This study identifies the relationship between preferred metacognitive language-learning strategies (MCLLSs) and language-learning styles (LLSYs) and their patterns of use amongst a selected group of learners at a vocational education institute in Hong Kong. Quantitative data were collected from 192 survey respondents and qualitative data from 8 interview participants. With regard to MCLLSs, the quantitative data reveal a medium to high use among learners, with Finding out about language learning, Self-monitoring and Paying attention identified as the most frequently used MCLLSs; with regard to style preferences, the quantitative data reveal a prevalence of multiple major preferences. The most favoured LLSYs are Auditory, Kinaesthetic and Group. The qualitative data show the reasons for using (and not using) particular MCLLSs as well as the reasons for preferring (and not preferring) particular LLSYs. The major factors which were found to determine the use of MCLLS were easiness of implementation, applicability, availability of opportunity, level of knowledge of strategies and motivation to use strategies. The major factors which were found to affect the choice of LLSYs were boredom, easiness in implementation and availability of practice opportunities. The study also identified the situations and language tasks in which MCLLSs were selectively used and in which particular LLSYs were favoured. The survey questionnaires and interviews reveal some differences in the use of MCLLSs and choice of LLSYs, and in the relationship between them. Despite the existence of these discrepancies, the findings from the two data sources were consistent in showing that there were no differences in the MCLLS use of learners with each of the six major style preferences. Several methodological issues, implications for teaching and directions for future research are discussed.

Although studies on L2 learning strategies are a major strand of second language research, recent research has shifted its focus onto language learners’ metacognitive awareness and use of strategies. Previous studies shed important light on the amelioration in L2 educational practices, but research on learners’ metacognition in the reading process in EFL contexts remains insufficient, especially at the university level in terms of the emic view of the participants studied in Taiwan. Based on an interpretive stance, this exploratory case study aimed at probing 12 Taiwanese first year university EFL learners’ metacognitive awareness and use of reading strategies during their strategic reading process, and the relationship with proficiency levels and texts of both the narrative and the expository type. This study relies on the think aloud and immediately retrospective protocols of 6 high proficient and 6 low proficient readers as the principal sources of data. The think aloud protocols and the immediately retrospective interviews were transcribed and subjected to content analysis by means of coding them. Taiwanese first year university EFL readers’ metacognitive awareness and use of reading strategies were then analysed and interpreted from a broad metacognitive perspective within the information processing model in terms of strategy application for reading comprehension problem-solving. The findings revealed that the participants demonstrated an awareness and control of their cognitive activities while reading. The strategies they employed were grouped into the categories of supporting reading strategies (SRSs), cognitive reading strategies (CRSs), and metacognitive reading strategies (MRSs). The study found that these learners’ metacognitive awareness and use of reading strategies in learning to read were closely related to L2 proficiency. The low proficient readers’ unfamiliarity with L2 is a hindrance to their reading comprehension which, in turn, disabled them from using the strategies appropriately and effectively. Furthermore, the high proficient readers outperformed their low proficient counterparts in terms of both the quality and quantity of strategies used. Both groups did not use the same strategy types. The findings also revealed that certain types of reading strategy were used differently due to the texts of the narrative and the expository type across the different ability levels. The existing literature on metacognitive awareness and use of reading strategies in learning to read is discussed and pedagogical implications for teachers of L2 reading are offered. These implications include suggestions made for providing learners with explicit reading and strategy instruction and texts with different structure in relation to strategy use. Finally, the limitations of the current research study and recommendations for further research were stated.

No description available.

Despite the substantial amount of education research on “teaching for understanding” and “learning for understanding” processes that has occurred in the fields of achievement goals, constructivist-based pedagogy, motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning there is little research that considers in unison the pillar constructs of these fields. Three studies comprised the present research which was designed to address the proposal that important social- and personal-based constructs associated with achievement goals, constructivist-based pedagogy, motivational beliefs, and self-regulated learning act in an interdisciplinary fashion to influence learning in the high school science classroom. All the large-scale quantitative studies presented a single-level structural equation model that was applicable to the general high school science student, controlling for the variance associated with age, gender, and student type (regular or selective high school student). Results from the two large-scale trait-level correlational studies of Study 1 (n = 655) and Study 2 (n = 617) using the Achievement Goals Questionnaire (Elliot & Church, 1997), Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (Taylor, Fraser, & Fisher, 1997) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991) as the main quantitative instruments found support for the hypothesis that a perceived emphasis on the constructivist-based pedagogical dimensions of personal relevance and student negotiation in science classrooms promotes the adoption of mastery-approach and intrinsic value. These analyses also showed the importance of self-efficacy in promoting mastery-approach, performance-approach and the use of regulatory strategies, and that test anxiety had positive associations with mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance goals. / Study 3 comprised of two mini-studies that investigated the associations of competence perceptions, achievement goals and self-regulated learning in two science classroom learning contexts: teacher-led discussion (n = 451) and group work (n = 476). Using specifically developed context-level questionnaires, the results of these studies affirmed current theories concerning the interactions of self-efficacy, achievement goals, self-regulated learning (regulatory strategy use) and maladaptive strategy use. Students interviewed in Study 3 mostly reported the adoption of their achievement goals depended upon personal reasons that were commensurate with current achievement goal theory (Elliot, 1999) rather than specific classroom practices. The present research was also significant in that it tested the empirical stature of two frameworks by which social/cognitive research affiliated with learning environments, achievement goals and self-regulated learning may be conducted. Firstly, the results of the construct validity measures generated across Studies 1, 2 and 3 found support for the existence of the hypothesised 2 X 2 achievement goals framework (Elliot, 1999; Elliot & McGregor, 2001; Pintrich, 2000a). Secondly, the research introduced the tenets of a “context” hypothesis and found support for this perspective throughout the context-level studies. Adjunct multilevel multiple regressions were used in all the quantitative studies to examine the impact of subpopulation variables (age, gender, regular or selective high school student) and multiple goal interactions upon response variables, and to assess the variance attributed to the response variables at the class-level. Implications for the research disciplines studied are presented in terms of teaching practice, theory, future research and research methods.

The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to investigate whether seventh grade students&rsquo / conditional and procedural knowledge acquisition in, attitude towards, active learning strategies in, and learning value of geometry improve differentially for students having different cognitive styles in project-based learning and (b) to examine how project-based learning affects them. Participants were 97 seventh-grade students in a private school in Ankara. The students were classified into three groups: Field dependent (N=31), field middle (N=35), and field independent (N=31), based on the raw scores of the participants from the Group Embedded Figures Test. Only one treatment (i.e., project-based learning) was conducted for the study, lasting 30 lesson hours. Pre-test and post-test design for the students having three different cognitive styles was utilized. A mixed methods design integrating both quantitative and qualitative data was used for this study. The data were collected through Conditional and Procedural Knowledge Tests, Active Learning Strategies in and Learning Value of Geometry Questionnaire, Geometry Attitude Scale, interview responses, and classroom observation field notes. The quantitative analyses were carried out by using Mixed Design (one between factor and one within factor) Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The results revealed that there is no significant interaction between time and group. There was a substantial main effect for time and follow up analyses for this effect showed that the students achieved large learning gains for all dependent variables. In addition, the main effect of group was not significant. According to interview responses and classroom observation field notes, those quantitative results were attributable to the influence of contextualizing, visualizing, and collaborating geometry concepts with their peers and teacher during benchmark lessons and developing and sharing artifacts for each of the cognitive style group.

Orientador: Evely Burochovitch / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T05:17:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rios_ElisReginadaCosta_D.pdf: 1203451 bytes, checksum: 6c8039c193bbc7f30da709f41c8c30be (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: Nos últimos anos, pesquisadores e educadores têm se dedicado a investigar qual a forma mais eficiente e adequada de se ensinar estratégias de aprendizagem aos alunos. Programas de intervenção voltados para o ensino de estratégias de aprendizagem ajudam a promover o aumento da capacidade do aluno de auto-regular a própria aprendizagem. Investigações nesta área no Brasil são escassas. A presente investigação, de natureza exploratória e quase experimental, teve como objetivos verificar se crianças submetidas a uma intervenção em estratégias de produção de textos utilizaram estratégias de aprendizagem mais eficientes para escrever narrativas, bem como se houve melhora na qualidade dos textos caracterizada por um aumento dos elementos básicos, uma maior articulação de idéias, aumento na quantidade de linhas escritas e diminuição dos erros ortográficos. Outro propósito deste estudo foi avaliar possíveis modificações nas orientações motivacionais e na auto-eficácia relacionadas à produção textual. A amostra total foi constituída por 35 participantes da 6ª série de uma escola pública da cidade de Catalão, Goiás, dos quais 18 pertenciam ao grupo experimental e 17 ao grupo controle, compreendendo uma faixa etária de 11 a 16 anos, provenientes de camadas sociais desfavorecidas. No pré e pós-teste foram aplicados os seguintes instrumentos: produção de um texto narrativo, uma questão aberta sobre o valor da escrita e do uso de estratégias de produção de textos, escala de estratégias de aprendizagem, escala de orientações motivacionais e de auto-eficácia para produção de textos. A intervenção em estratégias de aprendizagem na produção de textos foi planejada de acordo com o modelo de auto-regulação na escrita, para o gênero narrativo, proposto por Graham, Harris e MacArthur (1993, 1995), adaptado para o presente estudo por Costa e Boruchovitch (2002). Foram realizadas sete sessões, com duração de 50 minutos cada uma. Em todos os encontros, além de se ensinar as estratégias de produção de textos, aspectos motivacionais e afetivos também foram trabalhados. Os resultados da presente pesquisa demonstraram que os alunos que participaram do programa de intervenção ampliaram significativamente o repertório de estratégias de aprendizagem específicas para produção de textos, bem como escreveram narrativas de melhor qualidade. É Importante enfatizar que os participantes apresentaram escores altos nas escalas de motivação intrínseca, extrínseca e, auto-eficácia para produção de textos, no pré-teste, no sentido de uma supervalorização de sua própria capacidade. A importância da escrita foi atribuída ao exercício de funções extra escolares, como arranjar um emprego. Os dados também evidenciaram que não houve generalização no uso de estratégias especificas para outras áreas, por parte dos alunos do grupo experimental. Alguns resultados interessantes também emergiram. Estudantes do sexo feminino diminuíram seus erros ortográficos, alunos de faixa etária avançada foram os mais favorecidos pela intervenção, e estudantes repetentes mostraram uma leve evolução em sua motivação intrínseca. Espera-se que os resultados obtidos possam abrir novas perspectivas de análise do processo de produção de textos, especificamente da narrativa, ampliando a compreensão dos modelos de intervenção na escrita utilizados pelos teóricos cognitivistas que se baseiam na teoria do processamento da informação. Embora a intervenção realizada tenha sido de curta duração, acredita-se que resultados encorajadores, em relação a uso de estratégias de aprendizagem e produção de textos, foram alcançados. Neste sentido, é essencial que os cursos de formação de futuros professores capacitem e propiciem meios para que os educadores saibam como analisar, ensinar e promover o uso de estratégias de aprendizagem adequadas em sala de aula / Abstract: In the last years, researchers and educators have been concentrating efforts to investigate which were the most appropriate and efficient forms of teaching learning strategies to the students. Intervention programs using learning strategies instruction helps to increase students' capacity to self-regulate their own learning. Investigations in this area in Brazil are scarce. The present investigation is an exploratory and quase-experimental in nature and had the objectives of examining whether children submitted to an intervention in text production strategies would use more efficient learning strategies to write narratives, and would improve the quality of the texts produced which would be characterized by the inclusion of more basic elements, by a better coherence of ideas, a greater amount of lines written and by less orthographic mistakes committed. Another purpose of this study was to evaluate possible changes in the motivational orientations and in the sense of self-efficacy of the participants textual production as a function of the intervention. The sample was composed of 35 participants of the 6th grade of a public school in Catalão city, Goiás, of the which 18 belonged to the experimental group and 17 to the control group. Students ranged in age from 11 to 16 years old and were from low socioeconomic background. The following instruments were applied in the pretest and posttest : production of a narrative text, an open question regarding the value of the writing and of the use of strategies of production of texts, a motivational orientation scale, and a self-efficacy for text production scale. The intervention in learning strategies for text production was planned taking into with consideration the self-regulation model for writing narratives proposed by Graham, Harris and MacArthur (1993, 1995), which was adapted for the present study by Costa and Boruchovitch (2002). The intervention consisted of seven sessions of 50 minutes each. In all sessions, in addition to the teaching text production strategies, intervention in motivational and affective aspects was also carried out. The results of this research demonstrated that the students who participated in the intervention program enlarged significantly their repertoire of text production strategies. They also wrote narratives of better quality. The data also evidenced that the intervention in learning strategies did not increase significantly students' beliefs in the importance of the writing, the use of general learning strategies, the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as the self-efficacy for text production in the experimental group. It is important to emphasize that the participants had good scores on both motivational orientation and self-efficacy for text production in the pre-test. Moreover, some interesting results emerged. Female students decreased their orthographic mistakes, older students were more favored by the intervention, and repentant students showed a slight evolution in their intrinsic motivation. It is hoped that the obtained results not only open new perspectives of analysis of the process of narrative text production, but also contribute to enlarge the understanding of the intervention models in writing used by cognitive based information process theorists. Although the intervention has been of short duration, some promising results in relation to the use of learning strategies and text production were reached. In this sense, it is essential that future teachers' formation courses enable them to analyze, to teach and to promote the appropriate use of learning strategies in the regular classrooms / Doutorado / Psicologia, Desenvolvimento Humano e Educação / Doutor em Educação

AIM AND OBJECTIVES The investigation aimed to determine how the learning of the life sciences is facilitated (mediated) in special schools for blind learners and to establish how the lessons learnt from this experience could be implemented to the advantage of blind learners in the Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Band in inclusive Outcomes-based education settings. METHODOLOGY Educators and blind learners were interviewed through the use of the Qualitative Inquiry methodology as well as its techniques and strategies for data gathering. Analysis of the transcripts resulted in the development of themes/codes discussed in the research investigation. RESULTS Educators spent a good amount of time and effort with blind learners in the biology and life sciences classrooms. It appeared as if the pastoral role of the educator predominantly exceeded the teaching of biology and life sciences to these learners. Further, it became evident that the emphasis did not fall strongly enough on the achievement of the outcomes envisaged with the biology curriculum but more on the establishment of a caring and supportive classroom environment. CONCLUSIONS Biology and other life sciences subjects have much potential for the blind learners in South Africa but they are not offered at some of the schools or efficiently mediated due to educators’ reluctance, lack of knowledge and resources. Learning mediation strategies to make biology and life sciences more accessible to blind learners could be explored. / Thesis (PhD (Curriculum and Instructional Design and Development))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

The goal of this research study was to determine whether extensive reading, supported by the instruction and use of appropriate strategies, would a) improve learners' comprehension achievement b) increase academic achievement in English, and c) promote higher achievement in general academic performance. One hundred and twenty-one learners participated in this project. Three groups of learners: extensive readers, less extensive readers and non-extensive readers were identified and studied. The result indicated that extensive reading not only leads to improved achievement in comprehension, but that it also leads to improvement in general academic performance in all subjects across the curriculum; while lack of extensive reading has an adverse effect on both reading comprehension achievement and general academic performance as a whole. / Teacher Education / M.Ed. (Didactics)

The goal of this research study was to determine whether extensive reading, supported by the instruction and use of appropriate strategies, would a) improve learners' comprehension achievement b) increase academic achievement in English, and c) promote higher achievement in general academic performance. One hundred and twenty-one learners participated in this project. Three groups of learners: extensive readers, less extensive readers and non-extensive readers were identified and studied. The result indicated that extensive reading not only leads to improved achievement in comprehension, but that it also leads to improvement in general academic performance in all subjects across the curriculum; while lack of extensive reading has an adverse effect on both reading comprehension achievement and general academic performance as a whole. / Teacher Education / M.Ed. (Didactics)