No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on April 10, 2009) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

A long standing aim of science educators is to help secondary school science students to learn efficiently through various exploratory regimes. A further aim, currently held by several leading science educators, is to promote learning by confronting students with the inconsistencies entailed by their own beliefs. The claim at the heart of the thesis is that well designed computer-based modelling facilities can provide advantages over many approaches exploiting other media and that such facilities can be used to promote the kinds of conflict that are believed to be beneficial. This claim is explored through an analysis of the role of modelling in science, the nature of student's beliefs about physical phenomena that conflict with more established beliefs and of how computer-based modelling environments can promote learning through modelling. This requires consideration of a wide number of issues relating to educational theory and practice, student learning, the design of modelling environments and methodologies and techniques taken from the field of Artificial Intelligence. The methodology adopted required that a number of computer environments be constructed and observations made of their usage by students. The environments are used to focus attention on the various issues. The results contained within this thesis include a short analysis of the educational implications if the use of modelling environments were to be more widely adopted, an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of these systems in terms of how they promote student learning -particularly in relation to the nature of the beliefs that students hold- and design criteria for how future systems might be built.

Thesis (M. S.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr. Alejandro Gallard, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Middle and Secondary Education. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 14, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains v, 95 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 2006. / Title from title page screen, viewed on April 22, 2007. Dissertation Committee: Dent M. Rhodes, William J.F. Hunter (co-chairs), Thomas P. Crumpler. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 251-256) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 59-67).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-67). Also available in print.

The purpose of this study was to explore teacher beliefs and images of students, learning, and teaching. The study was designed to elicit images and beliefs with the use of teachers' symbolic drawing and subsequent interpretation of their drawings. Twelve first grade teachers with teaching experience ranging from 1½ to 25 years, and from a variety of educational settings (i.e., urban, suburban, traditional public schools, non-traditional public or private schools) participated. Data collection utilized two primary methods of qualitative inquiry: teacher created abstract symbolic drawings and interviewing. The combination of symbolic drawings and interviewing provided an effective means for teachers to access, reflect upon, and express their tacit images and beliefs in a cohesive and holistic manner. The twelve teachers in this study appeared on the surface to have similar images of learning and teaching. Teachers talked about learning as a process that involved images of filtering, connecting, becoming stuck, and disconnecting. One major difference emerged that separated teachers into two distinct groups. The majority of teachers, ten out of twelve, viewed learning as a fact-based associative categorization where students either made connections through associations or replaced old information with new information. Only two teachers talked about learning as theory-based, describing learning as making connection through an assimilatory categorization process or making revisions to personal theories. Teachers who viewed learning as fact based also viewed teaching as fact-based. In general, these teachers used discussion, teacher questions, and a large variety of activities to help students collect new facts and make associative connections. Teachers who viewed learning as theory-based used activities, discussion, and teacher questions to promote conversation and thinking. They expected students to use new facts to build and revise theories with the use of logical reasoning.