Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-75).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

This research focuses on how help materials impact on high school students history learning. The concentration lies in putting the students at the center of the research and highlighting their attitude to the method. The essay tries to report statistics and facts about the students' attitude to the learning method. The essay must seek answers to what specific abilities are developed within the didactic area of history and how cause-effect is reasoned. The essay is a preliminary investigation for possibly a more advanced investigation in the future. The sources were provided by student and teacher responses to an aided test. The essay seeks answers to the following questions in order to achieve the purpose of the research: How do aids in examinations affect students' learning? How do students relate to the specific learning method? How do the teacher relate to the specific learning method? Which perspectives on history appear in the student answers?      The survey was carried out in a vocational high school located in a medium sized city in Sweden. 12 students participated in the survey. In the essay, an inventory design study with structured interviews is applied. Structured interviews are often used as a research strategy in both qualitative and quantitative methods.      The results show that the students have a positive attitude towards the learning method and that the method has a positive effect on their subject knowledge within the subject of history. The study as a whole needs to be seen as an initial preliminary investigation into how the method of using aids in examinations affects the students' historical subject progression in history.

This thesis reports a qualitative study of the use of multimodal technologies in museums— specifically, it examines the relationship between visitor engagement and learning, focusing on the use of multimodal technologies during school trips. The study was conducted in the Natural History Museum and the Churchill Museum, both in London, with participants from several secondary schools. These sites were chosen due to their concern for the added value of learning and public engagement, including their education-orientated investments in technology, museum activities, and architecture. In the course of data collection, visits were made to six schools and both museum sites; the participants included 117 students, 18 teachers, three museum educators, and eight museum curators and media designers. The study used a combination of video data analysis, stimulated recall interviews, document analysis, and engaging students in talk and reflection about their visit both at the museum and afterwards. The qualitative approach and multimodal analysis identify how the students’ social interactions help them construct learning through decontextualised bodily movements, which trigger contextualised discussion. The study demonstrates how multimodal analysis can be used in research to capture a wide scope of information, while maintaining a micro-level of analysis and understanding—here, capturing the detail of students’ interactions and perceptions. The findings suggest that the learning experience in museums is produced through multiple layers of interaction and through the exchange of physical and psychological behaviour among people, resources, and space. Here, the multimodal technologies with which the students engaged essentially acted as initial platforms for sensory stimuli and social interaction, supporting their peer communication and motivating them to further explore both the given topic and their own understanding of their learning methods. It was the students’ further conversation, observation, and participation, however, that created a more meaningful and entertaining learning experience in the museums.