Submitted by ADAUTO DE JESUS PEREIRA Pereira (pereira@lpnet.com.br) on 2016-02-28T02:23:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DEFESA_PEREIRA ADAUTO _FEVEREIRO-1.pdf: 1446781 bytes, checksum: 6cb5b89a8d346397c74eafc1c0e2b8f4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-02-29T14:46:43Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 pereira_aj_me_bauru.pdf: 1446781 bytes, checksum: 6cb5b89a8d346397c74eafc1c0e2b8f4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-29T14:46:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pereira_aj_me_bauru.pdf: 1446781 bytes, checksum: 6cb5b89a8d346397c74eafc1c0e2b8f4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-02 / O ensino da Geometria Espacial no ciclo de alfabetização não tem sido trabalhado adequadamente com as crianças que frequentam os anos iniciais, embora, conste nos PCN‘s (Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais) como um conteúdo importante para o início da construção do pensamento geométrico. Daí, a razão de nossa pesquisa. No ano de 2014, por conta da programação do Pacto Nacional pela Alfabetização na Idade Certa (PNAIC), os professores alfabetizadores de todo o país, receberam formação específica para trabalhar os eixos programáticos da matemática, entre os quais, o da geometria. Inclusive, por força dos Direitos de Aprendizagem contemplados no Programa, cujo lema é ―todas as crianças alfabetizadas até os oito anos‖ na língua materna e em matemática. Com efeito, interessou-nos, em nossa pesquisa, de caráter qualitativo, a análise de problemas do ensino da geometria espacial no ciclo de alfabetização. E, para tanto, fizemos o uso de dois instrumentos: uma avaliação diagnóstica para 19 alunos do 4º ano, aplicada no início e no final da pesquisa; um questionário para as professoras sobre a importância do ensino da geometria nos anos iniciais. A pergunta que nos orientou foi a seguinte: por que as crianças ao concluírem o Ciclo da Alfabetização não se apropriam dos conceitos de geometria espacial? Os resultados da pesquisa apontam para a necessidade de resgate e valorização dos conteúdos clássicos da geometria, em relação aos demais conteúdos do currículo; e revelam, também, a precarização da formação inicial e continuada dos professores alfabetizadores. Neste contexto, nosso trabalho teve por objetivos: desenvolver uma sequência didática, com base na metodologia da (PHC) pedagogia histórico-crítica, como subsídio teórico e metodológico aos professores alfabetizadores, na realização e cumprimento dos Direitos de Aprendizagem das crianças; promover a transição do pensamento empírico ao pensamento teórico, no que diz respeito à apropriação dos conceitos científicos do campo da geometria espacial; e resgatar os conteúdos clássicos da geometria espacial, via análise lógico-histórica, em face da desvalorização dos mesmos, desenvolvendo-os já, a partir dos anos iniciais. / The teaching of spatial geometry in the literacy cycle has not been adequately worked with children attending the early years, though; it is given in the NCP's (National Curriculum Parameters) as an important content to the start of construction of geometric thinking. Hence the reason for our research. In 2014, due to the programming of the National Pact for Literacy in the Middle Sure, the literacy teachers nationwide received specific training to work the program areas of mathematics, including the geometry. Including , by virtue of Learning Rights contemplated in the program, whose motto is " every child literate until the eight years " in the mother tongue and mathematics .Indeed, interested us in our research, qualitative, the analysis of the spatial geometry of the educational problems in the literacy cycle. And to do so we made use of two instruments: a diagnostic assessment to 19 students of the 4th year, applied at the beginning and end of the study; a questionnaire to the teachers about the importance of teaching geometry in the early years. The question that guided us was: why children to complete the Literacy Cycle not appropriate the spatial geometry concepts? The survey results point to the need for rescue and appreciation of classical geometry content compared to other curriculum content; and also reveal the precariousness of initial and continuing training of literacy teachers. In this context , our study aimed to : develop a didactic sequence, based on the methodology of the historical- critical pedagogy , as theoretical and methodological subsidy to literacy teachers , implementation and compliance with the Learning Rights of children; promote the transition from empirical thinking to more elaborate thinking, theoretical , with regard to the appropriation of scientific concepts from the field of spatial geometry ; and rescue the classic contents of spatial geometry , via logical and historical analysis , due to the devaluation of them, developing them already , from the early years.

Recent meetings and publications have discussed what geoscience undergraduates should learn for professional success, and among other items, have identified several quantitative skills and habits of mind as being necessary for geoscience students; many of these items are commonly associated with Quantitative Literacy (QL). The Computational Geology course in the geology department has been evolving at USF for 20 years. The course teaches QL in a geologic setting independent of specific core geology topics. This course has long preceded the national acknowledgment of the need for what it teaches within the field. As the first of a series of related studies intended to find the effect and role of this course within the geoscience community, this thesis study begins as a qualitative narrative inquiry of course and program alumni. In the study reported here ten USF Geology alumni from a variety of career paths who took GLY 4866 between 1997 to 2013 underwent semi-structured interviews recounting their memories of the course, discussing the benefits to them of the course in their careers, and outlining their views of what students should gain from this course for professional success. The interview results illuminate trends that can be usefully grouped by job/career category. Regulators (3) had the shortest overall interview time, remembered the least in terms of specific events from the course, and had limited (but consistent) suggestions for student learning. Their memories and suggestions were also rarely unique. Consultants (3) were the median group in length, and showed overlap in the content of their interviews to regulators, with additional details added. Academics (4) had the longest interview times, the most detailed memories from the course, and the most suggestions, possibly due to these interviewees using similar methods in their later careers as course instructors. Consultants and academics related large blocks of story text that were unique while also relating common statements. Narratives from professionally successful alumni were sought to gain greater detail on the likely impact of Computational Geology than surveys are likely to give. The responses of selected, successful alumni were also sought to help refine questions that are to be used later in surveys of a larger sample population of alumni and to a larger national audience of geoscientists regarding their undergraduate programs and how those programs prepared them with quantitative skills. The information that interview subjects provided about the educational needs for successful entry-level geology professionals were shaped into a series of suggestions for course and program improvement. Course and program improvement suggestions and questions for a proposed survey have been assembled both to improve the GLY 4866 offering at USF for broader dissemination and to contribute to broader discussion of strategies for improving the quantitative skills and learning of geoscientists.

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine aspects of the representational and computational influences on Bayesian reasoning as they relate to reference dependence. Across three studies, I explored how dependence on the initial problem structure influences the ability to solve Bayesian reasoning tasks. Congruence between the problem and question of interest, response errors, and individual differences in numerical abilities was assessed. The most consistent and surprising finding in all three experiments was that people were much more likely to utilize the superordinate value as part of their solution rather than the anticipated reference class values. This resulted in a weakened effect of congruence, with relatively low accuracy even in congruent conditions, as well as a different pattern of response errors than what was anticipated. There was consistent and strong evidence of a value selection bias in that incorrect responses almost always conformed to values that were provided in the problem rather than errors related to computation. The one notable exception occurred when no organizing information was available in the problem, other than the instruction to consider a sample of the same size as that in the problem. In that case, participants were most apt to sum all of the subsets of the sample to yield the size of the original sample (N). In all three experiments, higher numerical skills were generally associated with higher accuracy, whether calculations were required or not.

Bibliography: pages 74-83. / In sum, the theoretical framework proposed here for adult numeracy, and developed from a discourse of mathematics education, has as its task the elaboration of the social implications of principles in adult education and the pedagogic outcomes of three sets of numeracy materials.

A child’s executive function (aspects: working memory, response inhibition, and set-shifting between sets of rules) capabilities have been found to strongly relate to their mathematics skills. However, while the relationship has been strongly supported by researchers, a consensus has not been reached regarding the specifics of the relationship between executive function and math skills, including which executive function aspect is most predictive of mathematical performance and the differences in said relationship that might be found when examining both numeracy, such as counting skills and basic operations, and geometry skills. The lack of consensus may be in part because researchers have assessed both executive function and mathematics in a variety of ways. To address the consensus issue, this study used a panel of face-to-face measures of executive function, a paper-and-pencil measure of executive function, and a broader measure of mathematical performance than has typically been used, one including numeracy and geometry. Using a longitudinal approach, with two assessment periods about six months apart (M = 5.61 mos., SD = 1.12), this study examined this relationship among 118 children (61 girls), ages 39 to 68 months (M = 52.58, SD = 6.35), living in both rural (n = 64) and urban (n = 54) areas in a state in the western United States. A longitudinal approach allowed for comparisons between results from the two assessment periods. Results suggest that while numeracy and geometry skill among preschool-age children are connected, there are some independent elements. Additionally, because of rapid cognitive growth, age is an important factor when selecting both assessments and analytic strategies, as statistically significant variations in the predictive power of measures and strategies occurred between assessment periods. Connections between younger children’s executive function and numeracy skills appeared to be best assessed through a non-number-based measure, older children’s numeracy ability can be predicted by a greater variety of executive function measures. Face-to-face executive function measures included in this study were more predictive of numeracy skill than geometry skill, and geometry skill appears to be connected to inhibitory control. Differences between rural and urban children were found on numeracy skill and working memory ability, but not on geometry skill. Statistically significant differences by gender were found on an inhibitory control measure, with boys scoring higher than girls in our sample.

No description available.

<p>  </p> <p>Students from rural communities undertake postsecondary education at rates lower than their counterparts from urban and suburban communities, and mathematics is a known gatekeeper along the pipeline toward a college degree. This study investigated the mathematics identity formation of students from a rural school who were college-bound to determine what existing strengths a rural school could build from in providing students with experiences in school mathematics that align with a college-bound path. Data collected included individual interviews with college-bound students, their AP Calculus teacher, and their guidance counselor, group interviews with the students, and classroom observations conducted in the participants’ AP Calculus class. The findings are presented as three narratives, each corresponding to one of the participants in the study, that detail the processes by which they developed their mathematics identities and their paths toward college, as well as the convergences and divergences between the two. Common themes in the participants’ narratives include family, the agricultural and industrial base of the local rural community, grades, the social status attained by achievement in school mathematics, and the benefits of high-quality mathematics instruction. These findings indicate that mathematics served a largely instrumental purpose for the participants, but that this does not prevent them from appreciating and learning from a teacher who frequently used pedagogical techniques associated with reform mathematics. This further implies that students in rural schools would benefit from increased access to mathematics instruction informed by best practices, as well as a lowered focus on grades in school mathematics. </p>

While limited health literacy has been associated with poorer health decisions and poorer health outcomes, there remains a gap in the literature related to the influence of health literacy on weight and weight-related behaviors. The primary aim of this study is to examine the influence of child and parent health literacy status on childs body mass index (BMI) and health behaviors, within an adapted evidence-based family-based childhood obesity intervention, iChoose, implemented in the medically underserved Dan River Region (DRR). Previously developed measures were used to assess health literacy and health behaviors. iChoose consisted of 101-parent-child dyads. Using the New Vital Sign (NVS), 46% of children and 13% of parents had low to limited health literacy levels at baseline. Younger children and parents who were African American, had no high school diploma, and earned <$25,000/year were significantly more likely to have low health literacy when compared to their counterparts. Health literacy levels for these individuals ranged between 0 to 3, which is considered low to limited health literacy. Health literacy levels were further examined between health outcomes. However, BMI, fruit and vegetable intake, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, and screen time did not differ by health literacy levels at baseline. Among children, improvements in the NVS was significantly correlated with decreases in SSB consumption (r = -.275, p < .05), but with no other outcomes. There were no significant correlations among changes in parent NVS score and changes in child health behaviors. Results from this study fill a gap in understanding the associations in health literacy and weight and weight-related behavioral outcomes in children. It also provides insights into the opportunities and challenges in measuring health literacy among children. Future research is needed to explore further health literacy measurement issues among children and the influence of both child and parent health literacy in family-based childhood obesity treatment efforts. Additional efforts are also needed to assist community and health care providers in finding more effective strategies to guide children with low health literacy to better health outcomes. / Master of Science

This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Masters in education in the faculty of education and social sciences – Cape Peninsula University of Technology / The Western Cape Education Department’s Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2006-2016 refers to the 2002 assessment (WCED, 2006) of Grade 3 learners. This study found that only 36% of learners were achieving the reading and numeracy outcomes expected of a Grade 3 learner. The vast majority of learners were underperforming two to three years below expectation (WCED Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2006-2016). South African learners’ performance in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2006) assessment reinforces the need for reading instruction practices aimed at addressing the difficulties in language and reading in both the Foundation and Intermediate Phases. It was against this background that I wanted to investigate the value and impact of a children's literature - based reading programme, as the importance of independent and critical reading at the primary level cannot be over estimated. PIRLS, (2006) highlights the areas of low achievement of South African learners by referring to the twelve reading skills and strategies identified by current research as central to the learning of reading. South Africa lags behind in introducing these critical skills. I argue for the inclusion of an alternative reading programme to the phonics only approach currently and predominantly used in Foundation Phase. Social constructivists see as crucial, both the context in which learning occurs and the social context that learners bring to their learning environment. This theoretical framework, as well as the Reader Response theory of Rosenblatt (1982) underpins this study. Relevant cognitive theories and their underpinnings in reading motivation and achievement are reviewed. The literature review is an in-depth study of recent and current reading research. The main aspects covered by the literature are literacy skills, language acquisition and its related skills. The study is lodged in a qualitative paradigm and embedded in action research. The analysis is framed in constructivist grounded theory. The quantitative data collected support the qualitative data and enhance the validity of the findings that indicate that the study of literature is effective in developing higher order thinking skills identified by Bloom (1956) and present in the PIRLS (2006) test methodology.

This study was initiated when the researcher became aware of the problem that learners from low socio-economic environments tend to experience barriers to learning in numeracy and literacy. These barriers were identified in a class of Grade 1 learners through extensive literature study, after which the development, teaching and learning of numeracy and literacy in grade 1 were investigated. The researcher then developed intervention programmes for literacy and numeracy, each running for a period of six weeks, in order to overcome learners’ difficulties in these learning areas. Each programme was subdivided into three shorter programmes of two weeks each, which addressed different aspects of literacy and numeracy. Each sub-programme was supplemented by a schedule of daily activities in order to reinforce learning. Learners’ competence in literacy and numeracy was assessed before starting the programme and re-assessed at the end, using the same tests they had done at the beginning. Learners’ marks in both sets of tests were compared, which demonstrated their progress or non-progress after having participated in the intervention programmes. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkunde)