The purpose of the study was to develop a greater understanding of the experiences of school life for students who consistently found learning difficult, their perceptions of the difficulties they faced with their learning and how this had influenced their lives, socially and academically. It was hoped that their perspectives would highlight those structures and strategies that were of the most value in supporting them, as well as those that had a negative impact on their achievement and adjustment. Eight people with learning difficulties each participated in a series of three individual, in-depth interviews about their experiences of school. The participants, five male and three female, ranged in age from ten to twenty five years. Four were primary school students, in Years Four, Five and Six. Two students were in Year Nine at high school, while a further two participants had completed their schooling. One was currently unemployed, while the other had completed a university degree and had been teaching for three years. Participants were chosen from randomly selected government schools in the ACT, nominated by the school as fitting the selection criteria. Learning difficulties were defined in tenns of their meeting criteria that were indicative of teacher and parent concern for academic underachievement over a period of at least two years. The selection process was also guided by criteria to locate key informants, i.e. individuals who may have been able to highlight specific issues related to the relationships between learning difficulties and socioeconomic status, social competence and employment opportunities. Interviews with each participant .took place over three separate sessions of approximately fifty minutes' duration. Data was analysed using Hycner's guidelines for phenoinenological analysis. Interviews were transcribed and coded, with an independent researcher validating identified themes. An agreement rate of 88% was achieved. Interviews were then summarised and returned to the participants to confirm whether the interpretation of their perspectives was accurate. Themes that were common across the interviews were discussed in relation to current research. The results of this research study confirmed the central role played by quality teachers and best teaching practices in being able to enhance learning and to meet the needs of individual students. These factors were an integral part of engaging students in the learning process and promoting successful learning experiences. The study also emphasised the importance of parents, particularly mothers, in the adjustment of the participants to the everyday demands, academic and social, of school life. The necessity of establishing and sustaining effective early intervention programs was also highlighted, as was the value of listening to the voices of individuals with learning difficulties when making decisions on their behalf.

The Structure-of-Intellect - Learning Abilities Test (SOI-LA) (Meeker, 1975) has an enthusiastic following in the USA, but is little-known in Australia. It is based on the Structure-of-Intellect model of J P Guilford, and through a series of up to 26 subtests, purports to identify 14 general learning abilities. Forms are designed to cater for students from Kindergarten to adult. In NSW, classroom teachers can have support for students with learning difficulties through the Support Teacher program; this support often falls far short of need, as there is a paucity of time and material resources. There is a need for a tool which can identify areas of both strength and weakness efficiently and suggest effective strategies to cater for the identified weaknesses; the Meeker paradigm is purported to address this need with a diagnostic approach which identifies learning disabilities which underlie and serve to maintain school-based learning difficulties, and prescribes materials and approaches for remediation. This study explores the first part of the Meeker paradigm, the diagnostic approach of the Structure-of-Intellect - Learning Abilities Test. This exploration is undertaken in the context of four rural Support Teachers and their student with learning difficulties from Grades 2-6. Rather than consider questions of the Test's validity, this study was designed to explore the Test's utility in the Support Teacher context, by giving the Support Teachers a working knowledge of the concepts of SOI-LA, and to compare the application of their knowledge with the information about their students' learning disabilities from the Test results. Problems are evident with the Support Teachers' knowledge and understanding of their students' disabilities; whist they felt comfortable about the approach which the Test takes, they felt they did not know their students well enough to make informed judgements about their disabilities. It was apparent from the study that the Support Teachers' understanding of the concepts of the Test was comparatively superficial, despite their impression that they did understand well. Several difficulties with the instrument itself are highlighted by this study; the assumptions underlying the derivation of the general ability scores are questioned, and the suitability of Test Forms for a learning disabled population of this age is open to criticism. The Structure-of-Intellect - Learning Abilities Test may have utility as an instrument for gaining information about a student's disability on an individual basis, and may be best in the hands of the School Counsellor.

<p>The Squares Family is a game developed as a learning aid in mathematics. With its graphical representation of the decimal system, the four basic arithmetic operations and positive and negative numbers together with a learning agent as pedagogical approach, the game’s primary purpose is to motivate students in their learning of mathematics. Although the game is strictly based on mathematical rules it attempts to encourage students to play and work with math without experiencing it as mathematics as this is initially not obvious. The game being internationally tested on normal performing students, this project introduced the game to six Swedish students who experience low motivation for and/or difficulties in mathematics. The students from fifth up to seventh grade participated therefore in a three weeks’ study. The ultimate goal of this project is to make suggestions on the integration of the game in the students’ learning environment and on the adaptation of it to fit their needs. In order to be able to make such recommendations, following question was raised: How does the learning situation look like for students experiencing difficulties in mathematics? An attempt to understand the complexity of their learning situation was made through several tests in students’ attitude, self-efficacy and understanding of mathematics, through observations of their game playing, interview with their pedagogue and through a questionnaire on their attitude towards the game and their special education in mathematics and in their understanding of traditionally vs. graphically represented mathematical problems. Despite the time limited study it is obvious that the students’ difficulties in mathematics are not independent of other factors, as the majority of these students display a negative attitude, a low self-efficacy and a sensibility for disturbances and reactions from their social network.</p> / <p>Räkna med Rutiga Familjen är ett spel utvecklat som läromedel i matematik. Spelets huvudmål är att motivera elever i sitt lärande genom sin grafiska representation av decimalsystemet, de fyra räknesätten, positiva och negativa tal samt genom sin pedagogiska ansats av en lärande agent. För att motivera elever att spela och arbeta med matematik utan att initialt vara medveten om det, är matematiken i spelet trots sin matematiska grund, nedtonad. Spelet som testas internationellt mot normaltpresterande elever, introducerades i detta projekt till sex svenska elever med låg motivation för och/eller svårigheter i matematik. Eleverna som är från femte till sjunde klass deltog i denna undersökning under en tre veckors period. Projektets huvudmål är att föreslå rekommendationer för matematikspelets integration i undervisningen av elever med matematiksvårigheter och för anpassning av spelet till deras behov. Som utgångspunkt för framtagning av rekommendationerna ställdes följande fråga: Hur ser lärsituationen ut för elever som upplever svårigheter i matematik? I ett försök att förstå komplexiteten av elevernas lärsituation genomfördes flera tester i deras attityd, självvärdering och matematikförståelse, observationer av deras spelande, intervju med specialpedagogen samt enkät kring deras attityd gentemot spelet och specialundervisningen och kring deras förståelse för traditionellt vs grafiskt representerade matematikuppgifter. Trots studiens tidsbegränsning är det uppenbart att elevernas svårigheter i matematik hänger samman med andra faktorer, då majoriteten av eleverna uppvisar en negativ inställning, en låg självvärdering samt känslighet för störningar och reaktioner från sitt sociala nätverk.</p>

English is taught as a compulsory second language in Swedish schools and is one of three core subjects needed to be passed in order to receive a leaving certificate. Statistics show that 6.9% of the students do not aquire proficiency enough to receive a G (pass) in English in grade nine. The aim of this study is to investigate to what extent weak language learners are considered in the English classroom and if compensatory aids are used to further support their learning conditions. The method used for the study is qualitative interviews which were semi-structured. Four interviews with English teachers were conducted within the same municipality. The result shows that there are aspects that can be considered in order to provide better opportunities for weak language learners within the English classroom as well as outside the English classroom. Some teachers find it difficult to separate lack of motivation from lack of knowledge which makes discovering the students as early as possible important. In the English classroom weak language learners can be supported by smaller discussion groups since one problem seems to be oral skills. A connection to Swedish can be observed and students with difficulties in reading and writing in their native language experience more problems when learning English. The interviewees state the importance of first focusing on oral skills in the target language, before introducing written skills. Regarding support outside the English classroom the investigation shows that optional English, parents and homework are important features. In the optional English class weaker language learners get an opportunity to speak and revise previous blanks of knowledge. Parents are important for showing their children that they find English important but also for supporting the children while doing homework. Concerning compensatory aids, most teachers did not use them nor had they knowledge enough about available aids. The most frequently used aid was a CD where texts are recorded.

<p>English is taught as a compulsory second language in Swedish schools and is one of three core subjects needed to be passed in order to receive a leaving certificate. Statistics show that 6.9% of the students do not aquire proficiency enough to receive a G (pass) in English in grade nine. The aim of this study is to investigate to what extent weak language learners are considered in the English classroom and if compensatory aids are used to further support their learning conditions. The method used for the study is qualitative interviews which were semi-structured. Four interviews with English teachers were conducted within the same municipality.</p><p>The result shows that there are aspects that can be considered in order to provide better opportunities for weak language learners within the English classroom as well as outside the English classroom. Some teachers find it difficult to separate lack of motivation from lack of knowledge which makes discovering the students as early as possible important. In the English classroom weak language learners can be supported by smaller discussion groups since one problem seems to be oral skills. A connection to Swedish can be observed and students with difficulties in reading and writing in their native language experience more problems when learning English. The interviewees state the importance of first focusing on oral skills in the target language, before introducing written skills.</p><p>Regarding support outside the English classroom the investigation shows that optional English, parents and homework are important features. In the optional English class weaker language learners get an opportunity to speak and revise previous blanks of knowledge. Parents are important for showing their children that they find English important but also for supporting the children while doing homework.</p><p>Concerning compensatory aids, most teachers did not use them nor had they knowledge enough about available aids. The most frequently used aid was a CD where texts are recorded.</p>

Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας ήταν να μελετήσει την ψυχοκοινωνική προσαρμογή και την αυτοεκτίμηση παιδιών με και χωρίς μαθησιακές δυσκολίες (ΜΔ), που φοιτούσαν στην Ε΄και Στ΄τάξη του Δημοτικού. Στη μελέτη έλαβαν μέρος συνολικά 137 μαθητές, εκ των οποίων οι 36 παρουσίαζαν ΜΔ βάσει εκτιμήσεων των εκπαιδευτικών σε αντίθεση με τους υπόλοιπους 101 μαθητές. Σε όλους τους συμμετέχοντες χορηγήθηκε ένα ερωτηματολόγιο αυτοαναφοράς με το οποίο συλλέχθηκαν κάποια δημογραφικά στοιχεία και μετρήθηκε η ψυχοκοινωνική προσαρμογή και οι επιμέρους διαστάσεις της – κοινωνική, σχολική, συναισθηματική επάρκεια, προβλήματα συμπεριφοράς και αυτοαντίληψη – καθώς επίσης η αυτοεκτίμηση. Τα αποτελέσματα των αναλύσεων έδειξαν ότι οι μαθητές με ΜΔ του δείγματος παρουσίαζαν χαμηλότερη ψυχοκοινωνική προσαρμογή και αυτοεκτίμηση από τους τους μαθητές χωρίς ΜΔ. Ακόμη, , τα παιδιά με ΜΔ σημείωσαν χαμηλότερο σκορ στην κοινωνική επάρκεια και την αυτοαντίληψη και υψηλότερο σκορ στα προβλήματα συμπεριφοράς συγκριτικά με τα παιδιά χωρίς ΜΔ. Ωστόσο, δεν υπήρξαν διαφοροποιήσεις μεταξύ των δύο ομάδων συμμετεχόντων ως προς τη σχολική και συναισθηματική επάρκεια. / The purpose of this study was to examine psychosocial adjustment and self-esteem in students with learning disabilities (LD) compared to their normally achieving classmates. The sample of the study consisted of 137 fifth and sixth grade elementary school students. The normally achieving children were 10, whereas the children with LD were 36 and were identified based on teachers' ratings. Self-ratings were used to measure psychosocial adjustment and its dimensions – social competence, school competence, emotional competence, behavioral problems, self-concept ¬– as well as self-esteem. Also, demographic data were obtained. The results of this study showed that children with LD exhibited lower psychosocial adjustment and self-esteem compared to their normally achieving classmates. Also, they had lower scores in social competence and self-concept, whereas they scored in behavioral problems. There was no significant differences found between children with and without LD school and emotional competence.

The aim of this study was to investigate which factors teachers and special needs education teachers view as being the main causes of mathematical learning difficulties and from these choose how to educate pupils with these difficulties. The aim was also to investigate how this education is organised at two different schools. An interview based investigation addressed these objectives by using three comprehensive questions: Which factors do the teachers and special needs teachers view as being the main reasons for mathematical learning difficulties? How do teachers and special needs teachers educate pupils with mathematical learning difficulties? How is the education organised for pupils with mathematical learning difficulties at two different schools? This study is based on four interviews of three teachers and one special needs teacher. The people interviewed work at two different primary schools in the same local authority. The results of the interviews show that it is the pupils’ experiences of the maths that affects how well they comprehend the subject. Furthermore factors such as reading and writing difficulties can cause problems with regards to understanding tasks in maths. Educationalists in this study regard a varied education with an element of group work, communication and experimental material as being beneficial for pupils with mathematical learning difficulties. How the education of pupils is organised depends on the extent of the learning difficulties of each pupil. The needs of pupils with mild learning difficulties can be met by the form teacher whereas pupils with more severe difficulties require assistance from special teachers.

Analizuoti tautinių mažumų švietimą ir ieškoti būdų jį tobulinti verčia spartūs Lietuvos socialinio gyvenimo pokyčiai. Kiekviena tauta turi savo gimtąją klabą, papročius, tradicijas. Šiandieninė Lietuvos švietimo sistema sudaro galimybę tenkinti visų tautybių vaikų poreikius. Lietuvos Respublika garantuoja tautinėms mažumoms teisę mokytis gimtąja kalba. Beveik kiekvienas vaikas per pakankamai ilgą mokyklinio gyvenimo laikotarpį susiduria su didesnėmis ar mažesnėmis problemomis mokykloje. Viena jų - mokymosi sunkumai, pasireiškiantys silpnu mokymusi. Tai reiškinys, su kuriuo susiduria įvairaus amžiaus, lyties, skirtingų socialinių sluoksnių įvairių gabumų mokiniai (M. Barkauskaitė ir kt., 2004). Mokymosi sunkumams pašalinti būtina nustatyti jų priežastis. Kokie mokymosi sunkumai ir jų priežastys kyla tautinių mažumų mokyklų su gimtąja lenkų kalba mokiniams nebuvo tyrinėta, nes tautinių mažumų švietimo problemos Lietuvoje nėra plačiai tyrinėtos (D. Janonienė, D. Survutaitė, 2007). Dėl to atliktas tyrimas, kuriuo siekta atskleisti mokinių, besimokančių gimtąja lenkų kalba, mokymosi sunkumų priežastis. Iškelti uždaviniai: atskleisti mokinių mokykloje patiriamų mokymosi sunkumų tipus; atskleisti mokymosi sunkumų priežastis mokinių požiūriu; atskleisti mokymosi sunkumų priežastis mokytojų požiūriu. Tyrimas atliktas Vilniaus miesto tautinių mažumų (lenkų) bendrojo lavinimo mokykloje. Atvirų klausimų anketinėje apklausoje dalyvavo 335 respondentai: iš jų 35 mokytojai (10,4 proc.) ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Rapid changes in Lithuanian social life oblige to analyse the education of national minorities and to search for the ways to improve it. Every nation has its mother tongue, customs and traditions. Current Lithuanian system of education meets the requirements of all the minorities. The Republic of Lithuania guarantees national minorities the right to be educated in their mother tongue. Throughout all the years of school life, which is comparing a long period, almost every child faces less or more complicated problems. One of them is learning difficulty which is exemplified in the form of poor learning results. Children of various ages, sexes, social backgrounds or abilities encounter this phenomenon (M. Barkauskaitė and others, 2004). To eliminate learning difficulties it is essential to determine their reasons. The educational problems of national minorities in Lithuania have not been inquired broadly. Thus, it has not been studied what learning difficulties of the students Polish minority schools are and what causes them (D. Janonienė, D. Survutaitė, 2007). The main purpose of this study was to discover the reasons of learning difficulties in schools of Polish national minority. The objectives of the study were to overview the epistemology of learning difficulties; to classify the difficulties students face at school; to present the reasons of learning difficulties according to students and according to teachers; to compare and analyse the reasons named by students and... [to full text]

The purpose of this study is to show the importance of task texts for students in grades 5 when solving mathematical problems. It was conducted in a class 5 (where the children are 11 years old). The pupils were assigned two different tests with mathematical problems; one where the problems were described in text and one where the problems were presented with numbers and mathematical signs. Previously done research, done on bilingual children, (Bernardo, 2002) shows that pupils tend to do better on mathematical tests when no text is presented. My research supports that theory even though the correlation is not that strong. The big discovery laid in the fact that boys tend to perform significantly lower results compared to the girls. / Syftet med denna undersökning är att visa vilken betydelse uppgiftstexter har för elever i årskurs 5 när de ska lösa matematiska problem. Eleverna i klassen fick göra två matematiska test; en med uppgifter formulerade i text och en med uppgifter presenterade med endast siffror och matematiska tecken. Tidigare forskning, gjord på elever som läser matematik på sitt andraspråk (Bernardo, 2002), visar att eleverna presterar bättre då endast siffror, och ingen text, finns med i provet. Resultatet i den här undersökningen visar en svag trend åt det hållet medan den starka tendensen var skillnaden i resultat mellan de två könen då flickor tenderade att prestera betydligt bättre än pojkarna oavsett om uppgifterna gavs i form av text eller som rena sifferövningar.

Magistriniame darbe nagrinėjama uždavinių su algebros elementais sistema ir sunkumai I – VI klasėse. Analizuojant pedagoginę ir psichologinę literatūrą išsiaiškinta, kad užduočių su algebros elementais sampratos formavimuisi svarbiausi vaikų vaizduotės ypatumai yra: ryšių tarp įvairų dalykų suvokimas, informacijos siejimas, kadangi samprotavimų eiga nėra aiški, t.y., praleidžiami tarpiniai samprotavimo etapai; informacijos atkūrimas ir operavimas vaizdiniais nes mokiniams sunku suvokti abstrakčius samprotavimus, todėl būtina pasitelkti vaizdines priemones, kurios aktyvina vaizduotės veiklą. Svarbiausi vaikų mąstymo ypatumai yra objektų pastovumo supratimas, pajėgumas taikyti logines operacijas. Svarbiausias vaikų kalbos ypatumas yra žodžių reikšmės ir jų ryšio su daiktais bei reiškiniais suvokimas. Svarbiausi vaikiškos grafinės raiškos ypatumai yra, tai jog įžvelgiamos ir vaizduojamos atskiros objektų ypatybės ir detalės. Remiantis Lietuvos Bendrosiomis programomis ir išsilavinimo standartais bei vadovėliais sukonstruotas algebrinio ugdymo I – VI klasėse hipotetinis modelis apima: reiškinių reikšmių radimą, situacijų aprašymą reiškiniais, tapačius reiškinių pertvarkymus, lygčių sprendimą, nelygybių sprendimą, algebrinių sąvokų sampratą. Šio modelio pagrindu sudaryti klausimynai I – VI klasėms ir išsiaiškinti mokinių patiriami sunkumai sprendžiant užduotis su algebros elementais. / Master thesis analyzes the system of tasks that includes algebra elements and its difficulties in I-IV classes. The analysis of educational and psychological literature shows that the most important features of children's imagination that helps in formation the concept of the tasks with algebra elements are: perception of relationship between different things, information linking, since the reasoning process is not clear, i.e. the intermediate steps of reasoning are missing; recovery of information and imagination, because it is difficult for pupils to understand the abstract reasoning, thus it is necessary to use visual tools to stimulate the wok of imagination. The main features of children's thinking are the understanding of object permanence and capacity to apply the logical operations. The most important feature of children's language is to understand the meaning of words and their connection with objects and occurrences. The main features of children's graphic expression are that individual properties of objects and details represented. According to the Lithuanian general programs, education standards and schoolbooks, the hypothetical model of algebra training in I–VI classes have been designed. This model includes: discovery the meanings of occurrences, description of situation by occurrences, identical transformations of occurrences, equation solving, inequalities solving, the understanding of algebra concept. The model based questionnaire for I–VI classes has been... [to full text]