Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

M. Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The aim of this study was to determine whether any significant differences exist in the oral language usage of disadvantaged children and that of children from middle to upper socio-economic groups. The study was limited to Afrikaans-speaking children from the junior primary phase. The nature of these differences were also investigated...

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The problem of this research is to determine the similarities and differences related to the psycholinguistic abilities of Anglo-American, Negro, and Latin-American preschool children.

The focus of this thesis is a series of seven papers published in peer-reviewed journals over the last eleven years. The thesis takes the form of a critical appraisal of published work linking the data collected and conclusions drawn under an overarching critical framework: ‘Building relationships for learning: the role of professionals and paraprofessionals in supporting pupils’ learning and social inclusion.’ In this thesis I argue that the development of positive relationships is at the heart of learning, teaching and social inclusion and I identify two strands in my research which have investigated this issue. Strand One consists of three publications which explored the use of Appreciative Inquiry (Cooperrider & Whitney, 1999) to investigate and improve working relationships in the classroom. Doveston 2007- Paper 3, reported on my first classroom based action research project implemented in 2003 which identified key themes which were subsequently developed in research carried out in 2004 reported in Doveston and Keenaghan 2006- Papers 1 and 2: solution rather than problem focused exploration of capacity for change and growth, collaborative consultation, and skill development. Paper 1 applied the principles of Appreciative Inquiry to propose a theoretical framework for exploring and developing working relationships in the classroom whilst Paper 2 discussed the findings and implications from classroom projects that had utilised the approach. In the second strand, four publications investigated the development of professional and paraprofessional roles to support learning and social inclusion using semi-structured interviews and surveys. Traditionally relationships in the classroom were forged between pupil and pupil, or pupil and teacher. The evolution of the paraprofessional roles of Teaching Assistant, Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA), Learning Mentor and the professional role of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo), have positioned the pupil within what can sometimes be a complex web of relationships. The research uncovered a shared commonality of experiences related to the status and recognition, deployment, and preparedness for the role of the SENCo and paraprofessionals explored in Rose and Doveston 2008- Paper 4, Jones, Doveston and Rose 2009- Paper 5, Devecchi et al., 2012- Paper 6, and Brown and Doveston 2014-Paper 7, which affect their ability to support pupils and teachers. The research was located within a qualitative paradigm and three distinct research methodologies are discernible within the seven papers submitted for PhD by published works: Appreciative Inquiry, Narrative Research and Mixed Methods. The principles of Social Constructionism (Gergen, 1973) underpinned the use of Appreciative Inquiry reported in Strand 1 and Narrative Research (Elliott, 2005) in three papers from Strand 2: Rose and Doveston 2008-Paper 4, Jones, Doveston and Rose 2009-Paper 5, and Devecchi et al., 2012- Paper 6. These research methodologies enabled the gathering of rich qualitative data from pupils and the adults who supported them to illuminate and generate new insights into the complex interplay of factors impacting on learning and social inclusion in school and classroom environments. Two further papers (Devecchi et al., 2012-Paper 6 and Brown and Doveston 2014Paper 7) employed a mixed methods approach although Devecchi et al., also employed semi-structured interviews in Phase 2 of the research project. The generation of both qualitative and quantitative data was pertinent in these two studies. Devecchi et al., 2012- Paper 6 was commissioned research and the funding body required quantitative data to help inform their understanding of how HLTAs were currently employed and deployed. Brown and Doveston 2014-Paper 7, used a survey as a starting point for an evaluation of a training programme whose first cohort contained 97 participants. It was the free text responses, however, which proved the most useful in highlighting issues relating to role and status that impacted on the capacity of SENCos and HLTAs to support learning and social inclusion.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

An experimental comparison was made of two treatment conditions: a definition statement and a strategy statement, and a no treatment condition. The effect of these variables on the conceptual skills of economically deprived preschoolers was investigated using six geometric configurations. Twelve preschoolers were selected to participate in the study which was conducted in their Head Start classroom. The study utilized an Adapted Alternating Treatment Design with four experimental phases. Phase I was the no treatment condition, Phases II and III were the experimental conditions, and Phase IV was best treatment only condition. Graphic representations of subject performance data was used to portray intersubject and intrasubject variability.Results indicated that the performance of 10 out of 12 (83%) of the subjects improved with analytic assistance and 8 out of 12 (66%) improved using a strategy statement. A limited number (16%) improved using a definition or after receiving no treatment. The findings also demonstrated that the treatment condition producing the best performance in the presence of the other conditions, continued to produce the best performance in the absence of the other conditions.It was concluded that the use of analytic assistance with strategy statements proved most beneficial with economically deprived children. Additionally, the strategy condition caused increased response latency and reduced off task behavior (i.e. looking around the room or playing with test materials). The few children who performed best during the definition condition or no treatment condition made more errors and objected to using a strategy statement.In sum, this investigation demonstrated that while a small proportion of children responded to other conditions, the majority of the children's performance improved following analytic assistance using strategy statements. More specifically, most of the children performed best with strategy statement assistance; for some, however, such assistance appeared to interfere with the learning task.Perhaps the most important practical implication of the present study was that in teaching concepts, strategies and definitions should not be viewed so much as different types of analytic assistance, but as different amounts of prompting. Thus, teachers should fade from strategy to definition assistance and, finally, to no assistance.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2001. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-117). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p3018385.