This study investigated the pedagogical content knowledge supposedly held by two FET mathematics teachers from Mpumalanga Province as they taught quadratic functions in grade 11 classes. The criterion for selecting the two teachers was that they had consistently produced good results (overall pass rate of 80% or more) in the grade 12 mathematics examinations of the National Senior Certificate for the past three years or more and thus, they were classed as effective. The two teachers prepared and taught lessons on quadratic functions in grade 11 whilst they were being observed. The study focused on teacher knowledge base as exemplified in the teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Three elements of PCK were investigated; namely; (i) knowledge of the subject matter; (ii) knowledge of teaching strategies and (iii) knowledge of learners’ conceptions. Qualitative research approach using the case study research method was used to collect qualitative data on the pedagogical content knowledge of the two teachers through lesson observations, lesson plan analysis and interviews. Analysis of the results suggests that the two teachers have adequate subject matter knowledge but have limited knowledge on the aspects of teaching strategies and knowledge of learners’ pre-conceptions and misconceptions on the topics of quadratic functions that they taught. The study recommends that teachers be exposed to workshops that deal specifically with the various topic specific teaching strategies and knowledge of learners’ pre-conception and misconceptions on the topic of quadratic functions. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

Syftet med studien var att undersöka männens upplevelse av att arbeta på en kvinnodominerad arbetsplats. Empiriinsamlingen har skett utifrån sex enskilda intervjuer med män som arbetar på förskola. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna har varit sociala genusmönster, könsprocesser i organisationer och minoriteter i organisationer, vilka har använts för att analysera det insamlade materialet. Materialet visade att de flesta av intervjupersonerna tyckte att kön har betydelse i förskolan, bland annat för att det inte förväntas att män ska arbeta i förskola. Intervjupersonerna upplevde de tre tendenser som kännetecknar minoriteter på arbetsplatser, synlighet, kontrast och assimilering. Männen upplever stereotypiska föreställningar om män i förskolan av de kvinnliga förskolpedagogerna, bland annat att de blir tilldelade specifika arbetsuppgifter och stereotypiska könsroller, som upprätthåller sociala genusmönster. Materialet visade även hur männen konstant tänker på hur de agerar med barnen i förskolan för att inte riskera att bli misstänkliggjord för sexuella övergrepp mot barn. Resultatet analyserades utifrån två huvudteman, genusmönster och konsekvenser samt erfarenheter av att vara i minoritet, som redogör männens upplevelse av att arbeta som minoritet på en kvinnodominerad arbetsplats. För vidare forskning hade det varit intresserat att gå ännu djupare i minoritetsproblematiken på både kvinno- och mansdominerade arbetsplatser. / The aim of the study was to investigate men's experience of working in a women-dominated workplace. The collection of data has been based on six individual interviews with men who work in preschool. The theoretical starting points have been social gender patterns, gender processes in organizations and minorities in organizations, which have been used to analyze the material from the interviews. The material showed that most of the interviewees thought that gender is important in preschool, partly because men are not expected to work in preschool. The interviewees experienced the three tendencies that characterize minorities in the workplace: visibility, contrast and assimilation. The men experience stereotypical conceptions about men in preschool by the female preschool educators, among other things that they are assigned specific tasks and stereotypical gender roles, which maintain social gender patterns. The material also showed how the men constantly think about how they interact with the children in the preschool so as not to risk being suspected of sexual assault against children. The result was analyzed based on two main themes, gender patterns and consequences and experiences of being a minority, that describe the men's experience of working as a minority in a women-dominated workplace. For further research, it would have been interesting to go even deeper into the minority problem in both women and male-dominated workplaces.

The word Incel, which stands for “involuntary celibacy”, is characterized and mostly used by young, white heterosexual men. The phenomenon of incels has increased in size and become big over the past years and has now spread in Sweden. Incels has received the society's attention because of different acts of terror committed by men who define themselves as incels. The aim for this study has been, with Raewyn Connell's theory of masculinity, to illustrate dominating discourses regarding gender and sexuality connected with the phenomenon of incels, and illustrate constructed conceptions of being subjected. More specifically we wanted to investigate which conceptions and norms of gender and sexuality that were expressed in connection with the phenomenon of incels. We also wanted to understand how conceptions of being subjected are being constructed linked to the phenomenon of incels. To answer this, we did a netnographic study of the Swedish forum Flashback and studied threads that contained discussions about incels. Our collected empirics were analyzed by the use of discourse analysis. The main results showed that a lot of the forum posts were written on the basis of misogyny as well as racism. A clear conception of dichotomy between men and women also appeared, concerning biological, social and cognitive aspects. Further our results showed how incels, by using different explanations, construct a conception of being subjected by women, other men and society. Our study shows that further research is needed on the phenomenon of incels and about digital communities.

Orientador: Maévi Anabel Nono / Resumo: Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo geral descrever e analisar concepções de professoras de Educação Infantil sobre avaliação na pré-escola. Como objetivos específicos, pretendeu-se a) descrever e analisar as concepções das professoras sobre a função da avaliação na pré-escola, b) identificar os instrumentos e formas de registro da avaliação na pré-escola utilizados pelas professoras, c) identificar a documentação específica para as famílias conhecerem a avaliação feita na pré-escola utilizadas pelos sujeitos da pesquisa, d) descrever e analisar os conhecimentos apontados pelas professoras como necessários para avaliar na pré-escola, e) elencar as contribuições e limitações dos cursos de formação inicial e continuada apontadas pelas professoras para suas práticas de avaliação na etapa de 4-5 anos. Trata-se de pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, de caráter descritivo (GIL, 2008; ANDRÉ, 2013), realizada no período 2017-2020. Foram utilizados questionários como instrumentos de coleta de dados. Os sujeitos da pesquisa foram 34 professoras de quatro escolas municipais de Educação Infantil, com atendimento de crianças de pré-escola com 4 e 5 anos, de um município localizado na região noroeste do estado de São Paulo. Os dados coletados foram analisados a partir de focos de análise estabelecidos com base nos objetivos específicos da pesquisa. Os principais resultados obtidos sugerem que os sujeitos utilizam diversos instrumentos de avaliação e de registro do desenvolvimento das crianças, a... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This research aimed to describe and analyze the conceptions of Early Childhood Education teachers about assessment in preschool. As specific objectives, it was intended to a) describe and analyze the teachers' conceptions about the evaluation function in the preschool, b) identify the instruments and forms of recording the evaluation in the preschool used by the teachers, c) identify the documentation specific for families to know the assessment made in pre-school used by the research subjects, d) describe and analyze the knowledge pointed out by teachers as necessary to assess in pre-school, e) list the contributions and limitations of initial training courses and continued pointed out by the teachers for their assessment practices in the 4-5 years stage. This is a qualitative research (GIL, 2008; ANDRÉ, 2013), carried out in the period 2017-2020. Questionnaires were used as data collection instruments. The research subjects were 34 teachers from four municipal schools of Early Childhood Education, serving pre-school children aged 4 and 5 years, from a municipality located in the northwest region of the state of São Paulo. The collected data were analyzed based on analysis focuses established based on the specific objectives of the research. The main results obtained suggest that the subjects use different instruments for assessing and recording the children's development, presenting the assessment for the children's families in different ways and at different times, pointin... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

The purpose of this study was to construct portrayals of teachers7 work conceptions in various career stages from the stories they told and the metaphors they used to describe the ways in which teachers learned about their work. Specifically, the study included preservice teachers, first-year teachers, third-year teachers, and teachers with more than four years of teaching experience at the elementary and secondary school levels. Thirty-five elementary and secondary school teachers from the North-Central area of Texas participated in this study (nineteen inservice and sixteen preservice teachers). Qualitative techniques were employed to collect data. The preservice teachers filled out a questionnaire and wrote short stories about their preconceptions of their first year of teaching. Inservice teachers were interviewed using a short questionnaire and a long interview schedule. Nine inservice teachers participated in a storytelling workshop/focus group session. Group stories based on predetermined scenarios were constructed, tape-recorded and transcribed. The focus group session was videotaped and transcribed. Fifteen categories emerged from the analysis of the data: cyclical, ritualized, hierarchical, reciprocal, developmental, experiential, reflective, cumulative, body of knowledge, folkloric, individualized/personalized, order/control/manage, disciplinarian, facilitative, and replicative. These categories represent a summary of the constructs, images, contextual maps and metaphors held by these teachers to describe their enculturation process. The descriptive categories developed in this study offer teacher educators, supervisors and teachers a basis for understanding the culture of teachers. The storytelling technigues used in this study provide a means by which teachers and teacher-related personnel can generate further information about the enculturation process that can be applied to recruitment, orientation/ induction programming, reflective teacher preparation and change strategies.

Research taking the perspective of gifted children’s own experiences is scarce. To this researcher’s knowledge, there exists none regarding their pre-school years in the Swedish context. Therefore, this study attempts to meet this need of knowledge by presenting the voices of young gifted people’s lived experience of their pre-school years. The purpose ofthe present study is to explore the lived experiences of a few adolescents and their own conceptions and experiences of their pre-school years. Two research questions assisted my exploration of the material: What in the adolescents’ narratives appears as of significance to them? and What does it mean to experience pre-school for these gifted adolescents? Taking a phenomenologically informed approach, five semi structured interviews with informants aged 10-18 where conducted. Previous research on young gifted children has focused mainly on identification of gifted children. There are studies that put forward children’s experience of pre-school, but very few seek the experience of gifted children. Phenomenological theories also helped in analyzing the results, Ahmed’s queer phenomenology and Schütz view on the lifeworld and the social world were used. The results show that four themes were of most importance to the children; stimulation, influence, relations with peers and relations with adults, although it was also found that each individual had his/her unique experience. To some, experiencing pre-school meant for example loneliness and anxiety, while to others it meant playing with friends and positive feelings. By using the theoretical terms from Ahmed (2006) and Schütz (2002) it was found that in order to reach an oriented state, stimulation seemed necessary. Social relations with children or adults and learning activities at the correct individually adjusted level seemed to give stimulation. Influence, for example by being allowed to be different (queer), seemed to increase the possibilities to reach stimulation. When lacking both social relations and intellectual stimulation, orientation does not seem possible and sometimes causes a long-lasting disorientation or crisis. When lacking social relations some compensation from learning activities might be possible and as a consequence orientation in these moments. Implications of the study include, like previous research has found, the need of knowledge of giftedness and resources in pre-school to enable meeting the needs of all children, but mainly the contribution is that this study clarifies the great need of research in the area of gifted children’s own experiences of pre-school in order to better inform the practice.

Mental illness is a complex phenomenon that is social and psychological as well as biological. But since the creation of the DSM-III in the 1980s, the landscape of mental health research and treatment in the United States has been heavily influenced by the biomedical model. The thoughts and beliefs of the lay public about mental illness are often ignored despite the push for greater cultural understanding among biomedical professionals. This disconnect, coupled with the poor mental health infrastructure, has left Mississippi with an inadequate ability to help Mississippians address mental illness. This research uses cognitive anthropological methods and biocultural theory to begin to address this disconnect. A shared cultural model of mental illness by causes, symptoms, and treatments was found. There were systematic differences between the two groups’ knowledge of causes of mental illness. Understanding these will assist in providing more culturally appropriate care for the mentally ill.

No description available.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal. / Dans un contexte constructiviste, les connaissances antérieures d'un individu sont essentielles à la construction de nouvelles connaissances. Quelle qu'en soit la source (certaines de ces connaissances ont été élaborées en classe, d'autres ont été élaborées par interaction personnelle de l'individu avec son environnement physique et social), ces connaissances, une fois acquises, constituent les matières premières de l'élaboration des nouvelles conceptions de cet individu. Généralement, cette influence est considérée comme positive. Cependant, dans un milieu scolaire où l'apprentissage de certaines conceptions enchâssées dans un programme d'études et entérinées par l'ensemble d'une communauté est obligatoire, certaines connaissances antérieures peuvent entraver la construction des conceptions exigées par la communauté. La littérature abonde de tels exemples. Cependant, certaines connaissances antérieures, en soi tout à fait conformes à l'Héritage, peuvent aussi, parce qu'utilisées de façon non pertinente, entraver la construction d'une conception exigée par la communauté. Ici, la littérature nous donne peu d'exemples de ce type, mais nous en fournirons quelques-uns dans le cadre théorique, et ce sera un d'entre eux qui servira de base à nos propos. En effet, une grande proportion d'élèves inscrits à un cours de sciences physiques de la quatrième secondaire, en réponse à un problème déjà solutionné durant l'année et redonné lors d'un examen sommatif, «Pourquoi la Lune nous montre-t-elle toujours la même face?», attribue principalement la cause de ce phénomène à la rotation de la Terre sur son axe. En tant que responsable de l'enseignement de ce programme d'études, plusieurs questions nous sont venues à l'esprit, entre autres, comment, dans un contexte constructiviste, est-il possible de réduire chez un élève, l'impact de cette connaissance antérieure dans l'élaboration de la solution et ainsi prévenir la construction d'une conception erronée? Nous avons testé nos hypothèses avec la cohorte suivante d'élèves chez qui se répétaient les mêmes conditions d'apprentissage. Nous avons utilisé le design de recherche "posttest only" de Campbell et Stanley. En mai, après le moment prévu dans la planification du programme pour donner le problème aux élèves, nous avons suggéré deux façons différentes de réviser la solution de ce problème. Les élèves du premier groupe expérimental ont révisé sans que soit activée la connaissance antérieure appréhendée de la rotation de la Terre. Les élèves du deuxième groupe expérimental ont été confrontés, par des questions et une simulation, au fait que la rotation de la Terre n'est pas une connaissance pertinente pour résoudre le problème. Les groupes témoins et les groupes expérimentaux ont été choisis au hasard dans le bassin des écoles secondaires de la commission scolaire. Les analyses démontrent qu'un plus petit nombre d'élèves utilise le concept de rotation de la Terre dans les groupes expérimentaux que dans les groupes témoins. Simultanément, on compte un plus grand nombre de bonnes réponse dans les groupes expérimentaux que dans les groupes témoins. Ces résultats laissent donc entrevoir la possibilité de prévenir l'impact de certaines connaissances antérieures dans la reconstruction des savoirs. Ainsi, lorsqu'un enseignant appréhende chez une cohorte d'élèves une utilisation non pertinente de certaines connaissances déjà acquises, tout cela étant concevable en se basant sur les résultats antérieurs d'élèves inscrits au même cours, alors, à la lueur de cette recherche et tout en demeurant dans un contexte d'apprentissage constructiviste, cet enseignant pourrait élaborer avec confiance des mises en situation riches en stimulations qui auraient le potentiel de diminuer l'impact de ces connaissances d'élèves ayant réussi à construire correctement la conception à l'étude. Les résultats mettent aussi en évidence l'influence de l'activation des connaissances antérieures autant que de leur non activation dans la construction des savoirs. Enfin, puisque les conceptions erronées sont aussi des connaissances antérieures, cette recherche confirme que malgré la force d'ancrage d'une conception construite, erronée ou non, il est possible d'en réduire l'impact durant l'apprentissage, mais aussi nous amène à considérer une question différente et plus générale que celles des traitements des conceptions erronées. La méthode de prévention la plus efficace ne serait-elle pas d'enseigner aux élèves le «comment discriminer, de l'ensemble de ses connaissances antérieures, les éléments nécessaires et suffisants à la construction d'un savoir?»

Science teachers and researchers note that students must correctly understand the role of natural selection in evolution to make sense of biology. The level of understanding of natural selection can be assessed using the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS) which is a 20-item multiple-choice test that incorporates student misconceptions as distractors. In the present study, Item Response Theory (IRT) was used to analyze the occurance of misconceptions on the CINS among 1192 students in an introductory non-majors biology course. The four most difficult topics in the CINS are: (a) how change occurs in a population; (b) origin of variation; (c) heritability of variation; and (d) the origin of species. Students with an average level of understanding of natural selection favored Teleological explanations for why organisms adapt to their environment, namely that organisms change because they need or want to change. These same students favored the Lamarckian explanation for how organisms adapt, namely by passing on acquired traits to offspring. Presence of such misconceptions in students with an average understanding of natural selection highlights the need for biology teachers to make an added effort to create dissatisfaction with teleological and Lamarckian explanations in the minds of their students.