Despite the wide spread use of psychological instruments in the forensic context, there is a dearth of research on the purposes for using it. A qualitative case study approach was adopted in this study to explore the purposes for which industrial psychologists use psychological instruments in loss of income claims. The research study comprised of two phases. Firstly, a literature review was used to provide some background on psychological assessment in the forensic context. The literature review described the historical development of forensic psychology, what psychological instruments are and how they are used in the forensic context. The forensic context, in which industrial psychologists operate, was also described. Furthermore, the initial conceptual framework to outline the context of the next phase of the research was illustrated. The second phase was an exploratory study that made use of a multiple-case study approach. The main research aim was to explore the purposes for using psychological instruments in loss of income claims by industrial psychologists. Another aim was to explore the psychological instruments used. The final aim was to explore the kind of information that is needed in the forensic context, which is not currently available by means of existing psychological assessment. Case study data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with four industrial psychologists. Each interview represented a case to be analysed. The multiple-case study data gathered were then analysed using coding, within-case analysis and across-case analysis. The findings indicate that psychological instruments are used for the following purposes: (1) to add value to the quantification of a loss of income claim; and (2) to provide information that is required on the specific situation and circumstances surrounding the claim. Furthermore, the research findings also revealed that the purpose of using a psychological instrument to add value is influenced by internal factors of the psychological instrument as well as situational characteristics of the legal matter at hand. Through the exploration of the purposes for using psychological instruments, specific instruments used could be identified. Another finding included the existence of a perception that the psychological instruments currently available in South Africa are inadequate to provide the information required in the forensic context. The findings also revealed the kind of information that is needed.Recommendations were made for future research and industry-related practices. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Ce tapuscrit propose de comprendre par l’approche communicationnelle le choix d’orientation des élèves de seconde d’un établissement de l’académie de Montpellier. Cette recherche est à visée exploratoire, elle part du postulat que le sens donné par l’élève de seconde à son choix d’orientation se construit en situation, ici et maintenant. Nous défendons une position épistémologique de « convention constructiviste ». Nous souhaitons répondre à la problématique suivante : quelles sont les interactions entre l’élève de seconde et le contexte dans lequel il évolue lors de son choix d’orientation ? Nous choisissons la technique d’analyse systémique qualitative des relations humaines permettant la mise en exergue des formes des échanges entre tous les acteurs (humains et idéels) en présence dans la situation observée. Cette analyse fait apparaître la dynamique du système et la règle du jeu qui s’instaure. Les formes des échanges prennent alors une signification lorsqu’elles sont replacées dans le système. Les conclusions issues de cette analyse offrent des angles d’interventions à différents niveaux. L’approche par les SIC d’un objet de recherche principalement étudié en Sciences de l’éducation, ouvre de nouvelles perspectives pour aborder la thématique de l’orientation, et ce tout le long de la vie. / The aim of this typescript is to understand, through a communicative approach, the career choice of "seconde" pupils in the académie of Montpellier. Our exploratory research starts from the fact that the pupils choose their future career on a "here and now" basis. What we have here is the epistemological approach of a constructivist consensus. We will try to answer the following question : What are the interactions between the pupils and their environment at the moment of their career choice?We have chosen the technique of qualitative systemic analysis of human relations to underline the forms of exchange between all the actors (either human or conceptual) present in the observed situation. This analysis brings out the dynamics of the system and the rules that govern it. The exchange forms become meaningful when considered within the system. The conclusions drawn from this analysis provide angles of interventions on different levels. The SIC approach of a research object studied in the light of education Sciences opens up new perspectives in the field of career choice, and this, throughout life.

Notre thèse vise à étudier expérimentalement les effets de différents types de situations conversationnelles de co-résolution de problèmes sur les activités cognitives d'élèves de S.E.G.P.A. en grande difficulté scolaire (Section Enseignement Général Professionnel Adapté). Elle s'inscrit dans une approche socio-constructiviste du fonctionnement et du développement du système cognitif et prend appui sur la thèse vygotskienne postulant l'origine sociale des processus mentaux supérieurs et sur les travaux s'en réclamant, attestant que les interactions et les significations de la tâche et/ou du contexte favorisent le fonctionnement et le développement des activités mentales supérieures. Trois expérimentations ont été réalisées, mettant les participants dans des situations de résolution de problèmes selon plusieurs types de contextes interactifs : face à face, au téléphone, en vidéoconférence, via une messagerie instantanée (MSN), et en individuel. Les résultats mettent en évidence l'intérêt du travail en dyade et font apparaître des différences quant aux performances, au temps de résolution, au nombre et la nature des actes de communication lors de la co-résolution. L'analyse des échanges au moyen de l'analyse interlocutoire valide la thèse selon laquelle les deux fonctions (communicative et significative) des médiations sémiotiques s'accomplissent en même temps lors des transactions conversationnelles pour construire l'intersubjectivité, et sont appropriées par les partenaires pour (ré)organiser les systèmes cognitifs individuels. / Our thesis aims at study experimentally the effects of various types of conversational situations of co-resolution of problems on cognitive activities upon teenagers attending the “college” and in great school difficulty. It falls under a socio-constructivist approach of functioning and development of the cognitive system, and takes support on the vygotskian thesis postulating a social origin of higher mental processes and on researches supporting it, stating that the interactions and the significance of the task and/or the context can promote the functioning and development of higher mental activities. Three experiments were organized. Participants had to solve problems according to several types of interactive contexts: face to face, on the telephone, in videoconferencing, via instant messaging (MSN), and individually. The results highlight the interest of working in dyad and reveal differences as for the performance, the time of resolution of the task, the number and the nature of communication acts carried out during the co-resolution. The interlocutory analysis of the exchanges validates the thesis that the two functions (communicative and significant) of the semiotic mediations are achieved simultaneously within transactions to build the intersubjectivity, and are appropriate by partners to (re)organize their own cognitive system. The differences observed can also allow to give some guidelines of work on the development of devices of teaching and learning with “college” students with learning difficulties or not.

The diploma thesis on topic Development of professional competencies of Primary School teachers considers the research question: "What is the significance of teacher training and its length in the development of the professional competencies of primary school teachers?". The aim of the thesis is to introduce and analyze effective ways of developing the professional competencies of primary school teachers in the combined form of study. Contextualize the importance of practice and its length in the development of professional competencies. To deal with specific cases, ie cases of significance of practice and its length in the development of professional competencies of primary school teachers. With the support of professional literature, the basic theorems related to the topic of work are defined in the theoretical part: teacher, competencies, key competences, pedagogical knowledge and skills, constructivist approach in education and methods of professional development of teachers. Attention is paid to theory, practice and its position in teacher education. Reflection, cooperation and portfolio are mentioned here as effective means of professional development of teachers, ensuring the interconnection of theoretical knowledge and practical experience. The practical part is focused on qualitative...

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:57:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose Manoel Vitolo.pdf: 939821 bytes, checksum: 0434aa524d750001b5fe4f4e1b7980c2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-25 / Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo / This work has as its intents: to investigate the construction, discussion and evaluation of a teaching planning that gives an introductory notion to the idea of function, inside a constructivist learning perspective; to investigate how the researches in the Mathematics Education field contribute to the teaching organization and to analyze Mathematics teachers performance before a teaching proposal with this characteristic. The theoretic foundation is based on the formula proposed by Simon (1995), about Hypothetical Learning Trajectory (HLT). The study achieved has qualitative aspect and had the involvement of two Mathematics teachers of a public school, in the state of Sao Paulo, and their work with seventy-seven students shared in two groups, all of them in their first year of High School. The data came through interviews, questionnaires and observations. Although the HTL has been worked out with tasks that include problems resolution, technology, interdisciplinary approaches and application in day-to-day situations, the HLT per se does not guarantee learning under a constructivist perspective, without the constant support of the teacher in the planning (re)organization. About the teachers, it is important emphasizing that the main challenge is to approach them of the academic researches and keep them in continuous learning process / O presente trabalho tem como objetivos: investigar a construção, discussão e avaliação de um planejamento de ensino para a aprendizagem de noções introdutórias à ideia de função, dentro de uma perspectiva construtivista de aprendizagem; investigar como as pesquisas, na área de Educação Matemática, contribuem para a organização do ensino deste tema e analisar a atuação de professores de Matemática, diante de uma proposta de ensino com esta característica. A fundamentação teórica está baseada nas formulações propostas por Simon (1995), sobre Trajetórias Hipotéticas de Aprendizagem (THA). O estudo realizado é de natureza qualitativa envolvendo dois professores de Matemática de uma escola da rede pública do Estado de São Paulo, e suas atuações junto a 77 alunos distribuídos em duas turmas que frequentam o primeiro ano do ensino médio. Os dados foram coletados por entrevistas semiestruturadas, questionário e observações. Embora a THA, tendo sido elaborada com tarefas que envolvam resolução de problemas, uso de tecnologia, abordagens interdisciplinares, aplicações em situações do cotidiano e em outras áreas do conhecimento e sejam potencialmente ricas, no sentido de produzir situações de aprendizagem, sem a participação constante do professor na (re)organização do planejamento, a THA por si só não garante uma aprendizagem sob perspectivas construtivistas. Ainda em relação ao professor, cabe ressaltar que o principal desafio é aproximá-lo das pesquisas acadêmicas e que continuem sempre em processo de formação

Current research and declining test scores indicate that changes in educational practice are required for successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). Using a constructivist change theory framework, this grounded theory study explored the experiences 6 purposefully selected, experienced teachers at an Upstate New York school district had related to the implementation of the CCSSM. The research question investigated the experiences that educators had related to implementing the CCSSM and the accompanying New York State mathematics modules. Observation notes, interview transcripts, and teachers' journals were collected and analysed simultaneously through coding, constant comparison, theoretical sampling, and memoing. The core concern that emerged was the lack of alignment between the standards and the curriculum being used to teach them. This lack of alignment was related to oversized and repetitive lessons, as well as the de-emphasis on teaching the mathematical practice standards that are a large part of CCSSM. These factors caused teachers to invest large amounts of time re-writing curriculum. Findings suggest that administrator-supported adaptive professional development is required to strategically address experienced educator needs while allowing for educator autonomy in curriculum design. The project, an adaptive professional development plan, will support experienced educators as they enact modifications to curriculum in order to address the changes in teacher practice and student learning that are needed to align instruction with CCSSM . This project can be used on a wider scale and can contribute to the knowledge base of implementation models for educators to enact the changes in instruction necessary to improve student mastery of the CCSSM.

Physical education classrooms often have low levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity levels. This is a problem since many young elementary students are not building a foundation of fundamental movement skills necessary to be lifelong participants in physical activities. This study investigated how elementary physical education teachers used auditory modalities in their classrooms. The research question explored the emergence of rhythmic competency in fundamental movement skills to increase overall moderate to vigorous activity levels. This concurrent, mixed-methods, multiple case study used a constructivist paradigm using the schema and dynamic system theories as the underlying motor system theoretical framework. Two research sites were selected: a suburban Maryland public school system and a private liberal arts college located in the same county. The participants included 21 elementary physical education teachers and 6 physical education or exercise science majors from nationally recognized programs. Data were collected from a focus group, interviews, classroom observations, and a 10-item response Likert style survey designed for elementary physical education teachers to recognize current trends in the field of auditory modalities and rhythmic competency. The data were analyzed to identify auditory modality instructional methods for the emergence of rhythmic competencies. The results consisted of a list of best practices for use such as musical rhythms, verbal cues, and sound cues by physical education teachers and specialists. This research promotes positive social change by providing information for successfully planning interventions in the discipline of motor skill and rhythmic development that can lead to overall increased more-vigorous physical activity.

Domestic violence is regarded as a complex social issue since it does not only exist in some abnormal groups of people, or abused by a certain type of men, nor exposed by a particular type of women. Hence, the problem can occur in all-ages, social classes and occupational groups throughout the society. Domestic violence therefore reflects the unequal distribution of power in different aspects between men and women that still remains and is maintained in different ways in today’s society. On this basis, the aim of this study is to examine women’s narrative life stories about their experiences of domestic violence in their autobiographies. This study also aims to analyze how women construct domestic violence in autobiographies from beginning to end. With the use of autobiographies as empirical material I chose to take the qualitative narrative analysis as a method, and on the basis of a social constructivists perspective. I have chosen four autobiographies all written by women who have been subjected to domestic violence in Sweden. Results analysis is divided into different parts which follow how an abusive relationship begins, how it develops and how it ends. The results show that most women described domestic violence which begins as a romantic relationship that gradually transforms into a relationship of violence, and that ends with women managing to break up from men with help of the environment in order to survive. Through autobiographies can this domestic violence also be explained as a normalization process of violence which caused by men’s violence and women’s adaptation to it.

The purposes of this study were to explore students&rsquo / perceptions of the extent to which constructivist approaches are present in chemistry classes at high school level in Turkey, to assess students&rsquo / perceptions of their chemistry teachers&rsquo / communication behaviours in their classroom learning environments and to investigate the learning strategies of students in chemistry classes considering school type, gender, and grade level differences. In this study, the Constructivist Learning Environment Questionnaire (CLES), the Teacher Communication Behaviour v Questionnaire (TCBQ) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) were used as measuring instruments. In addition, the questionnaires included some questions for demographic characteristics of participants. The study was conducted in conveniently selected two schools (private and public) in Ankara with a total of 994 ninth and tenth grade students in the second term of 2006-2007 semesters. Data obtained from the administration of measuring instruments by using the analysis of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) The results of the study indicated that school type, gender and grade level of the students had significant effect on perception of classroom learning environment, teacher&rsquo / communication behaviour and perceived use of learning strategies. For instance, students in private schools perceived their classroom-learning environment more constructivist than student in public school. In addition girls rated that, their learning environment and teachers&rsquo / communication behaviours more favourably than did boys. The study also showed that students use rehearsal-learning strategy mostly in their chemistry classrooms.

Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας ήταν να μελετήσουμε τις εικόνες στα βιβλία των Φυσικών Επιστημών της ΣΤ΄ Δημοτικού που αναφέρονται σε έννοιες Βιολογίας ως ένα κοινωνικο – εποικοδομιστικό εργαλείο μάθησης. Η μελέτη προσανατολίστηκε σε δύο κατευθύνσεις. Αφενός μεν πώς οι εικόνες παρουσιάζονται στα βιβλία έχοντας κοινωνικά προσδιορισμένη λειτουργία (Σημειωτική προσέγγιση) και αφετέρου πώς τις κατανοούν οι μαθητές και αν μπορούν να λειτουργήσουν ως μέσο μάθησης και οικοδόμησης της γνώσης (Εποικοδομιστική προσέγγιση). Αρχικά οι εικόνες σε όλες τις θεματικές ενότητες της βιολογίας ταξινομήθηκαν ανάλογα με το είδος και τη λειτουργία. Στη συνέχεια επιλέχτηκαν κάποιες εικόνες που αφορούσαν το Αναπνευστικό και Κυκλοφορικό Σύστημα του ανθρώπου οι οποίες παρουσιάστηκαν με το συνοδεύον γραπτό κείμενο στους μαθητές για να δούμε πώς τις διαχειρίζονται, αν τις κατανοούν και τι δυσκολίες αντιμετωπίζουν. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι, (α) Οι εικόνες στα βιβλία ανάλογα με το περιεχόμενο (είδος και λειτουργία) είναι ρεαλιστικές παρά συμβατικές έχοντας ένα παιδαγωγικό ρόλο που συνάδει με την ηλικία των μαθητών και (β) οι μαθητές στις επιλεγμένες εικόνες αντιμετωπίζουν προβλήματα τόσο στη διαχείριση όσο και στην κατανόηση των εικόνων που οφείλονται όχι μόνο στις αδυναμίες που έχουν στην περιοχή της βιολογίας αλλά επιπλέον στην απουσία ικανοτήτων οπτικού γραμματισμού. / The present study aims at analyzing visual images, included in the sixth grade’s Natural Science textbooks, referring in biology concepts as a socio-constructivist learning tool. The analysis took two different approaches; on the one hand, researching how these images are presented in the textbooks while having a social pre-identified function (Semiotics approach) and on the other hand, researching how sixth grade students can understand these images and if they can serve as means of learning and constructing knowledge (Constructivist approach). Initially, the images in all biological topics were classified in relation with their type and function. The research then proceeded by selecting certain images concerning the human Respiratory and Circulatory System, which were presented with accompanying written text to the students in order to determine how they can handle them, if they understand them and what difficulties they face during this process. The results of this research showed that (i) the images in the books depending on their content (type and function) are naturalistic rather than abstract while having a pedagogical function consistent with the age of the students and (ii) the students in selected images encounter problems both in handling and understanding not only due to knowledge deficit in the area of biology but due to the absence of visual literacy skills as well.