This interpretive case study identifies constructs which teachers and researchers may find useful in reporting and reflecting on teachers' knowledge bases, their interpretations of classroom roles and relationships, and curriculum implementation as individual change in practice is attempted. This study was undertaken in collaboration with a chemistry teacher at an urban high school in the southeast. Transcripts and field notes from participant observation in the teacher's classes were primary data sources. The following interpretations emerged from the analyses of the data: (1) Visual images serve as referents for a teacher's thoughts and actions. Metaphor provides a way for teachers to talk about and construct meanings for actions based on the images. (2) A teacher's personal epistemological perspective influences her/his beliefs about what counts as knowledge and the roles of language, power, and learning in the classroom. (3) Teachers adopt taken for granted roles and approaches to teaching that school cultural myths suggest. Taboos and customs associated with the myths constrain teachers from exploring alternative roles or practices. (4) Metonymic conceptual models preconceputally structure teacher learning and constrain change. / This study characterizes teacher learning and change as a process, the meaning of which, is socially negotiated. The extent to which desired changes may be implemented depends upon the meanings that teachers, students, and other members of the school community have for teaching and learning processes. Whether teachers are able to identify constraints and overcome them within the social context of the school may determine the extent to which change is possible. / The results of this study suggest that teachers need assistance in examining their practices in order that they may understand better the influence of cognitive and social factors on their enactment of salient teaching roles. Identification of constraints may be a first step in facilitating change. Further research including collaborative studies of change is needed to increase our understanding of how cognitive constraints influenced by school myths and teachers' personal histories may be overcome. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: A, page: 0869. / Major Professor: Kenneth G. Tobin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

The rules for order of operations are important to students in numerical computation, simplifying algebraic expressions, evaluating formulas, writing proofs, solving equations, and success on standardized tests. Errors in evaluating expressions that require knowledge of this topic are often found at middle and high school. Moreover, pilot testing revealed that college students also committed such errors. Some students made errors that were consistent with an incorrect interpretation of the My Dear Aunt Sally mnemonic. / A few scholars have given careful thought to order of operations. However, many students, teachers and texts have given little attention to this topic. Microcomputers can give students appreciation and motivation for studying conventions. The fact that some of these rules are built into microcomputers allows students to investigate them with rich and varied activities enhanced by immediate feedback. / This study has shown that the time ordinarily used in teaching these conventions may not be adequate. A questionnaire revealed that most students had only one class period studying the topic. / Since students had exhibited definite weaknesses on grouping conventions and since the use of computers employ such conventions, a study was done to determine the effectiveness of using microcomputers in teaching this topic. The study involved 132 students at three high schools in Florida. The experimental group was taught the conventions with the aid of microcomputers. The control group was taught the conventions through traditional teaching methods without the use of microcomputers. / The results of the experiment showed that the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group. The experimental group scored significantly higher (.05) than the control group on achievement, retention, and transfer. / During the pilot study a new difficulty related to conventions was noticed. Expressions that involved numerals repeated in certain ways, "special numerals," were missed with high frequency. The study showed that the whole group of subjects (experimental and control) performed significantly worse at evaluating these special numeral expressions as opposed to the regular expressions. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-02, Section: A, page: 0290. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

Lebanese elementary school textbooks (reading and civics) were content analyzed to determine if attributes of a modern person, specifically modern sex attributes, were represented. The study aimed at challenging Lerner's (1966) findings which attributed the modernity of the Lebanese society to the country's educational system. If education contributes to modernity, the textbooks, which are the major tool of instruction in Lebanon, should portray men and women equally holding modern attributes. The analysis was narrative and pictorial. The character was used as the unit of analysis. Intercoder reliability ranged from.9 to 1.0. / Results of the study showed that for the narrative analysis, males were portrayed as modern regarding age, identity, setting, roles, activities, and traits. Females were portrayed as modern on one factor only--identity. Males and females were portrayed in traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine occupations, respectively. Sexism appeared when the number of males was greater than the number of females portrayed, and when males were the majority in secondary and primary roles held by all characters. / For the pictorial content analysis, only males were portrayed as modern on one factor: activities. Sexism appeared when more males than females were portrayed in illustrations, and when the number of pictures with more males was greater than the number of pictures with more females. Also, when sex was not identified in the text, the majority of characters portrayed were males. / Lerner's findings were challenged as the Lebanese textbooks did not portray males and females equally in all modern attributes, especially in sex roles. / Results of this study confirmed several previous research studies and contradicted others. The portrayal of males and females as modern in some aspects and traditional in others is a reflection of the "schizophrenic neopatriarchal" nature of the Arab society where it is hard to find a truly modern or a truly traditional person or institution. / Recommendations for further research and policy issues were developed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-12, Section: A, page: 3088. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

While recent educational reports suggest the need to involve students in active learning, the meaning of student involvement is not clear. The effectiveness of any instructional activity depends on how, why and when the activity is used as well as the beliefs and social norms of the class. A better understanding of mathematics classroom practices is needed in order to give empirical support for educational reforms. / The study was conducted in a third grade classroom which used problem centered learning as the major mathematics instructional strategy. The goal was to describe student participation and potential learning opportunities in mathematics class discussions. Constructivists' views about knowledge, learning, interpretation and communication had profound influence on this study. / Participant observation was the primary research tool for collecting data and generating hypotheses, while information from video recording and timely interviews were also used. Furthermore, observations and interviews with four key informants contributed greatly to the investigation on individual constructions of mathematics meaning in class discussion. / The major findings of this study are as follows: (1) Third grade students are capable of carrying out and assisting each other to carry out meaningful mathematics dialogues. (2) Class discussion provides potential learning opportunities for students to construct, connect, integrate and reflect on their mathematics knowledge. (3) The negotiation of social norms makes possible the negotiation of mathematics meaning. (4) The meaning of social norms are formed and renegotiated in the social contexts of students attempting to communicate mathematics meaning. (5) Providing students with opportunities to defend and justify their methods appears to be crucial for mathematics meaning. / This study has implications for mathematics instruction, research on student learning and the current reform movement. Teacher's and students' beliefs about mathematics and communication are crucial in establishing an appropriate learning environment. I hope that the detailed descriptions and analyses in this dissertation can help educators form an alternative image of classroom practice and reflect on their own beliefs and assumptions on teaching and learning mathematics. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-06, Section: A, page: 2057. / Major Professor: Grayson H. Wheatley. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

This study investigates the development of a collaborative approach to instructional planning, in the context of a local, natural instructional setting in the educational system of a Caribbean island. Parallel teams of planners are brought together from both the development and the delivery systems of this instructional context; to develop an instructional plan of their choice. / The collaborative instructional exercise is developed as a series of planning sessions--utilizing the mechanism of a small group interaction/problem-solving process. The group of 12 main, direct participants consists of six developers and six deliverers of instruction. Data collection is done by means of preliminary questionnaire/survey and documents reviews; by in-process interviews by discussions, observations, recordings, documents reviews; and by post-planning interviews of individual participants. A comprehensive review of related literature is also presented, to put this study in perspective and lay the basis for useful analysis. Analysis of the collaborative planning process and description of the emergent model are presented in terms of the opinions, decisions, behaviors/actions, and approaches of the participants. Within-group comparisons are made in terms of the respective roles played by each team of planners, and in terms of the relative contributions of individuals in each team. / Findings of the investigation reveal that both sets of planners considered more elements that traditionally prescribed and described in instructional models. / Furthermore, the planners introduced new dimensions to, and derived new meanings from, aspects of the planning process. Findings of this study support some findings of earlier research studies (e.g., that instructional planners do not systematically follow the prescriptive models of instructional planning and development. It was also shown, however, that planners in this study context do use some traditional elements in the development of their own approach. The collaborative planning approach (model) that emerged is described, and implications for applications to the context are suggested. Implications for further research into collaborative planning are also discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-01, Section: A, page: 0077. / Major Professor: Robert Morgan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

This study examined the effect of input device control and gender pairing on learner achievement and satisfaction when learners work in pairs utilizing level 3 interactive video to learn Spanish. Twenty subjects were randomly selected from 8th, 9th and 10th grade Spanish classes, and randomized into same and opposite sex pairs. Each group was asked to complete a series of 4 interactive video Spanish lessons during which 4 separate treatments were applied. These treatments varied the amount of control an individual learner had over the input devices during the lessons. These treatments included full control, no control, and unspecified control. All lessons were videotaped and a portion of these videotapes was used as part of the final analysis. / Five individual hypotheses were tested. Two hypotheses predicted same sex pairing would lead to higher satisfaction with a partner, satisfaction with a lesson, and lesson scores. Three hypotheses predicted that varying the amount of control an individual has during an interactive lesson would affect their satisfaction and lesson scores. / Prior to the beginning of the first lesson, a small survey was administered to measure an individual's experience and comfort level with the interactive computer environments. Survey results revealed male and female subjects were largely homogeneous with regard to experience and comfort with computers. / Of the five hypotheses tested, one was clearly supported by both quantitative and qualitative analysis. This hypothesis predicted same sex pairing would lead to greater lesson satisfaction and greater satisfaction with the partner than opposite sex pairing. The remaining four hypotheses were not supported by the analysis. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-05, Section: A, page: 1569. / Major Professor: C. Edward Wotring. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0083. Adviser: Terrence C. Mason. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed on Feb. 8, 2007)."

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0081. Advisers: David Flinders; Luise McCarty. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Feb. 8, 2007)."

<p> To investigate if, and how, curriculum developers are incorporating opportunities to develop global competence into business curricula, the Exploratory Design: Taxonomy Development Model (Qualitative Emphasized) was conducted on top-rated MBA programs. This three-phase mixed methods approach revealed 11 global competencies (or taxonomies) and 84 components (or sub-categories) in the qualitative study that were further explored in the quantitative study. Fifteen representatives of top-rated MBA programs completed the survey questionnaire. Data analyses revealed several significant associations between integrated global competencies and program rankings. Best practices implemented in the top-rated MBA programs for each of the 11 global competencies are discussed. Deans, program directors, faculty, curriculum developers, business graduates, international employers, and leaders in education are among those who could benefit from the results of this study.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Education, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Feb 4, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-04, Section: A, page: 1152. Adviser: Margaret Sutton.