Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2007 Aug 16

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 200.

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D.Litt. et Phil. / Jean Piaget (1896-1980) played a major role in laying the groundwork for many of our current beliefs about cognitive development. While specific beliefs and ideas of different cultures may vary, Piaget posited that the stages of cognitive development, namely, sensori-motor, pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational, unfold in the same sequence at roughly the same ages, irrespective of cultural and educational background. The new political changes in South Africa have transformed the education policies from the content-orientated, rote-learning based curriculum of the past, to a skills-based, interactive learning approach called Outcomes-Based Education (OBE). OBE aims to move away from the old ¡¥tabula rasa¡¦ education policy towards a dynamic learning system that involves learners at a critical level of intelligence. OBE presents itself as compatible with developments in cognitive psychology, particularly Piaget¡¦s theory of intellectual development. With the recent change in curriculum, this research investigated whether children in South Africa have attained concrete and formal operations as OBE purports to encourage. The research takes a closer look at children¡¦s cognitive abilities as assessed by Piaget¡¦s theory of development. With reference to South African education ¡§as part of the far-reaching political, social and economic changes, aimed at an egalitarian and healthy society, the new political dispensation has replaced the previous education policy with a constructivist, Outcomes Based Educational approach.¡¨ (Skuy et al, 1999, p. 3). This study was conducted on children from grades one through to grades five, at two primary schools. One of the schools implemented OBE „b 4 years ago (experimental group), whilst the other has not as yet implemented OBE (control group). The measuring instruments consisted of Piaget¡¦s cognitive tests for assessing the concrete and formal operational stages. Piaget¡¦s tests are designed to look for a particular type of understanding/reasoning that typifies a particular developmental stage (Bybee & Sund, 1982). The tests consisted of one-to-one interviews designed to evaluate concrete, transitional and formal operational patterns of thought. Due to the relatively small sample group (ten participants per group) and the fact that the data is ordinal, the analysis was carried out using non-parametric and descriptive statistics. Thus, the results of Piaget¡¦s tests were compared to OBE related marks and academic marks using Spearman¡¦s Correlation Coefficient for ranked data, in order to better understand the nature of the relationship between OBE and cognitive development. Since the data is categorical, i.e., categorised as concrete operational and formal operational, the results of each child in the OBE school were also compared to the results of each child in the non-OBE school using the Mann-Whitney-U test (Howell, 1995) in order to determine whether there is a difference between OBE-cognitive development and Non-OBE-cognitive development. The aim of this study was to establish whether O.B.E is indeed a better approach than other methods of teaching with reference to cognitive development. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that O.B.E is not necessarily a more superior system to that of other teaching systems, and that in fact, the more traditional methods of teaching may enhance cognitive development more than O.B.E. / Dr. Alban Burke

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2007 Aug 16

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 200-213). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

This study is a response to the need to support literacy development in an increasingly diverse and complex culture. Some school boards have identified early literacy as a priority for school improvement and there has been much debate about what constitutes effective literacy instruction. The Quebec Education Program (2001) recommends adopting a constructivist approach that embeds literacy instruction within interdisciplinary learning situations. Some teachers ask what a constructivist classroom looks like in practice. In light of teacher and school board concerns this study examines the literacy practices of a grade two/three elementary teacher in order to address the question, how does literacy learning occur within an espoused constructivist classroom? Besides describing the literacy events themselves, the role of context and the teacher in the literacy learning are examined. / Using a qualitative research methodology, the dynamic interactions between and amongst teacher and students were documented. Participant observation utilized photographs, audio and video taped lessons, semi-formal interviews as well as student work and teacher materials to provide a rich description of classroom practice. The researcher used both categorizing and contextualizing strategies to complement each other in a rigorous and systematic analytical process. Visual research methodology augmented the richness of the study. / The researcher discovered four major steps in a dance between teacher and students that developed literacy skills in a caring environment by nurturing self-esteem and self-regulation in learners. The teacher designed a peer tutoring program with first grade students in which literacy skills instruction was embedded within an authentic context that responded to second language learners with learning challenges. The teacher's roles as director, philosopher, enabler and connector were explored and a mirror image of students and teacher were provided through a narrative tracing of three focus students. / Besides describing the literacy practices of the teacher, this study uncovered a spiritual dimension of the teacher's role in that she began from the sacred space of teaching from the heart. Using gentle judgment and praise she built self-esteem by reflecting back to her students an image of competent, intelligent, human beings. Her spiritual epistemology enabled her to create a harmonious balance of responsible freedom within a flexibly structured environment. The spiritual dimension that emerged through the study suggests that research of literacy practices needs to include an examination of the role of the teacher in developing students' identities as self-confident members of a literacy community.

A sequential exploratory design (Creswell, 2003) was used to measure how a social-constructivist oriented educational psychology course could move beyond the inert knowledge Mandl, Gruber, and Renkl (1996) reported to be the outcome of student teacher engagement with formal university courses. Biggs' 3P model (Biggs, & Moore, 1993) provided the framework for qualitatively categorizing 26 student teachers' (16 female, 10 male) conceptions of meaningful learning, and allocations of responsibility for learning. Categories were tested for independence and subsequently predicted learning outcomes as identified by Bloom's revised taxonomy (Anderson, & Krathwohl, 2001). All students held qualitative conceptions of learning. Participants who attributed responsibility to both the professor and students understood and applied course content more than those who attributed responsibility to either solely the professor or student on measures of understanding and application. Results lend support for Biggs' 3P model of classroom systems.