This study investigated the pedagogical content knowledge supposedly held by two FET mathematics teachers from Mpumalanga Province as they taught quadratic functions in grade 11 classes. The criterion for selecting the two teachers was that they had consistently produced good results (overall pass rate of 80% or more) in the grade 12 mathematics examinations of the National Senior Certificate for the past three years or more and thus, they were classed as effective. The two teachers prepared and taught lessons on quadratic functions in grade 11 whilst they were being observed. The study focused on teacher knowledge base as exemplified in the teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Three elements of PCK were investigated; namely; (i) knowledge of the subject matter; (ii) knowledge of teaching strategies and (iii) knowledge of learners’ conceptions. Qualitative research approach using the case study research method was used to collect qualitative data on the pedagogical content knowledge of the two teachers through lesson observations, lesson plan analysis and interviews. Analysis of the results suggests that the two teachers have adequate subject matter knowledge but have limited knowledge on the aspects of teaching strategies and knowledge of learners’ pre-conceptions and misconceptions on the topics of quadratic functions that they taught. The study recommends that teachers be exposed to workshops that deal specifically with the various topic specific teaching strategies and knowledge of learners’ pre-conception and misconceptions on the topic of quadratic functions. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

This South African study investigated a sample of Grade 4 to 7 Natural Sciences teachers’ attitudes towards botany and botany teaching and these teachers’ botany Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). It explored whether a relationship exists between teachers’ attitudes towards botany teaching and their PCK. The study provides an overview of international and South African literature and research on the underrepresentation of botany and the teaching of botany in Natural Sciences classes. Throughout the study insight is provided on the universal problems of plant blindness and negative attitudes towards botany and botany teaching in the Natural Sciences classroom. Data were collected during teachers’ interviews, class observations and analyses of lesson plan documents. The results indicated that most teachers harbour negative attitudes towards botany and botany teaching. There are various reasons for this negativity such as past experiences in botany training, zoochauvinism and plant blindness. The Pedagogical Content Knowledge of teachers in this study was insufficient. It was found that teachers’ attitudes towards botany teaching influence their PCK and teachers’ PCK can, in turn, influence teacher attitudes towards botany, which can affect the teachers’ ways of teaching. This study confirms that problems of plant blindness, zoochauvinism and negativity towards botany and botany teaching that occur elsewhere in the world are also prevalent among South African teachers. This confirmation casts doubts on Natural Sciences teachers’ botany PCK. This study adds to the literature on botany teaching and PCK in the South African context / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted

This study investigated the comparison between captured and revealed Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) about graphs of motion. The aim of the study was to explore PCK when captured in a written format and discussions (captured PCK) and compare it to the PCK that the same teachers revealed in practice (revealed PCK) when teaching the topic. Four Grade 10 Physical sciences teachers were purposively and conveniently selected as participants of the study. Their PCK was captured through Content Representations (CoRes) and interviews. The revealed PCK on the other hand was gathered through lesson observations. The Topic Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) model was used as the framework that guided the analysis of the two manifestations of PCK. The focus was on teachers’ competences in the TSPCK components namely; learners’ prior knowledge including misconceptions, curricular saliency, what is difficult to teach, representations including analogies, and conceptual teaching strategies. The results of this study indicated that teachers’ competences in the TSPCK components varied. This was evident in both the captured and the revealed PCK. Thus it suggested that a teacher’s level of competence in one component is not necessarily an indication of his or her competence in the other components that define PCK, and subsequently in his/her overall captured or revealed PCK. Furthermore, the study suggested that the level of competence in a component in the captured PCK is not necessarily an indication of the level of competence within that component that the teacher would reveal during lesson presentation. The level may be the same, slightly different (higher or lower) or even be drastically different in the lesson than suggested by the captured PCK. A concluding remark was then made that teachers’ captured PCK is not necessarily a true reflection of the PCK they reveal during lesson presentation and that different instruments must be used to reflect on and assess teachers’ PCK in a topic. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted

Orientador: Milton Vieira do Prado Junior / Resumo: Nesse trabalho, discutiremos sobre o processo de ensino e de aprendizagem do Handebol. O objetivo do estudo foi identificar e analisar o entendimento dos alunos sobre a lógica do jogo a partir da implementação de uma estratégia de ensino, minijogos/jogos reduzidos, no processo de ensino e de aprendizagem da modalidade esportiva Handebol. A pesquisa teve caráter qualitativo e foi desenvolvida através da pesquisa-ação. Para o levantamento de dados, foram utilizados diários de aula, autoavaliação, avaliação colaborativa em trios, rodas de conversas durante um bimestre letivo com os alunos do 9.º ano do Ensino Fundamental. Realizamos um pré-teste, pós-teste e reteste a fim de verificar as ações táticas referentes ao ataque e à defesa dos alunos durante a realização do jogo de Handebol. A apresentação e discussão dos resultados foram elaboradas a partir de cinco categorias: 1. Os saberes conceituais e corporais apresentados pelos alunos no início da pesquisa; 2. Reflexões dos estudantes sobre seus processos de aprendizagem do jogo de Handebol; 3. O entendimento dos alunos sobre a dinâmica do jogo – a lógica interna; 4. Os minijogos/jogos reduzidos: uma estratégia de ensino e a participação dos alunos; 5. Os saberes conceituais e corporais manifestados pelos alunos ao final da pesquisa. Foi possível constatar que houve um aumento das ações táticas tanto no ataque quanto na defesa, entre o pré, o pós teste e o reteste, bem como o entendimento do jogo através das descrições obtidas n... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In this work, we will discuss the teaching and learning process of Handball. The objective of the study was to identify and analyze the students' understanding of the logic of the game from the implementation of a teaching strategy, mini-games/reduced games, in the teaching and learning process of the sport Handball. The research was qualitative and was developed through action research. For data collection, class diaries, self-assessment, collaborative assessment in trios, conversation circles were used during a two-month period with students in the 9th grade of elementary school. We performed a pre-test, post-test and retest in order to verify the tactical actions related to the attack and defense of the students during the handball game. The presentation and discussion of the results were elaborated from five categories: 1. The conceptual and corporal knowledge presented by the students at the beginning of the research; 2. Student’s reflections on their handball game learning processes; 3. Student’s understanding of game dynamics - internal logic; 4. Minigames/ reduced games: a methodological strategy and student participation; 5. The conceptual and bodily knowledge manifested by the students at the end of the research. It was possible to verify that there was an increase in tactical actions both in attack and defense, between the pre, the post test and the retest, as well as the understanding of the game through the descriptions obtained in the self-assessment of the subj... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Novice programming students often fail or drop out of beginner’s programming courses. One reason for this are incomplete or incorrect mental models, especially with regards to variable assignment and execution sequence, meaning that students have structural misconceptions of how a computer functions. To help correct such misconceptions, this study develops, tests, and assesses an intervention to correct mental models. The intervention consists of an in-class exercise that revolves around code tracing, which is an activity in which students execute code by hand and keep track of variables and their values by using pen and paper. In order to assess the exercise’s effectiveness, participants completed a baseline test and a follow-up test. The study found that a large proportion of the students held inviable mental models with regards to either variable assignment, execution sequence, or variable scope—or any combination of the three. Post-exercise tests showed a significant improvement across all three of the aforementioned categories of misconceptions, especially with regards to execution sequence. To achieve wide-scale implementation of the proposed intervention, the study identified a number of obstacles and opportunities. In terms of obstacles, the baseline and follow-up tests need further sophistication to increase sensitivity. Relatedly, it is necessary to develop software that generates randomized baseline tests, follow-up tests, and code tracing exercise problems. Key opportunities are the intervention’s low-tech nature, limited time needed for the exercise, as well as effectiveness.

This study investigates the effectiveness of Google Docs (GD) as a tool when students peer-review writing tasks. It also explorers different strategies for the teacher to use to fully utilize GD for peer-reviewing. Therefore, the research will specify in what ways can GD facilitate better student peer review for writing, both individually and collaboratively and what strategies can teachers employ to fully utilize GD for effective and timely student feedback within writing tasks. By collecting secondary empirical studies, we explore and provide an overview of the possible outcomes when using GD as a digital tool for peer-reviewing and the best strategies for teachers to use. Overall, the empirical researchers all agree that using GD improved students' implication through writing when having these peer-reviewing tasks. The researchers also pointed out that if the students are not trained and instructed the students will not develop a deeper understanding of structure and content when revising, which will lead to students not developing their critical thinking and writing ability when peer-reviewing. Therefore, it is vital for our future position as teachers to acknowledge the importance of using the right teacher strategies for the students to develop their knowledge and understanding of peer-reviewing.

Para la formación del traductor profesional es necesario desarrollar distintas competencias, una de las más importantes es la competencia lingüística. Sin embargo, durante los últimos años, el desarrollo de esta competencia se ha visto afectada debido a la creencia generalizada de que los estudiantes de traducción tienen un dominio completo de su segunda lengua. Ligado a la competencia lingüística, se encuentra el desarrollo de las destrezas de comprensión de lectura y expresión escrita, ambas fundamentales para el buen desempeño de los estudiantes en los cursos de traducción. Por ello, la presente investigación se centra en describir las estrategias de enseñanza utilizadas por los docentes de inglés para el desarrollo de la comprensión de lectura y la expresión escrita del programa de traducción e interpretación de la UPC. Para lograr esto, se propone analizar los documentos usados para la enseñanza de los cursos de inglés, observar las clases y realizar entrevistas en los dos últimos niveles de enseñanza de inglés (Inglés TI4 e Inglés TI5) con la finalidad de lograr los objetivos planteados. / In the professional translation training it is necessary to develop different competences, one of the most important is the linguistic competence. However, in recent years, the development of this competence has been affected due to the widespread belief that translation students have a comprehensive knowledge of the second language. Furthermore, the development of reading comprehension and writing skills is closely linked to the linguistic competence, and both are essential for students’ academic performance in translation courses. Therefore, this investigation focuses on describing the teaching strategies applied by English teachers in order to develop reading comprehension and writing skills in the translation and interpreting English program at UPC. To achieve this, we proposed to analyze the documents used for teaching English courses, observe classes, and conduct interviews in the last two levels of English teaching (Ingles TI4 and Ingles TI5). / Trabajo de investigación

Schools of nursing educators are faced with redesigning nursing education to meet the complexity of implementing communication and patient- centered care to improve patient safety. This qualitative case study addressed the problem that teaching communication and patient- centered care were not threaded throughout curriculum, which left many new graduates nurses unprepared. The purpose of this study was to understand classroom experiences of new graduate nurses to meet performance outcomes. The research questions focused on understanding the classroom experiences of new graduates' of a nursing program by assessing the two concepts and how to address preparatory practices. The target populations were new graduates' of nursing programs who had been working in a hospital for less than 1 year and are registered nurses. Emergent themes regarding the new graduates classroom experiences strengths and areas of improvements were extracted from the 10 participants interview questions, and practice experiences from the journal recordings were manually coded, validated , triangulated, and member checked with eight themes that emerged from face-to-face interviews, theoretical frameworks, and the current literature. The researcher determined that the new graduates' nurses were self-motivated to implement communication and patient centered care, however incorporating the two concepts in the class instructions would be a safer preparatory experience. This study may contribute to positive social change through raising awareness regarding the overall standard of nursing education, which may lead to a reevaluation of nursing curricula and teaching strategies so that new graduate nurses may master the complexity of clinical practices resulting in positive performance outcomes

The implementation of collaboration and the use of graphic organizers in the teaching of programming and writing in the elementary grades have proven to be effective instructional strategies. There is evidence that shows the students who are motivated to program and perform well in this content area are not necessarily representative of the students who are motivated to write. Since the organizational skills required in the two content areas are similar, there may be an opportunity to motivate students who engage in computer programming to become more motivated in writing. As a result, the purpose of this study was to investigate the change in the dimensions of motivation which are: challenge, choice, enjoyment, and interest of fifth-grade students to engage in an expository writing activity after being taught to develop computer programs with the same teaching strategies used in the writing activity. The results of this study suggest that the teaching of computer programming was not effective with the intention of motivating the masses of fifth-grade students to write. However, there appears to be supporting evidence that teaching computer programming to fifth-grade students may help some individual students who are not initially motivated to write.

Background: Prelicensure nursing programs prepare generalists with essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes to practice in complex health care environments. Nurse educators determine which teaching strategies will best prepare the nurse generalist. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a teaching plan that combined the strategies of pretest/posttest, classroom activities, and a problem-based learning activity: a clinical immersion experience. The skill of "teach-back" was taught and evaluated. Theoretical framework: Two theories guided the teaching plan for this research. Adult learning theory (Knowles, 1975, 1980, 2012) addressed how and why adults learn, and social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1977, 1986) described teaching strategies that assisted the adult learner to gain knowledge. Methods: A non-experimental design divided consenting participants were into intervention (n = 21) and control groups (n = 11). The Health Literacy Knowledge and Experience Survey (Cormier, 2006) was used to pretest/posttest for attainment of knowledge related to teach-back. The Communication Assessment Tool (Makoul, Krupat, & Chang, 2007) was used by standardized patients to evaluate the participants' ability to perform a teach-back. Results: The results of this study provided evidence that posttest scores improved for both intervention and control groups (n = 32). Twenty-seven participants performed a teach-back with evaluation. The results did not indicate a significant difference between groups in performing the skill of teach-back. Conclusion: There was little difference in posttest scores for groups and participants' ability to perform a teach-back, indicating that both groups gained knowledge and skill from the teaching strategies.