educomunicação\" como referencial teórico e sustentação metodológica. Para tanto, tendo como base os documentos do MEC, a pesquisa realizou um mapeamento das práticas do macrocampo, ocorridas entre 2008 e 2011. Além disso, realizou entrevistas com os gestores públicos das dez cidades brasileiras que contaram com o maior número de atividades de comunicação em 2011 e, finalmente, aplicou um questionário junto a uma amostragem de 67 escolas que desenvolvem estas atividades. A pesquisa constatou que o programa é um espaço promissor para a disseminação da educomunicação na educação formal pelo seu alcance. O estudo mostrou, mais uma vez, que há no programa um ambiente mais oportuno para que a comunicação seja assumida como componente do processo pedagógico e não apenas como ferramenta à disposição de disciplinas. No entanto, a complexidade de implementação da política pública num país como o Brasil, com suas especificidades regionais, assim como as orientações filosóficas e pedagógicas dos diversos atores locais envolvidos, podem prejudicar os resultados finais de desenvolvimento da prática educomunicativa no ambiente escolar. / The educommunication as defined from the perspective of the Center for Communication and Education, University of São Paulo, is a social practice that has resulted in the strengthening of the juvenile leadership who are qualified in both the reception area of media messages (Media Education), and in the use of technology to exercise the universal right to expression (Media Empowerment). Visible in the actions of non-governmental organizations working in Latin America, the concept has to, as its main challenge at the moment, legitimize itself with public policies, to benefit an audience today that is represented by approximately 50 million elementary students in Brazil, including small groups of children. In other words, educommunication faces the challenge of presenting itself as a paradigm, able to mobilize formal education for conceptual changes, aside from teaching or teaching practices. In this scenario, the objective of the research is to identify and understand whether the educational communication occurs and develops a complex program of public policy, such as the More Education Program conducted by the Ministry of Education (MEC) as part of public policies aimed at improving basic education in the country and how it achieves this. The program, at the time of its deployment, had ten areas of interdisciplinary educational action called \"Macrocampos\", which schools used to develop their activities. Among the macrocampos is the area of \"Communication and Use of Media\", which uses the concept of educommunication as theoretical and methodological support. Therefore, based on the documents of the MEC, the research involved broad mapping practices, occurring between 2008 and 2011. Additionally, interviews were conducted with public managers in the ten Brazilian cities accounting for the largest number of communication activities in 2011, and finally a questionnaire was distributed using a sample of 67 schools that develop these activities. The survey found that the program is a promising area for the dissemination of educational communication providing formal education at your fingertips. The study showed, once again, that it is a more appropriate program for communication to be assumed as part of the educational process and not just as a tool at the disposal of different disciplines. However, the complexity of implementation of public policy in a country like Brazil, with its regional specificities as well as the philosophical and pedagogical orientations of multiple actors involved can harm the development of the final results of an educommunication proposal in the school environment.

Este trabalho pretende investigar a relação de jovens estudantes com a comunicação na contemporaneidade. A hipótese é que esses jovens estudantes, imersos no consumo dos meios de comunicação de massa e ao mesmo tempo possuidores de um discurso crítico em relação a eles, encontram na mídia um importante referencial para a construção de suas identidades. Nesse contexto, a mídia partilha com outras instituições socializadoras (família, escola e religião) a função de formação de ideias, valores e modelos de conduta, contribuindo para a produção de disposições de habitus na contemporaneidade. Para examinar a hipótese aqui proposta, concebi e ministrei um programa de comunicação e educação (Comunicar para Mudar o Mundo, ligado à ONG Repórter Brasil), durante o 2º semestre de 2007, para alunos do 2º e 3º anos do Ensino Médio da E.E. Ministro Costa Manso, no município de São Paulo. No decorrer do curso, concebido como instrumento para aproximação e compreensão do universo simbólico e cultural do grupo analisado, foram produzidos os materiais quantitativos e qualitativos em que se embasam os resultados apresentados questionários de práticas culturais, questionários de competências em relação à comunicação, diários de classe e produções escritas dos alunos. Também por meio do curso foi possível investigar a influência da escola como mediadora da relação entre os jovens e a mídia. A esse respeito, a hipótese é que a escola pode atuar como mediadora qualificada no sentido de formar jovens mais conhecedores, maduros, críticos, ativos, sociais e criativos em relação à comunicação. Argumento ainda que abordagem da comunicação em suas vertentes intrapessoal, interpessoal e midiática pode colaborar para que os jovens estabeleçam com a escola uma relação referenciada no saber. / This work intends to investigate the relation of young students with the communication in the contemporaneousness. The hypothesis is that these young students, immersed in the consumption of the mass media and at the same time owners of a critical speech regarding them, find in the media an important referential system for the construction of their identities. In this context, the media shares with other institutions (family, school and religion) the function of formation of ideas, values and models of conduct, contributing to the production of arrangements of habitus in the present times. To examine the hypothesis here proposed, I conceived and administered a program of communication and education (Comunicar para Mudar o Mundo in english, To communicate to Change the World , linked to NGO Repórter Brasil), during the 2nd semester of 2007 to High School students of E.E. Ministro Costa Manso, a public school in the city of Sao Paulo. During the course, conceived as an instrument for approximation and understanding of the symbolic and cultural universe of the analyzed group, there were produced the quantitative and qualitative materials in what the presented results are based questionnaires of cultural practices, questionnaires of competences regarding the communication, diaries of class and written productions of the pupils. Also through the course it was possible to investigate the influence of the school as a mediator of the relation between the young persons and the media. About this particular subject, the hypothesis is that the school mediation contributes to form more knowing, mature, critical, active, social and creative young persons regarding the communication. I also argue that debating communication in all its levels (intrapersonal, interpersonal and massive) can help young persons establish a relation with the school based on knowledge.

In this study the effectiveness of WatchMinderTM, a vibrating prompt watch, was examined as a component of a self-monitoring intervention package to help students with autism increase on-task behavior during independent seatwork. A multitude of literature since the 1970s has suggested that self-monitoring interventions are integral in increasing task engagement. Tactile prompting devices are a new aspect of self-monitoring interventions, and the limited research has shown that these unobtrusive devices are effective for providing feedback to monitor their behavior. Self-graphing is another component of self-monitoring interventions that has received little attention in the literature. However, many studies recognize the importance for individuals to be active participants in their educational programs by analyzing progress and being a part of the decision making process. This study assessed the use of WatchMinder and self-graphing on the on-task behavior of four elementary students with autism in the special education setting. / Lisa Finn. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

This mixed methods, multisite case study examined the relational ecology of two urban middle schools that had adopted school-wide restorative practices (SWRPs) and the changes that occurred as a result of the reform initiative. The study was conducted in two Title I middle schools in the Oakland Unified School District in California. A positive relational ecology existed in these two urban middle schools, and this ecology was built on the interacting and interrelated themes of relational trust, being heard, a relational-based, student-centered culture, and a commitment to the principles of social justice. The positive relational ecology created a strong foundation upon which change could occur at the organizational, individual, and pedagogical levels. Various structures within the schools, including circles, instructional leadership teams, student councils, and peer mediation, created space for teachers and students to be heard and empowered, which subsequently facilitated change and growth for many administrators, teachers, and students. High turnover, lack of initial and ongoing training, and the development of quasi- or non-restorative processes jeopardized program fidelity. Findings revealed that in these restorative schools, relational ecology and change were inseparable, and that they moved and influenced each other. A positive relational ecology created an environment that enabled leaders and staff to feel safe as they embarked upon the journey of change. Changes in the ways that members of the school communities related to each other on a daily basis provided additional motivation to continue the change effort, and these changes then strengthened the relational ecologies. Findings of this study are significant and have implications for schools and school districts, policy makers, and teacher and leader education programs. Future research should include longitudinal, mixed methods studies that assess the school culture before and after implementing SWRPs, as well as experimental or quasi-experimental designs that compare restorative and non-restorative schools. Such studies may provide more empirical evidence that links healthy relational ecologies to student achievement, less teacher turnover, decreased conflict, and healthier communities, thereby strengthening the case for rejecting punitive and discriminatory zero tolerance school discipline policies and adopting restorative justice in education instead. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This study examines the potential benefits of using the native language of learners in a principled way by reviewing research that represents the dominant view of using only the second or target language (L2) against a growing body of literature that argues for principled L1 use. The development of the direct and monolingual method and its key aspects are discussed, and bilingual methods and arguments for implementing the first language (L1) in a foreign language classroom are reviewed and evaluated. An attitudinal case study investigating learners' attitudes towards L1 use in the classroom showed that students prefer a mixture of L1 and L2, and that the principled use of the L1 has positive effects on the learner. / by Isabel Osswald. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.