published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study explored how rule systems evolved in two high school social studies classes. To accomplish this, detailed descriptions and analysis of the practices and processes by which teachers established and maintained rules were conducted in two classrooms over a nine-week observational timeline. In addition, the teachers were interviewed at the beginning, middle, and end of the observation period to gain insight into how they thought about their classes and reacted to the daily experiences they were having in these settings. Findings indicated that the teachers utilized the same enactment practices to uphold their management and rule systems, however, each operationalized these practices in dissimilar ways. This was largely due to the fact that the teachers' goal structures and beliefs about the function of management and classroom rules affected their implementation practices. Both set similar goals for managing the classroom and fostering self-discipline and student responsibility, yet each experienced problems attempting to balance student affordances for responsibility with teacher surveillance and interventions. One system thrived on explicitness and enforcement, while the other was dedicated to helping students develop autonomous morality. In reaction, both teachers had mixed feelings and/or satisfaction regarding the outcomes. This contrast was especially useful in demonstrating the inherent tensions in classroom systems that attempt to orchestrate students' personal responsibility. Such systems depend upon general norms and/or rules to guide student behavior. When students do not accept these norms, a teacher is constrained from imposing explicit rules and consequences because such practices take responsibility away from students and thus undermine the very system the teacher is attempting to implement. Overall, further research on this inherent tension is needed to better understand how teachers can orchestrate student responsibility in schools and classrooms.

A school classroom is a complex, dynamic social system. As the formal and informal norms and rules of classroom behaviour evolve, a stable socio-psychological climate is created. Teachers frequently speak of a classroom's climate, atmosphere, tone or ambience and consider it to be both important in its own right and influential on student learning. Classroom climate is considered a useful criterion variable for evaluating the instructional and learning process. It helps educators to understand the social, emotional and psychological dimensions in classroom life. Over the past two decades, researchers have produced numerous studies attesting to the importance of classroom climate in mediating cognitive and affective outcomes. The three common approaches to studying classroom environment involve systematic observation, case studies and assessing student and teacher perceptions. Perceptual measures were used in this study. Although important educational climate work has been undertaken by researchers interested in a variety of school subject areas, very little research has been done on the classroom climate of physical education classes. The ultimate aim of the study was to derive knowledge of and insight into the classroom climate in physical education classes. To realise this goal the following aims were set for this study: To conceptualise and identify the determinants that decide classroom climate enhancement in general and specifically PE-classes by means of a literature study. To measure the reliability and validity of a suitable instrument to measure the classroom climate in PE-classes. To determine the classroom climate by means of the suitable measuring instrument. To achieve the first aim of the study an empirical literature survey was conducted where classroom climate was conceptualised and specific determinants were identified which could influence classroom climate in general and the classroom climate in PE-classes specifically. To achieve the second aim, a pilot study was conducted to determine the reliability and validity of an adjusted form of the CES (CES-PE) and the ML-LO to be used in PE classes. Reliability and validity of the CES-PE and ML-LO to be used in PE settings, were proved. To achieve the third aim of the study a questionnaire study was conducted on 1178 pupils and 22 teachers in 11 schools of the Northwest and Gauteng provinces. The pupils included in the study ranged from standards 6 to 9. The results of the empirical research were as follows: The classroom climate experienced in PE-classes was regarded as being very positive. The PE teacher perceived the classroom climate in a more positive light than the pupils. There were no major differences between boys and girls of the classroom climate experienced. There were no major differences between the different standards of the classroom climate experienced. Some determinants that could influence classroom climate in PE-classes were measured with the ML-LO. Results thereof were that the pupils regarded the PE-teacher, PE-uniform, the status of PE, the use of PE in the school programme and the availability of PE-apparatus positively. There were some negative aspects, the main one being that there was not sufficient time to undress and dress and for hygiene care after PE-classes. The PE-teachers completed an additional questionnaire (MO-LO) to gather their views on certain aspects in PE classes. Two main findings came to light: firstly that PE-teachers regard themselves as being well equipped to teach PE at school and, secondly, that the main goal of the PE-teacher is to make PE-classes enjoyable and thereby foster a positive attitude towards physical activities and sport in the pupils. The following recommendation resulting from this research was considered to be the most important: There is a vast necessity for further research to be done in the RSA with regard to the creation of a positive classroom climate in secondary schools, especially in light of the new education policies. This aspect can be addressed by including courses in classroom climate at tertiary education centres. / Proefskrif (PhD (Menslike Bewegingskunde))--PU vir CHO, 1995

A school classroom is a complex, dynamic social system. As the formal and informal norms and rules of classroom behaviour evolve, a stable socio-psychological climate is created. Teachers frequently speak of a classroom's climate, atmosphere, tone or ambience and consider it to be both important in its own right and influential on student learning. Classroom climate is considered a useful criterion variable for evaluating the instructional and learning process. It helps educators to understand the social, emotional and psychological dimensions in classroom life. Over the past two decades, researchers have produced numerous studies attesting to the importance of classroom climate in mediating cognitive and affective outcomes. The three common approaches to studying classroom environment involve systematic observation, case studies and assessing student and teacher perceptions. Perceptual measures were used in this study. Although important educational climate work has been undertaken by researchers interested in a variety of school subject areas, very little research has been done on the classroom climate of physical education classes. The ultimate aim of the study was to derive knowledge of and insight into the classroom climate in physical education classes. To realise this goal the following aims were set for this study: To conceptualise and identify the determinants that decide classroom climate enhancement in general and specifically PE-classes by means of a literature study. To measure the reliability and validity of a suitable instrument to measure the classroom climate in PE-classes. To determine the classroom climate by means of the suitable measuring instrument. To achieve the first aim of the study an empirical literature survey was conducted where classroom climate was conceptualised and specific determinants were identified which could influence classroom climate in general and the classroom climate in PE-classes specifically. To achieve the second aim, a pilot study was conducted to determine the reliability and validity of an adjusted form of the CES (CES-PE) and the ML-LO to be used in PE classes. Reliability and validity of the CES-PE and ML-LO to be used in PE settings, were proved. To achieve the third aim of the study a questionnaire study was conducted on 1178 pupils and 22 teachers in 11 schools of the Northwest and Gauteng provinces. The pupils included in the study ranged from standards 6 to 9. The results of the empirical research were as follows: The classroom climate experienced in PE-classes was regarded as being very positive. The PE teacher perceived the classroom climate in a more positive light than the pupils. There were no major differences between boys and girls of the classroom climate experienced. There were no major differences between the different standards of the classroom climate experienced. Some determinants that could influence classroom climate in PE-classes were measured with the ML-LO. Results thereof were that the pupils regarded the PE-teacher, PE-uniform, the status of PE, the use of PE in the school programme and the availability of PE-apparatus positively. There were some negative aspects, the main one being that there was not sufficient time to undress and dress and for hygiene care after PE-classes. The PE-teachers completed an additional questionnaire (MO-LO) to gather their views on certain aspects in PE classes. Two main findings came to light: firstly that PE-teachers regard themselves as being well equipped to teach PE at school and, secondly, that the main goal of the PE-teacher is to make PE-classes enjoyable and thereby foster a positive attitude towards physical activities and sport in the pupils. The following recommendation resulting from this research was considered to be the most important: There is a vast necessity for further research to be done in the RSA with regard to the creation of a positive classroom climate in secondary schools, especially in light of the new education policies. This aspect can be addressed by including courses in classroom climate at tertiary education centres. / Proefskrif (PhD (Menslike Bewegingskunde))--PU vir CHO, 1995

Abstract When traditional lecture methods prove ineffective, some professors turn to alternative teaching styles. In particular, a flipped or inverted classroom, where students watch conceptual videos before coming to class and use class time for application and fine tuning of these concepts has become popular in recent years. However, little consensus exists on the efficacy of these strategies. The purpose of this study is to determine whether a flipped classroom structure implemented in a medical school course successfully improved student performance. To do so, I analyzed exam data from the University of Nebraska Medical Center before and after implementation of the alternate method in a course, and compared to another class taken in the same semester that did not undergo any change in teaching style. In addition, I investigated differences among particular student academic and demographic groups that may benefit from learning in an inverted classroom environment. My findings suggest that the flipped classroom strategy is advantageous to student learning and can significantly increase the performance of particular divisions of students such as those with lower-than-average MCAT scores and students who performed highly in their first year of medical school.

This study is scientifically aimed at the problematic question of the present situation regarding the climate in the Bible Education classroom in secondary schools. A possible cause of the problems experienced with Bible Education and the negative view prevalent with regard to the subject, can be ascribed to the prevailing climate in the Bible Education classroom in the secondary school. An empirical study was conducted by means of a structured questionnaire distributed to the Bible Education teachers and a stratified sample of ten pupils per class at four Afrikaanse secondary schools. The four schools were chosen at random and served as test sample. According to the answers of the respondents, it became clear that the present classroom climate puts a very high premium on rules and control in the classroom. Therefore it would appear as if a lot of work needs to be done concerning the mutual relationship between teacher and pupil for the effective improvement of the climate in the classroom. / Skripsie (MEd (Didaktiese Opvoedkunde))--PU vir CHO, 1995

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent constructivist classroom characteristics existed in ELT Methodology II courses in ELT departments. Secondly, the aim was to explore the extent to which constructivist learning activities and evaluation strategies were perceived to be useful by the students and the instructors. Thirdly, the study also attempted to find out the extent to which the students and the instructors in ELT departments had constructivist conceptions of learning and teaching. Finally, it was aimed to find out whether students&rsquo / perception of constructivist classroom characteristics differed according to certain variables such as university, sex, type of high school the students graduated from, expected average score in the course and perceived competency in English. Subjects of the study involved 410 students taking ELT Methodology II course (&Ouml / zel &Ouml / sretim Y&ouml / ntemleri II) during 2001-2002 academic year in ELT departments of four universities (Middle East Technical University, Gazi University, &Ccedil / ukurova University and Dicle University) and 15 instructors teaching this course at these universities. Data were collected between May &ndash / July 2002 through administration of a questionnaire (Constructivist Classroom Characteristics Questionnaire) to the students, interviews with the students and the instructors and observation of students&rsquo / microteaching practices in ELT Methodology II classes. Data analysis was carried out through both quantitative (frequencies, means, standard deviations, one-way ANOVA) and qualitative analysis techniques. The results of the study indicated that majority of the students and the instructors perceived the classroom characteristics to be constructivist although there were a few differences in their perceptions. Observations of microteaching also showed that classroom characteristics were constructivist with respect to the variety of the learning activities used by the students, feedback procedures in the classroom and negotiation and cooperation among the students. Secondly, both the students and the instructors perceived constructivist learning activities and evaluation strategies to be more useful compared to the traditional ones. Thirdly, majority of the students and the instructors held either cognitivist or constructivist conceptions of learning. On the other hand, the students were behaviorist in their conceptions of teaching while the instructors were constructivist. Finally, the results indicated that perception of constructivist classroom characteristics differed according to universities, expected average score and perceived competency in English whereas it did not differ according to student sex and the type of high schools the students graduated from. The results revealed that the learning activities, evaluation strategies, students&rsquo / learning experiences and instructors&rsquo / roles in the classroom should be reconsidered and improved in order to make ELT Methodology II classes more constructivist in nature.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Mary Kooy.