Thesis (doctoral)--Vrije Universiteit te Amsterdam. / Summary in English and German. Includes bibliographical references (p. 282-305) and index.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-120).

The aim of this thesis is to find out the situation in families with relation to reading of children who attend the first stage of basic school. The theoretical part is devoted to the beginning of children's reading, formation and development of reading, importance of reading. Thereafter it is focused on the process of reading, reader's habits and reading disabilities. Development of children's reading and individual developmental periods form an important part. We shouldn't forget the elements which influence reading. Last chapter is focused on the research of reader's literacy which was carried out in the Czech Republic. That is PISA (2000) and PIRLS (2001). The practical part brings results of qualitative investigation which is focused on the parent's attitude to reading, relation to books and general motivation of children. At the end of the thesis there is reflection on the present attitude of children to reading and suggestion of possible techniques for improvement of children's attitude to reading.

This thesis explores the legacy of Walter Scott through analysis of the adaptations of his works. It argues that remediations of Scott's novels and poetry have shaped the conception of those works in the popular imagination and resulted in an understanding of Scott's writing which overlooks it[s] complexities. In addition, it suggests that as a by-product of the process of adaptation a very small percentage of Scott's works have come to represent the whole. This thesis examines the development of the current gap between the critical rejuvenation of Scott's legacy by the scholarly community and his continued denigration in popular culture, contending that the popular remediation of Scott's works over the course of the last two centuries contributed to the formation of this gap in perception. It also poses [i.e. posits] that adaptation provided fodder for the popular notions that his writing glorifies tartanry, chivalry and pageantry, has imposed a false version of history and culture on the people of Scotland, and is best left in the category of 'boys' adventure tales'. Furthermore, this thesis interrogates claims that Scott has no relevance for contemporary readers and has become what memory theorist Ann Rigney terms the 'Great Unknown'. While adaptations from the nineteenth century have been reasonably well documented, this thesis explores not only early dramatisations of Scott's works but also a plethora of twentieth-century remediations, including film, television, comic book, mass-market science-fiction and children's adaptations, which demonstrate that popular engagement with Scott did not end with the start of the First World War. This thesis concludes that, while Scott's readership may indeed have declined from its peak in the late nineteenth century, he still maintains a place in popular consciousness and is not as greatly forgotten as some have argued.

This study, conducted at an urban public school, explored the engagements of five, fourth grade, African American students who struggled with reading in school as they participated in critical literacy practices and social action projects with the assumption that critical analysis of written texts and concrete social actions were necessary for student empowerment. Using Discourse Analysis within a microethnographic framework, participants’ responses were analyzed. Early in the study, participants were hesitant to join in critical conversations about race. Over time, as participants deepened their critical literacy engagements, they divulged lived racism both in their private and public worlds. Specifically, the participants described the tensions and transgressions they experienced as minorities from civil rights curriculum, teachers and other students. The findings revealed instead of text based analyses, critical literacy practices transformed into the participants’ critical analysis of racism they experienced in their various worlds (home, school, and the larger, outside world) through language (not text). Similarly, the pre-conceived idea of social action projects changed from the creation of concrete products or actions into discussions in which mainstream discourse was interrupted. Tacit and overt understandings about race, identity and power suggested that the participants assumed multiple and contradictory identities (such as “victim of racism” and “racially prejudiced”) that both empowered and oppressed others in the social action group. Implications for critical literacy practices include that empowering and liberating pedagogy through ‘risky conversations’ is difficult, transitory and radical within the context of school.

The study investigated the antecedents to disposition to trust with regard to the Accelerated Reader program. The areas considered were teachers’ experience, teachers’ peer experience, teachers’ peer support, gender, and age. The population for this study consisted of teachers who used Accelerated Reader from four school districts in Louisiana. The total number of teachers who were given the survey was 417, and the number of teachers who completed the survey was 301, resulting in a response rate of 72.2%. In this study, 6 research questions were addressed. The first question asked whether a statistically significant relationship exists between teachers’ experience in using electronic education tools and their disposition to trust Accelerated Reader technology to facilitate reading instruction. The second question asked if a statistically significant relationship exists between teachers’ peer experience and their disposition to trust Accelerated Reader software technology to improve reading instruction. The third question asked if a statistically significant relationship exists between teachers’ peer support and their disposition to trust that Accelerated Reader software technology improves reading instruction. The fourth question asked if a relationship exists between teachers’ gender and their disposition to trust that the Accelerated Reader technology will improve reading instruction. The fifth research question asked if a statistically significant relationship exists between teachers’ age and their disposition to trust that the Accelerated Reader technology will improve reading instruction. Finally, the sixth research question asked if teachers trust that Accelerated Reader technology is perceived as effective in helping to improve reading instruction. The results found that teachers’ experience, teachers’ peer experience, teachers’ peer support, and gender were all antecedents that had meaningful statistical relationships with disposition to trust. Gender was found to affect only 1% of the overall variance of disposition to trust when all five variables were examined together; however, findings indicated that females had less disposition to trust than males. Multiple age brackets were found to be insignificant.

This study was needed to determine if the Accelerated Reader (AR) program made a positive impact in schools, which were attempting to increase student achievement in reading. The purpose of this study was to determine if students who received reading instruction supplemented with the AR Program achieved higher reading scores as measured by the Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT) than students who were instructed using only traditional basal reader textbooks. 6 school districts were selected to participate in this study. There were 1,111 3rd — 5th grade students in the 6 districts between the years 2004 and 2007. Of those 1,111 students, 248 students met the criteria to be included in this study. Therefore, 248 students’ reading scores were analyzed for this study. The findings of the study revealed that AR had a positive impact on students’ MCT reading scores. There were no significant differences, however, between the reading scores in the three years 2004, 2005, and 2006 of AR students (male or female) and the reading scores of the Non-AR (NAR) students (male or female). There were no significant differences between the reading scores in the three years 2005, 2006, and 2007 of the AR students and the reading scores of the NAR students (male or female). This study was needed to determine if the AR program was beneficial to schools, which were attempting to increase student achievement in reading. The findings of this study may be used to help administrators and schools evaluate the usefulness and money spent on AR. While no significant differences were shown, the results did show that the AR students’ scores were higher than the NAR students on the MCT reading.

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Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Gurdip Singh / KSU Course Reader is an android application developed for Kansas State University students to access their course materials, listen to the audio lectures, watch the video lectures and read the lecture slides or other materials from all their enrolled courses with a single application. A student can add RSS xml link associated with the courses enrolled in the current semester in the application and can receive the course materials for each course automatically after every lecture. The aim of this project is to develop a one stop android application for students to access the course materials of all their courses from their android smart phones and tablets. The project also provides a jsp form for course instructors to update the course materials for every lecture which automatically updates the xml file associated with the course. The application also allows students to add other RSS xml like K-State News, K-state Events etc. The same application can be used for adding public rss xml sites and can also be used as a podcast player. It is very essential to provide the course materials readily available to the students all the time wherever they are. Since most students have smart phones or tablets and use them for accessing emails, surf internet etc , it becomes easier for them to use this KSU course reader application to access, read or view all their course materials at one place which is also customized for mobiles and tablets. As android is one of the leading and fastest growing smart phone platforms the project becomes more appropriate to develop in android.