For many decades, college English teaching in China has been teacher-centered, mainly focusing on the enhancement of students’ four basic English language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, with little attention paid to the cultivation of students’ higher order thinking skills (Tang, 2016; Wang, Xu, & Zhou, 2016). The teacher-centered teaching approach has led to the problem that after having learned English for many years, students cannot speak English fluently (Dai, 2001). There has been a call for promoting the student-centered teaching model in China (NACFLT, 2000). One relatively new approach to support student-centered active learning is flipped instruction (Egbert et al., 2015). In a flipped classroom, the transmission of information in a traditional face-to-face class is moved out of class time, and the class time is devoted to engaging students in active learning to foster deeper understanding of course content and problem-solving skills. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the effects of the flipped classroom model on the learning of Chinese undergraduate students in a college English class. Using a purposeful sampling strategy, I selected a flipped English class in a private college in Shanghai, China, which can be regarded as a pioneer in promoting the flipped classroom model in China. I identified six second-year college students to be my respondents. During the six weeks of study in the fall semester of 2019, I collected data from multiple sources including one individual semi-structured open-ended interview with the instructor and each of the student participants, classroom observation, and documentation such as the teacher’s teaching plans, students’ journal entries, course projects, word maps and worksheets (both online or written ones). With a holistic analysis of the data collected, I explored students’ perceptions of the learning experiences in the flipped college English class, which lent an insight into the effects of the flipped classroom model on students’ learning. This study found that the teacher partly flipped her English class. Most of the learning of vocabulary and grammar was moved out of class. The learning of the articles in the textbook was partly flipped, with the initial understanding of the article done before class and the in-depth text analysis carried out in class. In class time, the teacher created an active learning environment with a variety of activities, encouraging students to think and speak English. The flipped learning tasks prepared students for the active learning in class, and the post-class learning tasks engaged students in further learning and thinking. All the six students regarded the teaching model as “original” and “helpful”. They perceived improved learning in the active learning environment in class. In addition, they perceived enhanced autonomy in learning, improvement in their English listening and speaking proficiency, and opportunities for cultivating higher order thinking skills. However, they were also faced with challenges in learning which they attributed to their low proficiency level of English listening and speaking. There was one outlier who preferred the traditional way of teaching and learning English, though he acknowledged the value of the teaching model adopted in this partly flipped English class.

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This study aims at investigating the communication and language competences of teachers in an English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) context and examining how these competences influence teacher-student communication and subsequently impact students’ learning experiences. To reach this aim, the research questions focused on what teachers and students find necessary about EMI yoga teacher competences, how these affect students’ learning experiences, how the teachers adapt their teachings and what challenges they face. The study was qualitative and conducted with online interviews. As a result, teachers and students identified several competences to do with building rapport, creating an inclusive environment, language proficiency and language instruction pedagogy. Students state that teachers’ authenticity, adaptability, and ability to being open to non-judgemental communication alongside with other competences significantly affect their learning experience. There are four strategies which help teachers to adapt to the group, namely code switching, demonstration, asking students for help and slowing down the pace. Teachers encountered challenges such as translation issues, fears and lack of confidence, lack of general English proficiency and specialized vocabulary in the beginning of their careers, but over time these challenges were overcome. The study can be of help in yoga teacher training courses to help students master the communication and language competences quicker, or these can be used to create a self-study student book which can help teachers to improve their communication and language skills inteaching yoga using EMI.

Text in English / The question the researcher set out to answer during this research study was: "What is the Educational Focus of a Nursing College, when viewed within Bevis and Watson's Humanistic·Educative-Caring Curriculum Paradigm versus a Stimulus-Response Curriculum Paradigm?" To answer this question, an exploratory, descriptive and contextual study was undertaken. The population consisted of tutors employed at a College of Nursing. From this population a purposive sample was drawn. Data was collected by means of formal, semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. It was found that during the first year of students' education and training, the Educational Focus of the College was on training but during the second year, the focus changed to the transitional phase. The transitional phase is situated between training and education. During the third and fourth year, the focus was also in transition, but the way students learn was at the training phase. / Health Studies / M.A. (Advanced Nursing Sciences)

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / Vanaf geboorte is die ouers en die omgewing wat hulle vir die kind skep van die uiterste belang. Ouers behoort 'n ruimte te skep waar die kind intellektueel gestimuleer kan word, begeleide leerervaringe kan ontvang en waar hy veiligheid en geborgenheid kan beleef Dit is in hierdie voorskoolse jare waar die grondslag gele word vir latere leer. Waar vroee stimulering en bemiddeling ontbreek is dit later baie moeilik om met insette dieselfde positiewe resultate te bereik. Begeleide leerervaringe is 'n essensiele komponent van en voorwaarde vir optimale ontwikkeling. Wanneer die kind aan geletterdheidervaringe blootgestel word in sy voorskoolse jare, kan hy, wanneer hy skool toe gaan, die insette en konsepte as "bekend" ervaar, omdat hy reeds vroeg al daarmee kennisgemaak het. Die ouers kan die kind se voorskoolse jare s6 ontwerp dat die kind se potensiaal optimaal verwesenlik kan word. In die empiriese ondersoek is onderhoude met ouers gevoer sodat hulle hul ervarings met hul kinders wat hulle voorskools gestimuleer het, kon weergee. Volgens die resultate blyk dit dat vroee stimulering waarskynlik 'n belangrike faktor is ten opsigte van latere prestasie. / Parents should create an atmosphere where the child can be stimulated intellectually, can receive mediated learning experiences (MLE) and where he can experience safety and security. It is in the preschool years that the foundation is laid to make learning easier later on. Where early stimulation and mediation is lacking it is very difficult later on to achieve positive results with the same inputs. When the child is exposed to literacy experiences in his pre-school years, he can experience the inputs and concepts as "known" when he attends school, as he was already acquainted with them. The parents can shape the pre-school years of the child in such a manner that the potential of the child can be realised optimally. In the empirical investigation parents were interviewed in order to determine the extent to which they supplied intellectual stimulation to their pre-school children. According to the results it appears that early stimulation is probably an important factor with regard to achievement in later years. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Au Liban, le taux d’abandon scolaire est élevé entre le primaire et le complémentaire(l’équivalent du collège en France). Notre objectif est d’identifier certains facteurspsychologiques et sociaux impliqués dans le risque d’abandon scolaire. Nous avons choisi lathéorie sociale cognitive d’Albert Bandura (2003) - qui étudie les interactions dynamiquesentre facteurs contextuels et facteurs individuels – comme cadre d’analyse systémique desfacteurs en jeu dans le risque d’abandon scolaire. L’étude a été menée auprès de 504 adolescents scolarisés (à un niveau équivalent à celui de la classe de 5e de collège en France) dans l’enseignement public libanais dans un quartier populaire. Les analyses multivariées effectuées sur les données de notre recherche ont montré que l’anxiété scolaire, les expériences d’apprentissages scolaires, les sentiments d’efficacité personnelle relatifs aux apprentissages scolaires, les attentes par rapport à l’école, les intentions d’avenir scolaire et professionnel, le soutien social dispensé par la famille et les professeurs, sont associés au risque d’abandon scolaire des collégiens au Liban.Notre enquête qualitative par entretiens individuels - conduite auprès de 26 élèves (dont huitd’entre-deux avaient abandonné l’école) - a corroboré les données quantitatives et a apportédes informations supplémentaires. En outre, d’autres facteurs en jeu dans l’abandon scolaireont été mis en évidence et, notamment, les représentations sociales des filles et des garçonsrelatives à la scolarité et à la vie professionnelle, représentations qui participent de façonimportante à leur construction identitaire. Nous avons mis en évidence le fait que les facteurscontextuels ont un peu plus de poids que les facteurs individuels. Ainsi, les résultats relatifs àla différence des sexes montrent que les filles et les garçons semblent avoir les mêmesparcours qui permettent d’expliquer le risque d’abandon scolaire. / In Lebanon, the dropout rate is high between the primary and supplementary school (theequivalent of college in France). Our goal is to identify certain psychological and socialfactors involved in the risk of dropping out. We chose Albert Bandura's social cognitivetheory (2003) – which studied the dynamic interactions between contextual factors andindividual factors - as a framework for systematic analysis of the factors involved in the riskof dropping out.The study was conducted among 504 adolescent students (equivalent to a fifth term class inFrench college) in Lebanese public school in a poor neighborhood. Multivariate analyzesperformed on the data of our research showed that school anxiety, school learningexperiences, feelings of self-efficacy related to classroom learning, the expectations of theschool, the future intentions school and work, social support provided by family and teachers,are associated to the risk of dropping out of college in Lebanon.Our qualitative survey by individual interviews - conducted over 26 students (eight of whomhad two-school dropouts) - corroborated the quantitative data and provided additionalinformation. In addition, other factors involved in the dropout were identified and, inparticular, social representations of girls and boys on education and working life,representations that have significant involvement in their construction identity. Wehighlighted the fact that contextual factors have a little more stress than individual factors.Thus, the results for gender differences show that girls and boys seem to have the same causesthat explain the risk of dropping out.

Background. The study was prompted by observation that failure to obtain a positive postsecondary destination is significantly more prevalent in young people living in areas of greater social deprivation, and in males rather than females. Previous studies have shown that this could be linked to differences in social cognitive factors. However, these studies have been mainly correlational and no comprehensive assessment instrument was found to assess preparedness for the postsecondary transition. Aims. The present study examines senior high school student’s perceptions of the personal, behavioural and environmental factors that affect them as they prepare to leave school. It reveals the structure of these factors and how they vary with regard to social deprivation and gender. Sample. The participants were 1044 senior high school students (573 males and 471 females) who attended six urban high schools. Method. A pre-empirical, 50-item assessment instrument was constructed based on the literature review to identify the wide range of factors previously shown to be relevant to achievement of a positive postsecondary destination. This was then administered to participants. Results. Factor analysis indicated that young people’s perceptions about leaving school were best represented by thirteen factors. An ANOVA model indicated that young people living in areas of higher deprivation reported significantly lower levels of positive postsecondary destination self-efficacy belief, less experience of vicarious career success, less performance of career development tasks, greater perception of career barriers, greater endorsement of a fixed career mindset, and fewer career scaffolding attachments. Males, compared to females, reported less experience of past career success, and fewer career scaffolding attachments. However, despite being at greater risk of a negative postsecondary destination, males reported higher levels of positive postsecondary destination self-efficacy belief, greater experience of positive career-related emotional arousal, greater ability to set career goals, and greater levels of career optimism. Conclusion. Twelve significant main effects on the measured social cognitive factors have the potential to contribute to an explanation of why failure to obtain a positive postsecondary destination is more prevalent in young people living in areas of greater social deprivation, and in males rather than females. A new assessment instrument has been produced to inform an ongoing exploratory process to design, target and evaluate educational interventions to improve postsecondary destinations for all. Increasing internal consistency, external validity and generalisability of findings are all desirable. Some future interventions are proposed on the basis of the results, including greater use of positive career role models in career development programmes, career mindset retraining for high school students, and psycho-education on attachment-fostering behaviours for parents and professionals.

Au Liban, le taux d’abandon scolaire est élevé entre le primaire et le complémentaire(l’équivalent du collège en France). Notre objectif est d’identifier certains facteurspsychologiques et sociaux impliqués dans le risque d’abandon scolaire. Nous avons choisi lathéorie sociale cognitive d’Albert Bandura (2003) - qui étudie les interactions dynamiquesentre facteurs contextuels et facteurs individuels – comme cadre d’analyse systémique desfacteurs en jeu dans le risque d’abandon scolaire. L’étude a été menée auprès de 504 adolescents scolarisés (à un niveau équivalent à celui de la classe de 5e de collège en France) dans l’enseignement public libanais dans un quartier populaire. Les analyses multivariées effectuées sur les données de notre recherche ont montré que l’anxiété scolaire, les expériences d’apprentissages scolaires, les sentiments d’efficacité personnelle relatifs aux apprentissages scolaires, les attentes par rapport à l’école, les intentions d’avenir scolaire et professionnel, le soutien social dispensé par la famille et les professeurs, sont associés au risque d’abandon scolaire des collégiens au Liban.Notre enquête qualitative par entretiens individuels - conduite auprès de 26 élèves (dont huitd’entre-deux avaient abandonné l’école) - a corroboré les données quantitatives et a apportédes informations supplémentaires. En outre, d’autres facteurs en jeu dans l’abandon scolaireont été mis en évidence et, notamment, les représentations sociales des filles et des garçonsrelatives à la scolarité et à la vie professionnelle, représentations qui participent de façonimportante à leur construction identitaire. Nous avons mis en évidence le fait que les facteurscontextuels ont un peu plus de poids que les facteurs individuels. Ainsi, les résultats relatifs àla différence des sexes montrent que les filles et les garçons semblent avoir les mêmesparcours qui permettent d’expliquer le risque d’abandon scolaire. / In Lebanon, the dropout rate is high between the primary and supplementary school (theequivalent of college in France). Our goal is to identify certain psychological and socialfactors involved in the risk of dropping out. We chose Albert Bandura's social cognitivetheory (2003) – which studied the dynamic interactions between contextual factors andindividual factors - as a framework for systematic analysis of the factors involved in the riskof dropping out.The study was conducted among 504 adolescent students (equivalent to a fifth term class inFrench college) in Lebanese public school in a poor neighborhood. Multivariate analyzesperformed on the data of our research showed that school anxiety, school learningexperiences, feelings of self-efficacy related to classroom learning, the expectations of theschool, the future intentions school and work, social support provided by family and teachers,are associated to the risk of dropping out of college in Lebanon.Our qualitative survey by individual interviews - conducted over 26 students (eight of whomhad two-school dropouts) - corroborated the quantitative data and provided additionalinformation. In addition, other factors involved in the dropout were identified and, inparticular, social representations of girls and boys on education and working life,representations that have significant involvement in their construction identity. Wehighlighted the fact that contextual factors have a little more stress than individual factors.Thus, the results for gender differences show that girls and boys seem to have the same causesthat explain the risk of dropping out.

Text in English / The question the researcher set out to answer during this research study was: "What is the Educational Focus of a Nursing College, when viewed within Bevis and Watson's Humanistic·Educative-Caring Curriculum Paradigm versus a Stimulus-Response Curriculum Paradigm?" To answer this question, an exploratory, descriptive and contextual study was undertaken. The population consisted of tutors employed at a College of Nursing. From this population a purposive sample was drawn. Data was collected by means of formal, semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. It was found that during the first year of students' education and training, the Educational Focus of the College was on training but during the second year, the focus changed to the transitional phase. The transitional phase is situated between training and education. During the third and fourth year, the focus was also in transition, but the way students learn was at the training phase. / Health Studies / M.A. (Advanced Nursing Sciences)