Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1994. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Florence McCarthy. Dissertation Committee: John Black. Includes tables. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-180).

Classroom teachers deal with numerous pressures in their classrooms including students’ difficulty with reading at the middle and high school levels. Often, teachers can identify the problems, but are often unable to rectify them because of a lack of understanding and support in incorporating reading as part of their content area instruction. This research was conducted to investigate the impact of a sustained, online reading professional development on the teaching practice of middle school and high school science teachers who took the 14-week course. This grounded theory research used the reflective assignment, a comprehensive, 10-week, job-embedded assignment of 62 science teachers, to generate categories and themes about the reading challenges they perceived in their own classrooms, what strategies and tools they chose to remedy those challenges, and the perceived changes they saw in their students and themselves. The theory that was derived from the data speaks to how effective, job-embedded reading professional development can impact the knowledge, motivation, and instructional practice of science teachers in the classroom

<p>&nbsp / </p> <div style="line-height: 150% / margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt"><span style="line-height: 150% / font-size: 12pt"><span style="line-height: 115% / font-family: &quot / Calibri&quot / ,&quot / sans-serif&quot / font-size: 12pt / mso-ansi-language: EN-US / mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri / mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman' / mso-fareast-language: EN-US / mso-bidi-language: AR-SA" lang="EN-US"> <div style="line-height: 150% / margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt"><span style="line-height: 150% / font-size: 12pt">This study looks at the effects of a dialogical argumentation instructional model (DAIM) on grade 9 learners understanding of selected meteorological concepts: Cold fronts in the Western Cape of South Africa. Using a quasi-experimental research design model, the study employed both quantitative and qualitative (so-called &lsquo / mixed methods&rsquo / ) to collect data in a public secondary school in Cape Town, in the Western Cape Province. A survey questionnaire on attitudes and perceptions towards high school as well as conceptions of weather was administered before the main study to give the researcher baseline information and to develop pilot instruments to use in the main study.</span></div> <div style="line-height: 150% / margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt"><span style="line-height: 150% / font-size: 12pt">&nbsp / The study employed a dialogical instructional model (DAIM) with an experimental group of learners exposed to the intervention, and recorded differences from a control group which had no intervention. Learners from the two groups were exposed to a meteorological literacy test evaluation before and after the DAIM intervention. The results from the two groups were then compared and analysed according to the two theoretical frameworks that underpin the study namely: Toulmin&rsquo / s Argumentation Pattern - TAP (Toulmin, 1958) and Contiguity Argumentation Theory - CAT (Ogunniyi, 1997).</span></div> <span style="line-height: 115% / font-size: 12pt">&nbsp / Further analyses were conducted on learners&rsquo / beliefs and indigenous knowledge, according to their conceptual understanding of weather related concepts used in the current NCS (National Curriculum Statement).&nbsp / After completing the study some interesting findings were made and based on these findings certain recommendations were suggested on how to implement a DAIM-model into classroom teaching using Indigenous Knowledge (IK). These recommendations are suggestions to plot the way towards developing a science&ndash / IK curriculum for the Natural Sciences subjects in South African schools. </span></span></span></div>

<p>&nbsp / </p> <div style="line-height: 150% / margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt"><span style="line-height: 150% / font-size: 12pt"><span style="line-height: 115% / font-family: &quot / Calibri&quot / ,&quot / sans-serif&quot / font-size: 12pt / mso-ansi-language: EN-US / mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri / mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman' / mso-fareast-language: EN-US / mso-bidi-language: AR-SA" lang="EN-US"> <div style="line-height: 150% / margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt"><span style="line-height: 150% / font-size: 12pt">This study looks at the effects of a dialogical argumentation instructional model (DAIM) on grade 9 learners understanding of selected meteorological concepts: Cold fronts in the Western Cape of South Africa. Using a quasi-experimental research design model, the study employed both quantitative and qualitative (so-called &lsquo / mixed methods&rsquo / ) to collect data in a public secondary school in Cape Town, in the Western Cape Province. A survey questionnaire on attitudes and perceptions towards high school as well as conceptions of weather was administered before the main study to give the researcher baseline information and to develop pilot instruments to use in the main study.</span></div> <div style="line-height: 150% / margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt"><span style="line-height: 150% / font-size: 12pt">&nbsp / The study employed a dialogical instructional model (DAIM) with an experimental group of learners exposed to the intervention, and recorded differences from a control group which had no intervention. Learners from the two groups were exposed to a meteorological literacy test evaluation before and after the DAIM intervention. The results from the two groups were then compared and analysed according to the two theoretical frameworks that underpin the study namely: Toulmin&rsquo / s Argumentation Pattern - TAP (Toulmin, 1958) and Contiguity Argumentation Theory - CAT (Ogunniyi, 1997).</span></div> <span style="line-height: 115% / font-size: 12pt">&nbsp / Further analyses were conducted on learners&rsquo / beliefs and indigenous knowledge, according to their conceptual understanding of weather related concepts used in the current NCS (National Curriculum Statement).&nbsp / After completing the study some interesting findings were made and based on these findings certain recommendations were suggested on how to implement a DAIM-model into classroom teaching using Indigenous Knowledge (IK). These recommendations are suggestions to plot the way towards developing a science&ndash / IK curriculum for the Natural Sciences subjects in South African schools. </span></span></span></div>

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of school and student related factors on scientific literacy skills of Turkish students in the Programme for International Student Assessment &amp / #8211 / PISA 2006. 4942, 15 year-old Turkish students from 10 primary schools, 88 general high schools and 66 vocational high schools participated in this assessment. Among the student factors considered were gender, student background, motivational factors, science self belief, value belief regarding science, science-related careers, science teaching and learning, scientific literacy and the environment. Some of the school factors discussed were proportions of girls at school, school size, school academic selectivity, teacher-student ratio, school activities for learning environmental topics and learning of science, quality of educational resources, teacher shortage (negative scale), general high school &amp / #8211 / vocational high school and average class size. The responses of Turkish students and principals from the database of the PISA assessment were used in Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The result of the study showed that the impact of school and student related factors on scientific literacy skills of the Turkish students varied from school to school. It was observed that the PISA index of economic social and cultural status, general value of science and science self-efficacy impacted on every aspects of the scientific literacy. In addition, it is evident that the general high school students were more successful than the vocational high school students after adjusting for selected student and school characteristics.