The investigation conducted for this thesis endeavoured to determine to what extent a relationship exists between pre-service elementary school teacher enjoyment of participating in science laboratory activities in a university-level background science course and their understanding of the science involved in those activities. A student enjoyment score for two science laboratory activities was generated from survey data. A student understanding score was generated from responses to relevant questions on the final exam of the course. A step-wise logistic regression was then conducted on the student enjoyment and understanding scores. Within the scope of the investigation described in this thesis, the findings lead to the conclusion that enjoyment appears to be unrelated to understanding.

"Learning should be an adventure. It is the joyous outcome of a favourable school environment. When the curriculum fits the child and the child develops a natural relationship with the curriculum, when the instruction is astute and the guidance wise, the child learns. The curriculum, broadly interpreted, includes the materials, equipment and experience which adequately meet the physical, mental, social and emotional needs of children of a particular stage of development. Obviously, unlimited opportunities and a setting must be provided for creative experiences under the wise guidance of the teacher. In order to further this program, the following aims must be considered in planning the curriculum: 1. To give the child a feeling of security and freedom from fear in his relationships of school. 2. To provide experiences which will gradually broaden his small world and give it more meaning. 3. To help him rely more and more on himself and on his own judgment in areas where he can take full responsibility. 4. To guide him in forming solid friendships with his contemporaries. 5. To help him enjoy creative work and to know that his own expression of what he sees and feels is of greater value than anything he could imitate. 6. To create the kind of democratic atmosphere in which he feels free to express his agreements and disagreements with adults and other children, and in which he can understand that rules grow out of living together, both in the classroom and in the school as a whole. 7. To help him gain a sense of his value in the group. 8. To provide the guidance and facilities necessary for him to develop skills, appropriate to this age--manual, rhythmic and language"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "July, 1947." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of the Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 41-44).

No description available.

The aim of my DPhil is to identify educational practices predictive of students' self-regulation development during early childhood. Specifically, I will analyze the Tools of the Mind preschool curriculum (Tools), which emphasizes students' self-regulation cultivation as its paramount aim. Since its development in 1993, Tools has spread to schools in the United States, Canada, and South America. In the face of Tools' proliferation, two questions emerge: does Tools significantly improve children's self-regulation skills? And, if so, then which of its effective elements could be applied across various educational contexts? This dissertation contains two studies. In the first, I will systematically review extant Tools research and then execute a multilevel meta-analysis of the quantitative results. Study one serves three purposes: 1) to identify all studies in the existing Tools evidence base, 2) to estimate an aggregate curricular effect, and 3) to determine how that effect varies across contexts and student characteristics. Thus, study one will assess whether Tools, at the curricular level, improves students' self-regulation. By contrast, study two will involve more granular analyses of the discrete learning activities that collectively comprise Tools. Specifically, study two will analyze child-level self-regulation and teacher-level Tools implementation data for 1145 preschool children in 80 classrooms across six American school districts. I will employ multilevel structural equation models to assess which Tools activities are associated with students' self-regulation growth, which are associated with decline, and which exhibit no association at all. Ultimately, this dissertation features the first Tools meta-analysis as well as the first analysis of specific Tools instructional activities. It is hoped that these analyses will identify educational practices predictive of self-regulation development both within and beyond the Tools curricular context.

No description available.

An intervention, which targeted three- and four-year-old children's oral language, was developed for this study. The intervention was run over twice-weekly sessions, for ten weeks. Incorporating good Early Years practice, the first session in the week was a group shared storybook reading session with a puppet, where dialogic discussion took place and the children practised sequencing the story using visual prompts. The second weekly session consisted of planning, acting out and reviewing a planned pretend play episode based on the storybook which was read in that week's first session. Ninety-four children were randomly assigned to a control or treatment group and were tested at pre- and post-test on a battery of vocabulary and narrative assessments. The results of a Randomised Control Trial were positive in favour of the intervention. The most important of these results was a statistically significant effect on the receptive vocabulary of the children in the treatment group, with a large effect size, as measured by the standardised British Picture Vocabulary Scales (Dunn et al., 1997). There was also a significant effect on productive vocabulary, as measured by a Researcher-Designed Vocabulary Test (RDVT). This test was devised for the purpose of this study, testing one-word vocabulary, taken directly from the storybooks in the intervention. As this is not a norm-referenced, standardised test, caution is advisable in the interpretation of this result. A further positive effect concerned the narrative skills of the children in the treatment group, when compared to the children in a control group - the Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) score was higher in the treatment group, with a medium effect size. By examining the intervention by Randomised Control Trial, this study responds to the call from Lillard et al (2013) for more experimental research on pretend play and narrative. The acknowledgement of the role of the adult in the intervention coupled with the positive effect on the children's MLU and receptive vocabulary mean that the intervention, with further development, has the potential to be used as a Professional Development tool for supporting language development in the Early Years in the UK, in the future.

The Ministry of Education (SICTE, 2002) states that the widespread introduction of computers in schools should support Curriculum 2005 and that computer technology is part and parcel of making schools the center of community life. The vision is to establish Smart Schools: schools that are reinvented in terms of teaching-learning practices to prepare learners for the information era (SICTE, 2002). Kafai (1996:71) has found that conventional school assignments rarely give learners the opportunity to spend a great deal of time on complex projects. As a result, many learners have little experience in design: planning, problem solving, researching, dealing with time constraints, modifying expectations and synthesizing everything in a project. Research by Carver, Lehrer, Connell and Erickson (1992); Lehrer, (1993); Lehrer, Erickson and Connell (1994); Kafai (1996); Liu and Hsiao (2002) and Liu (2002) indicates that the design of hypermedia artefacts can assist in providing experience in design. To date, no equivalent research has been conducted in South Africa to ascertain the perceptions of learners regarding the creation of a hypermedia artefact over an extended period of time and whether some of the critical outcomes specified in Curriculum 2005 can be addressed in such a learning-by-design hypermedia project. This study shows that design skills and aspects related to the critical outcomes of Curriculum 2005 can be achieved. Furthermore, it indicates that this kind of project encourages interest, motivation and collaboration. In addition, it suggests that learners experience the role of the teacher as different and prefer such a learning environment. In spite of the positive results, some aspects that need attention for future implementation are suggested.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Abstracts in English, Xhosa and Zulu / The rationale behind this study was, to explore how unqualified natural science teachers in grade seven conduct practical work. Furthermore, the study explored an understanding of some of the experiences, beliefs and views of unqualified NS teachers. This was a qualitative study. Data was collected through classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. The three cases were interviewed and observed separately. This study was guided by main research question: How do unqualified grade seven natural science teachers facilitate practical work in the senior phase? Which was further unpacked into three sub-questions: How do unqualified NS teachers define practical work? What are the views, aims and objectives of unqualified NS teachers about practical work? How do unqualified NS teacher conduct practical work? The study revealed that in all three cases, practical work was conducted consecutively as poorly, outstandingly, and excellently. Moreover, an intensive professional pedagogical development is recommended for natural science teachers. / Isizathu emva kwesi sifundo sasiyihlolisise indlela abafundisi bezesayensi bezendalo abangafanelekanga ngayo kwiibakala ezisixhenxe ezenza umsebenzi osebenzayo. Ngaphezulu, uphando luhlolisise ukuqonda kwamanye amava, iinkolelo kunye neembono zabafundisi be-NS abangafanelekanga. Oku kwakufundwe ukufaneleka. Idatha yaqokelelwa kumagumbi okufundela kunye noonononongo olulungelelanisiweyo. Amatyala amathathu axoxwa ngumbutho kwaye athathwa ngokwahlukileyo. Olu pho nonongo lukhokelwa ngumbuzo ophambili wokuphanda: Ootitshala abangabalulekanga bakala be-sayensi bendalo abasixhenxe banceda njani umsebenzi osebenzayo kwisigaba esiphakamileyo? Yiyiphi enye eyayixhaswa kwimibandela engaphantsi kwemibuzo emithathu: Ootitshala abangenasigxina be-NS bachaza njani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Ziziphi iimbono, iinjongo kunye neenjongo zabafundisi be-NS abangafanelekanga malunga nomsebenzi osebenzayo? Umfundisi ongenagunyaziwe we-NS uqhuba njani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Uphononongo lubonakalise ukuba kuzo zonke iimeko ezintathu, umsebenzi osebenzayo wenziwa ngokulandelelanayo, ngokugqithiseleyo, nangokugqwesileyo. Ngaphezu koko, uphuhliso olunzulu lwezobugcisa lunconywa kubafundisi bezesayensi zendalo. / Isizathu esilandelayo kulolu cwaningo kwakuwukuhlolisisa ukuthi othisha bezesayensi engokwemvelo abangafaneleki yini ebangeni lesi-7 ukuqhuba umsebenzi osebenzayo. Ngaphezu kwalokho, lolu cwaningo luhlolisise ukuqonda okunye okuhlangenwe nakho, izinkolelo nokubukwa kwabafundisi be-NS abangafaneleki. Lokhu kwakuyi-study qualitative. Idatha yaqoqwa ngokusebenzisa ukuhlolwa kwamakilasi kanye nezingxoxo ezihleliwe. Amacala amathathu axoxwa futhi ahlonishwa ngokwehlukana. Lesi sifundo sasiqondiswa umbuzo oyinhloko wocwaningo: Abafundisi abangayifaneleki bangabafundi abayisikhombisa besayensi yemvelo benza kanjani umsebenzi osebenzayo esigabeni esiphakeme? Yikuphi okwakungeniswa phakathi kwemibuzo emithathu engaphansi: Abafundisi abangaqiniseki NS bachaza kanjani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Yiziphi imibono, izinhloso kanye nezinhloso ze-NS abangaqeqeshiwe mayelana nomsebenzi osebenzayo? Ngabe uthisha we-NS ongagunyaziwe uqhuba kanjani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Ucwaningo luveze ukuthi kuzo zonke izimo ezintathu, umsebenzi osebenzayo wenziwa ngokulandelana, ngokungafani, nangokugqamile. Ngaphezu kwalokho, ukuthuthukiswa okujulile kwezobuchwepheshe kunconywa othisha bezesayensi yemvelo. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Sciences)

With a view to improve English teaching, this project provides creative teaching methods for English teachers of elementary schools in Taiwan. Storytelling, creative writing, and creative drama are interesting and lively activities that are used to motivate students to learn English.