This study investigates whether male workers at the preschool feel treated differently from their female colleagues. My theoretical perspectives are gender and social constructivist theories are used in this study. When analyzing the results of the interview, variation is used as it highlights the understandings, attitudes and discourse of how people view each other in terms of their gender. During this study, I interviewed six male preschool workers and categorized their response in different themes. I formulated open ended interview questions in order to answer my research questions. The descriptions of the interviewees’ response were analyzed and the findings were written down.   My findings from the interviewees shows that gender perception influence and affect how women and men are treated at the preschool. The results also shows that male workers at the preschool interact differently with children compared with the female ones.

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Meaning-making in today's digital culture, using digital media, raises the need for enhanced critical thinking and analytical skills. To be literate in digital media, one must know how to use digital tools, but one is also required to develop intellectual, social, and cultural competencies to be able to interpret messages in multimodal texts, which include written text, sound, and images. This research explored the experiences of two foreign students in higher education who participated in a six-week online workshop called "improving your digital-media skills." In the online workshop, the students completed a project-based activity in which each week they worked on one step toward finishing their projects. The weekly curriculum aimed to develop particular skill of digital-media literacy to access, analyze, evaluate, and create digital media materials. Throughout this study, the data was gathered and analyzed to answer two general questions: 1) How does a project-based activity of digital media creation and consumption impact students' critical thinking and analytical skills in the digital culture? 2) How does students' awareness of cultural diversity influence the choices they make in digital media production? Seeking answers to these two questions, the study employed qualitative case study methods including participant-observation, field notes, questionnaires, interviews, and digital media products analysis. The analysis revealed that the workshop had a great impact on the students' critical analysis and evaluation skills than on critical thinking skills. There was also a noticeable increase in the students' critical thinking skills when using digital media out of the academic settings. Both participants were affected by their experience of living abroad, and this factor influenced their thinking and teaching methods. Cultural identities appeared in their thinking and choices in some parts of the workshop. This study was an initial inquiry into the importance of acquiring cultural competencies along with critical digital-media literacy in order to accept the diversity in education and appreciate our differences.

In order to understand parents' child care decision making for young children (under 6), this interpretive research interviewed 24 parents and 7 child care professionals from a mid-sized region in Virginia. Using a constructivist research design, the research question explored how parents make child care decisions. Working hypotheses focused the data collection on the role of experience in shaping parents' preferences, the relationship between family needs and child care decisions, and the interactions with family and child care services. The research product is a narrative case study. Child care decision making is conceptualized as an ongoing process bounded by the family context and the child care resources of the community. The four major conceptual categories describing the decision making process are: Multiple Pathways to Child Care Decisions, Selecting Child Care, Child Care Experiences, and Positions Regarding Changes in Child Care.Lessons learned were that families came to any child care decision with different circumstances, resources and preferences. Families' options appeared related to the resources they had: financial, support from others, and supportive workplaces. When selecting child care families experienced both external and internal challenges; accessing information was a common challenge. Another challenge to child care decision making voiced by parents were the trade-offs they felt compelled to make given the mismatches between their preferences and the child care resource context. Limitations to existing child care information, referral and assistance programs were noted and viewed as related to state policy limitations. Parents emphasized the importance of relationships with providers in selecting care and in maintaining quality child care. Parents were able to articulate what worked and didn't work with their child care choices: provider/child and provider/parent compatibility, connection to other families/children in care, work demands, transitions to child care, and a family's resources.Implications for policy and practice include increasing child care services, supporting caring partnerships among families and child care providers, enacting policies that support increasing options for families, and involving the business sector in creating child care resources that better correspond to families' needs. Further research into developing relational models of child care decision making, the role of values, the meaning of trade-offs, and the intersection of time with decision making are suggested.

Faith-based initiatives have the potential to alter church-state relationships as they remove barriers to the public funding of human services in organizations that promote the role of values, beliefs, and other characteristics of faith. In seeking to "level the playing field" for these faith-based organizations, faith-based initiatives suggest moving away from past practices, where "religious" organizations utilized public funding for the delivery of "secular" human services, and toward the public funding support of organizations whose human service activities are based on faith in a more thoroughgoing manner.This research inquires into meanings assigned to opportunities and risks related to the public funding of faith-based organizations, as articulated by a variety of stakeholders, from government officials to the leaders of faith-based organizations. The guiding research question, What are the meanings of church-state relationships for faith-based organizations?, asks the leaders of faith-based organizations in one Virginia locality, as well as other local, state, and national stakeholders, about their understandings of various aspects of the church-state relationships that develop when faith-based organizations utilize public funds for the provision of human services.The findings of this inquiry, presented in a narrative case study report, and the implications of this case study provide a richer understanding of the multiple meanings that faith-based organizations assign to relationships with government programs, government agencies, and the use of public funds. The multiple meanings of church-state relationships that are offered by diverse research participants provide valuable insights into the complex phenomenon of faith-basis organizations providing human services with government monies. The interpretations offered in this dissertation provide greater knowledge of the role of faith as a basis for publicly funded human services, and furthermore, this knowledge may find value in its recognition of the implications of faith-based, publicly funded human services.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of block scheduling and instructional strategies on student achievement in Algebra I. The study was conducted during the 1997-98 school year. This study was comprised of two components, a quantitative study and a qualitative study. The quantitative study focused on block and traditional scheduling and the influence identified through scores on the Texas End-of-Course exam for Algebra I. The sample for this study consisted of 59 school districts from five counties in the north Texas area. The qualitative portion of this study focused on 10 classrooms, 5 block and 5 traditional, taken from the sample of 59 districts. Data for the qualitative study included questionnaires, interviews, and observations. The End-of-Course scores were analyzed using an ANOVA at the .05 level of significance, no significant difference was identified in the achievement levels of the two groups. The qualitative data was organized by categories derived from the NCTM teaching standards. Data from this portion of the study indicated that teachers in both block and traditionally scheduled classes spend their class time in a similar manner, using similar materials, and using more traditional strategies. Additional analyses of data based upon usage of the graphing calculator and manipulatives also resulted in no significant difference. Although all comparisons between block and traditional scheduling and usage or non-usage of technology and/or manipulatives resulted in no significant difference, the block groups and those using technology and/or manipulatives had higher mean scores. This indicates that allowing teachers more time to use alternative instructional strategies would benefit the student, but this will not take place without the teacher receiving training and support.

In recent times, higher educational institutions have faced a challenge from the radical demands of their students. With the spread of students’ use of Web 2.0 applications, educational institutions also need to move with this trend and adopt Web 2.0 applications in education. As a contribution to the field of innovation in higher education, this study explores the pedagogical affordances of a social networking site (SNS) in higher education in Saudi Arabia. A case study methodology informed by Design-Based Research DBR approach was used. This approach was characterized by iterations of design and evaluation. The study was applied in two phases: Phase One was applied in the University of Exeter to evaluate a previously designed course, “The ICT Future”, with the innovation of a social networking site. The result of this phase was a framework which was applied in Phase Two, in King Saud University, which contributed to the design of an innovative course using social networking site, on "Web design". The data were collected by mixed methods: using stimulated recall interviews, reflexive report, and observation of the interaction on the social networking site. The findings of the study were used to help revise the framework for the design of a course which utilised the social networking site. The framework developed in this study was based on the findings of the pedagogical affordances of the SNS. The study concludes that the pedagogical affordances of the social networking sites are: reflection, stimulation, content-creation, collaboration, and online discussion. These affordances support students in higher education. Some important challenges in implementing the social networking site in higher education were highlighted. The study presents the need to change pedagogical practices in universities, and discusses various ways in which these changes could be implemented.

TITLE: Student's understanding of politic concepts on secondary school ABSTRACT: This dissertation is focused on second grade pupils of elementary school how they understand the selected terms of political science. The aim of the dissertation is to diagnose the preconcepts of the pupils from two classes of the elementary schools with different social- economic conditions. The basics and terms of my work are presented in the first part: Constructivism, Preconcept , Pupil's conception of the curriculum. There is also an analysis of the political science curriculum of educational sphere Man and society RVP ZV. In the second part, there is a presentation of personal qualitative research of pupils' preconcepts, which was realised by method of structured dialog. In the conclusion, the results of the research from two different areas of the Czech Republic are being compared. KEYWORDS: constructivism, preconcept, understanding, curriculum, qualitative research

TITLE: The technological support of the Storytelling teaching method AUTHOR: Jan Bouchner DEPARTMENT: Department of information technology and technical education SUPERVISOR: Ing. Bořivoj Brdička, Ph.D. ABSTRACT: The subject of this dissertation is the use of digital technologies to support storytelling in the classroom. This thesis aims to introduce storytelling as an innovative method based on the principles of modern pedagogy, especially social constructivism, and determine the role of this methodology in the current curriculum. Another objective is to provide a comprehensive overview of methods and activities of digital storytelling including the examples of hardware and software instruments. Their value for practical use in digital storytelling was verified. The analysis of scientific literature was used in the theoretical part of this study. The work also includes the description of two cases of implementation and a description of their realization. In the conclusion the recommendations for the use of digital storytelling in practice are formulated. KEYWORDS: storytelling, methodology, constructivism, designing, educational technology

This diploma thesis deals with problems and diagnostics of students understanding of politics in the lessons social sciences. The theoretical part concerns several thematic units such definition of key terms and their relations, the theory of constructivism, the methodology of the pedagogical research or the system of political education at school. The practical part involves the qualitative research of students' understanding in two age categories, using the method of interview. Then, both groups of students were compared. On the basis of retrieved information the confrontation with frequently used coursebooks was created. Key words: Students' understanding, pedagogical constructivism, political education, qualitative research