A new one-semester tertiary bridging course in chemistry was designed with constructivist concept-learning as a major aim. This aim was monitored by Concept Learning Test Sequences (CLTSs), developed for each of ten fundamental chemical concept-clusters, selected from ten theory-practical work-units of an expressly written book. The concept-clusters were: density, mixture/compound, structure/bonding, base/salt, redox, mole, rate, metal, halogen, hydrocarbon. Each CLTS comprised a pre-instruction item; two-tier multiple-choice item(s); a post-instruction item; each provided data from a class of 21 students of widely different backgrounds. Separate chapters discuss class results and individual results.Concept-learning Improvement Categories that estimated individual improvement in each CLTS were quantified by assigning numerical values. Summation of these numerical values for all ten CLTSs produced individual Concept-learning Improvement Indices (CLIIs). Improvement in concept-learning appears independent of prior academic background. Rankings by CLIIs and by final assessment percentage were strongly correlated. The mean CLII for the class assessed concept-learning improvement (per concept) at Moderate-to-Intermediate.Various probes revealed that factors which influenced learning included: pre-laboratory reports; practical work; learning partnership(s); positive personal qualities; mathematical skills; confidence; visualisation; integration of theoretical and practical studies; bench problem-solving; a relaxed tutorial atmosphere; historical approaches to chemical concepts. Students assessed the course overall as 'good'.

How important is the social experience of learning in the postgraduate classroom? This thesis explores what eight postgraduate students judged to be their ‘best’ classroom experiences within one New Zealand university. The researcher started from the assumption that the students’ ‘best’ classroom experiences would correspond with what the literature characterises as ‘communities of learners’ in which the students felt that their past experiences were valued and personal relationships were respectful and relatively equal. This assumption was, for the most part, accurate. Problematic areas, such as assessment, were also identified. International students’ experiences were a key part of the research. Six of the students were studying in their second language yet that alone was not the main indicator of classroom participation as personality (such as shyness)also affected how students engaged with the course content, the lecturers, and with each other. The case study approach raises possibilities and questions as well as recognising trends that suggest that postgraduate students value interactive learning within meaningful classroom contexts.

The goal in mathematics has shifted towards an emphasis on both procedural knowledge and conceptual understanding. The importance of gaining procedural knowledge and conceptual understanding is aligned with Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000), which encourages fluency, reasoning skills, and ability to justify decisions. Possession of only procedural skills will not prove useful to students in many situations other than on tests (Boaler, 2000). Teachers and researchers can benefit from this study, which examined the effects of representations, constructivist approaches, and engagement on middle school students' algebraic understanding. Data from an algebra pretest and posttest, as well as 16 algebra video lessons from an NSF-IERI funded project, were examined to determine occurrences of indicators of representations, constructivist approaches, and engagement, as well as student understanding. A mixed methods design was utilized by implementing multilevel structural equation modeling and constant comparison within the analysis. Calculation of descriptive statistics and creation of bar graphs provided more detail to add to the findings from the components of the statistical test and qualitative comparison method. The results of the final structural equation model revealed a model that fit the data, with a non-significant model, p > .01. The new collectively named latent factor of constructivist approaches with the six indicators of enactive representations, encouragement of student independent thinking, creation of problem-centered lessons, facilitation of shared meanings, justification of ideas, and receiving feedback from the teacher was shown to be a significant predictor of procedural knowledge (p < .05) and conceptual understanding (p < .10). The indicators of the original latent factor of constructivist approaches were combined with one indicator for representations and two indicators for engagement. Constant comparison revealed similar findings concerning correlations among the indicators, as well as effects on student engagement and understanding. Constructivist approaches were found to have a positive effect on both types of student learning in middle school mathematics.

Mothers play a vital role in providing healthy food choices for their preschool children. This role has become more complex in the present obesity-producing environment that has contributed to the increasing prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in Canada. Childhood overweight and obesity is a significant public health issue in Nova Scotia where the percentage is higher than the national average. The purpose of this study was to generate a theoretical understanding of the process in which 18 mothers living within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality engaged while making food choices for their preschool children. Constructivist grounded theory methodology informed by sensitising constructs from symbolic interaction and the socio-environmental health promotion perspective facilitated a multilevel exploration of the factors that affect mothers’ food choice practices for their preschoolers. Data collection took place over 16 months. Thirty-five interviews were completed. Grounded theory methods were used to analyze the data and a substantive theory of how mothers made food choices for their preschool children was co-constructed with the participants. The substantive theory, Persistent Optimizing, consists of three main integrated conceptual categories. In the first conceptual category, Acknowledging Contextual Constraints, mothers acknowledged various individual, interpersonal, and socio-environmental contextual factors that hindered their ability to make intended, healthier food choices for their children. In the second conceptual category, Stretching Boundaries, mothers developed and enacted moderating strategies to lessen the impact of contextual constraints, thereby increasing the number of food choices available to them. In the third conceptual category, Strategic Positioning, mothers developed and enacted a variety of optimizing strategies to get them closer to making the optimal food choice for their children in a given situation. Mothers in this study struggled continuously with varying degrees of success to provide the foods they believed their children needed. The findings suggest that in practice, policy, research, and education, community health nurses must work independently and collaboratively at all levels of influence to facilitate, mediate, and advocate for social, economic, and physical environments that improve mothers’ ability to make food choices that promote their children’s health and reduce their risk of becoming overweight and obese.

Despite nursing’s espoused professional values of caring and social justice, some patients are stigmatized and receive discriminatory nursing care. There is a gap in existing literature about how nurses deal with the tension they experience when personal and professional values collide. The purpose of this study was to generate a substantive theory of the process that nurses use when faced with values tension in clinical practice and how this affects their behaviour. Using constructivist grounded theory methodology informed by symbolic interactionism and critical social theory, the theory of Juggling a Way of Being was co-constructed with data obtained through interviews with registered nurses (n=8) who provide frontline care in an emergency department in Atlantic Canada. The study’s findings revealed a process fraught with tension as nurse participants assimilated internal and external stressors, adjusted the patient-centered/nurse-centered lens according to their interpretation of the situation, and achieved a point of action or inaction. Implications for nursing practice and administration, education and research are discussed.

How important is the social experience of learning in the postgraduate classroom? This thesis explores what eight postgraduate students judged to be their ‘best’ classroom experiences within one New Zealand university. The researcher started from the assumption that the students’ ‘best’ classroom experiences would correspond with what the literature characterises as ‘communities of learners’ in which the students felt that their past experiences were valued and personal relationships were respectful and relatively equal. This assumption was, for the most part, accurate. Problematic areas, such as assessment, were also identified. International students’ experiences were a key part of the research. Six of the students were studying in their second language yet that alone was not the main indicator of classroom participation as personality (such as shyness)also affected how students engaged with the course content, the lecturers, and with each other. The case study approach raises possibilities and questions as well as recognising trends that suggest that postgraduate students value interactive learning within meaningful classroom contexts.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-05-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:11:33Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 affonso_dm_me_bauru.pdf: 775110 bytes, checksum: 297ca3ba87739159746685cd75760dcf (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar se o uso de um objeto de aprendizagem (OA) poderia auxiliar alunos do Ensino Fundamental a desenvolverem funções cognitivas sobre a digestão. A escolha do sistema digestório como conteúdo para a construção de um OA reside no fato de que é um assunto de sala de aula e que envolve questões sociais e ambientais, além dos próprios conceitos científicos inerentes ao assunto. A teoria sócio-construtivista de Vygotsky orientou essa pesquisa sobre o desenvolvimento dos conceitos científicos das alunas mediado pela interação com o OA digital. Os resultados mostraram que foi percebido a integração dos sistemas digestório, circulatório e respiratório após o trabalho das alunas com o OA. A metodologia utilizada neste trabalho foi qualitativa, sendo os dados colhidos a partir de observações durante e após as aulas ministradas a alunas da 7ª série do Ensino Fundamental de uma escola estadual de Bauru. Diante dos resultados apresentados considera-se que a tecnologia da informação, mais especificamente um OA digital, oferece um potencial a ser explorado para melhoria do ensino e aprendizagem de conceitos científicos. / A contemporary challenge is in front of science education: is it educated students able to realize the relationship between science and technology? This work will show how computer technology can be used as a tool for science teaching. The technology discussed here is a Digital Learning Object about the human digestive system. The students have your own ideas about the digestive system and these ideas are often discussed between teacher and the students. Our finding have suggested that computer technology can create new teaching possibilities. In addition the Learning Object has a significant effect on development scientific concepts.

This intrinsic case study documents a community-based history expedition implemented as a project-based, voluntary, out-of-school history activity. The expedition's development was informed by the National Education Association's concept of the intensive study of history, its structure by the history seminary, and its spirit by Webb's account of seminar as history expedition. Specific study objectives included documentation of the planning, implementation, operation, and outcomes of the expedition, as well as the viability of the history expedition as a vehicle for engaging teenagers in the practice of history. Finally, the study examined whether a history expedition might serve as a curriculum of identity. Constructivist philosophy and situated learning theory grounded the analysis and interpretation of the study. Undertaken in North Central Texas, the study followed the experiences of six teenagers engaged as historians who were given one year to research and write a historical monograph. The monograph concerned the last horse cavalry regiment deployed overseas as a mounted combat unit by the U.S. Army during World War II. The study yielded qualitative data in the form of researcher observations, participant interviews, artifacts of participant writing, and participant speeches. In addition, the study includes evaluations of the historical monograph by subject matter experts. The data indicate that participants and audience describe the history expedition as a highly motivational experience which empowered participants to think critically, write historically, and create an original product valuable to the regiment's veterans, the veterans' families, the State of Texas, and military historians. The study supports the contention of the National Education Association that the intensive study of history can be beneficial both to expedition participants and to their community. The assertion that engaging teenagers as researchers within a discipline serves as a curriculum of identity was supported in the study as well. The study underscored the importance of oral history as a gateway for learning about modern history.

The objective of this study was to describe the experiences of hearing children as they cope with having a sibling with deafness. From a constructivist point of view, this research process is seen as socially constructing a reality or realities, with the researcher included in, rather than outside the borders of his or her own research. Semi-structured and unstructured interviews were conducted with the subjects. These interviews were aimed at obtaining information regarding the subject’s experience of the stressor of having a sibling with deafness. The participants reported limited family interaction. Although most siblings say that they have good relationships with their siblings with deafness, their primary feelings indicate that there are aspects of having a sibling with deafness that can be challenging. The participants described experiencing a variety of feelings which include the following: frustration, loneliness, anger, affection, resentment and pity. The results of this study have shown that the siblings of children with deafness, need more professional support in terms of coping with the disability and its consequences. Siblings need guidance on active coping responses in coping with the stressor of having a sibling with deafness. / Dissertation (Magister Artium (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Psychology / unrestricted

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