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M.Ed. / The aim of this research is to develop guidelines for teachers with regard to parental involvement in order to facilitate the development of reading competence in children in the junior primary phase. In order to achieve this, the following sub-aims are formulated: To explore and describe the viewpoints of parents and teachers with regard to the causes of reading problems in the junior primary phase; To determine in what way teachers and parents of children in the junior primary phase perceive their role in the development and improvement of reading.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

M.Ed. (Educational Linguistics) / The construct of this study consists of the perceptions and experiences of the teachers and students of initial reading at Sizwile School for the Deaf in urban South Africa. This investigation focuses on a Sub B class, in which Sign Language is the means of communication. The research design is exploratory and descriptive as it aims to explore, describe and clarify the children's apprehension of reading. This could yield new knowledge which is rooted in a specific and complex context. The process is conducted by means of a case study (monographic study) design which includes mostly qualitative methods for data collection. The rationale for this study is that respondents' personal (ernic) views, obtained from a "bottom-up" research mode could bring more light to the body of knowledge of deaf education in South Africa. Insufficient rigorous research, the lack of educational policy, lack of more input in South African curriculum for the deaf and limited cohesive instructional theory in South African deaf education motivated the researcher to initiate this investigation. The rationale of this stidy thus circulated from the theoretical and physical context of deaf education in South Africa, as well as the researcher's personal experiential knowledge as a teacher in the only school for the deaf around Soweto (a Black Township). The research question in this inquiry has been conceptualised in a maze of conflicting opinions and practices regarding the education of the deaf and the teaching of initial reading. The experiences, activities and perceptions of a single class within a school for the deaf was explored and described argumentatively in the light of contemporary theories on language, learning, reading and deaf education. Perspectives on learning to read are discussed in order to contextualise the individual's learning to read. Also included are theories of language and of learning, presented to provide a backdrop against which the practices in deaf education will be discussed. Language is subsequently discussed as medium of communication in the education process, with a closer focus on instruction in the first language (Sign Language) of the deaf child. The other part of the conceptual framework covers reading across the curriculum. The theoretical framework is presented as support structure for the research construct and also to problematise the research question (problem) from complementary angles.

The purpose of this research was to test a strategy which uses music-related concepts to teach math. A quasi-experimental study of two high school remedial geometry sections was conducted during a review lesson of ratio, proportion, and cross multiplication. A pretest was given to both groups. Then, Group A received normal textbook instruction while Group B received the treatment, Get the Math in Music, which is an online activity involving proportional reasoning in a music-related context. Afterwards, a posttest was given to both groups. Pretest and posttest scores were used to compare gains in subject knowledge between the groups. Then a second evaluation of the treatment was conducted. Group A received the treatment and took a post-posttest. Score gains for Group A before and after receiving the treatment were compared. After these tests, all participants took a survey to determine if their appreciation of math grew as a result of the treatment. Finally, interviews were conducted to provide better understanding of the results. The research questions of this study were: to what extent does the integration of Get the Math in Music improve students' academic performance in a remedial geometry review of ratio, proportion, and cross multiplication, and to what extent does participation in the Get the Math activity improve students' attitudes towards math? My hypotheses were that students would perform significantly better on a subject knowledge test after receiving the treatment, and that all students would have a more positive attitude towards math after receiving the treatment. Quantitative results did not triangulate to support or refute these hypotheses. Greater improvement from pretest to posttest was statistically correlated with Group B, which was the group first receiving the treatment. But later, between posttest and post-posttest Group A did not show statistically significant greater gains after receiving the treatment. Surveys results showed that students did not necessarily like math any more after the treatment. Interviews revealed that several of these students were apathetic to geometry in particular, if not to math in general. The case of one student's improvement suggested that positive teacher-student relationships are more effective than any particular method to increase academic performance and student engagement. Survey results were consistent with earlier psychological studies claiming teenagers care about music. Additional studies in the future on the merits of using music to teach high school math would be useful. Claims that proportional reasoning is challenging were supported. It would be beneficial to evaluate the treatment in an Algebra or Pre-Algebra setting when students first study proportions.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education