The purpose of this study was to investigate the prospective elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / use of strategies and their achievement levels in solving mathematical problems with respect to year level. The data were collected from 250 prospective elementary mathematics teachers enrolled in an elementary mathematics education program from a state university in Central Anatolian Region. Problem Solving Test (PST) was used to accomplish the purpose of the study. The data collection tool adapted by the researcher included nine open ended problems. In this study, item based in-depth analysis was employed to determine a variety of problem solving strategies used by prospective teachers.The frequencies and percentages of categories were gathered for each item and for each year level. The results of this study revealed that prospective elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / problem solving achievement was moderately high. Prospective elementary mathematics teachers in each year level were able to use various problem solving strategies to a certain extent. More specifically, the results indicated that &lsquo / making a drawing&rsquo / and &lsquo / intelligent guessing and testing&rsquo / strategies were among the most prominent strategies frequently used by prospective teachers. Setting up an equation and using a formula was other strategies used by prospective teachers. On the other hand, finding a pattern strategy was the least frequent strategy used by prospective teachers.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-150). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-150). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-119).

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Problem solving has been a core theme in education for several decades. Educators and policy makers agree on the importance of the role of problem solving skills for school and real life success. A primary purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of cognitive abilities on mathematical problem solving performance of students. The author investigated this relationship by separating performance in open-ended and closed situations. The second purpose of this study was to explore how these relationships were different or similar in boys and girls. No significant difference was found between girls and boys in cognitive abilities including general intelligence, general creativity, working memory, mathematical knowledge, reading ability, mathematical problem solving performance, verbal ability, quantitative ability, and spatial ability. After controlling for the influence of gender, the cognitive abilities explained 51.3% (ITBS) and 53.3% (CTBS) of the variance in MPSP in closed problems as a whole. Mathematical knowledge and general intelligence were found to be the only variables that contributed significant variance to MPSP in closed problems. Similarly, after controlling for the influence of gender, the cognitive abilities explained 51.3% (ITBS) and 46.3% (CTBS) of the variance in mathematical problem solving performance in open-ended problems. General creativity and verbal ability were found to be the only variables that contributed significant variance to MPSP in open problems. The author concluded that closed and open-ended problems require different cognitive abilities for reaching correct solutions. In addition, when combining all of these findings the author proposed that the relationship between cognitive abilities and problem solving performance may vary depending on the structure (type) and content of a problem. The author suggested that the content of problems that are used in instruments should be analyzed carefully before using them as a measure of problem solving performance.

Vaikai – tai žmonijos ateitis, mūsų džiaugsmas ir pasididžiavimas. Atrodo, kad kiekvienam vaikelis turėtų būti didžiausiu turtu, laime ir paguoda. Deja, reali situacija kitokia. Vaikai dabar mušami, marinami badu, paliekami miške, šaltyje, imami įkaitais, išnaudojami seksualiai. Smurtas gali būti apgalvotas veiksmas norint išnaudoti ar nubausti arba tiesiog impulsyvi susierzinusio tėvo, mokytojo ar stipresnio vaiko reakcija. Bet kuriuo atveju toks smurtas prieš vaikus pažeidžia pagrindinius žmogaus teisių principus: pagarbą žmogaus orumui ir teisę į fizinį neliečiamumą. Vaiko teisių įgyvendinimo požiūriu ypač svarbus mokyklos vaidmuo. Mokykla daug gali prisidėti ne tik prie dorinio vaikų auklėjimo, jų elgesio humanizavimo, bet ir prie tėvų sąmoningumo ugdymo, nepakantos smurtui, nesmurtinių drausminimo būdų bei vaiko teisių propagavimo. Tačiau siekiant šių tikslų visų pirma būtina įdiegti vaiko teises pačiose mokyklose. Mokslinių tyrimų pagrindu galima teigti, jog Lietuvos mokyklose dar negarantuojama vaiko teisių apsauga. Taigi viena iš plintančių prievartos formų yra priekabiavimas. Priekabiavimas – tai problema, kuriai skiriamas ypatingas dėmesys visame pasaulyje ir tik pastaruoju metu pradedama nagrinėti moksliškai ir Lietuvoje. Šio magistrinio darbo tikslas – atskleisti vaikų tarpusavio priekabiavimo ypatumus mokykloje, išsiaiškinant mokyklos vadovo vaidmenį problemos sprendime. Uždaviniai : 1. apibūdinti priekabiavimą kaip reiškinį; 2. atskleisti pagrindines... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Children are the future of the mankind, our delight and pride. It seems that every child should be the greatest treasure, happiness and comfort. However, the real situation is different. Children are being beaten, starved, left in the forest or cold, taken hostage or used sexually. Violence can be a deliberate action on purpose to use or punish, or simply an impulsive reaction of a parent, teacher or a stronger child. In any case, such violence against children violates the main principals of human rights: respect to human dignity and the right to physical immunity. From the point of view of the implementation of children rights, the role of the school is extremely important. The school can contribute a lot not only to the moral upbringing of children and humanization of their behaviour but also to the education of the consciousness of parents, intolerance to violence, nonviolent ways of discipline and the propagation of the protection of children rights. However, with a view to these aims, first of all it is essential to introduce the children rights into schools themselves. On the ground of scientific research it is possible to state that the protection of children rights is not guaranteed in Lithuanian schools. So, one of pervasive forms of violence is molestation. Molestation is the problem that receives special attention all around the world and only recently it has begun to be dealt with scientifically in Lithuania. The aim of this Master’s thesis is to reveal the... [to full text]

The process of social problem-solving appears to consist of several general stages including problem orientation, problem definition, generation of alternatives, and decision making. A significant number of studies have found that depressed individuals have a more negative orientation towards their problems and generate a smaller number of less effective solutions on pencil-and-paper measures. Rumination in response to a dysphoric mood has been found to exacerbate feelings of sadness and social problem-solving deficits, while efforts at distraction have been found to reduce or eliminate these effects. To date, nearly all of the research on social problem-solving has utilized pencil-and-paper measures of how individuals feel they would respond to hypothetical problems. The current investigation was designed to evaluate the social problem-solving ability of dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants while talking with a counselor in an analogue counseling interview.More specifically, this study examined the effects of dysphoria and the use of temporary distraction techniques on the social problem-solving ability of 84 female undergraduate students. A structured problem-solving interview and corresponding coding system was designed to measure D'Zurilla and Goldfried's (1971) stages of problem-solving. The coding system yielded high levels of internal consistency, content validity, and construct validity. Forty-one dysphoric females and 43 non-dysphoric females were randomly assigned to either a rumination or distraction task. Dysphoric participants in the rumination condition reported increased levels of sadness, whereas dysphoric participants in the distraction condition reported decreased levels of sadness. After engaging in the rumination or distraction task, each participant was asked to talk with a female counselor during a structured problem-solving interview. Results of a 2 (dysphoric/non-dysphoric) X 2 (rumination/distraction) MANOVA yielded a non-significant interaction effect and a significant difference for the main effect of dysphoria on participants' ratings of problem severity and confidence in solving the problem. Dysphoric participants, whether given a rumination or distraction task, reported a more negative orientation towards their problems, but did not display any deficits in their ability to describe the problem, generate effective solutions, or choose an effective solution. The current findings underscore the need for more naturalistic, behavioral measurements of problem-solving ability and call into question the assumption that depressed individuals exhibit social problem-solving deficits. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

In South Africa, many health and social problems such as HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, truancy and violence are constantly on the increase. Measures to combat these problems have until now proved unsuccessful. As a result the social functioning of young people become detrimentally affected. Therefore it is necessary to find new ways of preventing these pathological phenomena, since the future demography of the country depends on the physical, psychological, emotional and cognitive aspects of the present generation. The study was undertaken to assess life-skills education at schools. The researcher felt that it is important because inadequate life-skills education make children vulnerable to social pathologies. The major tools used for data collection were questionnaires and literature reviews. A sample of 43 schools was drawn in the North-West and Mpumalanga Provinces. The findings revealed that the schools and parents do not prepare children for life. That is schools do not offer Life-Skills education or the time spent on Life Skills education is minimal and educators are insufficiently equipped to offer Life-Skills education programmes. It is also found that children receive their sex education from their peers. This shows that parents do not play their role with regard to the proper socialisation of children. The study suggests that life-skills education programmes and more in-service training be organised for educators so that they can offer effective Life-Skills education to learners. Finally, the study submits that, to be successful, prevention should focus on comprehensive team approach. Prevention is not a limited function of educators, social workers or health professionals, but it can be provided in a concerted effort by all these professionals, parents as well as the community. Through this, the increase of health and social problems can be minimised among young people. / (M. SWK.) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2003

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005.