This diploma thesis deals with the pupil's solving of learning tasks from biology at grammar schools. Five components of learning tasks were compiled on the basis of the Tollinger taxonomy. Each file tests a different category of Tollinger learning tasks. The main aim of the thesis was to find out which types of learning tasks are preferred by students. The aim of the thesis was based on a questionnaire of pupils as well as on an interview with a biology teacher at the grammar school.

The thesis focuses on differentiation of teaching by learning tasks at primary school. The theoretical background deals with possible ways how to effectively use learning tasks for children's development and to motivace them to the other activity. Furhemore it includes competencies which enable teachers to differentiate them to create variants of learning tasks. The practical background seeks which didactic variants of learning tasks teachers use in their teaching. As well as it verifies whether are the differential learning tasks included consciously by the teachers. Key words Differentiation, learning task, motivation, competencies, skills

There is an expectation that university teachers have a good understanding of the value of educational technologies in learning and teaching as well as be able to incorporate them effectively into their teaching (Carter et al, 2011, Higher Education Academy, 2011; Sharples et al, 2016). However, according to key literature (Conole, 2004; Kennedy et al, 2011; Laurillard, 2007; Selwyn, 2007; Walker et al, 2016) the extent to which educational technologies have impacted on teaching and learning practices is considered to be minimal. While universities have invested heavily in educational technologies for teaching purposes, institutional virtual learning environments are predominately being used as a vehicle for information transmission and document repository (Armellini et al, 2012; Walker et al, 2016). The research I report here investigated the thinking and conceptions behind how Bryn, a university teacher, used educational technologies to optimise the quality of his students’ learning. I also report on the thinking and decision making behind how 15 of his students used educational technologies to optimise the quality of their university learning. The analysis of the data collected suggests that there is an evolution occurring in how university teaching staff are thoughtfully integrating educational technology into programmes and satisfying the majority of students with this development. It was also identified that influences of educational technology on student learning are mediated by students’ disposition towards learning and the task and social contexts of their learning. It is recommended that those students who are pioneer users of educational technology and ahead of the university teacher’s curve be incorporated into the planning and evaluating of experiences of learning and teaching in educational technology-mediated classroom contexts and be appointed as learning coaches to those students who are somewhat bewildered and frustrated by educational technology use.

Worldwide the teaching and learning of mathematics pose a great challenge to mathematics teachers as learners' performance in the subject leaves much to be desired. This is particularly the case in South Africa where there was a great disparity in the development of teachers in the past. Extensive research has shown that many teachers in South Africa are under-qualified, especially in the teaching of mathematics at secondary schools. Those who are regarded as well qualified for teaching mathematics at secondary schools still experience problems in teaching certain sections of the syllabus, for example geometry, which is not offered at tertiary institutions. It is for this reason that the researcher, together with colleagues at an experimental school, joined forces to share the teaching of mathematics in what they referred to as "collaborative teaching". This work therefore involves a case study, which resulted after three teachers successfully achieved good matric results on employing this approach between 1993 and 1996. The study is based on an experimental design where both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The aim of the study was to measure the extent to which collaboration between teachers affects the learning of mathematics in Grades 12. Two schools, the experimental school and a control school were involved. Learners from the experimental school were taught according to a collaborative approach whereas learners at the control school were taught conventionally (one teacher teaching all sections alone). This happened over a period of six months in 2001. Learners who were taught collaboratively outperformed those who were taught conventionally especially in the most problematic areas of the syllabus, namely geometry and trigonometry. The teachers who were involved in this approach, that is, collaborators, loved it to the extent that one of them applied it in another school where it improved their Grade 12 results tremendously. Learners who were taught according to this approach greatly appreciated it and wished they had been taught the same way in other subjects. This approach did not, however, significantly influence learners in their problem solving and information processing skills. In addition, one of the most serious limitations of this approach is to find a substitute for a teacher who leaves the team. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Worldwide the teaching and learning of mathematics pose a great challenge to mathematics teachers as learners' performance in the subject leaves much to be desired. This is particularly the case in South Africa where there was a great disparity in the development of teachers in the past. Extensive research has shown that many teachers in South Africa are under-qualified, especially in the teaching of mathematics at secondary schools. Those who are regarded as well qualified for teaching mathematics at secondary schools still experience problems in teaching certain sections of the syllabus, for example geometry, which is not offered at tertiary institutions. It is for this reason that the researcher, together with colleagues at an experimental school, joined forces to share the teaching of mathematics in what they referred to as "collaborative teaching". This work therefore involves a case study, which resulted after three teachers successfully achieved good matric results on employing this approach between 1993 and 1996. The study is based on an experimental design where both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The aim of the study was to measure the extent to which collaboration between teachers affects the learning of mathematics in Grades 12. Two schools, the experimental school and a control school were involved. Learners from the experimental school were taught according to a collaborative approach whereas learners at the control school were taught conventionally (one teacher teaching all sections alone). This happened over a period of six months in 2001. Learners who were taught collaboratively outperformed those who were taught conventionally especially in the most problematic areas of the syllabus, namely geometry and trigonometry. The teachers who were involved in this approach, that is, collaborators, loved it to the extent that one of them applied it in another school where it improved their Grade 12 results tremendously. Learners who were taught according to this approach greatly appreciated it and wished they had been taught the same way in other subjects. This approach did not, however, significantly influence learners in their problem solving and information processing skills. In addition, one of the most serious limitations of this approach is to find a substitute for a teacher who leaves the team. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The effectiveness of e-mail writing has been exhaustively studied and reported on, especially in Taiwan. However, there has not been any research carried out on the topics that mainland Chinese university students enjoy writing about when corresponding with their Western epals, nor does the literature report research on writing e-mails to two groups of epals simultaneously. This study explores what issues concerned the participants when they exchanged e-mails with their Western epals and how they viewed their cross-cultural learning experience. The participants were 28 mainland Chinese second-year English majors who voluntarily corresponded with 28 American high school pupils and 28 Western adult epals for about two months in Autumn 2006. The data of this exploratory interpretative research was mainly collected from their e-mails, ‘final reports’, the mid-project questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews. The study found that the topics the participants enjoyed writing about actually depended on with whom they were corresponding. With the younger school pupils, they tended to look for friendship by talking about pastimes, their own high school experience, etc. To the more sophisticated adult epals though, they wrote largely about personal matters, on which they seemed to be covertly seeking advice. However, some topics were common to both groups and were equally popular – for example, school and daily life. The data also reveals that the majority of the participants enjoyed the experience and overall had positive views about it. These fall into three broad categories of learning: language, cultural, and communication. However, some experienced minor difficulties and problems in these areas, particularly regarding the communication aspect. Meanwhile, in the process of the participants multiediting their ‘final reports’, learning seems to have occurred between their first and final drafts – perhaps as a result of responding to the researcher’s written feedback, which seemed to make a significant difference. The implications arising from the study suggest that the students’ interest in it stimulated their engagement with learning - though the findings are tentative. Some recommendations for further research are also given.

The potentially beneficial role of classroom codeswitching, or the use of the first language (L1) in foreign language (FL) classroom settings, is gradually becoming acknowledged in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) research. However, researchers call for the construction of a framework, which indicates when this use is beneficial for language learning and when it is not. In an attempt to contribute to the construction of this framework, the present study investigates whether codeswitching can be used as a tool within task-based learning settings for the development of second language (L2) oral fluency. It is hypothesised that by allowing learners to codeswitch during task completion, their willingness to communicate (WTC) is enhanced because the function of that switching is likely to be mainly the metalanguage needed to complete the task. Previous research has also suggested that task repetition might lead to greater fluency. However, both teachers and learners may be sceptical of the value of repetition without some form of feedback on the first task attempt. This study sought to explore therefore the value of task repetition with feedback (TR+). By repeating the task with feedback that recycles metalanguage into the L2, it is hypothesised that learners will learn to move to a state of less reliance on their L1, while simultaneously achieving the overall aim of tasks, which is effective L2 communication. With increased WTC and L2 metalanguage, extensive L2 oral practice will facilitate the proceduralisation processes needed for fluency development. In short, the pedagogical package of TR+ on recycled language is tested in the present study as a potential contributor to oral fluency. The thesis begins by relating these themes with the context of Cyprus through teacher interviews. It becomes evident through these interviews that the activities taking place in this context are not tasks in the sense researchers intended. Following the setting of the context, the interactions of 75 primary school learners of English (11-12-year-olds) practising TR+ are analysed qualitatively. This analysis determines whether the package can lead to enriched output on the second attempt. In addition, there is a quasi-experimental aspect to the study. The students were allocated in three groups, each testing a different package. The codeswitching group was allowed to switch to Greek while completing the tasks and had their L1 metalanguage recycled into the L2 when they repeated the tasks. The English-only group completed the tasks strictly under L2 conditions and repeated them with feedback on accuracy. The comparison group completed the tasks once with no language instructions. Oral production tests, used as pre- and post-tests, partly support the hypothesis by suggesting that WTC is enhanced with the incorporation of codeswitching, but no evidence supports fluency development. Nevertheless, when comparing TR+ with no task repetition, the data indicate that TR+ leads to greater fluency. It is suggested that a larger and longer intervention would have allowed more time for fluency to be developed when codeswitching was incorporated. As for task-based learning, it is suggested that TR+ is a more viable way to move forward in real classroom contexts, particularly those with young learners. Furthermore, the results of the present study indicate that this package works better with learners of a certain proficiency level.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:07:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SamaraFO_DISSERT.pdf: 2202818 bytes, checksum: 8e3dc2c2f0d12c877396778a697ee080 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-13 / Some authors have suggested that learning tasks conducted in L2 classes can motivate learners in different ways. Similarly, Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) have already been linked as drivers to engagement and enthusiasm in L2 classes, which may cause some impact on affective variables that influence learning (e.g. motivation). This crosssectional mixed-methods study aims to understand how situational motivation caused by learning tasks mediated by the IWB impact participants. We seek to answer the following research questions: (1) How does motivation as a personality trait of the learner relate to his/her additional language learning performance?, (2) How does the type of learning task mediated by the IWB impact the learner s motivation?, (3) How does motivation vary along the learning task mediated by the IWB? and (4) What is the relation between the learning task motivation and the learners perception about the task mediated by the IWB? Data collection lasted four months with 29 learners from a private language school. The instruments used were the following: (a) an initial questionnaire (adapted from the Attitudes/Motivation Test Battery by GARDNER, 2004), (b) situation-specific on-line scales to assess learners motivation in three moments: before, during and after the task, and analyze how motivation varies along the task; (c) class observations and field notes resulting from these observations, (d) participants end-of-course grades to understand the connection between academic success and their motivational profiles and (e) a final questionnaire with the qualitative purpose to know learners perceptions about the tasks mediated by the IWB. Our theoretical framework is based on Task-Based Learning and cognitive aspects present in tasks (WILLIS, 1996; SKEHAN, 1996), theories on motivation and second language learning (GARDNER, 2001; D?RNYEI e OTT?, 1998; D?RNYEI, 2000; 2002) and conceptions about L2 learning mediated by technology (GIBSON, 2001; OLIVEIRA, 2001; MILLER et al, 2005). Our results do not point out to a significative correlation between learners end-of-course grades and their motivational profiles. However, they indicate that there is some variability in situational motivation along the tasks, even among learning tasks from the same type. Furthermore, they show that learners report different perceptions for each learning task and that the impact of the IWB on participants did not have a large proportion / Alguns autores j? sugeriram que as tarefas de aprendizagem conduzidas em salas de aula de L2 podem motivar os aprendizes de diferentes maneiras. Da mesma forma, as Lousas Digitais Interativas (LDI) j? foram relacionadas como propulsoras de engajamento e entusiasmo em aulas de L2, podendo assim impactar vari?veis afetivas que influenciam a aprendizagem, como a motiva??o, por exemplo. Este estudo transversal, de m?todos mistos, objetiva compreender de que forma a motiva??o situacional ocasionada por tarefas de aprendizagem mediadas pela LDI impacta os participantes. Buscamos responder as seguintes perguntas de pesquisa: (1) como a motiva??o, vista como um tra?o da personalidade do aprendiz, se relaciona ao seu desempenho de aprendizagem da L2?, (2) de que maneira o tipo de tarefa de aprendizagem impacta na motiva??o do aprendiz?, (3) de que forma a motiva??o varia ao longo da tarefa de aprendizagem? e (4) qual a rela??o entre a motiva??o proveniente da tarefa de aprendizagem e a percep??o do aprendiz sobre a tarefa mediada pela LDI? A coleta de dados durou quatro meses em um instituto privado de idiomas com 29 aprendizes de ingl?s e foi realizada por meio dos seguintes instrumentos: (a) um question?rio inicial (adaptado da Attitudes/Motivation Test Battery de GARDNER, 2004); (b) escalas situacionais on-line para conhecermos a motiva??o dos aprendizes em tr?s momentos: antes, durante e ap?s a tarefa e analisarmos como a motiva??o varia ao longo da tarefa; (c) observa??es de aulas e as resultantes notas de campo dessas observa??es; (d) as notas globais dos participantes no semestre para entendermos a rela??o entre o desempenho acad?mico e o perfil motivacional deles e (e) um question?rio final com o fim qualitativo de conhecer as percep??es dos aprendizes sobre as tarefas mediadas pela LDI. Nossa fundamenta??o te?rica baseia-se na Aprendizagem Baseada em Tarefas e nos aspectos cognitivos presentes nas tarefas (WILLIS, 1996; SKEHAN, 1996), em algumas teorias de motiva??o e aprendizagem de L2 (GARDNER, 2001; D?RNYEI e OTT?, 1998; D?RNYEI, 2000; 2002) e em concep??es sobre a aprendizagem de L2 mediada por tecnologias (GIBSON, 2001; OLIVEIRA, 2001; MILLER et al, 2005). Nossos resultados n?o apontam uma correla??o significativa entre as notas globais dos aprendizes e o seu perfil motivacional. Entretanto, indicam que h? uma variabilidade da motiva??o situacional ao longo das tarefas, mesmo dentro de tarefas de aprendizagem do mesmo tipo. Al?m disso, mostram que os aprendizes relatam diferentes percep??es para cada tarefa de aprendizagem e que o impacto da LDI na motiva??o dos participantes foi de pequena propor??o

Learning exercises containing chemical calculations are necessary for complex understanding of some parts of chemical curriculum. This diploma thesis deals with creation and evaluation of worksheets containing multicomponent learning tasks closely connected to reality for pupils of elementary and high school. The theoretical part consists of the summary of present valid Czech curricular documents, mainly parts focused on chemical calculations and sustainable development. The main part of this thesis is creation of worksheets containing multicomponent learning tasks focused on different topics of chemistry which were chosen according to Framework Education Programmes. Created worksheets were verified and evaluated at high school. Based on evaluations of worksheets action research focused on problems during solving chemical calculations was conducted on elementary school.

Die Integration von verschiedenen Aufgabentypen zur Wissensvermittlung und -abfrage wird bei der Gestaltung von digitalen Lernanwendungen häufig empfohlen. Vielfältige Aufgabentypen können zu einer erhöhten Motivation im Lernprozess führen. Bislang gibt es jedoch wenig Erkenntnisse darüber, ob einige Aufgabentypen mehr motivieren als andere. Aus diesem Grund wird in der vorliegenden Studie untersucht, inwiefern Ja/Nein-Fragen, Multiple Choice-Aufgaben, Markierungs-, Reihenfolge-, Zuordnungs-, Freitextaufgaben, Kreuzworträtsel und Lückentexte motivieren. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Kreuzworträtsel und Markierungs- sowie Zuordnungsaufgaben am meisten Motivation hervorrufen, während Lückentexte und Freitextaufgaben am wenigsten motivierend wirken. Bei der Gestaltung zukünftiger digitaler Lernanwendungen sollte dies berücksichtigt werden.