<p dir="ltr">The overarching purpose of this three-paper dissertation was to investigate the affordances of technology in educational settings and gain insight into how preservice and inservice teachers integrate technology as they design, develop, implement, and manage learning experiences. To meet this goal, three studies were conducted. In study 1 the purpose was to describe how preservice teachers identify educational problems and suggest solutions in which educational technology can be meaningfully implemented by using a problem-solving lens. Participated in this study 100 preservice teachers enrolled in an introductory educational technology course. Students’ technology integration activity was analyzed for this study. This activity, divided into three parts, required that students (1) shared and reflected on their best academic learning experience, (2) described how they could integrate technology into that learning experience, and (3) revisited their suggestions for technology integration, evaluated their ideas, and suggested revisions. Data were analyzed using an ill-structured problem-solving model synthesized from previous literature: identifying problems, generating solutions, making justifications, and monitoring. Results of this study indicated that preservice teachers had a simplistic understanding of technology integration, likely resulting from underdeveloped problem-solving skills. In study 2 the purpose was to identify the instructional strategies and technology affordances used while integrating technology that facilitated the development of student creativity by completing a systematic literature review about how technology (i.e., social media) is being used by educators to foster creativity. After the process of identification and screening, a total of 27 articles met the inclusion criteria and were selected for further analysis. The results indicated that, in most studies in which the use of technology was associated with promoting student creativity, a student-centered approach was used. Students had autonomy and flexibility to produce content, express their opinions, and share their experiences using social media. Also, participants used social media to create their own products, communicate with others, and collaborate virtually. In the studies, we identified that the social media affordances of ownership, association, and visibility lead to fostering student creativity. In conclusion, social media, when integrated with appropriate instructional strategies, can be successfully used as an educational tool to build an environment that promotes student creativity. In study 3 the purpose was to analyze the forms in which special education teachers design learning experiences that provide an environment for creativity development for students from special education and how their proposed technology integration plays a role in it across different settings (i.e., face-to-face, blended, and online learning). Three practicing teachers enrolled in an online graduate program in special education participated in this study. For the purpose of this study, the primary data source consisted of assignments (i.e., artifacts and reflections) submitted by students to the Technology Integration - Blended and Online Teaching (Ti-BOT) program, a licensure required as part of their Special Education program. Artifacts were analyzed through the lens of the existing literature on learning environments for creativity. Reflections were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach, applying a combination of inductive and deductive coding. The artifacts presented by the participants included elements of a creative environment and technology often facilitated the development of such an environment. However, the participants did not appear to explicitly and intentionally design activities to foster creativity, but to make modifications to learning activities and assessments that reflected the level of individualization and adaptations that are typically expected from special education teachers, described in individualized education plans (IEPs), and guided by Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. With the findings from this three-paper dissertation, the goal is to provide recommendations for how educator preparation programs can improve how they are approaching technology integration, gain deeper understanding of technology integration across diverse contexts and tools, and offer strategies for supporting the deeper consideration of how technologies can be meaningfully used.</p>

Denna studie bygger på kvalitativ forskning och undersöker hur sju lågstadielärare använder sig av extra anpassningar i sin undervisning. Studien har fokuserat på lärarnas beskrivningar och förklaringar för att analysera deras upplevelser om arbetet med extra anpassningar i lågstadiet.Data samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Samtliga intervjuer har genomförts genom Teams. De lärare som har deltagit i studien arbetar i olika kommuner. Det sociokulturella perspektivet och det relationella perspektivet fungerade som huvudsakliga teoretiska ramverk för att analysera hur det inkluderande arbetet kan tas sig i uttryck genom extra anpassningar i lärares organisation av olika lärandesituationer.Resultaten av studien visar att lärarnas medvetenhet kring arbetet med extra anpassningar är avgörande för hur de organiserar och tillgängliggör undervisningen för eleverna. Resultatet visar vidare att lärarna använder sig av extra anpassningar för att skapa möjlighet till en inkluderande undervisning för eleverna.I denna studie ger lärarna temporärt stöd genom extra anpassningar i undervisningen för att hjälpa eleverna att så småningom bli självständiga. Av intervjuerna har det framkommit att lärarna anpassar sin undervisning på olika sätt, exempelvis genom anpassat material utifrån elevers kunskapsnivåer och förutsättningar, anpassning av olika gruppkonstellationer och anpassningar genom olika placeringar i klassrummet för att underlätta lärandet. Samtliga lärare i studien fokuserar på elevens behov när de planerar extra anpassningar i undervisningen. Jag har även kommit fram till att lärarna i studien genom att stärka relationer med sina elever, skapar möjlighet för en inkluderande allsidig verksamhet i skolan. Det har framkommit att lärarna brukar ha dialog om extra anpassningar med sina elever och deras vårdnadshavare. Det har även framkommit att vissa lärare tolkar begreppen ledning och stimulans synonymt med extra anpassningar och anser att skolan genom ledning och stimulans kan tillgodose elevernas olika behov.Resultatet visar slutligen att lärarna använder sig av kollegialt samarbete för att utveckla sitt arbete med extra anpassningar.

Despite widespread recognition by science educators, researchers and K-12 frameworks that scientific inquiry should be an essential part of science education, typical classrooms and assessments still emphasize rote vocabulary, facts, and formulas. One of several reasons for this is that the rigorous assessment of complex inquiry skills is still in its infancy. Though progress has been made, there are still many challenges that hinder inquiry from being assessed in a meaningful, scalable, reliable and timely manner. To address some of these challenges and to realize the possibility of formative assessment of inquiry, we describe a novel approach for evaluating, tracking, and scaffolding inquiry process skills. These skills are demonstrated as students experiment with computer-based simulations. In this work, we focus on two skills related to data collection, designing controlled experiments and testing stated hypotheses. Central to this approach is the use and extension of techniques developed in the Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Educational Data Mining communities to handle the variety of ways in which students can demonstrate skills. To evaluate students' skills, we iteratively developed data-mined models (detectors) that can discern when students test their articulated hypotheses and design controlled experiments. To aggregate and track students' developing latent skill across activities, we use and extend the Bayesian Knowledge-Tracing framework (Corbett & Anderson, 1995). As part of this work, we directly address the scalability and reliability of these models' predictions because we tested how well they predict for student data not used to build them. When doing so, we found that these models demonstrate the potential to scale because they can correctly evaluate and track students' inquiry skills. The ability to evaluate students' inquiry also enables the system to provide automated, individualized feedback to students as they experiment. As part of this work, we also describe an approach to provide such scaffolding to students. We also tested the efficacy of these scaffolds by conducting a study to determine how scaffolding impacts acquisition and transfer of skill across science topics. When doing so, we found that students who received scaffolding versus students who did not were better able to acquire skills in the topic in which they practiced, and also transfer skills to a second topic when was scaffolding removed. Our overall findings suggest that computer-based simulations augmented with real-time feedback can be used to reliably measure the inquiry skills of interest and can help students learn how to demonstrate these skills. As such, our assessment approach and system as a whole shows promise as a way to formatively assess students' inquiry.

Despite widespread recognition by science educators, researchers and K-12 frameworks that scientific inquiry should be an essential part of science education, typical classrooms and assessments still emphasize rote vocabulary, facts, and formulas. One of several reasons for this is that the rigorous assessment of complex inquiry skills is still in its infancy. Though progress has been made, there are still many challenges that hinder inquiry from being assessed in a meaningful, scalable, reliable and timely manner. To address some of these challenges and to realize the possibility of formative assessment of inquiry, we describe a novel approach for evaluating, tracking, and scaffolding inquiry process skills. These skills are demonstrated as students experiment with computer-based simulations. In this work, we focus on two skills related to data collection, designing controlled experiments and testing stated hypotheses. Central to this approach is the use and extension of techniques developed in the Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Educational Data Mining communities to handle the variety of ways in which students can demonstrate skills. To evaluate students' skills, we iteratively developed data-mined models (detectors) that can discern when students test their articulated hypotheses and design controlled experiments. To aggregate and track students' developing latent skill across activities, we use and extend the Bayesian Knowledge-Tracing framework (Corbett & Anderson, 1995). As part of this work, we directly address the scalability and reliability of these models' predictions because we tested how well they predict for student data not used to build them. When doing so, we found that these models demonstrate the potential to scale because they can correctly evaluate and track students' inquiry skills. The ability to evaluate students' inquiry also enables the system to provide automated, individualized feedback to students as they experiment. As part of this work, we also describe an approach to provide such scaffolding to students. We also tested the efficacy of these scaffolds by conducting a study to determine how scaffolding impacts acquisition and transfer of skill across science topics. When doing so, we found that students who received scaffolding versus students who did not were better able to acquire skills in the topic in which they practiced, and also transfer skills to a second topic when was scaffolding removed. Our overall findings suggest that computer-based simulations augmented with real-time feedback can be used to reliably measure the inquiry skills of interest and can help students learn how to demonstrate these skills. As such, our assessment approach and system as a whole shows promise as a way to formatively assess students' inquiry.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / M. Gail Shroyer / This study was designed to examine one component of impact within a High School Professional Development School (PDS) partnership. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceived impact of pre-service teachers on the students they teach and the cooperating teachers who mentor them. More specifically, this study was designed to explore the impact on the learning environment of high school students who were taught by pre-service teachers and the cooperating teachers who mentored them from the perspective of 8 pre-service teachers, 130 high school students, and 8 cooperating teachers. The theoretical framework for this study was based on the concept of an Optimal Learning Environment (National Research Council, 1999). The overarching question for this study was: In what ways do pre-service teachers impact the learning environment of the PDS in which they complete their final clinical experience? Survey and interview data were gathered from participants to explore the perceived impact of the pre-service teachers on the (a) learner centered learning environment, (b) assessment centered learning environment, and (c) knowledge centered learning environment of the high school students and cooperating mentor teachers. The data collected were focused on what the high school students, pre-service teachers and cooperating mentor teachers perceived based on their personal experiences and understanding. The results of this study indicated a perceived positive impact on the learner centered, assessment centered, and knowledge centered learning environments of the high school students and the cooperating mentor teachers from the perspectives of the high school students, pre-service teachers and cooperating mentor teachers. The researcher thus concluded that the pre-service teachers positively impacted the perceived Optimal Learning Environment of the PDS in which they completed their final clinical experience.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Howard D. Hahn / “There is an alarming gap between awareness and action on [environmental issues]” (Sheppard, 2005). Public awareness of how to cope and change with these issues is lacking (Sheppard, 2004; Nicholson-Cole, 2005; Dockerty et al., 2005), but new visualization technologies can begin to bridge the gap through environmental education. Environmental education focuses on the user exploring an environment, environmental issues, problem solving and ways to mitigate these issues. While the younger generations (middle to high school students) are much more aware of current and future environmental issues than older generations, the solutions to these problems may not be so apparent. By combining the need to educate young adults about climate change, regional ecosystem climate mitigation, and ecological management for technologically driven youth, middle and high school students can better understand their environment’s impact on climate-change regulation. Through literature synthesis, documentation of existing visualization exhibits and technologies, and preliminary technology exploration, a production process, criteria, framework, and technology recommendations were established. These components informed the final storyboards, which visually organized a proposal to build a 3D learning environment focused on the Konza Prairie and its ecological management practices.

Clinical learning experiences form an integral part of the student nurse's training, for it is in the clinical setting that students acquire the knowledge, skills and values necessary for professional practice. The purpose of this research was to explore student nurses experiences during clinical practice. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was utilised, employing the phenomenological method. Unstructured interviews were conducted with student nurses in their final year of the four year nursing programme at a nursing college campus in the Limpopo Province. Tesch's method of data analysis was used. The findings indicate that there are aspects which impact negatively on student nurses' clinical learning experiences, such as lack of teaching and learning support, lack of opportunities for learning, poor theory-practice integration, and poor interpersonal relationships between the students, college tutors and ward staff. Recommendations to enhance the clinical learning experiences of student nurses were made. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Over the last 20 years the nursing profession has widely accepted reflective practices and reflective learning as effective measures to help students provide care in a frequently changing context. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the role of nurse educators in the facilitation of reflective learning in students. The objectives were to explore the reflective teaching practices of nurse educators, describe the learning activities that could promote reflective learning in student nurses and to determine whether the learning environment is conducive to promote reflective teaching and learning. A quantitative, explorative, descriptive study was conducted in nursing education institutions in Gauteng. A total of 121 nurse educators completed a structured questionnaire. The findings revealed that, although nurse educators agree with the importance of reflective practices in the teaching and learning environment they do not necessarily place emphasis on developing their own reflective practices. Reflective learning was not identified as a formal learning approach in the programmes the nurse educators facilitated but the educators did attempt to include reflection in the teaching and learning activities planned. Not enough emphasis is placed on the creation of a teaching and learning environment that will enhance reflection in a non-threatening context. The deeper understanding of reflective learning comes with continued personal reflective practices. Nurse educators should be taught how to facilitate reflective learning activities and how to create an environment conducive to reflection. Through reflective teaching practices students could be supported in developing into critical thinkers hence reflective learning should be a formal teaching and learning approach in nursing curricula / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

綜觀歷年來多篇的空間環境與學習之相關研究，可以了解學習會直接與間接的受到外在環境的影響。因此學校建築空間甚至是校園創意設計若規劃完善，不僅是安全、舒適的學習環境，本身更是一套豐富且吸引人的教材，能夠激發幼兒的學習興趣與動力。幼稚園是學前階段的幼兒除了家庭以外接觸時間最長的地方，整體空間與情境的設計，應具活潑生動、自由開放的學習氣氛，這皆有助於幼兒發展想像力與創造力。 本研究目的旨在發現臺灣地區之公立專設幼稚園在校園創意設計上的表現情形，並探討這些公立專設幼稚園在校園創意設計規劃的現況，試擬具體之建議，希望能提供國內幼教經營者及教師在幼稚園校園創意設計與規畫時之參考。 本研究調查對象為臺灣地區14所公立專設幼稚園，訪談對象為該園所的園長及兩位教師，共計12位園長（臺南市三所幼稚園為同一位園長）及28位教師。實地觀察各幼稚園校園創意設計的表現情形，並訪問園長及教師對該園校園創意設計的意見與想法，以對校園創意設計規劃歷程進行了解。在資料分析上，觀察與訪談主要以描述性的方式記錄，校園創意設計的運用情形使用次數分配及皮爾森相關係數進行分析。 本研究結果如下： 一、幼稚園校園創意設計求新、求變原則最容易施作表現最多；求精原則 若妥善保存及維護，則將成為具價值性之教育設施；求進原則融入課 程與教學掌握得當；求絕與求妙原則表現較少，若能掌握要訣，則可 節省經費、增益設施功能。 二、校園創意設計的規劃理念與原則，強調自然豐富的教育環境，依園所 的物理條件進行規劃，重視安全性、教育性、多元性、多用性，並達 到節約資源的效果。 三、校園創意設計在園舍建築等硬體上主要由建築師決定，園長及教師表 達需求、參與討論，園內的校園創意設計主要由園長及教師設計，幼 兒主要參與班級空間及與課程相關的作品上。 四、園長及教師對校園創意設計規劃時的建議，面臨困境轉換正面的想 法，持續的思考與相互觀摩，考量幼兒的發展與需求則相信能造就園 所特有的創意設計特色。 最後依據本研究結果的分析與結論，對於教育當局、幼稚園及後續的研究者提出具體建議以茲參考。 / After making a comprehensive survey of learning environment, we can come to the conclusion that the external environment will influence learning conditions through direct and indirect ways. That is, if it plans well in school environment or school creative design, not only a safe and comfortable learning space it will be, but also a unit of abounding and attractive teaching materials. It can help young children develop their interests and enthusiasm. Kindergarten is, undoubtedly, the place that young children in preschool stage spend almost the most time to stay, if the family part is excluded. Therefore, the atmosphere of overall environment design should be active, colorful and free so that it will be helpful to develop children’s imagination and creativity. The purpose of the research is to probe into the recent situation of school creative design in independent public kindergartens in Taiwan. Ultimately, the researcher provides some suggestions to preschool workers and teachers as reference while they carry school creative design into execution after all. In this study, 12 kindergarten directors (3 kindergartens in Tainan were the same one) and 28 teachers of 14 independent public kindergartens would be interviewed and inquired about the concepts, ideas and feelings about school creative design of their kindergartens, to obtain a complete personal conceptions of school creative design. In data analysis, the data of observation and interview is recorded descriptively mainly. The statistics is gathered by calculating the numbers of how each school matches the principle of school creative design, and Pearson’s correlations coefficient is used as well to analyze the relationship between each principle, the category in campus, and kindergarten background items. The research results are listed as follows: 1. In the application of school creative design in independent public kindergartens, the principle of innovation is much easier to practice, so the statistics results are much higher than others. The principle of variety has better performance by holding the characteristic of adding or transferring the function. If the principle of elegance has a well policies of maintenances to keep and maintain, that will be valuable education facilities. The principle of improvement get well done by space or facilities to enter teaching and course. The principle of excellence and delicacy perform less in this study. After all, if policy makers take notice of the action points above, it will not only save money, but contribute to the function of facilities. 2. The concepts and principles of school creative design is to design the kindergarten in accordance with conditions of geographical and material features, attach importance of safety, education, variety, multi-function, and achieve the effect of resources economizing after all. The ultimate purpose is to provide a natural and abounding education environment. 3. The school buildings of school creative design are decided by the architect for the most part, kindergarten directors and teachers also express their need, and participate in discussion. Inside the kindergarten, learning environment of school creative design is planed mainly by the directors and teachers, while children mainly participate in classroom, hallway of class space, and works related to the courses. 4. That kindergarten directors and teachers’ suggestions for school creative design, communicating with each other while under difficulties, continuous thinking and learning from others. taking account of the development and need of young children is believed to create their features of individual school creative design. After all, according to the analysis and results of the study, some suggestions are offered to educational authorities, kindergartens, directors, teachers, and those who go further studies.

This master thesis concerns progress of junior school pupils in understanding of equations. It describes benchmark problems and mathematical environments in which equations and equation systems occur. Occurrences of such exercises in text books for primary schools are also mapped here. The main part of this thesis is focused on comprehension of pupils' intellectual actions during solving the equations. Thanks to several experiments, it includes description of pupils' solutions of exercises. The result of the phenomenal analysis of pupils' solving processes is an overview of phenomena, which appeared during solving exercises.