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The purpose of this study is to analyze certain recent trends in the teaching of arithmetic, particularly those trends which have dealt with the reconstruction of the curriculum, and to determine to what extent the advocated theories seem to have been put into practice in the elementary school, according to reports in various school magazines and bulletins.

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Thesis (MEd)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Current intervention programmes implemented in most Western Cape schools reflect the use of isolated item-based literacy teaching methods. However, the low literacy levels in the Western Cape primary grades do not indicate successful literacy learning. Therefore, this study seeks to implement alternative approaches to fostering literacy comprehension, such as socio-cognitive processing and constructivist approaches, which are more in line with current research than the traditional items based models of literacy instruction. The alternative, research-based methods were explored through the implementation of an individualized contingent literacy intervention with emergent literacy learners. The intervention took shape as a comparison between low progress learners, who participated in the literacy intervention lessons, and average progress learners, who did not participate in the literacy intervention lessons. The aim was to accelerate the low progress learners’ literacy learning so that they could reach the average-band performance of their classmates after 12 weeks in the intervention. Data were gathered by means of observations of learners and a Grade one teacher, an interview with the teacher and assessment results obtained in a pre-mid-post-test design. In order to triangulate the results of the intervention, both qualitative data and quantitative data were obtained and discussed. Based on qualitative data, the intervention lessons proved to be successful, because observations indicated positive change in the low progress learners’ reading and writing behaviours. Given the small sample size, the overall trend in the quantitative data supported the value of the intervention and indicated a need for extending the research beyond a pilot study. Further research using larger sample sizes is thus recommended. More research is also needed to obtain data on research-based interventions that are flexible enough to meet the diverse needs of learners from different cultural backgrounds. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die meerderheid Wes-Kaapse skole maak gebruik van intervensie programme wat geskoei is op die geïsoleerde item-geletterdheidsmetodes. Die lae geletterdheidsvlakke in die Wes- Kaapse laerskool grade reflekteer egter nie positief op die metode wat tans gebruik word nie. Daarom word hierdie studie onderneem met die oog op alternatiewe benaderings om geletterdheid te bevorder en sodoende verbeterde leesbegrip tot gevolg sal hê. Die benaderings ter sprake is sosio-kognitiewe prossessering en konstruktivistiese benaderings, wat beide meer in gehoor is met huidge navorsing. Deur alternatiwe navorsingsgebaseerde metodes, is ‘n individuele geletterdheid-intervensie program ontwikkel vir ontluikende geletterdheidsleerders. Die intervensie is geïmplementeer en gemeet deur middel van ‘n vergelyking tussen stadig vorderende leerders en gemiddeld vorderende leerders, waarvan laasgenoemde nie in die intervensie lesse deelgeneem het nie. Sodoende kan die impak onafhanklik vergelyk word. Die doel was om die stadig vorderende leerders se geletterdheidsvlak te versnel ten einde dieselfde geletterdheidsvlak van hul gemiddeld vorderende klasmaats binne 12 weke te behaal. Data is ingesamel deur middel van observasies van die leerders en ‘n Graad 1 juffrou, ‘n onderhoud met die juffrou en toetsresultate verkry in ‘n voor-middel-na-toets ontwerp. Om die resultate van die intervensie interpreteerbaar te vergelyk, is beide kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe data ingesamel en bespreek. Uit die kwalitatiewe data blyk dit dat die intervensie lesse suksesvol was aangesien die observasies dui op ‘n positiewe lees en skryf gedragsverandering in die stadig vorderende leerders. Met die klein steekproef van leerders betrokke, was die algemene tendens van die kwantitatiewe data dat die intervensie wel waardevol was, maar dat verdere studies met groter steekproef groepe noodsaaklik is. Verdere navorsing t.o.v. die insameling van data vir navorsingsgebaseerde intervensies is nodig. Hierdie data insameling en evaluasie tegnieke moet die diverse behoeftes van leerders, afkomstig van ‘n verskeidenheid agtergronde, in ag neem en akkomodeer om resultate vergelykbaar te maak.

The purpose of this study was examine the effects of guided recall prompts on the written recalls of community college students. Data were presented relative to the following areas: (1) statistical analysis of frequency of idea units; (2) statistical analysis of frequency as well as proportion of idea units categorized as literal; inferential, text-relevant supplementary, and text-irrelevant supplementary; (3) statistical analysis of frequency as well as proportion of idea supplementary units categorized as relating to character, theme, reader reaction, or none; (4) statistical analysis of holistic scores for quality of recall; (5) statistical analysis of correlation of holistic scores to frequency scores. Descriptive data relative to categorization of supplementary idea units relating to character, theme, reader reaction, or none were also reported. Subjects were students enrolled in developmental reading courses at Pima Community College who demonstrated a reading ability of at least ninth grade level on the Nelson Denny Reading Test. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four recall prompts: (1) guided recall prompt which called attention to character, (2) guided recall prompt which called attention to theme, (3) guided recall prompt which called attention to reader reaction, or (4) free recall prompt. Findings indicated that guided recall prompts had effects on the written recalls and that those effects were specific to the respective prompt. Additionally, the responses of readers provided with the guided recall prompts were qualitatively better than those provided with the free recall prompt. A comparison of the frequency scores to the holistic scores seemed to indicate that the holistic score does reflect some aspects of comprehension--specifically literal and inferential recall; however, data also seemed to indicate that the holistic score measures something beyond those things measured by the frequency data

This study considered spontaneous versus feedback induced changes in probability strategies using grouped trials of two-choice problems. Third and sixth grade Anglo and Apache children were the focus of computer assisted instruction and diagnostics designed to maximize performance and measure understanding of probability concepts. Feedback, using indeterminate problems directed at specific strategies, in combination with a large problem set permitted examination of response latency and hypothesis alternation. Explicit training, in the form of computer based tutorials administered feedback as: (a) correctness and frequency information, (b) mathematical solutions, or (c) in a graphical format, targeted by weaknesses in the prevailing strategy. The tutorials encouraged an optimal proportional strategy and sought to affect the memorial accessibility or availability of information through the vividness of presentation. As the subject's response selection was based on the query to select for the best chance of winning, each bucket of the two-choice bucket problems was coded as containing target or winner (W) balls and distractor or loser (L) balls. Third and sixth grade subjects came to the task with position oriented strategies focusing on the winner or target elements. The strategies' sophistication was related to age with older children displaying less confusion and using proportional reasoning to a greater extent than the third grade children. Following the tutorial, the subjects displayed a marked decrease in winners strategies deferring instead to strategies focusing on both the winners and losers; however, there was a general tendency to return to the simpler strategies over the course of the posttest. These simpler strategies provided the fastest response latencies within this study. Posttest results indicated that both third and sixth grade subjects had made comparable gains in the use of strategies addressing both winners and losers. Based on the results of a long-term written test, sixth grade subjects appeared better able to retain or apply the knowledge that both winners and losers must be considered when addressing the two-choice bucket problems. Yet, for younger children, knowledge of these sophisticated strategies did not necessarily support generalization to other mathematical skills such as fraction understanding.

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