Doctorat en sciences psychologiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The study reported in this thesis investigated Emirati students’ claims related to experiences of cultural bias of the reading component of the IELTS examination through a critical realist lens. Critical realism posits a layered reality which allows for the conceptualization of experiences as emerging from the interplay of events and mechanisms found in two other realms of reality – the actual and the real. Experiences, therefore, have a different ontological status than the events and the causal mechanisms to which they are attributed. Social realism was used to further explore the depth of the realm of the real through Archer’s construct of analytical dualism. This allowed for the placement of generative mechanisms into three domains: structure, culture, and agency. There were two parts to this investigation: a content analysis and a focus group study. The first part of the content analysis consisted of analyzing 60 reading passages from 20 IELTS examinations for a number of cultural categories. These included such things as cultural objects, social roles, idiomatic expressions, traditions and festivals, superstitions and beliefs, and political and historical settings. The second part of the content analysis focused on the question types and syntactical structure of the 5 different IELTS examinations that the focus groups students sat. All three components of the analysis – the cultural content, question types, and syntactical structure – were conducted at the level of the actual. Findings indicated that on average, an IELTS examination contained 14 cultural references of various kinds. Only 4% of all geographical references pertained to the Middle East with the biggest share being western locations. The most common question types were matching questions, fill in the blank questions, and yes/no questions with more than 50% of all questions requiring some form of higher order thinking due to text reinterpretation. The study also found that the question types were not consistently distributed over the examinations with each consisting of a different variety of questions and some even having repetitive question types on one reading examination. The second part of the study was the focus groups. Here, 21 Emirati students sat 5 different IELTS examinations. Upon test completion, these students underwent a semistructured interview to relate their experiences of the test. These experiences, at the level of the empirical, all shared 7 ideas: reading is hard, the questions are too difficult, the passages are too long and difficult, the topics are unfamiliar, the topics are not interesting, the vocabulary is too difficult, and there is not enough time. When the processes of retroduction and abduction were applied to both the content analysis and these common experiences, numerous structures and discourses at the level of the real were identified as having contributed to the emergence of the feeling of bias at the level of the empirical. These structures included such things as the students’ school system (eg. curriculum, assessment, instructors etc.), religion, literacy practices, and home. In the cultural domain, a number of discourses were found to contribute to the experiences at the level of the empirical. Amongst these were the ‘Unimportance of Reading’, the culture of ‘Obedience’, the rejection of the ‘un-Islamic’, and the students’ sense of ‘Entitlement’.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of "game" and "test" instructions on the intelligence test performance of high- and low-test-anxious children. Eighty-one subjects diagnosed as learning disabled were given the Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC) to determine their level of test anxiety. Based on TASC scores, 44 subjects were classified as either fljgj- or low- test-anxious. These subjects were given the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) using either game or test instructions to introduce the test. The resulting 10 and subtest configuration scores were used to compare high- and low-test-anxious subjects by the type of instructions they received prior to testing. This comparison yielded no significant differences between high and low-test-anxious subjects, indicating that the way the WISC-R is Introduced does not play a significant role in the WISC-R performance of high- and low-test-anxious children.

This study explores preservice teachers' learning to teach mathematics in the context of an innovative version of the mathematics methods courses typically offered at UBC. Thirteen preservice teachers engaged in a math letter writing exchange with Grade 4 students are the focus of this study. This math penpal experience was meant to provide a "laboratory setting" for preservice teachers to try out and investigate the ideas discussed during methods classes. Interactions with students, in turn, served as the focus of further class discussions and reflective journal writing. Two research questions were investigated: (1) What were preservice teachers learning through their math penpal investigations; and (2) What factors influenced their learning? Preservice teachers' written records (math letters, journals, and case reports) were the main sources of data used to address these questions. My perspectives as a participant, teacher, and researcher were used to guide and inform my analysis of this data. An analytical framework was constructed based on preservice teachers' "pedagogical puzzles" (issues and challenges faced and deliberated on). These puzzles related to their problem posing, interpreting, and responding practices. This framework was used to explore patterns and changes in preservice teachers' views and practices. Learning themes discussed include: learning to broaden goals and expectations of problems; learning to see and construct meaning from students' work, and learning to question and revise claims about students' mathematical attitudes and abilities; learning to recognize and interrogate hidden messages in their discourse, and learning to respond differently. Factors found to be associated with preservice teachers' learning include: (a) interactive experiences with students, (b) engagement in collaborative explorations of problems and comparable students' work, and (c) the opportunity to revisit and reinterpret their experiences with students in multiple occasions. Implications for the research and practice of mathematics teacher education are discussed in relation to: (a) preservice teachers' learning of mathematics and mathematical pedagogy, (b) learning in courserelated field experiences, and (c) learning to reflect and write about teaching and learning. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This dissertation is a study of the effect of Texas's charter high schools on diploma graduation and General Educational Development (GED) attainment. Utilizing data from the Texas Schools Project at the University of Texas at Dallas, the study follows a cohort of Texas students enrolled as 10th graders in the fall of 1999 and tracks their graduation outcomes through the summer of 2002 when they were expected to have completed high school. The analysis uses case study research and probit regression techniques to estimate the effect of charter school attendance on graduation and GED outcomes as well as the effect of individual charter school characteristics on charter students' graduation outcomes. The study's results indicate that charter school attendance has a strong negative effect on diploma graduation and a strong positive effect on GED attainment. In addition, the study finds that charter schools that offer vocational training, open entry/exit enrollment options, and charters that are operated in multiple sites or "chain" charters have positive effects on charter students' diploma graduation outcomes. Charters that offer accelerated instruction demonstrate a negative effect on diploma graduation. The study finds that charter school graduation outcomes improve as charters gain experience and that racially isolated minority charter schools experience reduced graduation outcomes. The study's results also indicate that Texas's charter high schools may be providing district schools with a means through which to offload students who may be difficult to educate. The analysis finds that districts may be pushing low-performing high school students with attendance and discipline problems into charter schools in order to avoid the effort of educating them and to improve district performance on accountability measures related to standardized test scores and graduation rates. This finding suggests that that competition from charter high schools will not provide much incentive for districts to improve their programs, undermining a central premise of school choice initiatives.

The results of the Advanced Placement exams given to students in 2006 were disaggregated according to gender. The level of performance was compared between males and females using Cohen's d. The standardized differences between male and female performance group levels were compared to previous results for the 1992 Advanced Placement (AP) exams. One purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the male-favored results that existed in 1992 still existed in the 2006. This study found that differences still exist in results based on gender and no real progress has been made in reducing the gap in achievement between males and females. A second purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the local data to the national data set to see if scores in Brazosport were similar to scores collected at the national level. To determine if similar results would be obtained at the local level the results of 267 Advanced Placement exams taken by 190 students from Brazsosport Independent School District in 2006 were disaggregated according to gender. The level of performance was compared between males and females using Hedge's g. Because of limited sample size, only 9 Advanced Placement exams were reviewed at the local level. This study found that the results from Brazosport were, in many cases, quite different from those found on the national level and there was no pattern to explain the variation among the differences. This study supports the collection of local data for monitoring gender bias that might exist on Advanced Placement exams. The data collected in the current study indicates that individual district progress in overcoming gender differences that historically have existed in specific scores on the AP exam might be overlooked if only national data is reviewed.

The Texas high school class of 2005 faced a defining test that had no precedent in Texas and little nationally. Social studies testing is a relatively new addition to the world of high stakes testing currently impacting United States high schools. Although other diploma dependent areas of mandated testing have some testing history and, therefore, related paradigms for curriculum and instructional assistance, the area of social studies largely lacks that perspective. Texas Education agency provided specific school grant monies and training for the purpose of preparation for the social studies exams. This quasi-experimental study examines the scores to learn whether or not any statistically significant differences in social studies scores would exist between the schools that participated in the TEKS/Tools Training Program and the schools that did not participate in the TEKS/Tools Training Program. The two primary at-risk groups in Texas, Hispanic and low SES, were analyzed for statistically significant differences in scores. Independent t tests and ANCOVA were used to analyze the score differences between program schools and non-program schools. Results relate to individual school staffing and implementation. The at-risk groups remained flat in score gains whether they were part of the program schools or not. Results relate to differences in learning and teaching for at risk groups. A separate trend analysis was used on the program target school which was the only school with three years of scores to determine improvement from grade 9 to 10 to 11 on the social studies TAKS test scores. Results from the repeated measures analysis indicated a statistically significant linear trend in the program target school's TAKS social studies mean gain scores across the 9th, 10th, and 11th grade levels.

The problem of this study was an analysis of the relationships between performance on certain admissions measures and academic achievement of students in master's degree programs in music education. The purposes of the study were (1) to determine the strength of relationships between scores on each measure included in an admission battery and the academic achievement of master's degree music education students; (2) to determine the strength of the relationship between the final grades in Admission Seminar and the academic achievement of master's degree music education students; and (3) to determine which combination of admissions measures best predict the academic achievement of master's degree music education students.

The goal of this project is to use the Generic Tutorial System for the Sciences (GTSS) tools to develop a prototype interactive chromatography simulation with the Chrom-Quiz system. This will demonstrate Chrom-Quiz/chromatography integration as a teaching system.

Cervical cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death among women in less developed countries. Screening for cervical cancer is the most accepted and successful strategy for cervical cancer control. The purpose of the study was to investigate factors that determine cervical cancer screening practice among women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and develop guidelines to improve the utilisation of cervical cancer screening services. The researcher used the health belief model (HMB) as the theoretical foundation of the study and a convergent parallel mixed methods design. Quantitative data was obtained from screened and not screened women attending maternal health services at selected public health centres. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23 was used for entry and analysis of data Qualitative data was obtained in key informant interviews from health service professionals on their perceptions of women‟s cervical cancer screening uptake at the health centres. The study found that higher age >35 years category (X2 =33.618 and p-value <0.001), contraceptive use (X2 value=20.7 and p-value <0.001), having two or more children, and knowledge of cervical cancer and screening (chi-value X2 =51.649, p-value=0.001) were strongly associated with screening practice. In addition, women‟s perception of susceptibility (t-test=3.42 and 3.432, p-value=0.001) was a predictor of screening. Lack of awareness was a serious barrier to cervical cancer screening and health service providers‟ information was a strong promoter of screening. The study recommends promoting and facilitating health education on cervical cancer at all health facilities; organising awareness campaigns, education programmes, and community mobilisation to raise awareness of cervical cancer screening; integrating cervical cancer screening with other reproductive health services, and capacitating the health professionals in order to increase utilisation of cervical cancer screening services. Consequently, the researcher used the findings of the study to develop guidelines to improve the uptake and quality of cervical cancer screening services. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Public Health)