Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-90).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-90). Also available in print.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Writing skills is are an essential requirement to lifelong learner success yet the way teachers teach and provide feedback to their learners on writing is quite challenging. This study sought to explore the teaching strategies to improve writing skills as an essential requirement for effective learning in schools for grade 8 and 9 learners in English First Additional Language. For people living in the townships and rural areas in South Africa, exposure to English is limited, because the majority of people communicate with each other in local languages. With teachers and learners residing in the townships where communication occurs mostly in isiXhosa, problems in language proficiency, in particular writing in English First Additional Language, are often encountered not only by the learners, but by educators as well. This was a case study of four high schools in the Cradock Education District. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight participants in the four schools. There were eight main findings, which are as follows: Lack of support for teachers, lack of a culture of learning amongst learners, and lack of competence in English for both learners and parents, which need to be addressed; and strategies proposed to improve writing skills are: the importance of creative writing; regular feedback and the importance of drafts.

Medical education aims at forming students’ professional identity. This includes skills and attitudes such as communication and teamwork skills. One of the thesis’ aims is to identify students’ typical difficulties with learning communication skills, and to understand how these affect their identity development. Group discussions of student-patient interviews were video-taped, and selected discussions were transcribed and analyzed. Students had difficulties in establishing trustful relationships with their patients, asking about sensitive topics, responding empathetically, and with applying formal structures to the consultation. Students’ professional identity was supported by peer students’ and teachers’ comments, which created a common language and fostered selfmonitoring abilities. Another aim was to study the relationship between students* attitude towards communication training, group learning, and their self-regulatory skills. In a survey study, established instruments were combined with a new questionnaire. Four medical schools participated – two with traditional and two with problem-based curricula – in Sweden and Germany. Statistical analyses revealed that female students were more positive towards learning communication skills than male students were. Good self-regulatory skills were related to a positive attitude towards group learning and clinical experience before academic studies. It was concluded that early clinical experience benefits students’ selfregulated learning, and promotes a positive attitude towards communication training. Awareness of typical difficulties can facilitate the acquisition of coping strategies. / Medicinsk undervisning syftar till att forma studenternas professionella identitet. Den omfattar färdigheter och inställningar, t.ex. kommunikationsfärdigheter och förmågan att arbeta i grupp. Ett av avhandlingens syften är att identifiera studenternas typiska svårigheter med att lära sig färdighet i läkar-patient kommunikation samt att förstå hur den påverkar identitetsutvecklingen. Gruppdiskussioner av student-patient intervjuer videofilmades, utvalda diskussioner transkriberades och analyserades. Studenterna berättade om svårigheter med att etablera förtroliga relationer med patienterna, att prata om känsliga ämnen, att visa empati och att använda intervjumallen. Den professionella identiten stöttas av studenternas och lärarnas kommentarer, vilka bidrar till ett gemensamt språk och förmågan till själviakttagelse. Andra syftet är att undersöka sambandet mellan studenternas inställningar till kommunikationsfärdigheter och grupparbete, samt deras förmåga till självreglerat lärande. I en enkätundersökning kombinerades befintliga instrument med ett nytt frågeformulär. Fyra medicinska fakulteter deltog: två med traditionella och två med problembaserade undervisningsmetoder, en av varje i Sverige och i Tyskland. Statistiska analyser visade att kvinnliga studenter är, jämfört med manliga, mer positiva till att träna upp kommunikativa färdigheter. Förmågan till självreglerat lärande var relaterad till en positiv inställning till gruppinlärande och till klinisk erfarenhet innan studierna påbörjas. Slutsatsen är att tidig klinisk erfarenhet fostrar självstyrt lärande och en positiv inställning till kommunikationsträning. Medvetenhet om typiska svårigheter kan underlätta för studenter att anamma strategier att hantera dessa.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1996. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Robert Pace. Dissertation Committee: Harold Abeles. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-110).

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study argues that not all children in the Junior Primary phase benefit from the Problem Centred Approach in mathematics that was adapted by the Research, Unit for Mathematics at the University of Stellenbosch (RUMEUS). \One of the reasons could be that not all pupils can construct their own knowledge and methods. There are the highly capable pupils who cope well with this approach. These pupils are able to solve mathematical problems with little or no teacher interaction. Then there are the average and weaker pupils who cannot solve a mathematical problem on their own. These pupils need strategies and skills to solve problems and they need the teacher to mediate these strategies and skills to them, which will help these pupils to become autonomous problem solvers. ,Working in groups can, to some extent, supplement mediation or teacher interaction. Peer group teaching can be effective, whereby pupils are placed in groups so that the more capable pupils can teach concepts or make concepts clearer to the average or weaker pupils). There is, however, the possibility that when pupils of mixed abilities are placed in groups of four there might be one pupil who might refuse to work with the group. This pupil will work on her own and will not share ideas with the other members of the group. If this happens, mediation is necessary for those pupils who cannot solve a mathematical problem on their own. The purpose of this study is to investigate how exposure to mediation can improve pupils' problem solving abilities. As directions for my research I've chosen the first six criteria of Feuerstein's Mediated Learning Experiences (MLE). The first three parameters: intentionality and reciprocity, mediation of transcendence and mediation of meaning _are conditions for an interaction to qualify as MLE. Mediation of competence and regulation of behaviour are functions of specific experiences that combine with the first three to make an adult-child interaction one of mediated learning. Mediation of sharing behaviour . can be added. Here the child and the mediator are engaged in a shared quest for structural change in the child. In addition to this, the five mechanisms of mediational teaching, i.e. process questioning; challenging or asking reasons; bridging; teaching about rules; and emphasising order, predictability, system, sequence and strategy are also used in the implementation of mediation as described by Haywood. Two methods of investigation were chosen. The pupils' problem solving abilities were studied by means of eight word sums, of which the first four word sums were done in the pre-test and the other four word sums in the post-test. After the pre-test and before the post-test there was a period of mediational teaching for the experimental group. During this period and during the post-test the control group was denied mediation. After this research, mediation was also available for the control group. Two pupils from the experimental group were then chosen for further in-depth, think-aloud, person-to-person interviews. The aim of the interviews was to determine why these pupils could not solve the problem in the pre-test, but could successfully solve the post-test question. The results of the word sums in the pre-test and the post-test were compared. The role of strategies and thinking skills is concentrated on in the results. Mediation was not equally successful in all of the four different types of problem sums. Questions one and five contained two or more numbers and here pupils tended to either plus or minus these numbers. Questions two and six also contained numbers, but this is a problem situated in a real life situation. Questions three and seven contained no numbers and questions four and eight compelled pupils to first work out a plan. Mediation was most successful in problem sums situated in a real life situation, followed by problem sums which compelled pupils to first work out a plan, and then by problem sums where there were no numbers. Mediation was least; successful in problem sums that contained two or more numbers. Analysis of these results shows that with mediation there is an improvement in the pupils' problem solving abilities; Mediation can be viewed as S-H-O-H-R, in which the human mediator (H) is interposed between the stimulus (S) and the organism (0), and between the organism and the response (R). We can argue that the Problem Centred Approach without mediation can produce individuals who are little, if at all, affected by their encounter and interaction with new situations. Due to the lack of support in the Problem Centred Approach to Mathematics, it is the aim of this mini-thesis to propose mediation as an essential component in the Problem Centred Approach to Mathematics in the Junior Primary phase.

The dissertation thesis deals with the skill of listening comprehension and using multimedia for its support in the French language teaching process. The issue is studied within the context of Czech curricular documents. It classifies language skills from the point of view of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The process of listening comprehension is described in linguo-didactics from the historical point of view and as a process of language communication. Attention is paid especially to listening comprehension in foreign language teaching. The thesis focuses also on methodical procedures when developing and reinforcing this language skill. Integration of multimedia with respect to varied learning styles and strategies is described. Styles according to the perception preferences and listening learning strategies are focused on. The aim of the thesis is to find out what is the position of the listening comprehension skill in the French language teaching process at upper-secondary schools, what is the success rate of the students in the process of comprehension of the spoken language, whether multimedia can contribute to successful comprehension of the spoken language in a foreign language. The issue is viewed from the perspective of the students as well as the teachers....