The focus of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the impact of explicit instruction of science comparison and contrast macro text structures plus micro text structures on the content learning, sentence comprehension, and reading comprehension of eighth-grade English Learners (ELs) and non-English Learners (non-ELs) in three inclusive science classrooms. Although the results of this study did not show significant differences between groups in sentence comprehension, reading comprehension, or science content learning, the treatment group increased and maintained their science content learning scores over time, while the scores of the comparison group declined from post-test to delayed post-test. In addition, the researcher sought to determine whether sentence combination scores were a predictor of reading comprehension scores. The results showed that sentence combination scores were good predictors for reading comprehension.

The Swedish Curriculum (Läroplanen för grundskolan, förskoleklass och fritidshemmet [Lgr22], 2022) emphasizes that skills in mathematics provide people with the conditions to make informed decisions in everyday life and increase the opportunities to participate in decision-making processes in society. At the same time as today's society has a pronounced need for mathematical knowledge, international studies show a deteriorating result among school students and the mathematical interest has declined (Babarovic, 2022). Regarding outdoor education in mathematics, research shows that there are improvement results for the students' learning process. Though students' own attitude towards mathematics has a great impact on their success in the subject (Karalı, 2022), a teacher's commitment and attitude towards the subject is also of great importance for how students feel about it (Carmichael et al., 2017). Among other things, outdoor education in mathematics provides more opportunities to explore and experiment which makes the subject easier to understand and therefore more appreciated and interesting (Khan et. al., 2020). In addition, spending time in nature improves well-being, which contributes to a more positive attitude towards the subject (Pambudi, 2022). In this knowledge overview, it was therefore intended to examine how outdoor education in mathematics, with a focus on the early years in elementary school, affects the students motivation and learning towards the subject.

This case study investigated one urban school district’s efforts to address the mental health of its students during COVID-19. Specifically, I examined the protocols established by the district and the daily implementation of social-emotional learning and culturally relevant practices during the 2020–21 school year, focusing on the instructors’ perspective. Utilizing a semi-structured qualitative interview approach, I collected data from five teachers and one district personnel and corroborated it with district survey results and the Learning Continuity Plan. Findings indicate that despite teachers not explicitly understanding social-emotional learning (SEL) before COVID-19, they relied on a strong network of support and personal expertise to address the social-emotional needs of their students. Students engaged in activities such as art therapy, journaling, yoga, and community circles. Teachers incorporated culturally relevant lessons into online instructional sessions. The district established protocols to address the mental health of their students; however, teachers perceived them to have little effect on students’ mental health. The protocols specified in the Learning Continuity Plan may not have been fully effective, or the student’s social-emotional needs might have exceeded the support offered by the district, as further evidenced by the fact that teachers were compelled to advance much further than what was stipulated by the district. These findings indicate the need to be more proactive versus reactive. From teacher credentialing programs to new teacher onboarding at Title I schools, educators need more training and long-term coaching provided by experienced professionals to effectively support students’ mental health needs, particularly within marginalized communities.

As a result of the advances in information and communication technology, E-Learning has been integrated as an essential element in educational settings. Despite its successful implementation, a significant number of E-Learning projects fail to achieve their goals. This has motivated researchers and practitioners to study the reasons for failure and success and the factors that impact E-Learning. This research attempts to investigate the factors that influence the implementation and development of E-Learning and the most appropriate framework for secondary schools in Bahrain. The research adopted a quantitative approach to examine both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of critical factors in secondary schools in the Kingdom of Bahrain. A total of 540 respondents completed the survey-based questionnaire. The results revealed that there are four sets of factors which influence the success of E-Learning in the school education sector. These are: students’ characteristics (computers skills; motivation and attitudes); teachers’ characteristics (attitudes; control of technology and pedagogy and teaching style); technology (quality of technology and effectiveness of infrastructure) and design and content (perceived ease of use and quality of content). In addition, the findings show that there are some differences in perceptions amongst teachers according to gender, specialization, teaching experience and E-Learning experience. Similarly, the findings show that there are some differences in perceptions amongst students according to gender, specialization and level of study (years in school). The main contribution of this research is that it addresses the success of E-Learning in the schools sector in Bahrain and in the Arab region as this area of research lacks theoretical and empirical studies. In addition, the research proposes a conceptual framework that integrates the critical factors and demographic variables. The proposed conceptual framework contributes to the knowledge of E-Learning success by creating a guide for educational institutions and governments for better development and implementation, serving as a planning tool for new E-Learning projects and as an assessment mode for the efficacy of existing projects.

This research is concerned with the educational process within an outdoor centre involving groups of primary school children. It studies group interaction between the participants in a natural setting by taking a holistic approach, giving an account of their outdoor learning experience in the context of a group. It appears that there is little focus on groups in the outdoors, even though most outdoor programmes involve groups. Most of the research done on groups is quantitative and laboratory based. Such traditional approaches have been challenged, as empirical limitations and theoretical problems have been identified. It is argued that a study of group interactions within a natural environment, such as the outdoor classroom, would allow for a more insightful understanding of the phenomena involved, and it could also shed light on the outdoor educational process, which has been neglected by research in outdoor education. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were used as part of an ethnographic approach. This enabled the collection of varied data, which resulted in a thick description of the phenomena explored. The findings show that the concept of team building is central to the philosophy of the outdoor centre and of its staff. The activities, which are used as learning tools, are group orientated. Teamwork is seen as essential for the learning experience at the outdoor centre. The study also revealed that the different approaches of the participants influenced the way learning was constructed. The two main themes that have emerged were empowerment and control. The empowering approaches offered support and encouragement to the participants, allowing for collaboration and cooperation to exist between them, which enabled learning to be more effective. The controlling approaches were characterised by a lack of dialogue between the participants, which interfered with the learning experience, by not creating an environment where the participants could work together as a group. A social aspect of learning was thus identified, which emphasised the importance of viewing learning as a joint process. The research shows that a well-designed process does not always result in the participants achieving the ‘desired learning outcomes’. The teachers/facilitators need to be aware of the impact that their approach may have on the learning experience of the participants.

The learning environment has been the focus of considerable educational research over a long period of time. The study reported in this thesis utilises the perceptions of 208 junior science students from a North Queensland state secondary school to inform classroom environment improvement plans developed and implemented by their teachers' in an attempt to improve the cognitive and attitudinal outcomes of the students. The five stage process on which the study is based combines theory and practice in providing the participating teachers with a structured means of bringing about change in their classrooms. Students' perceptions of actual and preferred teacher interpersonal behaviour and the laboratory learning environment are measured using the QTI and SLEI respectively. Particular aspects of teacher interpersonal behaviour and the laboratory learning environment are targeted for change through the classroom environment improvement plans. The study identified which aspects of the learning environment had changed after a period of intervention. It also identified associations between students' perceptions of aspects of their laboratory learning environment and attitudinal outcomes as well as associations between teacher interpersonal behaviours and attitudinal outcomes. While no direct associations were found between aspects of the laboratory learning environment or teacher interpersonal behaviours and cognitive outcomes, students' cognitive outcomes did improve over the duration of the study thus supporting a previously established link between student attitudes and cognitive outcomes.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Washington State University, December 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-134).

The main purpose is to study the meaning that teachers give the Holocaust as a field of knowledge; the subsequent nature of their teaching; and how it is understood by the students. In connection to this, the purpose is also to discuss the potential of developing a historical consciousness among the students as well as the possibility of bringing insights into the importance of fundamental democratic values. The intentions described by the teachers when teaching the Holocaust as a field of knowledge vary relatively much. Five main themes are found that show these variations. These are: “Never again!”; “Not only the Holocaust!”;“Think critically!”; “Understand the psychology of man!” and “Realize the value of democracy!” Common to the first two themes is the teachers' intention to inform students about crimes against humanity during the Nazi rule and/or under communist regimes. These teachers are mainly using tools that illustrate the horrific aspects of the crimes, focusing on the victims and the perpetrators. The three following themes differ from the first two as they focus the teaching on the steps to Auschwitz, instead of on the Holocaust itself. The intention here is to create an understanding of factors that can contribute to an explanation of what made the Holocaust possible. The concept of a historical consciousness is not expressively used or explained in the teaching, although it is obvious that some of the teachers expect their students to think in the dimensions of the past, the present and the future, as well as understand the relation between these dimensions.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Esta pesquisa trata da motivação na aprendizagem musical e teve por objetivo investigar as relações entre os níveis de interesse e os níveis de competência, dificuldade e esforço para aprender música na escola. Para tal, foi realizado um estudo quantitativo utilizando-se dados secundários da pesquisa internacional "Os significados da música para crianças e adolescentes em ambientes escolares e não-escolares" coordenada por Gary McPherson (EUA) e, no Brasil, conduzida no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Música da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, sob a coordenação da Profa Dra Liane Hentschke. Fizeram parte da amostra da presente pesquisa 631 alunos de séries finais do ensino fundamental e médio de 11 escolas (públicas e privadas) de Porto Alegre e interior do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. As idades variaram de 11 até 19 anos, sendo 300 meninos e 331 meninas. O referencial teórico fundamenta-se no modelo de expectativa e valor de Eccles et al. (1983), complementado por outras teorias da motivação que discutem as influências do interesse, autopercepção de competência, dificuldade e esforço na motivação para a aprendizagem. Para a análise de dados foram utilizados procedimentos da estatística descritiva e inferencial, tais como análise descritiva, o teste de correlação de Pearson, o teste qui-quadrado e o teste t. Através da análise descritiva foi identificado que 47,7% dos alunos atribuíram alto interesse em aprender música na escola, 16,2%, médio interesse e 35,8%, baixo interesse. A maioria dos alunos da amostra considerou-se com alta competência (80,3%) e baixa dificuldade (77%) para aprender música na escola. Os resultados também mostraram que houve correlações significativas moderadas e fracas entre os níveis dos fatores investigados. Quanto à questão de gênero, as meninas sentem-se mais competentes e acham menos difícil aprender música na escola do que os meninos. E, em relação ao tipo de escola, pública ou privada, há diferença quanto a sensação de esforço exigido. Os alunos da escola pública percebem uma exigência maior de esforço para aprender música do que os da escola privada. Comparando-se as faixas etárias, as diferenças significativas apresentaram-se relacionadas ao interesse, competência e esforço. O maior interesse, a maior competência e o menor esforço foram atribuídos pelos alunos de 14 a 16 anos. Os resultados referentes ao alto interesse neste trabalho são apoiados pela literatura e por pesquisas feitas sobre motivação na aprendizagem musical realizadas em âmbito internacional. Contudo, os resultados relativos ao baixo interesse são discutidos a partir de questões levantadas sobre o senso de competência, dificuldade e esforço percebidos na aprendizagem da música na escola pelos alunos brasileiros. / This research aimed to investigate the relation among the levels of interest and levels of competence, difficulty and in learning music in school. It consisted in a quantitative study based on secondary data of the international research named, "Meanings of Music for Children and Adolescents in Musical schools and Non-school Activities" under the international coordination of Professor Gary McPherson (USA/Australia). In Brazil the research was coordinated by Professor Hentschke in Brazil (Graduate Program In Music of UFRGS - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Out of the total Brazilian sample of 1848 students, this study used a sample of 631 students from the final series of Fundamental Education and Secondary Education, of 11 schools (public and private) from Porto Alegre other nearby cities. There were 300 boys and 331 girls between 11 and 19 years-old. Eccles et al. (1983) Expectancy-Value Model was used as a theoretical framework of this work, complemented by other theories of motivation that discussed the influences of interest, self perception of competence, difficulty and effort in motivation to learn. For data analysis some statistical tests were applied such as, descriptive analysis, Pearson test of correlation, Chi- Square test and T test. Through descriptive analysis it was identified that 47,7% of the students conferred high interest in learning music in school, 16,2%, medium interest and 35,8%, low interest. The majority of students from the sample was considerated with high competence (80,3%) and low difficulty (77%) in learning music in school. The results showed also that there were meaningful moderated and weak correlations among the levels of investigated factors. As far as gender is concerned, girls feel more competent than boys and think that it is less difficult to learn music in school. Regarding the kind of school, public and private, there is a difference as to the sensation of the effort demanded. Children from public school perceive more effort required to learn music than those from private school. In comparing age groups, the meaningful differences were related to interest, competence and effort. The greatest interest, the greatest competence and less effort were allocated by students between 14 and 16. The results concerning the high interest to learn music found among students are supported by research on motivation for music learning. However the results about low interest are discussed from the questions raised about the level of competency, difficulty and effort perceived by students in Brazil.