Thesis (M.Ed.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Oct. 29, 2007). Includes bibliographical references.

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Mathematics education is a human activity that helps to develop mental processes in order to enhance logical and critical thinking which will contribute to one’s decision-making process and to solve problems (DBE, 2011c). For one to be able to do Mathematics, strategies should be generated in order to solve problems. The performance in Mathematics is very poor and educational researchers have identified various reasons for the poor performance in mathematics. Therefore, South Africa has developed an assessment tool known as the ANA, to determine the learners’ weaknesses in mathematics at national, provincial, district and school level (DBE, 2013). An approach research (in the South African context) was to explore Intermediate Phase Mathematics teacher’s awareness of their metacognitive strategy use. The main purpose of my research study was to understand, to what extent Intermediate Phase Mathematics teachers become aware of metacognitive strategies during an adapted lesson study process. To achieve this purpose, the study aims to investigate the teachers’ awareness of metacognitive strategies before and during an adapted lesson study process. Empirical qualitative research based on a design research approach took place within the interpretative paradigm. Descriptive data was generated by means of semi-structured focus group interviews and a reflective diary was held with double-medium participants who were selected. The data were analysed by means of content analyses which proceeded by using mind maps, where codes and themes were related to the literature. The results show that most of the teachers were aware of the metacognitive strategies, but it can be that they lack knowing when, where and how to use these metacognitive strategies as they do not plan their lessons on a regular basis. Teachers also feel more comfortable when planning lesson collaboratively as they feel that they learn from one another. In conclusion an adapted lesson study could be a positive plan of action to provide teachers with the opportunity to plan lessons collaboratively and reflect on one another’s’ ideas. Teachers can become more aware of their metacognitive strategies when planning lessons in order to implement these metacognitive strategies during their lessons. In this way learners could be empowered to become metacognitive (think about their thinking) and to reflect on their actions which might contribute to their performance of mathematics. / MEd (Mathematics Education), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Mathematics education is a human activity that helps to develop mental processes in order to enhance logical and critical thinking which will contribute to one’s decision-making process and to solve problems (DBE, 2011c). For one to be able to do Mathematics, strategies should be generated in order to solve problems. The performance in Mathematics is very poor and educational researchers have identified various reasons for the poor performance in mathematics. Therefore, South Africa has developed an assessment tool known as the ANA, to determine the learners’ weaknesses in mathematics at national, provincial, district and school level (DBE, 2013). An approach research (in the South African context) was to explore Intermediate Phase Mathematics teacher’s awareness of their metacognitive strategy use. The main purpose of my research study was to understand, to what extent Intermediate Phase Mathematics teachers become aware of metacognitive strategies during an adapted lesson study process. To achieve this purpose, the study aims to investigate the teachers’ awareness of metacognitive strategies before and during an adapted lesson study process. Empirical qualitative research based on a design research approach took place within the interpretative paradigm. Descriptive data was generated by means of semi-structured focus group interviews and a reflective diary was held with double-medium participants who were selected. The data were analysed by means of content analyses which proceeded by using mind maps, where codes and themes were related to the literature. The results show that most of the teachers were aware of the metacognitive strategies, but it can be that they lack knowing when, where and how to use these metacognitive strategies as they do not plan their lessons on a regular basis. Teachers also feel more comfortable when planning lesson collaboratively as they feel that they learn from one another. In conclusion an adapted lesson study could be a positive plan of action to provide teachers with the opportunity to plan lessons collaboratively and reflect on one another’s’ ideas. Teachers can become more aware of their metacognitive strategies when planning lessons in order to implement these metacognitive strategies during their lessons. In this way learners could be empowered to become metacognitive (think about their thinking) and to reflect on their actions which might contribute to their performance of mathematics. / MEd (Mathematics Education), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The primary objective of this study was to describe the influences upon pre-service elementary teachers' preplanning, lesson planning, and bases for interactive decision making during their lesson implementation. Six female volunteer pre-service elementary teachers from the teacher preparation program at the University of North Texas planned and taught three separate lessons in one of the following content areas-social studies, language arts, mathematics, science, and safety, at six different schools in the north Texas area. Each element of the lesson plans (18 total) was classified for analysis. Following the presentation of each lesson, the pre-service teachers were asked to use the repertory-grid technique to sort out five decisions from a series of lesson-implementation decisions which had been observed and recorded by the investigator. Then the six pre-service teachers were interviewed by the investigator using the stimulated recall technique. During the interview, each decision was discussed with the pre-service teachers, who responded to seven structural questions that probed their concerns, attitude, type of concerns, and number of concerns. The six pre-service elementary teachers possessed some ability to direct students in their classroom learning using activities and instructional knowledge. This enabled them to notice individual student performance and that of students in the group or in the class. During their interactive teaching, pre-service elementary teachers made more decisions concerning the implementation of management strategies than decisions concerning instruction and activities, in their classroom management, the pre-service teachers focused the most attention on students' verbalization and performance. The study showed that the student's classroom behavior, the thing in which a student is interested, the student's relationship with other students, the feeling of a student, and a student's action caused the six pre-service elementary teachers to immediately modify their strategies.

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This exploratory study examined how pre-service teachers use the Internet while preparing lesson plans. Participants (N=30) prepared a literacy-focused lesson using the Internet as their only resource. Data were collected through screen capture technology, tracking where participants went and how they used the Internet, and afterwards, participants’ reflections were obtained through structured interviews. Most participants first visited the Google search engine to find information, or the Ontario curriculum document to check the grade level expectations. Participants conducted three or more Google searches on average, and government, commercial, teacher hosted, and organization sites were the most often visited. These sites were used to find more information on the selected lesson plan, generate ideas by seeing what lessons are available online, look for materials for the lesson, check curriculum expectations and/or, in a few instances, copy a lesson plan directly from a website. Many participants reported regularly preparing lessons in the observed manner.

This exploratory study examined how pre-service teachers use the Internet while preparing lesson plans. Participants (N=30) prepared a literacy-focused lesson using the Internet as their only resource. Data were collected through screen capture technology, tracking where participants went and how they used the Internet, and afterwards, participants’ reflections were obtained through structured interviews. Most participants first visited the Google search engine to find information, or the Ontario curriculum document to check the grade level expectations. Participants conducted three or more Google searches on average, and government, commercial, teacher hosted, and organization sites were the most often visited. These sites were used to find more information on the selected lesson plan, generate ideas by seeing what lessons are available online, look for materials for the lesson, check curriculum expectations and/or, in a few instances, copy a lesson plan directly from a website. Many participants reported regularly preparing lessons in the observed manner.

This is an essay in the field of English literature didactics. It argues for the use of authentic texts in literacy acquisition. Specifically, the aim of this essay is to justify the use of the novel Push in an English language classroom in Sweden by presenting a literature lesson plan and validating it by three intrerview responses from teachers at a senior high school. I believe students may find the theme of the novel engaging and motivating. The lesson plan is outlined as a student writing project. In this writing project, students will practice reading, speaking and writing skills. The project also includes peer- response which is an activity mentioned in the Englsih 5 syllabus. The lesson plan aims to achieve the learning outcomes of what the Swedish curriculum and syllabus state. The project is validated by a questionnaire, sent by e-mail to teachers at a senior high school in Gävle, regarding the relevance of the proposed lesson plan. Since only three teachers found it possible to participate this essay should be considerate as a pilot case study. However their answers and my analysis provide practical teaching guidelines and indicate the relevance of this particular lesson plan.

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