This thesis project details research conducted and the method employed to create a tool for acquiring the technical vocabulary from the Utah Driver Handbook. Technical terms were compiled into a vocabulary tool for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. ESL programs within the state have noted the need for materials to help learners acquire this vocabulary. The tool will assist ESL learners preparing for the written driving exam by reinforcing the vocabulary through various iterations, including flash cards, simplified definitions, and an L1 gloss. Learners preparing for the exam will be able to study difficult vocabulary terms using the tool. The tool includes flashcards containing definitions and images, a list of terms with simplified learner definitions, and a list of terms in English with their Spanish equivalent. The tool was created with the intent of providing learners with the ability to revisit difficult terms in a number of ways (i.e. Quizlet, images, simplified definitions, and an L1 gloss). The intended outcome of this research is that the tool will be useful to ESL learners preparing for the written driving exam and be made applicable to learners in other settings.

The purpose of this study was to develop vocabulary materials to aid non-native English speakers, specifically Russian speaking test-takers, in their preparation for the mathematical sections of the General Record Examination (GRE) and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) in terms of English mathematical vocabulary. GRE and GMAT preparation materials and practice tests published by the Educational Testing Service, Kaplan, and Barron's were analyzed with the help of computer software. This data was then used to determine which key words to include in the vocabulary tool, which is now available on Quizlet (www.quizlet.com). The developed materials were further proofread by competent mathematics and English language professionals and assessed with the help of a questionnaire administered to them. The rationale of the materials development and the procedures used for the process are described in detail in this thesis project.

Maintenance of staff training continues to be problematic at agencies that serve individuals with developmental disabilities, due to high client to staff ratios, staff turnover and lack of time and resources for training. The purpose of this study was to find a refresher method that staff could independently access that would be effective, as well as convenient and non-aversive. Seven staff participants at a day program for adults with developmental disabilities were trained on two client intervention plans using a Behavioral Skills Training (BST) method. Each group was given follow-up training: one group received a video refresher; one utilized flashcards and one served as the control group. All participants increased correct responses after BST training. While all participants also maintained a higher percentage of correct responses after maintenance training, all of the video and one of the flashcard group participants exhibited higher scores in the last few months of the study than did the control group. Participant surveys revealed that the videos were the most preferred method of maintenance training; participants thought they would be most likely to independently access videos over flashcards, if the resources were made available.

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The focus of this thesis was to develop vocabulary materials to supplement those already in use for emergent literate Burundian refugees preparing for the U.S. Citizenship Test. These learners study in conjunction with the International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City, Utah, and with volunteer tutors who help them study. The flashcards and supporting activities were designed to better enable tutors to teach learners highly-dense vocabulary items, as well as to provide vocabulary scaffolding support for both learners and tutors and to increase depth of vocabulary knowledge with the target vocabulary. The U.S. Citizenship Test Vocabulary Flashcards and Vocabulary Support booklet were the products of a frequency-based vocabulary analysis to provide content-focused vocabulary instruction. This thesis details the steps and rationale of the process used to create these materials.

The Academic Vocabulary List (AVL) was produced by a rationale for word inclusion improved from the methodology used to generate Coxhead's AWL (Gardner & Davies, 2014). It offers a comprehensive view of high frequency academic vocabulary that could greatly benefit ELLs if implemented into ELL curricula (Gardner & Davies, 2014). However, because of the newness of the list, there are few learning resources currently utilizing the AVL. The major objective of this thesis project was to create digital flashcards for the first 500 words of the AVL to increase the list's accessibility to ELLs and teachers worldwide. These flashcards were made available through Quizlet's online interface. This paper describes the two types of flashcards developed: AVL words paired with simplified English (learner) definitions, and AVL words paired with L1 translations into seven languages. It further describes an evaluation of these flashcards by ESOL teachers working at a U.S. intensive English program, and concludes with suggestions for the future development of AVL learning resources.

Educational research has demonstrated that there is a correlation between struggling readers and poor vocabulary knowledge skills. In this quasi-experimental study 53 fifth and sixth grade struggling reader in a low socioeconomic suburban school district were assigned to one of three treatments designed to improve their knowledge of 30 high frequency words by: 1) a word-mapping treatment in which students focused on the definition, synonyms, a sentence and drawing to illustrate the meaning of the targeted words; 2) a guided reading treatment in which students were presented with four different reading passages and asked to focus on and define the targeted words; and 3) a control treatment in which the district-wide use of flashcards drill and practice were used to learn words from the high frequency list. Students completed pre-tests and four week delayed post-tests after the treatment on each of five measures. Sentence construction was tested after the treatments were completed. Analysis of Covariance and correlated t-tests were done to investigate two questions: 1) Considering each treatment on its own, did word mapping, guided reading and flashcards treatments have a significant effect on vocabulary knowledge, comprehension, word recognition, fluency, sentence completion and sentence production; 2) Were there significant differences among the word mapping , guided reading and flashcard treatment groups? There were significant differences at the post-test among the three groups for word recognition and fluency. / CITE/Language Arts

Detta examensarbete genomfördes i samarbete med K-ULF. De teoretiska ramverk som detta examensarbete vilar på är designbaserad forskning, framplockningsstrategin och aktivitetsbaserad inlärning. Det ena syftet i examensarbetet var att utforma flashcards inom matematikområdet procent. Detta för att undersöka hur matematiklärare i årskurs 9 använder dem i undervisningen för att stärka elevers begreppsförståelse och förmåga att lösa textuppgifter. Det andra syftet i detta examensarbete är att undersöka effekten av att använda flashcards på elevernas lärande. Målet med examensarbetet är att utforma en lärarhandledning utifrån lärarnas lärande av att tillämpa aktiviteterna i matematikundervisningen. Flashcards har utformats utifrån två matematiklärares behov och gäller endast inom matematikområdet procent. Utformningen av flashcards genomfördes genom en förstudie och matematiklärarna utvecklade aktiviteter med flashcards under en workshop. Effekten av att använda flashcards på elevernas lärande mättes genom att studiegruppen, som bestod av fyra klasser, delades in i två grupper. Två klasser användes som en experimentgrupp och de resterande två klasserna blev kontrollgruppen. Innan interventionen skrev både experimentgruppen och kontrollgruppen ett pre-test. Därefter genomfördes interventionen i experimentgruppen. Efter cirka 4 veckor av att använda flashcards i undervisningen skrev både experimentgruppen och kontrollgruppen ett post-test. Resultatet från pre-test och post-test sammanställdes manuellt i ett Exceldokument som senare analyserades med SPSS. I detta examensarbete genomfördes ett independent sample t-test. Eftersom p-värdet i studien var större än 0.05 så visade resultatet att det inte finns en statistisk signifikant skillnad mellan experimentgruppens och kontrollgruppens prestationer i pre-testet och post-testet. Resultatet visade även att det inte finns en signifikant skillnad mellan flickors och pojkars prestationer inom experimentgruppen i pre-testet och post-testet. Vidare visar resultatet att flashcards bör utformas sådant att sidan där begreppet är skriven bör skiljas från sidan där definitionen är skriven för att göra korten tydligare för eleverna. Båda matematiklärarna tror även på att det skulle vara mer gynnsamt för eleverna att själva skriva definitionerna än att få korten klara. Utifrån lärarnas lärande av att implementera flashcardaktiviteter så visar resultatet att antalet begrepp som eleverna arbetar med under aktiviteterna bör begränsas. Det är även viktigt att förklaringarna på korten är elevnära. / This thesis was conducted in collaboration with K-ULF. The theoretical frameworks that underpin this thesis are the design-based research, retrieval practice strategy and activity-based learning. One aim of this thesis was to design flashcards within the mathematics domain of percentages. The purpose was to investigate how mathematics teachers in grade 9 use them in their teaching to enhance students' conceptual understanding and ability to solve text problems. The second aim of this thesis is to examine the effect of using flashcards on students' learning. The objective of the thesis is to create a teacher's guide based on the teachers' learning from implementing the activities in mathematics instruction. The flashcards have been designed based on the needs of two mathematics teachers and are only valid in the area of mathematics percentages. The design of flashcards was carried out through a pre-study and the mathematics teachers developed activities with flashcards during a workshop. The effect of using flashcards on student learning was measured by dividing the study group, which consisted of four classes, into two groups. Two classes were used as an experimental group and the remaining two classes became the control group. Before the intervention, both the experimental group and the control group wrote a pre-test. The intervention was then carried out in the experimental group. After approximately 4 weeks of using flashcards in teaching, both the experimental group and the control group wrote a post-test. The results from the pre-test and post-test were compiled manually in an Excel document which was later analyzed with SPSS. In this thesis, an independent sample t-test was carried out. Since the p-value in the study was greater than 0.05, the result showed that there is no statistically significant difference between the experimental group and the control group's performance in the pre-test and post-test. The result also showed that there is no statistically significant difference between the performance of girls and boys within the experimental group in the pre-test and post-test. Furthermore, the result shows that flashcards should be designed in such a way that the side where the concept is written should be different from the side where the definition is written to make the cards clearer for the students. Both mathematics teachers also believe that it would be more beneficial for the students to write the definitions themselves than to provide ready-made cards. Based on the teachers' learning from implementing flashcard activities, the result shows that the number of concepts that the students work with during the activities should be limited. It is also important that the explanations on the cards are student-friendly.

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