Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1964. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Proefschrift--Amsterdam. / "Stellingen" ([3] p.) laid in, at end. "Lijst van aangehaalde werken": p. [241]-244.

<p> Seismic mapping indicates that Lasuen Knoll offshore southern California is a pop-up structure in a restraining stepover of the Palos Verdes Fault. Dextral shear is apparently transferred southeast through a complex of faults in a linked shear zone to the Carlsbad Ridge and Coronado Bank faults. </p><p> Isochore maps of stratigraphic intervals indicate that Miocene extension occurred locally along the Palos Verdes Fault to the south of Lasuen Knoll during the Mohnian stage, and became more widespread during the Delmontian stage. Fanning of dips of Repettian stage strata onlapping Lasuen Knoll indicate that Lasuen Knoll began to form as a pop-up structure by the Early Repettian stage and has continued to uplift to Recent. </p><p> Lasuen Knoll is bounded to the north and south along the Palos Verdes-Carlsbad Ridge-Coronado Bank shear zone by transtensional zones. Tectonic models suggest that Lasuen Knoll forms a characteristic California Inner Borderland restraining bend or stepover.</p>

This thesis explored teacher professional judgement as applied to the final report card process of Ontario Secondary School courses in Business, Humanities, and Social Science. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used. Twenty-four active teachers from various schools participated in semi-structured interviews and follow-up questions. How the respondents understood the use of professional judgement when determining percentage grades was analyzed. The study found that the participants personalized procedures, either independently or at the direction of the local administration, when interpreting policy into practice. These practices, although done with good intentions, were at odds with reliable and valid assessment. This phenomenon was termed Heuristic Assessment. Ontario’s revised assessment and evaluation policy Growing Success (Ontario, 2010a) placed emphasis on informed professional judgement. Although a definition was provided, how the concept works in practice was open to interpretation. Therefore, schools can apply professional judgement in numerous ways and still be in line with provincial policy if what is taught and evaluated correspond with curriculum documents. However, this study found that Ministry instructions are challenging to implement. There are tensions between how the local administration view policy, participant understanding of these guidelines, and the realities of the classroom. Furthermore, school culture consists of both shared, or public, and shadowed, or private practices. Shared and shadowed practices sometimes go with, and sometimes against, provincial policy. Consequently, participants engaged in Heuristic Assessment: they used their professional judgement to adhere to local policy in appearance, while finding ways to evaluate final report cards on their own terms. This study makes several contributions to the field of knowledge. First, we see the concept of professional judgement in Ontario evaluation practices not as an idealized definition but as teacher-created construct. Second, there was clear evidence that the province still has work to do in order to have better consistency in assessment of learning practices. Understanding gained by the research established proposals on how to further improve reporting of student learning in Ontario and other educational systems. For example, there are easier ways for teachers to explain the meaning of grades to students, parents, guardians, and other stakeholders. If professional judgement is vital to evaluation practices, then the concept should be reified to assist teachers with the assessment process. There is also a methodological contribution, as the study provided an example of how to blend the constructivist grounded theory of Kathy Charmaz with the situational analysis of Adele Clarke to educational evaluation research.

This study focuses on the use of student-led questions and feedback to improve students’ engagement and attainment in Key Stage 3 science. My interest in Assessment for Learning has arisen from working as a science teacher for over 9 years in several secondary schools in London and Kent. My aim has been to support Key Stage 3 science students to improve their engagement and attainment by means other than the use of science practical. The purpose of this study is to find out how students’ awareness of questions and feedback can be used to improve their engagement. This includes examining students’ contribution to the classroom discourse through developing their own questions and giving peer feedback, and assessing how this has improved their attainment. This study also sought teachers’ perceptions on the role of questions and feedback in engaging students in science lessons. This mixed methods study was inspired by a constructivist paradigm approach to learning (Creswell 2011; Savasci and Berlin, 2012). The study used six techniques of enquiry for data collection to support triangulation of my data. The students were involved in problem solving activities which led to developing their own questions using Bloom’s taxonomy question prompts and giving feedback to other students. The interaction was audio recorded to examine the quality of questions and feedback in order to ascertain how this has led to an improvement in their engagement and attainment, in addition to other data collection methods used. This study found that students were capable of developing high level questions and giving constructive feedback that will move other students’ learning forward just like their teachers aim to do. There was an improvement in the high level questions developed which influenced the quality of feedback given to other students. 98% of the students were engaged in the questions and feedback which contributed to over 92% of the students achieving their target levels in the end of unit science test. These outcomes are contributions to knowledge. Other contributions to knowledge include the new model of discourse presented in this thesis, and two factors that constitute engagement in learning. Pupil voice was a dominant factor as students were in charge of the classroom discourse which was encouraged by the questions and feedback. Some recommendations are made for professional practice and further research.

<p> This phenomenological autoethnographic case study illuminates the emergence of interdisciplinarity in a public high school. The intent is to study how interdisciplinary project-based and personalized learning benefits both students and educators, particularly when working within a gradual release framework utilizing an ethic of care or a &ldquo;Caring&rdquo; approach. Using a phenomenological autoethnographic methodology via a series of reflective vignettes, the case study explores behaviors, practices, conditions, curriculum, and description of specific student outcomes. The design of the study examines my personal experiences, observations, conversations with others, and reflections on the implementation of this model within a high school building promoting two explicit pathways: disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning. </p><p>

<p> In Florida, passing the Algebra I end-of-course examination (EOCE) is a graduation requirement. The test measures knowledge of basic algebra. In spring 2015, the Department of Education introduced a different version of the test. For the first two administrations of the new test, the failure rate for 9th-grade students in the state was almost 50%. In contrast, the failure rate for students in the school where this study was implemented exceeded 70%. The purpose of this study was to determine the outcome of small group intervention focusing on operations with rational numbers of high school students&rsquo; performance on the Algebra I EOCE. </p><p> After analyzing several potential methods of instruction, small group instruction with the incorporation of the use of manipulatives, visuals, and guided inquiry was selected. In addition, the focus of the study was chosen to be operations with rational numbers, an area many researchers have identified as critical for student understanding of algebraic concepts. Twenty students from the target population of 600 10th and 11th grade students volunteered to participate in the study. These participants received three to six small group instruction sessions before retaking the test. In Sept 2016, all the students in the target population were administered the Algebra I EOCE again. A t-test yielded no significant difference in the learning gains of those who participated in the study and the other students in the target population. The implications of the results were that the interventions had no significant impact on student achievement. A possible reason for the lack of success could have been that six intervention sessions were not enough to produce significant results. It is recommended that future research includes a substantially larger number of interventions.</p><p>

<p> Over the past several decades there has been a continuous stream of government mandates aimed to improve equity, access, accountability, transparency, student performance, and/or expand the responsibilities of public schools. These externally mandated school reforms have largely excluded the voice of teachers and administrators both in problem definition and in the modifications needed to address them. Further, reform literature is predominantly focused on improving or addressing urban school challenges, so little is known about the challenges and needs of suburban schools. The gaps in the literature related to teacher voice and suburban contexts in high school reform form the basis of this inquiry. Therefore, this study examines suburban teacher perceptions of four specific, popular reform ideas being introduced in high schools across the United States. </p><p> This exploratory mixed methods study gathered data from 165 suburban public high school teachers working in 20 different high schools in Massachusetts using an anonymous survey instrument. Three findings emerged from the study: 1) successful suburban teachers welcome consensus high school reform ideas that they believe to be favorable for student learning, growth, and development though they note significant challenges in regard to time; 2) suburban teachers experience anxiety when reforms alter structures or methods that they rely on to ensure all students meet high school outcomes for graduation and college entrance requirements; and 3) suburban teachers&rsquo; perceptions of consensus high school reform ideas are shaped by the ways in which the reforms impact academic disciplines. This study found that suburban public school teachers view the four reform ideas presented in this study as likely having a positive impact on teaching and learning in their school; however, they noted several implementation challenges that would need to be considered to ensure the efficacy of those reforms.</p><p>

<p> Achieving and maintaining student engagement within a classroom are issues educators have dealt with since the inception of formal educational systems. The effects of seating arrangements on the classroom ecology have often been an area of concern for teachers. Recently a new trend in education called flexible seating has emerged. Flexible seating consists of a variety of alternative seating options. Proponents of flexible seating allege it creates an environment that decreases off-task behaviors which increases student outcomes through attentiveness. The purpose of this study is to understand how the effects of a flexible seating arrangement impact the ecology of the at-risk secondary classrooms, and to explore advantages and disadvantages of flexible seating in these classrooms. The study&rsquo;s findings are taken from teacher interviews and observations within two at-risk secondary classrooms. The results demonstrate flexible seating increases the democracy in the classroom creating a feeling of well- being and allows self-regulation. However, based on this study educators are advised to learn their students&rsquo; needs and remember the nature of the task should influence the seating arrangement as well. </p><p> <i><b>Key Words:</b></i> flexible seating, traditional seating, at-risk, school ecology, on-task behaviors, off-task behaviors, engagement </p><p>