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This study's purpose was to investigate the factors related to the use of technology by intermediate elementary public school teachers and determine how significantly these factors correlated with the amount of technology used by teachers. Five variables (teachers' beliefs about behaviorism, teachers' beliefs about behaviorism, teaching practices, teachers' beliefs about the advantages of technology, and teachers' beliefs about the disadvantages of technology) were identified in the literature as influential factors in technology use by teachers. Responses to the survey instrument completed by 219 regular intermediate public school teachers at randomly selected schools in 21 school districts in Florida during the Fall, 2000 were the basis for the data analyses of this study. The research sought to address the problem of the variance in teachers' use of technology. Specifically, "What relationship, if any, existed among the following constructs: (a) educational beliefs, (b) teaching practices, (c) beliefs about technology and, (d) technology use in the classroom?" The findings showed there was a statistically significant weak correlation between teachers' beliefs about constructivism and teaching practices, and a statistically significant moderate correlation between teachers' beliefs about behaviorism and teaching practices. It was also determined that there was a statistically significant moderate correlation between the variables of teaching practice and technology use. A statistically significant positive relationship was also demonstrated between the variables of teachers' beliefs about the advantages of technology and technology use, while a statistically significant negative relationship was demonstrated between teachers' beliefs about the disadvantages of technology and technology use. Using all five predictor variables the results of the regression procedures revealed Multiple R was .558, with an R Square of 0311 indication approximately 31% of the variance in technology use was explained by the five predictor variables. Increases in the R and R Square values were shown to be statistically significant as each new variable was added to the equation. Teaching practice was the independent variable that accounted for the largest portion of the variance in technology use which underscored the importance of specific teaching practices and the differences between these practices in terms of the ease with which technology integration was possible. Although significant relationships were identified, only 31% of the variance in technology use was explained indicating that are other factors that account for the variance in technology. Recommendations for future research included investigation into other factors that influence teachers to use technology including teacher training, teacher background on educational theories, beliefs about how students learn, and how technology supports a standard-based accountability system.

School based administrators must often determine the use of potentially powerful computing resources for the school's instructional program. While site level administrators have allocated many kinds of resources within the schools, the allocation of this new technology has little precedent. A decision guide is proposed to assist site level administrators. This guide explores three major sources of information to assist the site level administrator in making computer-related allocations. First, the context of the school, such as the school profile, and the district plan for instructional use of microcomputers, forms a basis for investigating the allocation of computing resources. Second, because both access to and applications for instructional computing resources are critical issues, the moral dilemma of equity-excellence is examined. Finally, empirical information from the existing literature and from a possible school based research effort are analyzed. A procedure for using this information to make decisions is proposed. By weighing these three sources of information, it is contended that the administrator is better able to allocate potentially powerful computing resources. Woven into the decision guide are specific examples from one administrator's efforts to make decisions about word processing at an intermediate school. The context, equity-excellence issues, and empirical information are examined in this particular site to illustrate one application of the guide and to share findings about word processing as an instructional tool. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this project is to develop a website that helps left handed students, their parents, and teachers to help left-handers, whether they are left-or-right-brain dominant, succeed. This website will be a tool to get to know their children and students better. The project consists of a paper and a website to educate about left-handed people.

The aim of this study was to illustrate the teachers' attitude to using outdoor pedagogy in biology teaching. But also, to investigate whether the content of the teaching materials influenced their choice. It was also to describe the extent to which outdoor pedagogical exercises / experiments were included in various teaching materials in the subject of biology. Data were collected through a quantitative teacher-oriented online survey and through quantitative teaching material analysis. Results showed that teachers vary and combine the different parts of the teaching aids in their teaching and where the main reputation for having to supplement their teaching, with other material, was based on the concept of necessity. Furthermore, the study's teaching material analysis showed that there was a limited outdoor pedagogical content in the teaching materials. In summary, the study showed that participating teachers were positive about applying outdoor pedagogy in their biology teaching. It also showed that there was a great need for supplementary to outdoor pedagogical content in both study materials of the study and that the lack of resources was seen as the main reason why outdoor pedagogy would not be applied to a greater extent. One implication for the activity is to see and use the schoolyard more as a place for learning through outdoor pedagogy in the subject of biology. / Syftet med studien var att belysa lärarnas inställning till att använda utomhuspedagogik i biologiundervisningen. Men också att undersöka om läromedlens innehåll påverkade deras val. Det var också att beskriva i vilken utsträckning utomhuspedagogiska övningar/experiment ingick i olika läromedel i ämnet biologi. Data samlades in genom en kvantitativ lärarinriktad webbenkät och genom kvantitativ läromedelsanalys. Resultat visade att lärare varierar och kombinerar läromedlens olika delar i sin undervisning och där det främsta anseendet till att behöva komplettera sin undervisning, med annat material, grundade sig i begreppet nödvändigt. Vidare visade studiens läromedelsanalys att det fanns ett begränsat utomhuspedagogisktinnehåll i läromedlen. Sammanfattningsvis visade studien att medverkande lärare ställde sig positiva till att tillämpa utomhuspedagogik i sin biologiundervisning. Det visade också att det fanns ett stort kompletteringsbehov till utomhuspedagogiskt innehåll i studiens båda läromedel och att bristen på resurs sågs som den främsta orsaken till att utomhuspedagogik inte skulle tillämpas i högre utsträckning. En implikation för verksamheten är att se och använda skolgården mer som en plats för lärande genom utomhuspedagogik i ämnet biologi.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

<p>We studied the initial process of reading, with a focus on typography, whether it is</p><p>possible to increase childrens lust to read in the age six to seven years old, by</p><p>adjusting the typography and graphic design.</p><p> </p><p>We conduct this study through qualitative and quantitative studies, mainly</p><p>interviews with a main focus on children in this particular age were used. In addition</p><p>to the interviews a questioniare were sent out to a selection of students. The study</p><p>also contained an interview with a pedagogue as well as studies of the current and</p><p>existing textbooks and teaching aids that is used on the school we are looking into.</p><p>During the study we consulted educated pedagogues to get an understanding of the</p><p>children and their learning and to be able to approach them in a suitable way.</p><p>The theories we have been using were mainly from a typographic point of view.</p><p>Other areas we explored were theories about reading processes. This study showed</p><p>that every child needs a method that is suitable for them and that the material</p><p>provided today is typographically inconsistent. The childrens and teachers needs and</p><p>wishes in typography did not correspond with the current teaching aids design.</p><p> </p><p>From this study the followning points were made about how to design a textbook for</p><p>children in the first grade:</p><p>• The typeface should be a sans serif.</p><p>• The point size should be bigger than 12 points.</p><p>• Text should be aligned to the left.</p><p>• Sentences should be short without becoming abstract.</p><p>• To maintain focus on the text the layout should be simple and unbarked.</p><p>• The format should be designed after the pourpose of the publication, for</p><p>example when it is a complement to the textbook, the format should be of such</p><p>character that it is easy for the children to bring home.</p><p>• There should be a typographical consistency through all of the materials</p><p>provided to the children.</p>

It was the purpose of this study to develop a set of criteria derived from curriculum theory to assist in the planning, use and evaluation of educational interactive videodisc. That set of criteria, referred to herein as the EIVD Curricular Base, consists of six sets of guidelines corresponding to Eisner's (1985) curriculum typologies: Development of Cognitive Processes, Curriculum as Technology, Curriculum for Personal Relevance, Curriculum for Social Adaptation, Curriculum for Social Reconstruction, and Academic Rationalism. The set of criteria was developed through the examination of three primary research questions: (1) What ways have those elements Beauchamp (1981) deemed necessary for any curriculum theory (definitions, values, design, engineering, and regeneration) been operationalized in Eisner's six curriculum typologies; (2) To what extent do interactive design characteristics identified by DeBloois (1979) apply to curriculum theory; (3) How can the ability of videodisc to simulate reality be integrated into the set of criteria? Further, the proposed set of criteria was critiqued against sample educational videodiscs to establish its veracity. The results of this study indicate that the Cognitive Processes curricular typology utilizes the potential of educational interactive videodisc to a greater extent than any other curricular typology in the EIVD Curricular Base. Therefore, it is recommended that an in-depth exploration of the Cognitive Process set of criteria be initiated. Ideally, the exploration would result in the research, design, production, use and evaluation of an actual videodisc program. Several, more general, recommendations regarding education's use of videodisc technology and courseware complete this study.

<p>The aim of this study was to investigate the hypothetical view that the use of familiar social institutions in the formulation of mathematical problems by mathematics pre-service teachers will enable them to find solutions to problems by taking meaning, context and realities of a problem into consideration. The approach to investigate this hypothetical view was to describe the mathematical behaviour of pre-service teachers in an application and modelling context. This study, therefore, described the strategies used to arrive at solutions for problems from real life situations that are familiar to the participants.</p>

The purposes of this study are sixfold. They are as follows: 1. To study the various recommended courses of study for automobile mechanics and to ascertain the units of learning that are most commonly taught. 2. To obtain the various instructional aids that are available from the automotive industry to industrial arts teachers for use in teaching automobile mechanics at the secondary school level. 3. To develop suitable criteria for use in evaluating those instructional aids that are available. 4. To evaluate the instructional aids available in order to determine their probable effectiveness and practicability in teaching automobile mechanics. 5. To determine if there are instructional aids that can be developed and used by the instructor that are not available from commercial sources. 6. If there are instructional aids that can be developed but which are not available, one of the purposes of this study is to prepare plans and specifications for the construction of such aids.