The aim of this thesis is to get a better understanding of the role of practical work in physics education in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The Lao PDR is one of least developed countries in the world with a weak base for science, and poor market opportunities for science graduates. The rapidly expanding educational system has many problems concerning quality of the infrastructure and staff competence. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used in the study in order to assure reliability of the results. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews, video-recordings, and my own ethnographic experiences of working in the Lao educational system for more than thirty years. The study was informed and results analysed with help of curriculum perspective and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). The findings show that Lao physics education curriculum at all levels is dominated by very traditional forms of teaching with an almost total absence of practical. Official curricular documents have statements prescribing teachers to do practical work in high school and university courses. However, few institutions have functioning equipment and skilled teachers for organising practical activities. Therefore, the majority of Lao students come to university and even can finish university without experience of practical work in physics. This shows the gap that exists between intended and implemented curricula. The majority of the students understand the importance of having practical activities in physics. However, after being exposed to laboratory experiments in an introductory physics course, they expressed criticism about the quality of instruction and the process of the practical work organisation. The laboratory group work analysis showed that discussions were mainly focused on understanding the experimental procedures, manipulating equipment, and collecting data for the report rather than on the physics content (object of activity, in CHAT terms). Based on the research results, it is possible to suggest that a systemic approach is needed to stimulate the development of a new practical work culture in schools and universities. This approach should include training and incentives for science teachers, development of assessment strategies including practical work, maintenance structures for physics equipment, and technical support for the organisation of demonstrations and laboratory exercises.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a practical application of social network analysis in the field of education using a large-scale data source. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Base Year data, a network is identified by examining the connections that occur between supports, both inside and outside formal special education resources for kindergarteners with access to special education programs. Social network mappings and quantitative findings are presented for formal and informal supports and primary disability category, along with policy implications and suggestions for further research. Findings indicate that social network analysis offers a unique and innovative perspective to educational research.

Die Arbeit leistet einen Beitrag zum Transformationsprozess von der schulischen beruflichen Bildung der DDR hin zu den Oberstufenzentren im Land Brandenburg in den 1990er Jahren. Es wird die Triade der Faktoren Institutionentransfer, Personen- und Knowhow-Transfer und Finanztransfer analysiert. Die vollständige Umstrukturierung ist das berufsschulpädagogisch herausragende Ergebnis der Transformation. Es wird herausgearbeitet welche Folgerungen aus dem Transformationsprozess für berufsschulpolitische Reformprozesse zu ziehen sind. Dabei wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob die Übernahme des bundesrepublikanischen beruflichen Schulsystems zwangsläufig der Nutzung einer Blaupause gleichkam oder ob es auch abweichende Wege gegeben hat bzw. generell hätte geben können. Der Transformationsprozess wird nicht auf der Ebene der Einzelschulen, der curricularen und konkreten Ausgestaltung der verschiedenen Bildungsgänge und des Lehrkräfteeinsatzes untersucht, sondern auf der Ebene der Entwicklung der Rahmenbedingungen und der Strukturen der Oberstufenzentren, also auf der Metaebene der Policy als inhaltlicher Dimension von Politik. Damit liegt der Fokus auf dem System „Oberstufenzentrum“. Die Untersuchung dieses Systems klammert die Untersuchung der Handelnden aus: Die untere Schulaufsicht, die OSZ-Leitungen, die Lehrkräfte und nicht zuletzt die Schülerinnen und Schüler. Die Analyse dient dem Verständnis und der Interpretation dessen, was sich sowohl durch die bundesstaatlichen Vorgaben – Einigungsvertrag u.a. – als auch durch das berufsbildungs- und berufsschulpolitische Handeln beteiligter Akteure herausbilden konnte. Die inhaltliche Dimension des berufsbildungs- und berufsschulpolitischen Feldes innerhalb des politisch-administrativen Systems im engeren Sinn wird überwiegend bezogen auf die KMK untersucht; ebenso die externen Akteure und ihre Rolle. Es wird herausgearbeitet welche Folgerungen aus dem Transformationsprozess für berufsbildungs- und berufsschulpolitische Reformprozesse gezogen werden können. Gegenstand der Untersuchung sind ausgewählte Beiträge zu verschiedenen Aspekten der Entwicklung der Oberstufenzentren im Land Brandenburg. Gegenstand sind deshalb ausgewählte Rechtsgrundlagen, Fachaufsätze etc. sowie durch Arbeitspapiere dokumentierte Aspekte der berufsschul- und berufsbildungspolitischen Diskussion in der Wendezeit und nachfolgenden nach der Gründung des Landes Brandenburg. Anhand von Vergleichen der rechtlichen Ausgangslagen in den fünf ostdeutschen Ländern wird analysiert, ob es verfassungs- respektive schulrechtliche Besonderheiten gab, die zu unterschiedlichem ministeriellen Handeln führten bzw. führen mussten. Die wiedergegebenen Beiträge zur Entwicklung der Oberstufenzentren werden bezüglich der Relevanz von KMK-Beschlüssen bzw. -Rahmenvereinbarungen untersucht und kommentiert. Der Institutionentransfer besteht aus dem Beitritt der ostdeutschen Länder zur Geschäftsordnung der KMK, der daraus resultierenden Übernahme der Schulformen und Bildungsgänge einschließlich der rechtlichen Folgen durch Schaffung des Schulrechts in den Ländern. Der Personen- und Knowhow-Transfer fand auf der Ebene der entsandten Verwaltungsmitarbeiterinnen und -mitarbeiter der Kultusministerien und der Mittelbehörden statt. Für den Transformationsprozess während des hier interessierenden Untersuchungszeitraums werden Berufsschul- und berufsbildungspolitische Aspekte, bzw. im umfassenderen Sinne die der Berufsbildungswissenschaft erstmalig mit der vorliegenden Untersuchung reflektiert. Insofern kann diese als Beitrag zur historisch-berufsbildungswissenschaftlichen Forschung betrachtet werden. / This study is a contribution to the transformation process of the vocational education system in the GDR toward the Oberstufenzentren in the state of Brandenburg in the 1990s. A triad of factors will be analysed: transfer of institutions, of personnel and knowhow and of finance. The complete restructuring is the characteristic result of this transformation process in the sector of vocational education. It will be worked out, which consequences should be drawn from the transformation process for reformation processes of the vocational education system. Thereby the question as to whether the adoption of the West German system of vocational training schools was comparable to the use of a blueprint or whether divergent paths would have been possible, is to be discussed. The transformation process will not be analysed on the level of the single vocational education schools, the curriculum, the different school levels and the use of teaching personnel but on the level of the development of general conditions and structures of "Oberstufenzentren”, on the meta level of policy as a dimension of politics as regards content. Therefore the focus is on the system of (the so-callled) ”Oberstufenzentren". The exploration of these systems excludes the exploration of the acting persons: supervision of schools, school management, teachers and students. This analysis serves for a deeper understanding and interpretation of national standards – for instance the Unification Treaty – and also for an understanding of the action frame of reference of vocational education politics and vocational training school politics by the involved participants. The dimension of contents in the vocational education and vocational training school field inside the political-administrative systems will be analysed by the KMK – The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany; likewise the external actors and their role. The consequences of the transformation process for vocational education politics and vocational training school politics will be worked out. Selected works of different aspects of the development of ”Oberstufenzentren” in the land Brandenburg are the subject matter of the survey. This includes the analyses of selected legal basis, scientific papers etc., in combination with documents of vocational education discussion and vocational training school discussion in the political turning point following the formation of the federal state of Brandenburg. On the basis of the different legal initial positions in the five East German Länder it will be analyzed, whether there were constitutional or rather school law characteristics which led to /had to lead to different ministerial actions The reproduced articles on the development of ”Oberstufenzentren" will be analysed and commented with respect to the relevanz of KMK-decisions /. KMK-master agreements. The transfer of institutions is the accession of the East German federal states to the internal regulations of the KMK, the resulti is the takeover of school forms including the legal consequences by creating the school law in these states. The transfer of personnel and knowhow took place on the level of delegated members of school ministries of the Western federal states. For the transformation process in the surveyed time aspects of vocational education and vocational training or rather – on a more comprehensive level, the science of vocational training are going to be reflected for the first time, Therefore, this can be seen as a contribution to the historical-vocational training research.

Repeated measures designs are widely used in educational and psychological research to compare the changes exhibited in response to a treatment. Traditionally, measures of change are found by calculating difference scores (subtracting the observed initial score from the final score) for each person. However, problems such as the reliability paradox and the meaning of change scores arise from using simple difference scores to study change. A new item response theory model will be presented that estimates latent change scores instead of difference scores, addresses some of the limitations of using difference scores, and provides a direct comparison of the mean latent changes exhibited by different groups (e.g. females versus males). A simulation-based test was conducted to ascertain the viability of the model and results indicate that parameters of the newly developed model can be estimated accurately. Two sets of analyses were performed on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K) to examine differential growth in math ability between 1) male and female students and 2) Caucasian and African American students from kindergarten through fifth grade.

Curriculum 2005 is an attempt by the South African government to create and implement a strategic plan to change the formal school curriculum. The new curriculum has 'integration' as one of its focal features. This study is an investigation of the use of' environment' as an integrating' organiser' in the senior phase of Curriculum 2005 in a selection of schools in the Mpumalanga province. While the Curriculum 2005 framework encourages curriculum integration, this is an area which might be neglected during implementation, because there is so little experience among teachers of working in an 'integrated' way. Environmental education is an approach to education which requires and facilitates curriculum integration. This study has the potential to contribute to our understanding of the integration of environmental learning across the new curriculum. Questionnaires and vignettes based on document analysis, follow-up interviews and classroom observations, involving a small group of teachers, were used in conducting the study. The investigation has revealed that participating teachers show a limited understanding of the constructs 'environment' and 'phase organiser'. Teachers do not take or introduce a critical perspective on the nature and causes of environmental issues. They treat the construct 'environment' and associated issues quite superficially when working with learners. Participating teachers generally misunderstood the concept 'phase organisers' and tended to interpret it in concepts associated with the curriculum framework they were used to. Curriculum 2005 also requires teachers to take on a more active curriculum development role. This study looked at four teachers' attempts to develop learning programme units, and at the way in which two teachers implement their curriculum plans focussing on 'environment', in the classroom. It was found that participating teachers do not always follow the same sequence or steps when developing a learning programme. Learning programme units were not considered in developmental sequence, they lacked some form of continuity and links between intended learning outcomes and teaching activities were also lacking. There was inadequate integration between learning areas. Furthermore, integration between knowledge, skills, values and attitudes was also not quite clear among the teachers, and they tended to deal with environmental knowledge in a rather limited way, focussing instead on the awareness and attitudes. These findings are of concern, and they are in keeping with the Curriculum 2005 Review Report, which highlighted the danger of inadequate focus on curriculum content. On overall teachers seem to be struggling with the whole notion of 'integration', even though environment as a phase organiser is meant to assist with curriculum integration. The thesis ends with recommendations on how teachers might be assisted to achieve meaningful curriculum integration, through using learning outcomes as well as content knowledge relevant to environmental learning.

This study is centred on an analysis of pupils' lived experience while engaged in the generalisation of linear sequences/progressions presented in a pictorial context. The study is oriented within the conceptual framework of qualitative research, and is anchored within an interpretive paradigm. A case study methodological strategy was adopted, the research participants being the members of a mixed gender, high ability Grade 9 class of 23 pupils at an independent school in South Africa. The analytical framework is structured around a combination of complementary multiple perspectives provided by three theoretical ideas, enactivism, figural apprehension, and knowledge objectification. An important aspect of this analytical framework is the sensitivity it shows to the visual, phenomenological and semiotic aspects of figural pattern generalisation. It is the central thesis of this study that the combined complementary multiple perspectives of enactivism, figural apprehension and knowledge objectification provide a powerful depth of analysis to the exploration of the inter-relationship between the embodied processes of pattern generalisation and the visualisation of pictorial cues. The richly textured tapestry of activity captured through a multi-systemic semiotic analysis of participants' generalisation activity stands testament to this central thesis. Insights gleaned from this study are presented as practical strategies which support and encourage a multiple representational approach to pattern generalisation in the pedagogical context of the classroom.

The study was conducted to investigate whether the use of a wider range of teaching methods can improve the quality of environmental learning in five Zambian primary schools. Nine teachers from five schools were involved in the preliminary stage of answering of questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions about the use of dominant teaching methods and new teaching methods; while only four were involved in the observations of four lessons. The study is a contribution to the on‐going debate on the investigation of whether teaching methods used by teachers can be one of the factors that can influence the quality of education. Definitions of quality and educational quality in particular, are not easy to establish and no agreed upon framework for educational quality exists at present. This study reviews the debates on educational quality, and identifies three major paradigms or discourses on educational quality; and considers the human rights, social justice and capabilities approaches and educational quality frameworks as being relevant to environmental learning and education for sustainable development in the Southern African Development Community context. This, together with a review of research on teaching methods in environmental education, provides the theoretical framework for this study. Using action research and an interpretative methodological framework, a series of research activities were undertaken to generate research data because the study was investigating the teachers’ practice with a view to probe change and to analyse the findings. Nine teachers participated in the preliminary stage of answering questionnaires and focus group interviews reflecting on existing teaching methods. In stage two of this study, teachers went through a planning workshop during which they planned lessons using new preferred teaching methods. The third stage was lesson observations of planned lessons. The final stage was the reflection workshop during which the teachers shared their experiences with the use of new teaching methods. The teaching practices of teachers using the new teaching methods were the subject of further analysis. In order to find out how the use of a wide range of teaching methods can improve quality of environmental learning in primary schools nine teachers were observed teaching lessons with new teaching methods. The Nikel and Lowe (2010) fabric of dimensions of educational quality was adapted and used to find out if teachers included dimensions of quality in the teaching process. Additional socio‐cultural and structural quality dimensions, identified through a review of southern African research, were used to find out if teachers included contextualized regional dimensions of educational quality. This was done to investigate whether the process of teaching and learning was relevant to the learners. Teachers involved in the research reflected that when they used a wider range of teaching methods the result was that the learning opportunities for learners were enhanced and that the methods added value to their teaching, improving the quality of their teaching. The use of a wider range of teaching methods showed the presence of several indicators of dimensions of educational quality, as reflected in the quality analysis tool. Teachers indicated that the use of a wider range of teaching methods led them to include the socio‐cultural dimensions such as the use of local languages and structural dimensions such as informal seating arrangements or group work that they would otherwise neglect if they used the traditional narrow range of teaching methods. A wider range of teaching methods provided learners with an enjoyable learning atmosphere during the lesson. The research also identified that this study can be taken further through broader observations, and that the educational quality dimensions tool is useful for different levels of the education system, and that it has potentially productive uses in teacher education, particularly for observations during teaching practice.

This thesis reports on a longitudinal, mixed-methods study of the relationships between informal (i.e. out-of-class) second language (L2) contact, vocabulary-related strategic behaviour and vocabulary gain in a study abroad context. The study addressed three main gaps in knowledge that arose from analysis of the literature: (1) the evidence of informal L2 contact was largely unreliable, ungeneralisable, or both; (2) the evidence of vocabulary-related strategic behaviour in informal L2 contact was neither context nor task specific; and (3) there was no evidence of the interplay between informal L2 contact, vocabulary-related strategic behaviour and vocabulary gain in a study abroad context. The sample (n=241) were adults undertaking a study abroad experience (SAE) in England, who comprised a range of nationalities and first language backgrounds and for whom the majority of the SAE was spent outside of the classroom. A vocabulary test was administered at the beginning and end of the SAE. A questionnaire was administered during the SAE to determine the most highly identified with informal L2 contact scenarios and out-of-class vocabulary-related strategies. Subsequently, an innovative research tool comprising computer-based simulations of the most identified with scenarios was developed and used as the stimulus in semi-structured interviews to capture task and/or context-specific vocabulary-related strategic behaviour. Analysis grouped participants by length of stay and location. The most highly identified with informal L2 contact scenarios involved participants seeking information from external sources, such as interlocutors, posters or websites. The vocabulary-related strategies most highly identified with by the sample pertained to the use of a newly encountered lexical item; that is, they were strategies in which the learner used or prepared to use a lexical item that they had decided to engage with strategically. The strategic behaviour manifested in response to the simulation tool (the 'OWLS') provided strong evidence in support of the fundamental considerations of task, context and intention in strategy-based research. Regression analysis revealed that informal L2 contact scenarios that were less strategically prohibitive and strategies that were less context-dependent were predictors of vocabulary gain. The pedagogical implications of these findings are far- reaching in terms of preparing L2 learners for informal contact on a SAE and guiding their manipulation of that contact for maximum linguistic gain.

This diploma thesis deals with the arthropod strain as a suitable taxon model in learning about the nature at the first grade of a primary school. The methodological analysis of using the animal strain explains the reasons why the arthropods are used in teaching natural science lessons and provides specific characteristics and manifestations of living organisms, which are possible to be demonstrated on it. The second part of the literature review presents the status of learning about the nature according to the Framework educational program and representation of arthropods in czech textbooks of the natural sciences. The thesis is a collection of newly created exercises for a first degree pupils of primary education, using the selected representatives of arthropods. These tasks use the methods of the direct study of nature and the elements of contemporary popular research-oriented teaching.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-09-02Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:30:59Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 bitar_al_me_rcla.pdf: 607329 bytes, checksum: e0137529e94d55903852e37e01b4cf5b (MD5) / A questão ambiental tem ganhado destaque entre os diversos setores sociais nos últimos anos, ocupando cada vez mais espaço nos diferentes meios de comunicação, uma vez que os atuais níveis de degradação ambiental têm causado efeitos desastrosos para a humanidade. Assim sendo, a educação ambiental surgiu como opção para minimizar estes impactos, passando a ser objeto de interesse de diversas pesquisas. Embora o desenvolvimento de pesquisas que têm como tema a educação ambiental tenha uma história recente tanto nacional como internacionalmente, a produção acadêmica e cientifica no Brasil é grande e significativa, merecendo ser analisada. Nessa direção, considerando que programas e projetos de educação ambiental têm valorizado e desenvolvido atividades de campo e que estas têm sido tomadas como foco de investigação em diversas pesquisas, entende-se também relevante analisar os significados que têm sido atribuídos a esta perspectiva metodológica. Assim, na tentativa de traçar um quadro quanto à produção acadêmica relacionada à educação ambiental e às atividades de campo, o presente estudo tem por objetivo principal identificar, descrever e analisar esta produção retratada sob a forma de dissertações e teses defendidas no período de 1987 a 2007 presentes no banco de dados da CAPES. Para tentar responder às questões de pesquisa propostas, esta dissertação tomou como procedimento metodológico aquele próprio das pesquisas documentais, isto é, foram analisados os resumos das dissertações e teses relativas às atividades de campo, assim como título, palavra-chave, área de conhecimento, linha(s) de pesquisa informada no banco de dados da CAPES. Todas as etapas de análise dos dados foram orientadas pelos referenciais teórico-metodológicos relacionados à análise de conteúdo (BARDIN, 1977; BAUER, 2002). Os resultados obtidos na primeira etapa... / Lately, the environmental issue has been gaining some notability among different social sectors and being reported in different means of communication. This notability is related to the actual level of environmental degradation and its impact on the human society. Thus, the environmental education has arisen as a possibility to minimize these impacts, and it became subject of interest to many researches. Although the development of researches which the main theme is the environmental education is something very recent not only nationally but also internationally, its academic and scientific works are plentiful and meaningful, deserving then to be analyzed. Taking that into consideration and considering that environmental education programs and projects has been valuing and developing field works and that those has been undertaken as the main focus of the investigations in many researches, it is then relevant to analyze the meanings that has been attributed to this methodological perspective, the field work. Thereby, with the attempt of outlining the academic work related to environmental education and the field works, this present study has as its main objective to identify, describe and analyze the academic works about environmental education throughout masters and doctoral thesis that has been presented between 1987 and 2007, and that are available at CAPES, a Brazilian data bank for thesis. In order to fulfill its main objective, this present research has used the appropriate methodological procedure for a documental research, which consisted of the analysis of the abstracts from the thesis which were related to field works. The titles, key words, field of knowledge and research areas were also analyzed. All the steps of the data analysis were based on the methodological theories references about content analysis (BARDIN, 1977; BAUER, 2002). The results found in the first... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)