M.Ed. / Democracy is the focal point of this discussion. South Africa is a new democracy and its success depends on the quality of the contribution that her citizens will make. Enthusiasm alone will not work, but if coupled with a knowledge about democratic principles, it can make a difference. This study focuses on participation and co-responsibility as democratic principles. The school is seen as a place where these principles can be taught in a systematic way. The problems which are therefore addressed in this dissertation are, whether children are sufficiently informed about participation and co-responsibility by the time they reach Std. 10 and whether there are any aspects with regard to these principles about which children have almost no knowledge.

The purpose of the current outcome study was to investigate the difference in grade 9 completion rate and student engagement between grade 9 students in the treatment group who received the Student Success Sills (SSS) classroom program (Brigman & Webb, 2010) and grade 9 students in the comparison group who did not receive the SSS classroom program. The sample consisted of grade 9 students enrolled in Intensive Reading classes, a required course for all high school students in the state of Florida who are below reading proficiency. School A served as the treatment group (n=98) and School B served as the comparison group (n=99). Certified school counselors in the treatment group implemented five, 45 minute SSS lessons and three booster lessons after being trained in the manualized use of the program and other related study procedures. A quasi-experimental pretest posttest research design was employed to examine the impact of the SSS classroom program on grade 9 completion rate and student engagement. The unit of analysis was individual grade 9 students. Grade 9 completion rate was measured by academic credits. Student engagement was measured by attendance rate and the Student Engagement in School Success Skills (SESSS) instrument. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This study describes a questionnaire survey of bookmobile staff across the United States via the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS). The survey was conducted to determine if and in what ways do bookmobile librarians and staff perceive bookmobiles as important and relevant to contemporary bookmobile users and how do they perceive the bookmobile’s role in fulfilling patron’s informational, recreational, and educational needs? Their thoughts and opinions help to explain why bookmobiles exist and their role in the modern world.Forty-eight bookmobile staff persons from 22 states responded. From the survey, it is clear that they believe strongly in what they do. 75% expected to continue to increase their services in the next 5 years due to increasing needs of seniors, preschoolers, school children, and communities. A growing need was seen for more bookmobiles, more specialized bookmobiles for specific populations, more technology and more staff to serve more people.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Doctorat en sciences psychologiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Higher education has always occupied an important place in this nation's concerns. This study was undertaken in an attempt to determine how the Founding Fathers, especially the nation's first six presidents, regarded the subject of higher education. The study was limited to these six men because they were charged with inaugurating the new government and because these six men were all participants in the drafting and ratifying of the Constitution. Findings for this study came from the personal and private papers of the first six presidents, government documents, and the press. A comparison of the findings indicates that these men shared many beliefs while disagreeing on some aspects of higher education.

This dissertation adopts a realist meta-perspective on a body of the scholar's own research papers written between 2005 and 2011, all either published or in press and offered for reference in the Appendices. The six papers represent the point of departure for the thesis; they are the phenomenon for further investigation into 'what must be the case' for the research events to have emerged as they did. One aspect of this study, therefore, is an auto ethnographic account of conducting research in the field of Academic Development within varied settings and over a given time frame. But alongside this personal history it narrates cycles in the Academic Development movement in South Africa over 30 years. Margaret Archer's Social Realist principle of analytical dualism (1995) is used to disaggregate the emergent properties within these histories and to enable an analysis of the underlying mechanisms that generated them. It refers to three social domains. Firstly, it describes the material structures - the institutional environments, policies, roles or professional conditions - in which the projects were conceived. Secondly, it identifies the cultural registers that the profession was drawing on - such as theories, beliefs or discourses. Thirdly, it draws attention to the agency of individuals and communities in the field as they independently activated or mediated these various conditioning structures and registers. So the study is a systematic examination of the parts and the people in research stories, of the complex interrelationship of structural and agential elements, and of how together they have generated particular forms of knowing and kinds of knowledge in Academic Development. Drawing from this 'history-within-a-history', the study makes some claims for 'what must be the case' for substantial knowledge to flourish in a newly emergent, hotly contested and relatively unstable field. It argues that Academic Development has few shared epistemological foundations and boundaries, and its roles and functions are shifting and diverse. It describes the tensions in the field between those who have been inclined to understand it as primarily concerned with redress or equity in the postapartheid state, and yet others who have prioritised Academic Development as an efficiency project within higher education. But there is a third discourse emanating from those in the profession who have consistently argued that neither of these approaches can succeed without drawing on stronger theoretical foundations. This study endorses the view that Academic Developers need to identify more coherent ontological and epistemological frames for their research work. This has important implications for building the kind of substantial knowledge base that could be more influential in addressing the troubled terrain of South African higher education. The study refers extensively to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871) and to Mervyn Peake's 1946 illustrations of these children's stories, finding in these texts powerful analogies and metaphors for principles in realist philosophy and theory, and for describing a researcher's journey towards a more assured identity in the curious field of Academic Development.

The purpose of this study is to develop a set of behavioral objectives for the Second Year Chemistry Course in Kuwait Secondary Schools. This set of behavioral objectives will help school teachers to choose their activities, teaching methods, questions, and evaluation procedures; it will be useful in the preparation and use of behavioral objectives in their other courses. As a conclusion, the Chemical Education Material Study (CHEMS) appears more beneficial than the traditional chemistry course by its effect on student achievement and the stimulation of the cognitive abilities such as application and analysis processes. The present Kuwaiti chemistry course appears more organized than previous courses and the movement is toward the modern approach. Use of behavioral objectives appears more effective than the use of general objectives (or no objectives) in the area of students' achievements and attitudes, in the area of course content, and organization of complex cognitive processes. Recommendations for improvement of the Kuwaiti chemistry course and for further studies on behavioral objectives are listed.

D.Ed. (Didactics) / South Africa is presently experiencing a transitional phase where change is the order of the day. Providing education cannot be ruled out. As education plays a universal role in preparing the child for life the general demand for relevance in school education as well as instruction in both the Science and Biology curriculums are investigated in this research projegt. The present provision of education in our schools does not meet the demands of a changing and developing society. High unemployment figures can be attributed to, inter alia, the inability of the education system to provide a well-trained work-force. Education in the senior secondary phase should therefore cater for a curriculum which is more vocationally-oriented and which prepares the pupil for a profession. Science must simultaneously be targeted on the training of scientists as well as non-scientists. A vocationally-oriented content will particularly increase the relevance of the Biology curriculum because the pupil will become aware of the practical (iii) application possibilities of theoretical knowledge in a profession. In addition skills such ee , cognitive (intellectual) skills and psychomotor (practical) skills and techniques will be developed which will not only benefit the pupil who wants to embark a career in biology but will also result in a general science literacy and equip him to handle all community aspects with responsibility and confidence. The empirical investigation of this study centres on determining the relevance of the themes, research skills and laboratory techniques with regard to the present Biology syllabus aimed at both the pupil who desires to pursue an academic course of study and the pupil who wishes to enter a profession in the field of biological science. Therefore lecturers and students at institutions' for tertiary education, as well as employers and employees of professional/vocational institutions were approached in order to determine the relevance of the present Biology syllabus to tertiary studies or to professional life...

M.Ed. (Community Education) / The use of the school to address problems in society is accepted to an increasing extent. In this study it was endeavoured to establish whether the school could successfully be used as a changing agent. Determining factors which could exert an influence on the successful achievement of this objective were examined and a theory was developed for future use. It was established that the school could foster change in society through its educational and schooling functions. It is however also true that these changes are not initiated by the school. The school is in an unique position to accelerate the changes which have already taken place in society through an evolutionary process. The most important factors which can influence the successful use of the school as a changing agent are the following: The attitude of the Governing Authority in respect of the anticipated changes. The form of state and education systems. The availability of qualified teachers with a specific and unique combination of invaluable characteristics. The change orientated curriculum. The absence of any of these factors will delay or even wreck the use of the school as a changing agent. The presence, on the other hand, of the right attitude and form of government with an education system to enhance change will enable dedicated teachers to achieve the desired objective through a curriculum aimed at change. The theory formulated in this study could be used as a guideline in cases where the school could deliberately be used to promote specific changes in society.