This study examined the influence of the mathematics profiles of secondary school pre-service mathematics teachers on their instructional behaviour. The mathematics profile construct was determined with respect to four components, namely, subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, conceptions of mathematics and beliefs about the teaching and learning of mathematics. The instructional behaviour construct was studied with regard to participants’ use of a traditional versus reform approach to teaching, and whether learners were afforded an authoritarian versus democratic style of learning. Social constructivism formed the epistemological underpinning. The context for the study was a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course at a university in South Africa. The study adopted a qualitative post-hoc research approach of seven case studies. The final portfolios submitted by participants as part of their PGCE course were used as the main source of data. Through participant and researcher reflections, a visual representation of each participant’s mathematics profile and instructional behaviour was constructed. These were then compared in within-case and cross-case comparisons. Findings indicated that the mathematics profiles of pre-service mathematics teachers have an influence on either enabling or constraining the development of their instructional behaviour. An improvement in the pedagogical content knowledge of mathematics teachers without positive changes in their conceptions and beliefs and the quality of their reflections and subject matter knowledge does not result in reformed instructional behaviour. The mathematics profile as a package needs to be developed in order for pre-service mathematics teachers to make the required changes in their instructional behaviour towards a more reform-orientated approach to teaching and learning of mathematics. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

Despite extensive team studies research over the past 40 years, team learning remains an emerging field of study where there is significant conceptual discord. Three conceptualizations have dominated the literature where team learning is represented as: acquisition; participative activity, or an open system. Team learning models have also emerged integrating these three conceptualizations and included elements such as feedback, mediational factors and emergent states, though they have generally maintained the linearity of traditional input – process – output models. Teams have also recently been conceptualized as complex learning systems, yet there is a paucity of research at the team level of analysis particularly within dynamic work teams. In conjunction, exploration into a complementary area, collective transformative learning within authentic work teams, is also limited. Through an instrumental case study, the researcher investigated in what ways is collective informal learning is enacted within this authentic work team. Additionally, the potential for unfacilitated collective transformative learning was also studied. Using a social constructivist lens, this case study leveraged multiple methods including document analysis, observation, focus groups and interviews to capture a rich picture of team informal learning at the collective level of analysis. The study found that team informal learning was embedded in work activities and enacted in various ways through team interactions and activities. Moreover, the findings supported that the team had experienced collective transformative learning. The study concluded that conceptualizing teams as complex learning systems supports team informal learning and emergence as well as the potential for collective transformative outcomes in and through work. Overall, this study enhances our understanding of collective informal learning in authentic work teams and collective transformative learning.

This paper presents concept of identity in the theory of international relations. Impact of identity in China-US relations was analysed by way of the critical discourse analysis. The analysis was conducted on the basis of texts from American and Chinese media that covered a certain moment in connection with Taiwan and Chinese currency. After verification of criteria was proved that identity has a role in their mutual relation.

While there has been research regarding the effectiveness of teaching strategies to teach science to students with learning disabilities (LD), the viewpoints and experiences of students with learning disabilities using narratives have not received the same attention. This study was conducted to explore the beliefs and feelings of students with learning disabilities about their science learning experiences during their high school years. Vygotsky’s theory on Social Constructivism was used to examine the interaction of cognitive processes such as perceptions and attributions; behavioral features such as social skills and communication difficulties; and, environmental factors such as teaching techniques and peer interactions. These factors are interacting determinants of learning and classroom participation. Due to the social nature of schooling and disability, the social model of disability approach was considered the most efficient way to address this issue of learning of science with learning disabilities. Eight undergraduate students with LD were interviewed about their experiences of learning science in mainstream science classrooms. Four themes emerged after thematic analysis of the narrative interview data: a) understanding of learning disability; b) finding resources and strategies for learning science with LD; c) overcoming difficulties in learning science with technology; d) learner autonomy and science learning experiences with LD. The salient feature of these themes showed that the participants had an adequate understanding of their LDs, and the difficulties they faced in learning of science subjects due to their learning disabilities. The stigmatizing experiences of low achievement in science subjects and the initial reaction of some teachers triggered sad and angry feelings, and all the students longed to be more pushed to their higher potential in science learning. Participants then sought help from More Knowledgeable Others (MKO), they used assistive technology and developed their own strategies to overcome difficulties they were facing in learning science. The difficulties in learning of science subjects indicated by the participants have consequences; these difficulties may result in student’s reduced motivation in learning, disengagement from school, leaving school prematurely, and may cause depression in students who drop out of school. These possible consequences and the dissatisfaction expressed by the participants in this study implicate a need to continually assess students with LDs knowledge of, perceptions of, and experiences with their science learning, both in research and actual practice. In turn, this greater consideration of participant’s viewpoints may have a positive influence on the success of high school science education programs and the social-emotional development of students with LD.

The scholarly field of Gender and Development is riddled with diverging perceptions of the actual value and meaning of the term Gender and the development strategy of promoting gender equality – Gender Mainstreaming. Taking the social constructivist perspective of discourse analysis, this thesis explores the ways in which different problem representations of gender inequality are produced and reinforced within certain policy domains in the gender mainstreaming approach of the Rwandan government. The aim of this is to contribute to the scholarly field by exploring key areas not given a great deal of attention in previous research. Using the so-called ’WPR-method’ of policy analysis, developed by Carol Bacchi, a number of strategically selected policies representing different policy domains have been analyzed through four guiding analytical questions. Some main findings of the study indicates that while there are different specified problematizations of gender inequality in the domains, there is some overarching overlap in how the concept is understood to specifically concern women’s lack of agency, and how it is represented as a means to achieve the government’s targeted goals for socio-economic development.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Flipped Classroom (flipp) is described in both school and scientific contexts as a new teaching method where the individual pupil and her active learning is placed at the center and where lesson time to a greater extent is used for discussion and laboratory work, while information gathering takes place outside lesson time via ICT. Flipp has in recent years become widely spread in Sweden, which is why it is interesting to investigate flipp in a Swedish context. This has so far been made to a very limited extent. This study aims to deepen the understanding of flipp as a teaching method as the method appears in the speech and actions of upper secondary school teachers who claim they use flipp when they teach. The study addresses three general issues. First, teachers' purposes with flipp are explored, second, the roles that emerge in flipped teaching is investigated and third, individualization in teaching where flipp is applied. The study is a case study based on interviews and observations with three upper secondary school teachers who flip their teaching. The study is based on social constructivist theory formation and Dewey's progressivist philosophy of education is the discussion partner in this study. Previous research suggests that in the development of flip, inspiration was drawn from pedagogical ideas from the early 1900s, which makes it advisable to discuss possible points of contact between flipp as expressed in the case study, and progressivism. Previous research presents flipp as a method for creating flexibility and individualization as well as a method that helps the teacher and students spend more time together for laboratory work and discussions. The teachers express that flipping helps the students to become active during lessons. Observations, however, show that there are significant problems with the students not preparing for the lesson to the extent that was expected, which will have negative consequences for the opportunities to work and discuss during lessons as intended. The study thus shows evidence that there is a discrepancy between the image that the teachers produce and the image of the flip that has been observed. / Denna licentiatuppsats handlar om hur gymnasielärare som flippar uppfattar och  tillämpar undervisningsmetoden. I studien undersöks vilka syften lärarna har med att flippa, vilka roller lärare och elever har när man flippar och i vilken mån flipp kan bidra till att individualisera undervisningen. Tre verksamma gymnasielärare har deltagit i studien och de har intervjuats och observerats vid flera tillfällen. Flipp beskrivs av lärarna som har deltagit i studien som en undervisningsmetod som kan bidra till att de kan göra undervisningen mera individualiserad och flexibel. Studien visar även att den omdisponering av tid, som flipp syftar till, innebär att lärare ger elever ansvar för att på egen hand arbeta med grundläggande kunskapsinhämtning, vilket i kombination med andra bärande element i flipp, kan missgynna elever som av olika anledningar har svårigheter i skolan. Karen Stormats är verksam som lärarutbildare vid Högskolan Dalarna. Hon har tidigare erfarenhet av undervisning i historia och samhällskunskap på gymnasiet. Under tiden som forskarstuderande har Karen ingått i forskarskolan Skolnära, ett samarbete mellan Pedagogisk utveckling Dalarna (PUD), Högskolan Dalarna och Karlstads universitet.

Conference interpreting in general and simultaneous interpreting in particular are practice-based activities. In training future interpreters, conference interpreter trainers rely heavily on practical exercises that enable students to apply the skills they previously learnt and acquired in class in interpreting situations. For various reasons, the latter, however, may not be as realistic as a simulated conference, thereby preventing students from fully experiencing the atmosphere of real-life conference interpreting. This study begins with the hypothesis that mock conferences such as Model United Nations (MUN) conferences are effective in the training of postgraduate student interpreters in simultaneous interpreting. To examine this hypothesis, and present an alternative view if possible, the researcher observes postgraduate students in the MA Applied Language Studies (option: Translation and Interpreting) at the University of Pretoria performing in the simultaneous interpreting mode during a Model United Nations conference organised by the University‘s United Nations Association. Using a setting such as this, which simulates United Nations General Assembly or Security Council conferences, the researcher observes the students‘ performances and the delegates‘ reactions and analyses trainees‘ perceptions regarding the opportunity to use their skills set in a more realistic environment. / Mini-dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Modern European Languages / MA / Unrestricted

Educational technologies are increasingly integrated into higher education, in the form of distance online education for instance. This is an example of how globalization reconfigures education (Carnoy & Rothen, 2000, as cited in Peters, Besley, & Besley, 2006, pp.50).  However, the development of online distance education is not without challenges, including the lack of sense of belonging and the feeling of isolation among students, leading to dropouts. Even if there is no deterministic effect of online environments on social interactions, being online undoubtedly reshapes social behaviors. These issues are addressed in this study by examining social presence, defined as the sense of being there with others in a mediated environment (Heeter, 1992), taking an online distance course on Global Education Development in Finland as a study-case. The research aims to analyze how social presence is performed and negotiated through educational technologies. It is grounded in social constructivism to circumvent determinism that prevails in many research works on social presence and educational technologies. Social constructivism brings out human agency while recognizing the effect of the “socio-historical norms, values, beliefs, and perspectives that individuals bring into online learning environments” on the way educational technologies are used and social presence performed (Öztok, 2016, as cited in Öztok, 2013, pp.1). This research pursues a qualitative comparative methodology complemented with basic descriptive statistics. It draws from multiple data sources as it analyzes observations of interactions, survey questionnaires, course material, learning diaries, and six semi-structured interviews with students. The findings explore three dimensions of social presence: subjective, physical, and collective presence. They reveal that broader academic norms, more than educational technologies themselves, shape the representations of subjective presence. The results also verify that text-based online discussions provide more space for students to participate in discussions than webinars using online video-based technologies, but are also paradoxically negatively perceived by students. The analysis of collective presence demonstrates that it emerges from a shared group identity among students and instructors, rather than from sharing sensory inputs, developing interpersonal relations, or sharing personal background information at a group level.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country that has a violent and long history as a european colony and has since then been affected by recurrent interethnic conflicts between different armed groups. In these interethnic conflicts, armed actors have used sexual violence against women and girls as a weapon of war. Based on the social constructivism theory, this study aims to identify underlaying historical and colonial factors that could explain conflict- related sexual violence against women and girls in present interethnic conflicts in the country. The purpose is furthermore to explain why women and girls are subjected to conflict-related sexual violence to a great extent and why the sexual violence continues. The study concludes that social interactions between individuals and the social context where it occurs helps to explain conflict-related sexual violence against women and girls in present interethnic conflicts in the country. Sexual violence against women and girls can be explained as an instrument of power that has been used by armed actors to promote their own interests, which has been done in similar ways since the colonial era. Sexual violence against women and girls can also be explained as a social construction that has been created as a result of the power relationship that exists between men and women. Furthermore, sexual violence against women and girls still occurs to a great extent because it continues to be used as an instrument of power and because of armed groups perception about women and girls worth in the Congolese society.