With the new curriculum at the English Language Center (ELC) at Brigham Young University (BYU) including a program focused specifically on preparing students to succeed in academic institutions wherein the language of instruction is English, a need for a systematic approach to vocabulary instruction was identified. Specifically, the Academic Program focuses on the Academic Word List (AWL) in order to provide a broad base of words that can best prepare students for the academic world. This project followed the ADDIE model (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate) to craft a systematic approach to developing vocabulary learning activities. An analysis of existing gaps in the Academic Program's vocabulary learning objectives, along with an examination of teachers' attitudes and understanding, was conducted. A similar need was also proposed as existing in many Intensive English Programs (IEPs) around the world. This was followed by research into effective principles of L2 vocabulary learning, through which four principles were distilled. These principles are: the use of a variety of strategies, multiple exposures to target words, practice that includes production, and the need for flexibility and practicality in the vocabulary activities. These four principles became the guiding principles in the development of a system for creating effective vocabulary learning activities. This system and many suggested activities comprise a guide, or set of specifications, that can be used by teachers at IEPs, with a specific eye to the ELC to effectively, and with little extra effort, create and utilize their own effective vocabulary learning activities.

Объектом исследования является учебная деятельность учащихся шестых классов. Предметом исследования является академическая успеваемость шестиклассников и ее психологические предикторы. Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, трех глав, заключения, списка литературы (63 источника) и приложений, включающих в себя бланки применявшихся методик. Объем магистерской диссертации 85 страниц, на которых размещены 6 рисунков и 12 таблиц. Во введении раскрывается актуальность проблемы исследования, разработанность проблематики, ставятся цель и задачи исследования, определяются объект и предмет исследования, формулируется гипотезы, указываются методы и эмпирическая база. Первая и вторая главы включают в себя обзор иностранной и отечественной литературы по теме исследования. Первая глава включает в себя описание учебной деятельности и социометрического статуса подростков. Вторая глава включает в себя теоретические основы исследования взаимосвязи показателей академической успеваемости, мотивации учебной деятельности, интеллекта и социометрического статуса учащихся 6-х классов. Выводы по второй главе представляют собой итоги по изучению теоретического материала. Третья глава посвящена эмпирической части исследования. В ней представлено описание организации и методов проведенного исследования и результатов, полученных по всем использованным методикам: методика изучения мотивации учения подростков (5-7 класс) М. И. Лукьяновой, Н. В. Калининой; подростковый интеллектуальный тест (ПИТ СПЧ), разработанный Н. А. Батуриным, Н. А. Курганским, И. М. Дашковым, Л. К. Федоровой; методика диагностики межличностных отношений (социометрия) Дж. Л. Морено. Выводы по главе 3 включают в себя основные результаты эмпирического исследования. В заключении в обобщенном виде изложены результаты теоретической и эмпирической частей работы, а также выводы по выдвинутым гипотезам, обоснована практическая значимость исследования. / The object of the study is the educational activities of sixth grade students. The subject of the study is the academic performance of sixth graders and its psychological predictors. The master thesis consists of an introduction, three chapters, conclusion, list of references (63 sources) and applications that include the forms of the methods used. The volume of the master's thesis is 85 pages, on which are placed 6 figures and 12 tables. The introduction reveals the relevance of the research problem, the development of the problem, sets the goal and objectives of the research, identifies the object and subject of research, formulates hypotheses, specifies the methods and empirical base. The first and second chapters include a review of foreign and domestic literature on the research topic. The first chapter includes a description of the educational activities and the sociometric status of adolescents. The second chapter includes the theoretical foundations of the study of the relationship between indicators of academic performance, motivation of learning activities, intelligence and the sociometric status of students in 6th grade. The conclusions of the second chapter are the results of the study of theoretical material. The third chapter is devoted to the empirical part of the study. It presents a description of the organization and methods of the study and the results obtained using all the methods used: methods for studying the motivation of the teaching of adolescents (grades 5-7) M. I. Lukyanova, N. V. Kalinina; adolescent intellectual test (PIT HRO) developed by N. A. Baturin, N. A. Kurgansky, I. M. Dashkov, L. K. Fedorova; methods of diagnosing interpersonal relationships (sociometry) J.L. Moreno. Conclusions on Chapter 3 include the main results of an empirical study. The conclusion summarizes the results of the theoretical and empirical parts of the work, as well as the conclusions of the hypotheses put forward, the practical significance of the study is substantiated.

[pt] O desenvolvimento de conteúdos instrucionais utilizando as novas tecnologias de informação é um processo caro, demorado e complexo, que aponta para o estabelecimento de novas metodologias. É neste contexto que surge o conceito de Objeto de Aprendizagem (LO), cujo enfoque está em promover a reutilização do conteúdo. Entretanto, ao considerar o reuso de conteúdo, também se observa uma necessidade de seqüência - lo para formar conteúdos mais elaborados ou mais complexos. Nesta tese adota-se uma estratégia de representar LOs cada vez menores, representando separadamente conteúdo e prática, aqui denominados Objetos Componentes (OCs). Para a estruturação do conteúdo, adaptou-se uma proposta já existente e definiu-se um esquema conceitual adequado à representação de atividades (ou práticas) de aprendizagem. Com vista à composição dos OCs, foi igualmente definido um esquema conceitual envolvendo conteúdos e práticas. Assim, com base em um algoritmo de seqüenciamento de OCs, um professor pode compreender melhor a forma de implementar um objeto complexo, como uma aula ou um curso, reduzindo erros e eventuais omissões na implementação da solução. Este seqüenciamento deve seguir uma metodologia e deve ser especificado de modo não ambíguo. É neste contexto que também é apresentada uma linguagem para especificação de seqüências de objetos de aprendizagem, com uma sintaxe adequada à descrição das possíveis formas de seqüenciamento de LOs. Finalmente, descreve-se um estudo de caso ilustrando a utilização dos esquemas conceituais desenvolvidos, do algoritmo proposto e da linguagem de especificação de seqüências OCs. / [en] The development of instructional content using new Information Technologies is an expensive, time-consuming and complex process that leads to the development of new methodologies. It was in this context that the concept of Learning Objects (LOs) was proposed as an approach that promotes content reuse. However, if content is expressed as small LOs, it is also necessary to sequence them in order to build more elaborated and complex content. In this thesis we adopt a strategy to represent smaller LOs, modeling not only content but also practice, called Component Objects (COs) herein. In order to structure content we adapted an existing proposal and defined a conceptual schema to structure learning practices (or activities). We also defined a conceptual schema for composing these COs. Then, based on these conceptual schemas it was possible to propose an algorithm for sequencing COs, which supports a teacher/professor to better control the implementation of a complex content such as a class or a course, thus reducing errors and eventual omissions in its implementation. The sequencing process must follow a methodology and must be specified in a nonambiguous way. It is in this context that we also present a specification language for sequences of LOs, with a syntax that is adequate to the description of the possible ways of sequencing LOs. Finally, we describe a case study that shows the conceptual schemas that were proposed and the use of the sequencing algorithm and the specification language.

<p>Avhandlingen behandlar en grupp industriarbetares deltagande i olika läraktiviteter på arbetsplatsen i samband med en organisationsförändring. Företaget var i behov av mångkunnig personal och organiserade därmed läraktiviteter. Syftet är att beskriva anställdas deltagande i dessa läraktiviteter i termer av faktiskt deltagande och inställningen till deltagande, samt att förklara eventuella skillnader.</p><p>Deltagande förstås i termer av motivation som utvecklas i ett komplext samspel mellan individrelaterade faktorer och faktorer som har med arbete, läraktiviteter, förändringsprocess och yttre omgivning att göra. De motivationsteorier som används är förväntan-valensteori, arbetsrelaterad teori samt en kontextuell motivationsteori.</p><p>Studien baseras på en fallstudie inom en avdelning vid ett traditionellt produktionsföretag. Det huvudsakliga empiriska materialet utgörs av intervjuer med de industrianställda. Dessutom har ett flertal informella studiebesök på arbetsplatsen genomförts, liksom dokumentinsamling och informantintervjuer.</p><p>I resultatet framträder tre grupper med olika deltagarmönster, som utifrån mönstren kan benämnas de ”engagerade”, de ”motvilliga” och de ”osäkra”. Det visar att industrianställda inte är någon enhetlig grupp. För gruppen ”engagerade” fanns få hinder för att delta i läraktiviteter. De hade även egna personliga motiv för deltagande. De individrelaterade förklaringarna, tycks vara särskilt viktiga för att förklara motivationen, och de hade kommit in i något som kan beskrivas som positiva lärspiraler. Gruppen ”motvilliga” såg inte deltagandet i läraktiviteter som något viktigt. De var inte överens om företagets mål och kände sig inte delaktiga i förändringsprocessen. De kontextuella förklaringarna har alltså ett stort värde för att förstå deltagandet i denna grupp. Gruppen ”osäkra” hade låg tilltro till sin förmåga, och hade ringa erfarenhet av tidigare läraktiviteter. Hur läraktiviteterna var utformade, var särskilt viktiga för denna grupp. De ”osäkra” liksom de ”motvilliga” tycks ha kommit in i negativa lärspiraler. Studien visar således att olika faktorer är betydelsefulla för olika grupper.</p> / <p>This dissertation focuses on the participation of a group of industrial workers in different learning activities at the workplace in connection with an organizational change. The purpose is to describe the employees’ participation in learning activities in terms of actual participation and attitude to participation, and to try to explain any differences.</p><p>Participation is understood in motivational terms, which exist in a complex interaction between individual-related factors and factors connected to work, learning activities, change process and external environment. The motivational theories used are the expectancy-valence theory, work-related theory and one contextual motivation theory.</p><p>The study is based on one case study within a department of a traditional production company. The empirical material consists mainly of interviews with the industrial workers. In addition, data have been collected through informal study visits at the workplace, as well as through documentary analysis and informant interviews.</p><p>Three groups with different participation patterns emerge from the data, and based on these patterns they are called “the dedicated group”, “the reluctant group” and “the insecure group”. This indicates that industrial workers are not a homogenous group. The “dedicated” group saw no obstacles in participating in learning activities. They also had their own personal motives for participation. The individual-related explanations seem particularly important to explain motivation, and this group had entered something which could be described positive learning spirals. The “reluctant” group did not consider it important to participate in learning activities. Their relationship to the company appear to be significant. Consequently, the contextual explanations are of great importance in order to understand the participation of this group. The “insecure” group showed little confidence in their own ability and had limited experience of previous learning activities. The design of the learning activities was especially important to this group. The “insecure” and the “reluctant” groups seems to have entered negative development spirals. The study thus shows that different factors are important to different groups.</p>

The aim of this compilation thesis is to understand how technology for visual storytelling can be shaped and used in relation to social science education in primary school, but also how social dimensions, technical and other matters create emerging learning conditions in such an educational setting. The visual storytelling technology introduced and used in the study is ‘the Statistics eXplorer platform, a geovisual analytics. The choice of theoretical perspectives to inform and guide the study is a socio-cultural view of human action, but also actor network theory is used to take account also of activities of technology and other matters. The study builds on three empirical materials that generate data from 16 social science teachers, and 126 students from five social science classrooms, in three Swedish primary schools. It contains field notes from the introduction of the technology; focusgroup interviews with teachers; think-aloud interviews with students and two kinds of video recordings from the classrooms (with an ordinary video camera and with software that capture activities at the computer screen, students’ activities and the audio as well). The analysis shows that the visual storytelling technology is shaped in relevant ways for social science teachers. The analysis also illustrates that the visual educational material are usable for primary school students in their social science education. They illustrate further how teachers, students, technology, information, tasks, data types, etc. together and in in close relation create highly complex learning conditions. The technology can therefore be seen as appropriate for the educational practice, but the complexity together with students’ apprehension of how to announce knowledge distribute severe problem spaces in the learning activities. The technology can therefore be assumed as a catalyst for educational change, but to achieve its potentials, reflections on didactic design and knowledge formation is requested to support the quality of students’ knowledge in relation to visual analysis. / Syftet i denna avhandling är, att förstå hur teknik för visual storytelling kan vara utformad och användas i relation till samhällsorienterande undervisning i grundskolan (årskurs 4 – 6), men också hur sociala dimensioner, tekniska och andra faktorer skapar villkor för lärande i ett sådant undervisningssammanhang. I studien introduceras datavisualiseringsteknik för visual storytelling: ‘the Statistics eXplorer platform’, ett geovisual analytics. Den teoretiska referensramen har sin grund i ett social konstruktionistiskt synsätt Ett socio-kulturellt perspektiv används för att analysera social aktivitet, men även aktörnätverks teori används för att analysera både sociala och materiella aktörer. Avhandlingen bygger på tre empiriska material som genereras med hjälp av 16 lärare i samhällsorienterande ämnen, och 126 elever tillhörande fem olika klassrum i tre olika svenska grundskolor. Materialet innehåller: fältanteckningar ifrån introduktion av tekniken, fokusgrupps-intervjuer med lärare, ‘tänka högt’-intervjuer med elever och två sorters videoinspelningar ifrån klassrum (dels med vanlig videokamera och dels med mjukvara som spelar in aktiviteter på datorskärmen och elevernas aktiviteter vid datorn, liksom ljudet). Analysen visar hur lärare, elever, teknik, information, uppgifter, data-typer, etc. tillsammans, i nära samarbete i de studerade klassrummen, skapar mycket komplexa villkor för lärande. De läraktiviteter som uppstår i klassrummen där teknik för visuell analys inkluderas, erbjuder elever support att: hantera stora datamängder, bli delaktiga i olika läraktiviteter och uppnå olika utbildningsmål, men även andra sorters elevrelaterade mål. Därför kan tekniken sägas vara relevant för denna sorts undervisning. Vidare visar analysen hur komplexiteten tillsammans med elevernas uppfattningar av hur kunskap skall visas, skapar påtagliga ‘problem spaces’ i läraktiviteterna. Lärandevillkoren kan därför förstås som en klassrumspraktik som inte fullt ut överensstämmer med den introducerade teknikens erbjudanden för visuell analys. Därför efterfrågas en förändrad syn på didaktisk design och elevers kunskapsformering, vilket blir betydelsefullt för kunskapens kvalitet i förhållande till visuell analys.

Avhandlingen behandlar en grupp industriarbetares deltagande i olika läraktiviteter på arbetsplatsen i samband med en organisationsförändring. Företaget var i behov av mångkunnig personal och organiserade därmed läraktiviteter. Syftet är att beskriva anställdas deltagande i dessa läraktiviteter i termer av faktiskt deltagande och inställningen till deltagande, samt att förklara eventuella skillnader. Deltagande förstås i termer av motivation som utvecklas i ett komplext samspel mellan individrelaterade faktorer och faktorer som har med arbete, läraktiviteter, förändringsprocess och yttre omgivning att göra. De motivationsteorier som används är förväntan-valensteori, arbetsrelaterad teori samt en kontextuell motivationsteori. Studien baseras på en fallstudie inom en avdelning vid ett traditionellt produktionsföretag. Det huvudsakliga empiriska materialet utgörs av intervjuer med de industrianställda. Dessutom har ett flertal informella studiebesök på arbetsplatsen genomförts, liksom dokumentinsamling och informantintervjuer. I resultatet framträder tre grupper med olika deltagarmönster, som utifrån mönstren kan benämnas de ”engagerade”, de ”motvilliga” och de ”osäkra”. Det visar att industrianställda inte är någon enhetlig grupp. För gruppen ”engagerade” fanns få hinder för att delta i läraktiviteter. De hade även egna personliga motiv för deltagande. De individrelaterade förklaringarna, tycks vara särskilt viktiga för att förklara motivationen, och de hade kommit in i något som kan beskrivas som positiva lärspiraler. Gruppen ”motvilliga” såg inte deltagandet i läraktiviteter som något viktigt. De var inte överens om företagets mål och kände sig inte delaktiga i förändringsprocessen. De kontextuella förklaringarna har alltså ett stort värde för att förstå deltagandet i denna grupp. Gruppen ”osäkra” hade låg tilltro till sin förmåga, och hade ringa erfarenhet av tidigare läraktiviteter. Hur läraktiviteterna var utformade, var särskilt viktiga för denna grupp. De ”osäkra” liksom de ”motvilliga” tycks ha kommit in i negativa lärspiraler. Studien visar således att olika faktorer är betydelsefulla för olika grupper. / This dissertation focuses on the participation of a group of industrial workers in different learning activities at the workplace in connection with an organizational change. The purpose is to describe the employees’ participation in learning activities in terms of actual participation and attitude to participation, and to try to explain any differences. Participation is understood in motivational terms, which exist in a complex interaction between individual-related factors and factors connected to work, learning activities, change process and external environment. The motivational theories used are the expectancy-valence theory, work-related theory and one contextual motivation theory. The study is based on one case study within a department of a traditional production company. The empirical material consists mainly of interviews with the industrial workers. In addition, data have been collected through informal study visits at the workplace, as well as through documentary analysis and informant interviews. Three groups with different participation patterns emerge from the data, and based on these patterns they are called “the dedicated group”, “the reluctant group” and “the insecure group”. This indicates that industrial workers are not a homogenous group. The “dedicated” group saw no obstacles in participating in learning activities. They also had their own personal motives for participation. The individual-related explanations seem particularly important to explain motivation, and this group had entered something which could be described positive learning spirals. The “reluctant” group did not consider it important to participate in learning activities. Their relationship to the company appear to be significant. Consequently, the contextual explanations are of great importance in order to understand the participation of this group. The “insecure” group showed little confidence in their own ability and had limited experience of previous learning activities. The design of the learning activities was especially important to this group. The “insecure” and the “reluctant” groups seems to have entered negative development spirals. The study thus shows that different factors are important to different groups.

The thesis is focused on student teachers learning group activities. The aim of this thesis is to find out the role of group learning activities in the context of the training of future teachers. General framework for reaseach is prehension of group learning activities as an instructional strategies which can be used at university courses and especially in the training of future teachers. Great emphasis is placed on description and analysis of forms of teaching used in the training of future teachers and its potential for using group learning activities. The attention is paid to group work at university and description of different conceptions using work in groups. There is also a brief description of technology of group work which is basis for research. The practical part contains a case study of conception of training for the future teachers at Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague. This case study includes lesson observation of specific courses and interview with student teachers and teachers of these courses.

The main objective of the research was to explore how teachers use formative assessment to enhance the teaching of reading comprehension to Grade 3 siSwatispeaking learners. While the research also sought to determine whether teachers’ practice of formative assessment supported learners’ comprehension of written text, it did not attempt to measure the learners’ achievements. The research was prompted by the low reading performance levels of South African Grade 3 learners, including Grade 3 learners in Mpumalanga. The study was qualitative in nature and was a case study of seven teachers from four primary schools. The paradigmatic position of the study was interpretive. Data was collected through individual semi-structured interviews, lesson observations and analysis of learners’ workbooks. Interviews were taped and transcribed. Data from the three sources was analyzed and reported in an integrated way through themes. The study developed a conceptual framework from the literature review. Various theories and concepts were identified, namely Vygotsky’s theory of learning and socio-cultural perspective (1978), Engeström’s activity system model (1987) and the formative assessment process (Harlen, 2000; Ruiz-Primo, 2011; Birenbaum, Kimron, Shilton & Shahaf-Barzilay, 2009). It was clear that effective use of formative assessment for reading comprehension requires collaboration between teachers and learners. Teachers should involve learners in the five phases of formative assessment of reading comprehension. The conceptual framework also implies that teachers should have pedagogical knowledge of the teaching of reading comprehension. Findings of this study revealed that participating teachers lacked knowledge of formative assessment; consequently they did not plan to use formative assessment to support the teaching of reading comprehension. Teachers did not communicate clear learning objectives and assessment criteria to the learners. As a result, learners did not know what they should achieve in a lesson and did not know how they should achieve it. Teachers did not develop learning activities that supported learners’ comprehension of the written text. Teachers often used literal and closed questions to assess reading comprehension. Teachers did not provide constructive feedback based on the learning objectives, and they did not comment on weaknesses and strengths with regard to the learning objectives. Teachers did not encourage learners to assess their own work or that of their peers. Therefore learners did not develop skills in assessing their own work; they relied on the teacher’s assessment. Furthermore, this study found that teachers were not trained in the teaching and formative assessment of reading comprehension. They did not have a variety of materials to teach reading to siSwati-speaking learners. Some schools did not receive the workbooks from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and had to make do with copies from the DBE workbook on a daily basis. Recommendations ensuing from this research are that the Department of Basic Education and the Mpumalanga Department of Education should equip Foundation Phase teachers with knowledge of and skills in formative assessment applicable to the teaching of reading comprehension. In addition, the Mpumalanga Department of Education should provide a variety of reading material for siSwati-speaking learners to support the teaching and learning of reading comprehension. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Early Childhood Education / unrestricted

Dans les salles de classe de géographie, les photographies trouvent leur chemin jusqu’aux élèves entre autres grâce aux cahiers d’apprentissage. Nous analysons neuf chapitres provenant de cahiers d’apprentissage de géographie produits au Québec pour des élèves du 1er cycle du secondaire. Nous constatons que les photographies qui s’y trouvent aident les lecteurs à s’immerger dans les territoires qu’ils étudient, et cela au moyen de procédés photographiques alliant une grande quantité de détails à un cadrage subjectif. La plupart des photographies sont accompagnées d’une légende, laquelle permet d’identifier ce qui est représenté sur les photographies. Parfois, les photographies servent à capter l’attention des lecteurs afin qu’ils consultent cette légende parce que des informations pertinentes s’y trouvent. Dans ces cas, l’écrit reste préféré à l’image comme façon de transmettre de l’information. Près d’une photographie sur trois est liée à une activité d’apprentissage. Ces activités prennent plusieurs formes. Elles permettent partiellement de développer le raisonnement géographique : moins de la moitié d’entre elles sont associées à des opérations intellectuelles ; elles ne donnent pas l’occasion aux élèves de travailler avec plusieurs échelles spatiales et temporelles ; elles ne leur offrent pas la possibilité de mettre en oeuvre une démarche inductive. Lorsqu’il est demandé aux élèves de consulter une photographie pour réaliser une activité, la photographie n’est pas nécessaire dans plus de la moitié des cas. / In geography classrooms, photographs find their way to students through learning workbooks. We analysed nine chapters from geography workbooks produced in Quebec for students in Cycle 1 of secondary school. We noted that the photographs help readers to immerse themselves in the territories they are studying, using photographic processes that combine a large amount of detail with subjective framing. Most of the photographs are accompanied by a caption, which helps to identify what is represented in the photographs. Sometimes the photographs are used to capture the reader's attention so that they consult the caption, which contains relevant information. In these cases, writing remains preferred over images as a way of conveying information. Besides, nearly one in three photographs is linked to a learning activity. These activities take several forms. They only partially develop geographical reasoning: less than half of the activities are associated with intellectual operations; the learning activities don’t afford students the occasion to work with several spatial and temporal scales; they also don’t give students the opportunity to apply an inductive approach. When students are asked to consult a photograph in order to complete an activity, the photograph is not necessary in more than half the cases.

A non-experimental, explorative, descriptive, quantitative study was undertaken. The purpose was to explore and describe the views of preceptors and preceptees regarding the fulfillment of the role of the preceptor in selected clinical nursing practice settings in the Botswana context. The study included 72 preceptors and 200 nursing students/preceptees who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of this study indicated that there were numerous constraints that interfered with the preceptor role in accompaniment of the preceptee. These constraints included the lack of desirable characteristics and time to plan learning opportunities, inadequate use of teaching strategies and inadequate knowledge on preceptee evaluation. Recommendations were stated for improvements in the future role of the preceptor in clinical practice settings Limitations of this study were also highlighted. / Health Studies / M.A.(Health studies)