Diss. Linköping : Univ., 2003.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MEd education in the faculty of education at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / Teaching methods in the higher education sector has changed over the years from traditional teaching methods (also known as talk and chalk) to that of a more participatory level. The private higher education institution that I selected to do my study at was of the opinion that it is in order to appoint lecturers who have completed a degree and have the necessary industry experience in the field of the programme (course) to be taught at the institution. Very few, if any, lecturers have completed an education qualification such as a post graduate certificate in education or have little or no teaching experience. Moving with the challenges that education sets for educators today, it became clear that the students at this institution were no longer satisfied with the teaching methods that the lecturers used to present their classes. This information was gathered from the quarterly lecturer evaluations that were done at the institution. It is done by means of criteria in the form of a questionnaire to all students. This questionnaire was drawn up by professional educators in management and was piloted and adjustments were made before it was handed to the students. One student asked the question in the additional comment box whether the lecturers at the institution were ready for the first cohort of students who matriculated with the outcomes based education system. This was discussed with the management team of the institution and a decision was made to do a research project on the teaching methods currently used by lecturers at this institution and to underpin the study with the activity theory that originated with Vygotsky. The institution gave me the necessary ethical clearance to do the study in the business faculty. Only the business faculty and not the art, design and information technology faculty was considered when gathering information from the quarterly questionnaires issued to the students. The reason being that the feedback indicated that there were problems regarding teaching methods in only the business faculty and not in the art, design and technology information faculty. The aim and objectives of this study were to determine (1) what teaching methods are currently used by lecturers in the business faculty; (2) what the perception is of the lecturers and students towards teaching methods currently being used in theoretical subjects in the business faculty; and (3) could participatory (active) teaching methods possibly bring about the emancipation of students in the business faculty. The research methodology used to collect this information was of a quantitative and qualitative nature. Section A of the questionnaires to the lecturers and questions in section A for the focus group interviews for the students were used as quantitative data collection. Qualitative data collection was gathered from section B and C in the questionnaires for the lecturers and section B which contained the questions asked to the students in the focus group interviews. To triangulate the data collected from the lecturers (questionnaires) and that of the students (focus group interviews), observation as a qualitative method of data collection was used where at least one lecture of each lecturer who participated in this study was observed. All lecturers in the business faculty were asked to participate in this study. The total number of lecturers who participated in the study was 9 (n=9). The total number of students in the business faculty at the time of the study was 241 of which four students (n=4) from the business management programme, eleven students (n=11) from the secretarial studies programme, eleven (n=11) from the event management programme and five (n=5) from the business marketing programme were selected to form part of the focus group interviews. All questionnaires and observation sheets were piloted before the study took place and the necessary adjustments were made. All lecturers and students were assured of their anonymity and no one’s names will be revealed to the management team of this institution. It was found that some lecturers in fact do use participatory teaching methods and one lecturer in particular made use of a method that could be likened to the flipped classroom concept. However, from the results of the questionnaire it was evident that the teaching methods of two staff members in particular were cause for. There is therefore scope for staff training to improve the teaching methods at this institution to deliver a far better service to its clients: the students, parents and industry. Recommendations for staff development as well as an improved induction programme for the novice students will be given to the management team of the institution.

Magister Educationis - MEd / The general performance of learners in mathematics in most secondary schools in South Africa is not encouraging. Statistics reveal that there is a general poor performance in mathematics and related science subjects especially in those schools located in previously disadvantaged communities. There is just a need for appropriate interventions of the significance of mathematics in present society which is now characterised by high information and technology thrust. The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of the tutorial intervention programme on the performance of a grade eleven mathematics class with a view to improving the mathematics performance of these grade 11 learners. The selection of the action research based method was premised on the idea that it would help the researcher to improve his tutoring practice as well as contributing to better learner performance. Data was collected through the use of qualitative research methods. These involved observation, the utilisation of focus group discussions of learners, and in-depth interviews with randomly selected learners and other mathematics colleagues. A careful mix of learners of different learning abilities was made so that high performers would assist those whose performance was lower. In each group of five at least two high performers were included. Findings of the study point to the effectiveness of the tutorial process, justifying its adoption on a long term basis. In general, it can be concluded that the tutoring strategies used by the researcher had a positive effect on the knowledge retention of the learners. This conclusion was arrived at from an observation of improved test results over time, the learners‟ views in the questionnaires as well as those of peer observers.

This study is based on a survey answered by 124 pupils in grade 3. By analyzing the pupils’experiences and opinions, about the teaching methods used in Social studies, the goal was tomake their views of the methods visible. The pupils answered questions about their entire timethey have spent in Swedish primary school. Our conclusion was that the pupils have differentopinions about what methods they use and what methods they wanted to use. The pupils hadsome frequently used teaching methods in common, for example listening to the teacher,movies, reading etc. But it turned out that the pupils from the different schools had differentopinions about what teaching methods they wanted to use more frequently. Some otherconclusions that have emerged are influenced by pupils’ interest for the subject andsociocultural context. Overall, pupils who participated in this study wanted a variety of teachingmethods. Our study did show that the pupils, surprisingly, didn’t necessarily wanted more of orthought they learnt more of the methods they thought was fun. They wanted to use methodsthey consider fun but they also wanted to use other methods, like listening to the teacher.

Given Virginia's Standards of Learning (SOL)(1995) mandates, Virginia's Algebra I teachers and school leaders should utilize research for teaching methods; further, the relationship between teaching methods and student achievement on Virginia's End of Course SOL Test for Algebra I deserves investigation, since Virginia's students must pass this test to earn verified credit toward high school graduation. Replicating Marcucci's (1980) methodology for meta-analysis, the present study focuses on research with methods for teaching secondary level algebra from 1980 to 2001. From a sample of 34 studies with 62 effect sizes, six categories for teaching methods and corresponding effect sizes were derived for "good" studies: direct instruction (.67), problem-based learning (.44), technology aided instruction (.41), cooperative learning (.26), manipulatives, models, and multiple representations (.23), and communication and study skills (.16). Using results from the meta-analysis and review of literature and extensive content validation, a 51-item questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of .89 was developed. The questionnaire was posted as a web-site to survey selected Algebra I teachers in Region VII to ascertain how frequently they use research-based teaching methods and to determine the influence of teaching methods on their students' achievement on the spring, 2002, Algebra I SOL Test. Ninety-eight percent of teachers surveyed responded. The 53 participating Algebra I teachers, representing 1,538 students, produced a passing mean scale score of 438.01 (SD = 32.67). Teachers indicated they used all teaching method categories more than half the time with mean usage frequencies ranging from 2.56 to 3.75 times out of five class sessions. Teaching method categories were then entered into a blockwise multiple regression analysis, ranked according to the strength of their correlations to teachers' mean scale SOL test scores. Teaching method usage shared 9.7% of variance with participating teachers' scores. Meta- and regression analysis results suggest that Algebra I teachers should emphasize direct instruction, technology aided instruction, and problem-based learning. These three teaching method categories ranked highest in both analyses. The questionnaire developed here could be used with a larger sample for research into the influence of teaching methods on individual reporting categories on the Algebra I SOL test. / Ed. D.

This essay argues that the Harry Potter books can be used to analyse various methods and theories regarding pedagogy since the school setting is a major part of the stories. J.K Rowling’s characterisation of the teachers is the basis for the analysis, which focuses on the teaching methods of the teachers at Hogwarts, but also how the pupils are affected by them from the critical perspective of cultural studies. The essay will investigate how the pupils are affected by the boarding schools, examination process as well as the grading system. Certain Professors at Hogwarts will also be analysed based on their teaching methods and these professors are Lupin, Snape, Umbridge, Dumbledore and Lockhart. Different methods have been discovered to work differently on different pupils, but the same methods have also been shown to work differently depending on how they are implemented. Leadership styles in the classroom appear to have a heavy influence on the pupils’ performance. This thesis argues that through a literary analysis of the Harry Potter books with a focus on the portrayal of the school setting by using cultural studies as well as pedagogical theories will demonstrate the impact of various teaching methods in the EFL-classroom as well as the regular classroom. In the EFL-classroom, knowledge of how certain methods and theories work can be very beneficial. The ability to provide confidence to pupils has been discussed and that is a part of EFL-teaching that is highly relevant, since it can be difficult for some pupils to find the courage in order to learn.

Six home-schooled students and one adult participant each initially practiced to accuracy two decks of five previously unknown multiplication facts. The decks were yoked for practice and reinforcement. Once accurate performance was achieved, overpractice was undertaken using custom computer software that allowed either fast (free-operant) or rate controlled responding. Rate-building practice, to an established fluency performance standard, was used with one deck while practice with the other deck was rate-controlled. The number of times a fact was practiced was the same for both methods. Response rate and accuracy was assessed after training to accuracy, at the end of overpractice and after 4 and 8-weeks of no practice. The assessment at the end of rate-building confirmed that rate building resulted in fast and accurate responding. It also confirmed that, for the rate controlled facts, response rates did not meet the fluency performance standard. However, the 4- and 8-week retention assessments showed no consistent differences in accuracy or response rate between the rate-controlled and rate built decks. After 8 weeks without practice, performance on the rate-built deck was not significantly different to that prior to rate building. These results suggest that practice to fluency does not lead to superior retention when compared to the same amount of rate-controlled practice. The results also indicate that when a skill is practiced to fluency, a period without practice leads to deterioration, to pre-rate-building levels, of accuracy and response rate. This study highlights the need for research examining the role of maintenance in the effectiveness of fluency based learning like Precision Teaching.

The thesis deals with the general educational program, the teaching methods, the group work and an evaluation. It also includes a description of the methodology and survey results of a public inquiry, which aimed to find out how students 6th grade of primary school are seen in the group work. The effort was made to increase the activity of the students to adopt an appropriate leadership lesson and to achieve a better understanding of the curriculum in social studies.

This study investigates how primary school teachers of grades F-3 pupils in a number of sample schools in Sweden use children’s literature and other methods to enhance their teaching of English. The study explores the attitudes of these teachers’ to using English children’s literature as a teaching tool to promote language development in their pupils, focusing on vocabulary. An empirical questionnaire study was carried out including a total of twenty-three respondents from seven schools in a Stockholm suburb. The respondents are all working teachers with experience of teaching English to young learners, particularly in grades F-3. This study contributes with new knowledge about the often-recommended use of children’s literature as a method for teaching English to young learners, connecting international research with empirical data from the Swedish context. While the results suggest that the majority of the respondents are positive to using children’s literature in their teaching and regularly do so, many of them feel that it is somewhat difficult to find relevant materials to plan, implement and evaluate lessons within the allocated time-frame. Based on these results, further research about how to create more effective ways of using children’s literature as a method for English vocabulary teaching in Swedish schools is recommended.