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Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2003. / Bibliography: leaves 57-61. Also available online.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate environmental literacy of 6th, 7th and 8th grades primary school students in public schools of Bodrum, Turkey. The study was carried out during the spring semester of the 2006-2007 academic years. A total of 848 students enrolled in four public primary schools completed the 49-item Environmental Literacy Questionnaire (Kaplowitz &amp / Levine, 2005). The components of environmental literacy which are defined as knowledge, attitude, use and concern of students about environmental issues were examined by means of frequency distributions. Results displayed that although students had low levels of knowledge about the environent, they displayed positive attitudes and high levels of concern toward the environment. They were also aware of the importance of interaction between humans and the environment. Relationships among the components of the ELQ (knowledge, attitudes, uses, and concerns) have been analyzed by means of zero order correlations. The strongest correlation found between &lsquo / attitude and use&rsquo / and &lsquo / use and concern&rsquo / variables among the components of the ELQ indicating that the students with positive attitude towards environmental issues have positive views on environmental uses and service and students concerning about environmental problems have more positive views on environmental use and service. Canonical correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship, if any, between the background characteristics of students and the set of environmental literacy variables in the questionnaire. The results showed that students who were interested in environmental issues, who gave importance to environmental problems, who thought they had good knowledge about environmental issues, whose parents&rsquo / were interested in environmental issues and involved in environmental activities had better knowledge about environmental issues, more positive attitude towards environmental issues, more positive view on environmental uses and service and concern environmental problems. In addition, the results of analysis by means of Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) demonstrated that female students had more positive attitudes towards environmental issues, more positive views on environmental use and more concern about environmental problems than male students&rsquo / had but same level of knowledge on environmental issues.

This study sets out to determine whether or not a primary school library, managed by a school librarian, makes a contribution to the information literacy development of year 6 students (ages 10-11 years old). The methodological approach to this research was interpretivist, ethnographic case studies. This is a shift from other studies on school library impact because it employs direct observation of students, and studies each school as a whole, where prior studies have relied on assessment data. This study relied on data collected in the natural environment where children were working to develop rich descriptions of the schools chosen, to be written into detailed case studies. In order to determine the contribution of the school library to information literacy development, the researcher spent time in three different schools, which had differing levels of library provision. The researcher spent time with a Year 6 (age 10-11 years) class in each school, and observed their information behaviour during a research task assigned by their classroom teacher. In order to streamline the observations, an observation framework was developed. This also ensured that each class in the three schools was observed in the same way. The researcher was immersed in each class for the duration of the class assignment, and walked around during the research lessons and spoke to the children about their research process. Semi structured interviews were conducted with members of teaching staff and head teachers to gain information about the school, and to determine their attitudes about school library provision, employing a librarian and the instruction of information literacy. Each school was then written into a case study to provide a rich picture of the school, and of the specific events during the observation sessions with the students. From the case studies, themes about the ways that the students experienced information emerged, and the findings from each school was the basis for the creation of an information literacy framework and recommendations of best practice found in each of the three schools. The investigation highlighted the important contribution that a well-managed school library made to the development of students information literacy.

Increasing symptom awareness, encouraging help-seeking, and facilitating timely referral are key for improving cancer outcomes, particularly for cancers such as oesophageal and gastric (stomach), where five-year survival is less than 20%. In this research, I used multiple methods to explore factors that influence timely diagnosis of these cancers from a patient's perspective, with a particular focus on health literacy (accessing, understanding and using health information, and navigating healthcare systems). I started by exploring current knowledge in this field before conducting a systematic review investigating health literacy in the timely diagnosis of symptomatic cancer. Literature was searched from January 1990-May 2017 using six bibliographic databases. I screened 2304 titles/abstracts, assessed 26 full-text papers and included three, although they were methodologically weak, therefore limiting the conclusions. To examine pathways to diagnosis for oesophageal and gastric cancer, I conducted a questionnaire study of newly diagnosed patients across two hospitals in the East and North East of England. 127 participants were recruited (39.6% recruitment rate), aged 44-96 (median 71); 102 male (80%). Most had oesophageal cancer (n=102, 80%); 64 (50%) of the total cohort were late-stage at diagnosis. Common pre-diagnostic symptoms varied between cancers (oesophageal: difficulty swallowing (n=66, 65%), painful swallowing (n=55, 54%); gastric: fatigue/tiredness (n=20, 80%), weight loss (n=13, 52%)). The questionnaire included two domains (engagement, understanding) of the Health Literacy Questionnaire with participants demonstrating high health literacy (mean 4.18 and 4.28, score 1-5). The median time from noticing the trigger symptom (prompting help-seeking) to diagnosis was 81 days (IQR 45-137.5, n=107). Twenty-six participants were purposively sampled, from questionnaire respondents, for face-to-face interviews (aged 55-88, 18 male, 15 with oesophageal cancer). I undertook thematic analysis to explore participant accounts of their pathways to diagnosis, identifying that the symptom nature was important for appraisal, while health literacy ability influenced the health system interval. Descriptions of 'heartburn', 'reflux' and 'indigestion' differed between participants, suggesting these terms may introduce uncertainty in relation to symptom experience. This is the first study to explore the role of health literacy in the timely diagnosis of symptomatic cancer, and pathways to diagnosis for oesophageal and gastric cancers, from a patient's perspective. Findings provide important insights for the development of targeted awareness campaigns and strategies enhancing GP symptom exploration.

This project begins by looking at kindergarten from a historical perspective. It reviews research relating to all-day kindergarten and half-day kindergarten programs. It demonstrates that increased instructional time is beneficial especially for those low-achieving or disadvantaged students.

The thesis on the theme "Reading literacy of primary school children: educational programmes influence" is focused on reading literacy, its development and influence of the educational programmes. First chapter is devoted to theoretical analysis of reading literacy. Next chapter discusses about resources and options of reading literacy development and also about the role of parents, libraries and schools in this process. Third chapter deals with the topic of alternative education and methods of teaching reading. Fourth chapter describes the research of the educational programmes influence on reading literacy. Final chapter is focused on cooperation of library and schools in the town of Kladno, analyzes the shortcomings and brings in the possibilities of development.

A full dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Education Presented to the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013 / In this qualitative exploratory study the primary purpose was to examine the nature of teaching strategies employed by two Grade 3 teachers to teach writing literacy. The following research questions underpinned the study: i) What strategies are being implemented by Grade 3 teachers to develop literacy skills in their classes ii) How appropriate, relevant and potentially effective are these strategies in terms of the aspects of literacy they address and support? Interviews and video-observations of the teaching-learning process were the two methods of data collection. Through a constant interplay between what teachers do as they teach writing literacy and literature accounts of what constitutes good teaching of writing literacy, the study aimed to arrive at conclusions regarding the question on whether the teaching strategies were appropriate, relevant and have potential for effectiveness. Both the interview and observation data were analysed using the constant comparative method in order to arrive at conclusions regarding the two research questions. The study has revealed that though teaching happened in a piecemeal fashion, the teachers use a variety of good teaching strategies to develop literacy among their learners.

The goal of this Master's thesis was to support the development of the practice of reading and literacy especially of students of the lower primary school by my own and verified methods. I have observed the development of the children's relationship to reading and their reading skill as long as there was focus on reading and further activity with poems in class in lower primary school. I have also observed the extent, to which is reading of poems and activities related to it supported by reading books, how students work with the text and what they learn by this work. My thesis has among other activities focused on the necessity and contribution of children's recital a dramatization of poetry. I have worked with children from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5thgrades of elementary school and also from the 1st grade of 8-year high school, within the scope of literature class, a so-called reading class, within the scope of literary - dramatical branch of art elementary school and drama in education. On the basis of this thesis I can state that working with poetry has significance for a discovery or an establishment of a relationship to reading and understanding of a text for students of the afore mentioned classes. The children have gained an experience with methods, leading to the mentioned objectives; they have...

A full dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Education Presented to the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2014 / Writing in rural multigrade Foundation Phase schools is a largely negelected area for research and teacher development. Even those teaching multigrade classes are not sure how to approach it. There are almost no regulations or guidelines in PIRLS or government documents and reports. Nevertheless multigrade rural schooling is prevalant throughout South Africa. This gap between widespread practice and lack of theoretical acknowledgement or knowledge prompted this study. For the purposes of this study two rural multigrade Foundation Phase classes were selected in the Northern District of the Western Cape. This study answers one main question: What writing practices are being implemented in these two rural Foundation Phase multigrade classes? Two sub-questions are: How do the two Foundation Phase teachers teach writing skills to rural multigrade learners? What challenges do these two Foundation Phase teachers experience when teaching writing? Lack of research in this area required considerable time to consolidate an appropriate research methodology. To establish a scientific structure for this research certain theoretical approaches were adopted. Socio-cultural theories of learning, particularly focusing on Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological model, Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and social constructivism were used. Piaget’s developmental contributions add to this research project. Cambourne’s principles and strategies were invaluable in understanding constructivism in a language classroom. Because this was a pioneering research project it took over four years to complete analysis of data from the schools and link it to the theoretical framework. A qualitative interpretative case study research design was specifically formulated to provide an objective understanding of the research questions. The data were analysed qualitatively. Four themes emerged from sub-question one and include: the pedagogy of teaching writing in a multigrade class, the importance of creating a writing ethos in the classroom, elements of writing and supporting learners in the writing process. The following six themes were identified in answering sub-question two: teacher challenges, poor socio-economic backgrounds, writing support from the WCED, creating a writing ethos including discipline, parental literacy and learner challenges. In conclusion, this research indicates that multigrade education is, far from being a recalcitrant problem or cause for apology, useful as a template for curriculum development in many other areas of education. Multigrade education provides a realistic and flexible tool for meeting urgent educational problems.