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The goal of the study was to investigate the impact of English text difficulty on English learners' math word problem solving. Booklets containing eight word problems and 5 point Likert-type rating scale items were given to 41 students. The students were asked to solve 8 math word problems written in English, and varying in grade level readability (vocabulary and grammatical complexity) as well as in the math operation (e.g., arithmetic, simple algebra). The researcher provided the students with hints as needed to ensure that students found the correct solution. The results showed that both English difficulty and Math level difficulty contributed to the students' poor achievements. Based on the results, some suggestions for improvements to an existing Web based math instructional software aimed at helping ELL students (called Animal Watch) have been made.

The purpose of this study was to examine instructor and student usage of calculators in basic mathematics and prealgebra courses at a community college. Researcher-created surveys were given to 54 instructors and 198 students. The results showed instructors were fairly evenly divided about policies regarding the use of calculators. The major reason for not allowing calculators was that students needed to develop basic skills, and the major reason for allowing calculators was to concentrate on learning concepts. Students used calculators mainly for computation and seldom reported instructors using calculators in class for any other reason. Students were more likely to see calculators as learning tools than were teachers, who saw calculators mainly as computation machines. The results also indicated that instructors were confused about department calculator policies, and students were confused about classroom calculator use policies.

April 28th 2010 the Swedish parliament decided that the combined teacher exam will be divided into four parts. This means that the education for preschool teachers and primary school teachers will have to be separated and future teachers will have to decide before their studies what ages they want to work with. To investigate if this could affect the quality of the choice I have interviewed 5 new teachers from the combined teachers program about what ages they wanted to teach before they began to study and what ages they wanted to teach after completed studies. I did this to see whether the choice was influenced by the educations or not. It turned out that all 5 had an idea of what ages they wanted to teach in before they began the educations and only one of my interviewees changed her mind during the studies. The others felt that their choice was confirmed during the educations. It was mainly during the practical training that they received an idea of what it was like to work as a teacher. Four of them received a positive image of what it was like to work in preschool, while several of them said they got negative experiences from primary school. This could be one of the reasons why four of the five interviewees work in preschool today. The person who changed her mind changed from wanting to work in primary to wanting to work in preschool after the practical training. The interviewees chose the profession that they perceived filled their need of affection, appreciation and acknowledgement. They also thought that the profession they opted out seemed more difficult than the profession they have today. They identified themselves no more or less with any career before they began the studies and feel today that they can only identify with the profession they want, which in all except one case, is the profession they’ve got. The idea of what teachers are like changed during the studies and became more positive and reality based. All interviewees got more knowledge about teachers and their work during the studies and had a better understanding to base their decision on after completed studies.

<p> The training and preparation of prospective teachers includes an important phase where the future teachers begin to make a transition from learner to teacher. During this time, prospective teachers begin to utilize the knowledge they have gained through coursework and life experience to begin teaching students of their own. During this time, assignments and activities that prospective teachers undergo become less about conveying personal knowledge to professors, being learners, and more about being able to effectively convey knowledge to others, being teachers. These initial experiences are valuable in the development of effective teachers. For many future teachers, these initial experiences occur during a phase in the university training called pre-student teaching. Pre-student teaching is a transitional phase between coursework and student teaching. At the school where this study was conducted, pre-student teaching takes place in two differing internship programs. In the more traditional program, pre-student teachers are placed in a K-12 classroom where they mostly observe the classroom teacher, but also participate in some teacher responsibilities, including a few experiences where they teach lessons to students. In the alternative program, pre-student teachers work with a partner pre-student teacher to instruct their own group of 12-year old students during a full-day Saturday extra-curricular program. To better understand the influence of these internship experiences on the prospective teacher's development, pre-student teachers from both programs were studied. The conceptual framework of Engagement, Capacity and Continuity, developed by Campbell, Jolly &amp; Perlman (2004), anchored this study. Interviews, observations, and written artifacts were utilized during this study to illuminate the pre-student teachers' transitional process.</p>

Much educational research has suggested that information and communication technologies (ICTs) promote constructivist classroom. In contrast, most teachers in actual classrooms continue to struggle with the pedagogical and practical challenges in using ICTs to facilitate student knowledge construction and collaboration. This dissertation presents a new approach to overcome problems with ICT integration in K-12 school education. The study examined a Grade 7 teacher’s constructivist instructional practices in a technology-rich mathematics classroom through a lens of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and consisted of two phases: contradiction analysis and on-site intervention. Findings from the contradiction analysis indicated that it was not ICTs per-se that made contradictions in the ICT-supported constructivist activity; rather it was the changed nature of the class activity system due to the introduction of ICTs that called for systemic adjustment of classroom practices as a whole. Based on the identified contradictions, on-site intervention was designed and implemented. It focused on transforming an ill-formed activity system of the current instructional practices of the participant teacher into a well-formed one, where all the interwoven components and mediators, such as rules of interaction, division of labor, and the use of tools, adequately support activities that members carry out. Results indicated that the intervention and the modified unit played a large role in resolving the identified contradictions in the participant teacher’s instructional practices and restructuring his existing pure-discovery mode of instruction into new practices, a guided discovery mode of instruction. The intervened instructional practices helped students establish a more effective division of labor, which led to more successful learning outcomes than those prior to the intervention. A new role of researchers is suggested to lessen a gap between theory and practice / Une grande part de la recherche en éducation semble indiquer que les technologies de la communication et de l’information (TIC) encouragent l’essor de la salle de classe constructiviste. En revanche, la plupart des professeurs sur le terrain font toujours face à des défis pédagogiques et pratiques lorsqu’ils utilisent les TIC pour faciliter la collaboration et la construction du savoir des étudiants. Cette dissertation présente une nouvelle approche visant à surmonter les problèmes d’intégration des TIC dans l’éducation scolaire de la maternelle à la 12ème année. De la perspective de la théorie culturelle-historique de l'activité, cette étude examine les méthodes d’enseignement constructivistes d’un professeur de 7ème année dans une classe de mathématiques riche en technologies. L’étude comporte deux phases : l’analyse des contradictions et l’intervention sur le terrain. Les résultats de l’analyse des contradictions ont indiqué que ce n’était pas les TIC en tant que telles qui généraient des contradictions dans une activité constructiviste soutenu par les TIC. Plutôt, c’est le changement de nature du système d’activité en classe dû à l’introduction des TIC qui exige des changements systémiques dans les pratiques d’enseignement. L’intervention sur le terrain a été conçue et mise en application à partir des contradictions identifiées. Elle visait à transformer un système d’activité mal conçu issu des méthodes d’enseignement habituelles du professeur participant en un système bien conçu, où tous les constituants et les médiateurs entrecroisés, comme les règles d’interaction, la division des tâches et l’utilisation des outils, appuyaient adéquatement les activités des membres. Les résultats ont indiqué que l’intervention et l’unité modifiée ont joué un rôle important dans la résolution des contradictions identifiées dans les méthodes d’enseignement du professe

Teacher-librarians have an important role in education today. That role encompasses a wide spectrum of responsibilities making them an equal and valued partner in the education process. Due to the limited nature of Canadian research into the perceptions of the role of the teacher librarian and School Library Resource Centres, the purpose of this study is to address the changing role through both the literature and models in practice in schools, and discover what change is occurring and will continue to occur, despite economical restraints that limit budgets and cut teacher-librarian positions. The major research questions of this thesis are the following: 1. Do teachers, teacher-librarians and administrators all have the same vision of the role of the teacher-librarian and School Library Resource Centre? 2. Is there a difference in the perception of the role of the teacher librarian in part time schools and full time schools? 3. Is there a difference in the perception of the role of the teacher librarian by teacher-librarians, based on degree of education held? The design of this thesis is survey research. A questionnaire was mailed to all of the elementary schools in one urban school district in British Columbia. In each school the administrator, teacher-librarian, one intermediate teacher and one primary teacher were asked to complete the form. The results, once analyzed, indicate that all of the respondents have a similar vision of the School Library Resource Centre. This vision correlates to that of the Canadian literature reviewed. It was perceived that the primary roles of the teacher-librarian are Instruction, Consultation and Library Management. While there are individual differences between the 4 subject groups based on how important they rate a task, all of the statements are consider a role of the teacher -librarian. Both the education of a teacher-librarian and the amount of time he/she holds in the position do not demonstrate significant differences in their view of the teacher-librarian. In addition, the results of this study also demonstrate some ambiguity between what is perceived as the role of the teacher-librarian by all subject groups and what is happening in elementary schools in reality. This is most evident in the anecdotal comments. While highlighted as a significant change to the School Library Resource Centre program, several teachers comment on the lack of cooperative planning and teaching that actually takes place. A last finding of this study is the importance of technology to School Library Resource Centres, and as a consequence, the importance of the role of the teacher-librarian in consulting with teachers and students to maximize and facilitate the use of that technology. Overwhelmingly, this study demonstrates that teacher-librarians and School Library Resource Centres are both crucial to the education process today. As the understandings of the importance of their role in education continue to increase, so will the support and recognition that are essential to their continued existence in times of restraint.

Frameworks seeking to explain teaching competency and development in higher education indicate that context and personal perspectives, as well as knowledge and action are crucial components in the understanding of how and why faculty teach as they do and how development may be encouraged and may be supported. This study sought to contribute to a deeper understanding of individual instructors' perceptions of context of higher education as it related to their teaching projects. This study investigated the daily pursuits and pre-occupations (teaching goals/projects) of an individual instructor, specifically, the instructional demands, departmental demands, the personal and professional pursuits of knowledge and the pursuits of pedagogical knowledge. More specifically, this study investigated perceived facilitators and barriers to the realization of individual teaching and other work projects. / Nineteen full-time faculty members in the Departments of Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy, Nursing, Social Work, Educational Psychology and Education at a large research and teaching university in Montreal, Quebec participated in this study. The instructors were asked to complete an adapted version of Little's (1983) Personal Project Analysis (P.P.A.) instrument, which is designed to elicit an instructor's current pre-occupations or projects in his or her current context. The instructors were asked to rate these projects (seven teaching projects and seven other work projects) using a Likert scale (0 to 10) on twenty-one empirically supported dimensions. These dimensions included the following: enjoyment, difficulty, control, initiative, stress, time pressure, outcome, self-identity, others' view, value congruency, challenge, commitment, competence, support, self-worth, fun, others' benefit, self-benefit, supportiveness of culture (departmental level), hindrance of culture (departmental level), and overall current satisfaction. Instructors were asked to assess their perceived conflicts between two of their teaching projects and two of their other work projects in addition to completing a demographic questionnaire. / The findings indicate that instructors identified five different types of daily pursuits that formed and defined their teaching context, as they perceived it. These five types of daily pursuits (projects) included: course planning and preparation projects; student investment, support and delegation of tasks to student projects; knowledge building and knowledge sharing projects; committees, faculty support and faculty teaching projects; and finally, teaching strategy projects. The instructors also identified five different types of daily pursuits that formed and defined their other work context. These included: publishing, conference presentation and research projects; grant proposals and funding projects; office organization projects; correspondence, university committees, outside mandates, departmental expectations and management of student and faculty projects; and finally, personal objectives and technical skill building projects. / P.P.A. enabled the researcher to identify on an individual instructor level the instructor's perceived facilitators and barriers to the successful completion of teaching and other work projects. Furthermore, P.P.A. as a faculty development instrument or as an alternative to semi-structured interview methods is supported by the findings.

Non-francophone teachers of French as a second or additional language (FSL) often struggle with overwhelming oral anxiety, consequent low self-confidence, and workplace marginalisation. Core French or Basic French teachers, in particular, and their subjects have been undervalued (Carr, 2007; Lapkin, McFarlane, & Vandergrift, 2006; Richards, 2002). Moreover, recent national FSL research points to challenges in the areas of teacher attrition, lack of methodological and /or linguistic preparation, and lack of professional development opportunities in the FSL context (Karsenti, 2008; Salvatori, 2007). In this dissertation, I present the findings of my qualitative research study, which examined the conditions and experiences of non-francophone FSL teachers in Manitoba. To do so, I looked at the teachers' relationship with French and how French oral competency and oral language communicative confidence are intertwined to foster the teachers' sense of agency. The theoretical orientations underpinning this study draw from socio-constructivism (Bruner, 1985, 1990; Vygotsky, 1978), Feminist Standpoint theory (De Vault, 1999; Lather, 1991), Bakhtinian dialogism (Vitanova, 2005), and Institutional Ethnography (Smith, 1987, 2005). The lens I used to understand and interpret the voices and self-perceptions of the teachers is Process Drama, delivered in the form of professional development workshops. Process Drama (Heathcote, 1991) consists of thematically based improvisations, which are used to explore a topic and, at the same time, to invite self-exploration. It possesses unique characteristics, and has been successfully used in the second and foreign language classroom (Dicks & Le Blanc, 2009; Kao & O'Neill, 1998; Liu, 2002; Marshke, 2005). My particular focus, however, was on the Manitoba FSL teacher as a student, rather than as a teacher of language. Findings from this study indicate reduced oral anxiety as related to French language competency, reduced “performance / Les enseignantes et enseignants non-francophones du français langue seconde et additionnelle (FL2) se trouvent parfois aux prises avec l'anxiété orale, le manque d'estime de soi et la marginalisation au travail. En particulier, les enseignants du Français de base sont souvent sous-valorisés par rapport à la matière enseignée (Richards, 2002 ; Lapkin, McFarlane & Vandergrift, 2006 ; Carr, 2007). Des sondages et des études récentes à l'échelle nationale indiquent des défis dans le domaine de l'attrition professionnelle, du manque de préparation méthodologique et/ou linguistique, et de la pénurie d'occasions de perfectionnement professionnel dans le contexte du FL2 (Salvatori, 2007 ; Karsenti, 2008). Ce mémoire de thèse présente les résultats de mon étude qualitative où j'ai examiné les conditions et les expériences des enseignants non-francophones du FL2 au Manitoba. Je me suis concentrée sur la relation entre l'enseignant et la langue française et comment la compétence orale et la confiance communicative se combinent pour construire l'identité linguistique et l'agentivité du locuteur non-natif. À la base de cette étude, mes orientations théoriques proviennent du socio-constructivisme (Vygotsky, 1978 ; Bruner, 1985, 1990), de la théorie de « Feminist Standpoint » (De Vault, 1999; Lather, 1991), du dialogisme bakhtinien (Vitanova, 2005) et de l'ethnographie institutionnelle (Smith, 1987, 2005). Les voix et les perceptions des enseignants-participants de cette étude sont interprétées sous l'optique du Process Drama. Le Process Drama (Heathcote, 1991) consiste en épisodes thématiques improvisés où les participants explorent un sujet et s'explorent parallèlement. Le Process Drama possède des caractéristiques uniques qui font l'objet de recherche dans des classes de langue seconde et de langue étrangère (Dicks & Le Blanc, 2009 ; Kao & O'Neill, 1998 ; Liu, 2002; Marshke, 2005 ). Mon intérêt, cependant, porte sur l'e

Bullying is a serious issue faced by teachers on a regular basis in schools. Governments are instating antibullying legislations to try to curb bullying in schools. However, teachers may not be equipped to effectively recognize bullying, let alone deal with it successfully. This research examines the legal responsibilities of teachers and what barriers may be present that prevent teachers from meeting their obligations. It also investigates what resources and supports are necessary to ensure teachers are best equipped to successfully deal with bullying in their schools and classrooms. / L'intimidation est un problème grave qui confronte les enseignants régulièrement dans les écoles. Les gouvernements adoptent des législations contre l'intimidation pour tenter de l'endiguer dans les écoles. Toutefois, les enseignants ne sont pas nécessairement équipés pour reconnaître effectivement l'intimidation, et encore moins y faire face avec succès. Cette recherche examine les responsabilités légales des enseignants et quels obstacles peuvent être présents qui empêchent les enseignants de s'acquitter de leurs obligations. Elle enquête également sur les ressources et les soutiens nécessaires pour s'assurer que les enseignants sont les mieux équipés pour traiter avec succès l'intimidation dans les écoles et dans les classes.