abstract: The Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI) is a summer research program for undergraduate students, largely from underrepresented minority groups. Founded in 1996, it serves as a 'life-long' mentorship program, providing continuous support for its students and alumni. This study investigates how MTBI supports student development in applied mathematical research. This includes identifying of motivational factors to pursue and develop capacity to complete higher education. The theoretical lens of developmental psychologists Lev Vygotsky (1978, 1987) and Lois Holzman (2010) that sees learning and development as a social process is used. From this view student development in MTBI is attributed to the collaborative and creative way students co-create the process of becoming scientists. This results in building a continuing network of academic and professional relationships among peers and mentors, in which around three quarters of MTBI PhD graduates come from underrepresented groups. The extent to which MTBI creates a Vygotskian learning environment is explored from the perspectives of participants who earned doctoral degrees. Previously hypothesized factors (Castillo-Garsow, Castillo-Chavez and Woodley, 2013) that affect participants’ educational and professional development are expanded on. Factors identified by participants are a passion for the mathematical sciences; desire to grow; enriching collaborative and peer-like interactions; and discovering career options. The self-recognition that they had the ability to be successful, key element of the Vygotskian-Holzman theoretical framework, was a commonly identified theme for their educational development and professional growth. Participants characterize the collaborative and creative aspects of MTBI. They reported that collaborative dynamics with peers were strengthened as they co-created a learning environment that facilitated and accelerated their understanding of the mathematics needed to address their research. The dynamics of collaboration allowed them to complete complex homework assignments, and helped them formulate and complete their projects. Participants identified the creative environments of their research projects as where creativity emerged in the dynamics of the program. These data-driven findings characterize for the first time a summer program in the mathematical sciences as a Vygotskian-Holzman environment, that is, a `place’ where participants are seen as capable applied mathematicians, where the dynamics of collaboration and creativity are fundamental components. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Applied Mathematics for the Life and Social Sciences 2015

Magister Educationis - MEd / South Africa had a change in government and in education after the 1994 elections. A new curriculum was introduced and some of the underlying critical outcomes were to develop the learners to become critical thinkers. The methodology by which to teach these outcomes was not clear. An intervention programme, Philosophy for Children (P4C) is used in some countries across the world to promote thinking. Research across the world has shown that this programme has the ability to enhance the cognitive abilities of learners exposed to it. Stories for Thinking (SFT) is an intervention programme based on the principles of Philosophy for Children and was introduced in some schools in an Education District of the Western Cape. This study investigates the perceptions of Intermediate Phase educators about the implementation of Stories for Thinking in this Education District. Educators were asked their strengths and challenges of the approach, their way of using it and the support they received. A qualitative research method was used and data were gathered to answer the research questions by means of questionnaires and interviews. Research findings indicate that educators perceived that Stories for Thinking was able to enhance the reading ability of the learners, it showed a significant improvement in their confidence levels, and a positive change in their general behaviour. Language was seen as a barrier to learning, but the evidence indicates that the community of inquiry can be used as a tool to overcome some of the barriers. It seems as if educators valued the support from the project leaders. It is concluded that this kind of intervention programme is worth introducing as long as all the role-players play their part and the setting is conducive. / South Africa

Studiens syfte var att försöka förstå fenomenet motivation genom att undersöka hur några elever upplever motivation och hur några lärare uppfattar elevers motivation. Eleverna som deltog i studien studerade naturbruksprogrammet på en gymnasieskola i Mellansverige och lärarna som deltog i studien arbetade på samma skola. Studien var en fallstudie och metodiken som användes var Critical Incident Technique (CIT) och insamlingsmetoden gruppintervju. Det insamlade materialet bestod av sju lärares beskrivningar av kritiska händelser och fem elevers beskrivningar av kritiska händelser. Materialet samlades in vid tre tillfällen under hösten 2019. Undersökningen gick ut på att utifrån lärares och elevers beskrivningar av händelser, sortera och kategorisera utsagorna för att kunna urskilja hur motivation och omotivation uppstått i de beskrivna händelserna. Teorierna som används för att sortera och kategorisera det insamlade materialet var Self-Determinant Theory, Zone of Proximal Development och KASAM. Resultatet visade att lärares uppfattning av elevers motivation skiljer sig från elevers upplevda motivation. När lärare uppfattar elevers motivation som inre motivation beskriver elever att det handlar om yttre motivation. Dessutom visar resultatet vikten av att känna meningsfullhet, förståelse och vikten av lärarens stöttning i förhållande till elevers utvecklingsnivå.

Syftet med denna studie är att genom enskilda intervjuer få kunskap om hur tio elever upplever den extra hjälp de får i form av studieverkstadens verksamhet på den skola som de går på. Hur beskriver elever att deras skolsituation påverkats (kunskapsmässigt och socialt) av deltagandet, vilka faktorer påverkar upplevelsen, och hur värderar de studieverkstaden gentemot vistelse i ordinarie klassrum respektive andra specialpedagogiska lösningar för de elever som tidigare haft sådana? Eftersom intervjuerna genomfördes på två olika skolor, en högstadie- och en gymnasieskola, som har olika upplägg på sina studieverkstäder, finns också en jämförande aspekt i arbetet. Eleverna på båda skolorna upplever antalet elever i studieverkstaden som en avgörande faktor för hur bra de kan få hjälp där. På högstadieskolan är antalet ofta lågt, och på den betydligt större gymnasieskolan ofta högt. Den andra faktorn som eleverna uppger påverkar deras möjligheter till lärande är lärarnas ämneskompetens, vilken ibland brister på högstadieskolans studieverkstad. Vikten av att utvärdera placeringarna med täta mellanrum belyses också i studien. Studien visar vidare att de effekter de intervjuade eleverna upplever av att vistas i studieverkstaden främst handlar om ökat lugn och fokus, bättre mående, bättre studieresultat och ökad förståelse av ämnet. Till skillnad från högstadieeleverna nämner gymnasieeleverna också bättre betyg som ett positivt resultat, något de anser gynnar självkänslan. Gymnasieleverna upplever det som en stressfaktor att studieverkstaden förlänger studiedagen. Samtidigt upplevs förbättrade studieresultat reducera stress. Däremot upplever varken gymnasie- eller högstadieeleverna någon större påverkan på trivseln i skolan eller relationen till klasskamraterna.

In an increasingly digitised world, the pedagogy of education is at risk of being dictated by technological advancement. As fragments of teaching practice left over from previous curricula are adapted and amalgamated into new curricula, the educational landscape becomes a sea of learning terminologies used interchangeably. In many cases these terminologies are then disconnected from an underlying understanding of what learning is and how the best possible form and quality of learning can be brought about. Two recent technological advancements in the field of education is Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and the MakerSpace movement. However, these fields need to be engaged with as avenues of investigation in the pursuit of the highest possible learning quality outcome required by a world that is super-complex. Through comprehensive literature research, the researcher first presented an in-depth argument detailing what learning is, what the highest quality of learning is and how this learning quality can be measured. The literature revealed a particular professional practice of “facilitating lifelong authentic learning” of which the sole purpose is achieving exactly that. In this mixed method research project, an attempt was made to re-connect the technological advancement of online learning with the theoretical framework of the learning process as laid down by Vygotsky, particularly through the Zone of Proximal Development. Within the context of a MakerSpace subject, the researcher attempted to determine how the identified practice of facilitating lifelong authentic learning would ensure the increase in the quality of learning in online groups where MakerSpace learners were required to resolve a real-life challenge. An experiment then followed where a professional facilitator of learning was present in the experimental groups, while the control groups attempted to resolve the challenge un-facilitated. A comparison of the analysis of chat transcriptions indicated that on average the quality of learning was higher in facilitated groups. Interview data collected after the experiment shed light on this finding and suggested that the quality of learning in an online group increases when a facilitator of learning increases the level of difficulty of the real-life challenge as perceived by the group’s dominant participant (the person who contributes the most to the group dialogue). This not only indicated the value of Facilitating Learning in an online learning evnvironment, but also highlighted its necessity in terms of improving the quality of the learning. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

The purpose is to contribute knowledge about how preschool teachers reason about the singing lesson in relation to competence and material and its purpose in preschool teaching. The study therefore investigates how preschool teachers present their musical competence, what material is used in the singing lesson and what are the purposes of the singing lesson in preschool?To provide answers to the above questions, semi-structured interviews have been conducted in two preschools with preschool teachers from four different departments. The study is based on a socio-cultural perspective, a perspective where collective learning, the culture you are in, and what tools are available become central. In the process of analyzing and processing the material collected, this perspective has been fundamental.The results show that the singing time is common in preschool education, and the preschool teachers interviewed saw many advantages of singing and music. However, it emerged that there is uncertainty around the subject. The preschool teachers viewed the use of different materials in the singing lesson positively, and an awareness was demonstrated of how different tools can promote children's learning. The three aims that are in connection with the singing time are joy, community, and language development. The conclusion can be drawn that it is important as preschool teachers to reflect on their work, to raise awareness of how together we can strengthen teaching. Singing time has the potential to develop both intra-musical and extra-musical goals. / Syftet med den föreliggande studien är att bidra med kunskap om hur förskollärare resonerar kring sångstunden i förhållande till kompetens och material och dess ändamål i förskolans undervisning.  För att besvara detta syfte har tre frågor ställts: Hur presenterar förskollärare sin musikkompetens, Vilka material används i sångstunden och vilket ändamål har sångstunden i förskolan? För att ge svar på ovanstående frågeställningar har semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts på två olika förskolor med förskollärare från fyra olika avdelningar. Studien utgår från ett sociokulturellt perspektiv, ett perspektiv där det kollektiva lärandet, den kultur man befinner sig i, och vilka redskap som finns att tillgå blir centralt. I arbetet med att analysera och bearbeta det material som samlats in har detta perspektiv varit grundläggande.Resultatet visar att förskollärare känner en osäkerhet runt musikämnet men har samtidigt en medvetenhet om vikten av sångstunden i förskolans utbildning. Förskollärarna ser positivt på användandet av olika material i sångstunden, och en medvetenhet påvisades om hur olika redskap kan främja barns lärande. De tre ändamål som lyfts fram i samband med sångstunden är glädje, gemenskap och språkutveckling. Slutsatsen kan dras att det är viktigt att reflektera över sitt arbete, för att medvetandegöra hur man tillsammans kan stärka undervisningen. Speciellt sångstunden har en potential att utveckla både inommusikaliska och utommusikaliska mål.

This study focused on peer teaching and learning in preschool children's peer collaborative interactions. The research took place in the naturalistic setting of a preschool classroom at the Virginia Tech Child Development Laboratory, which is a university-based preschool in Blacksburg, Virginia. The children were videotaped in their collaborative interactions and the interactions were analyzed for moments of teaching and learning between the children. The study found that children use a variety of verbal and non-verbal teaching strategies when collaborating with each other. Children's learning from the interactions was exhibited through many forms of modeling, reciprocation, and exchange of ideas. / Master of Science

The past decade has seen a significant increase in the emergence of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States. Nationally, a disparity in achievement exists between ELLs and non-ELLs. Relatedly, this problem was evident in a northeastern school district, where ELLs had not made Adequate Yearly Progress 2 years in a row. The purpose of this study was to examine how much time English as Second Language (ESL) teachers spend on a variety of best instructional practices. Constructivism, Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and Tomilinson's differentiated instruction were the frameworks used to guide this research. A within-group design was utilized to identify how much time 25 ESL educators spent on 5 types of instructional practices. The Survey of Instructional Practices for ESL/ELD Teachers for Grades K-12 was used to collect data. A 1-way analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences between the amounts of time ESL teachers spent on the 5 instructional practices. The greatest time was spent on individualized instructional activities and a variety of educational tasks. Less time was spent on small group activities, and the least amount of time was spent on inquiry-based activities and technology activities. Findings supported the creation of a professional development for ESL teachers at the local site focusing on (a) best instructional practices for teaching ESL students, (b) professional learning community network of support, and (c) resources to support educators in their lesson planning of instructional activities. The study findings and culminating project may positively affect social change by improving ESL instruction at the local site and ultimately decreasing the disparity in achievement between ELL and non-ELL students.

The present study examines the relationship between the practices of schooling and classroom teaching and learning on the one hand and learners’ cognitive development and functioning on the other. The study uses innovative system of ideas in developmental and educational psychology, originally formulated by Lev Vygotsky to investigate the interrelations between learning, instruction and development. Carried out in a rapidly changing socio-cultural context of Venda, South Africa, the study examines the realities of schooling practices that exhibit both continuity with the past practices of society and some profound transformations that together lead to a multi-dimensional and a complex picture of cognitive development in learners. By examining the relations between the cultural practices of schooling and its socio-historical context on the one hand, and the consequent psychological process on the other hand, the present study offers an opportunity for exploring processes that may be more opaque in relatively stable socio-cultural contexts of schooling. The observations on the history of schooling in South Africa in general, and in Venda in particular, support the theoretical formulation that particular practices of schooling, themselves originating from and continuing larger social-historical processes, represent contexts in which learning and development take place and are shaped. The empirical investigations revealed that even the socio-cultural contexts of schooling characterized by strong ruptures, such as in South Africa, nonetheless carry on some vestiges of their past practices that affect today’s learning and development of learners. The study concludes, extending the prevailing theoretical formulation, that the social and cultural setting of schooling in Venda is multifaceted; manifesting xvi. instances of indigenous practices, the traditions of past missionary practices, as well as the traditions of the past, apartheid schooling. By taking into account these socio-cultural influences, the study provides crucial insights into the regularities of cognitive and conceptual developmental processes taking place in conditions of rapid social change in the course of the schooling of today’s children in Venda. The study furthers our understanding about the regularities of the socio-cultural and historical processes of schooling in conditions of rapid social change, and concludes by proposing ways of improving contemporary educational practice in South Africa, grounded in sound psychological knowledge and research about school transformation and classroom teaching and learning improvement.

The past decade has seen a significant increase in the emergence of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States. Nationally, a disparity in achievement exists between ELLs and non-ELLs. Relatedly, this problem was evident in a northeastern school district, where ELLs had not made Adequate Yearly Progress 2 years in a row. The purpose of this study was to examine how much time English as Second Language (ESL) teachers spend on a variety of best instructional practices. Constructivism, Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and Tomilinson's differentiated instruction were the frameworks used to guide this research. A within-group design was utilized to identify how much time 25 ESL educators spent on 5 types of instructional practices. The Survey of Instructional Practices for ESL/ELD Teachers for Grades K-12 was used to collect data. A 1-way analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences between the amounts of time ESL teachers spent on the 5 instructional practices. The greatest time was spent on individualized instructional activities and a variety of educational tasks. Less time was spent on small group activities, and the least amount of time was spent on inquiry-based activities and technology activities. Findings supported the creation of a professional development for ESL teachers at the local site focusing on (a) best instructional practices for teaching ESL students, (b) professional learning community network of support, and (c) resources to support educators in their lesson planning of instructional activities. The study findings and culminating project may positively affect social change by improving ESL instruction at the local site and ultimately decreasing the disparity in achievement between ELL and non-ELL students.