The purpose of the research was to look critically at the language development of the young second-language learner within their social context, in relation to theory and practice (praxis), using as a ‘lens’, “the right to participation” (UNCRC General Comment No 12, 2009). Language and communication were seen by the researcher as fundamental to the child’s ‘right to participate’ as ‘agents of their own life’ (General Comment No 7, 2005) as they engage in meaning-making with others, both at home and at school. The research was conducted as a Case Study within a Pre-Primary School over a three month period, with the lead-researcher involving the teachers as co-researchers. A Participatory Action Research methodology was used, within a praxeological conceptual framework. Parents and their young children (between the ages of 2 – 6 years) were participants in the research. Ways were explored to build ‘bridges’ to overcome perceived ‘barriers’ to the children’s participation. Various data collection techniques were used, including the Persona Doll approach, the Mosaic Approach, Documentation of Learning and Learning Story Books. The results of the research were increased awareness of the value of inclusive practices that place a value on diversity and which actively support and promote the use of the mother tongue, as well as the learning of English as a second language. In the course of the research, it was seen as important for adults (parents or teachers) to support the learning of concepts in the mother tongue or in English by verbalizing for the child, while engaging in the process of meaning-making. The ‘choice’ to use English in preference over the mother tongue became apparent. Therefore the research methodology was seen as an important way to develop ‘critical, reflective practice’ amongst the teachers and to create partnerships with the parents. The aim was to strive towards ‘phronesis’ or wise practice, using as a ‘lens’ for critical reflection, the child’s ‘right to participation’ (UNCRC General Comment No 12, 2009). / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Educational Psychology)

As theories on the process of reading have advanced so definitional changes have resulted. This in turn has impacted on the teaching of reading. Comprehension is not the result of successful word recognition, rather, meaning is constructed by the reader using various sources as a frame of reference. Reading requires an interaction between the reader, the text read and the context in vvhich it is read. Reader factors involve language competencies, prior knowledge, vocabulary, the use of strategies and attitudes and motivation. The text may be narrative or expository and encompasses instructional materials. The tvvo broad categories in the context are the classroom setting and the instructional context. An 'interactive' or 'organisational' paradigm underlying inclusion recognises individual differences as being a probable cause of failure but postulates that the school and all that it encompasses, can be a barrier to learning and development. As such it is not deficit driven, attributing failure to learners alone. In the case of reading, this means not attributing reading failure to the reader alone but acknowledging the role of the text and the context. This point of departure is confirmed by an interactive model of disability, which, while still explaining reading deficits, advances that alternative areas also be investigated. Focusing on abilities is conducive to proactivity in the prevention of barriers to learning and development. To be inclusive therefore, mainstream schools generally and classrooms specifically, will need to be reformed and restructured to be more responsive to learners experiencing barriers to learning and development. This will require enhanced teaching methods and flexible support systems. Accommodating diversity presupposes the acknowledgement of each learner's uniqueness in order to meet individual needs. This will be facilitated when in the compilation of a reading programme to meet individual needs, the reader, the text and context are matched through assessment and instruction . A reading programme to enhance the teaching of reading and thereby meet individual needs has been compiled and implemented in a mainstream, intermediate phase class. From this practical experience and the literature studied, guidelines for the teaching of reading have been formulated for teachers in the intermediate phase to use within the context of inclusion. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Orthopedagogics)

The aim of this study was to investigate the comparative effects of Constructivist-Based Teaching Method (CBTM) and the Traditional Teaching Method (TTM) on Grade 11 Mathematics learners’ errors in algebra. The constructivist learning theory (CLT) was used to frame this study. Mainly, CLT was used to influence the design of CBTI to hone participants’ errors in algebra that militate against their performance in Mathematics. The study was conducted in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa with a four-week intervention programme in each of the two participating secondary schools. Participants consisted of n=78 Grade 11 Mathematics learners and one Grade 11 Mathematics teacher. A non-equivalent control group design consisting of a pre-test and post-test measure was employed. The Grade 11 teacher in the control school employed the TTM while the researcher implemented CBTM in the experimental school. The main aspects of CBTM entailed participants’ construction of their own knowledge from the base of prior knowledge and through group learning approach and exploratory talk in which discussions included argumentation, verbalising explanations, justifications and reflections. Participants in experimental school became familiar with the basic principles of CBTI such as group work, which enhanced the construction of conceptual understanding of algebraic concepts. This reduced most of the errors they commit in algebra and elevated their performance in Mathematics. The principal instruments for data collection consisted of a standardised Algebra Concept Achievement Test and lesson observations. The pre-test was used to determine participants’ initial errors in algebra before the intervention. A post-test was given at the end of intervention to ascertain change in participants’ errors in algebra over a four-week intervention period. Using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, the study found that participants in experimental school significantly reduced their errors in algebra than those in control school. The study showed that CBTM was a more effective pedagogy that improved the errors Grade 11 learners commit in algebra than the TTM. / College of Education / M. Ed. (Mathematics Education)

Large underfunded classrooms are indicative of the situation found in many developing countries. These limitations often lead to the ineffective teacher-centred approach dominating classroom instruction in these countries. The aim of the study was to examine active learning strategies used by teachers in large unfunded Physics classrooms, in Kerala, India. This study used a qualitative approach utilising a case study method. The data collection process involved mainly unstructured interviews, lesson observations and the analysis of documents. The results of the study indicate that despite the difficulties faced in India, similar to those faced by other developing countries, the Indian state of Kerala implements and supports active learning rather than the more common teacher-centred approach. The research defines the common forms of active learning in the Physics lessons and critically examines the core elements of the learner-centred teaching approaches. Successes have been found in the implementation of active, collaborative, cooperative and problem-based learning in the large underfunded Physics classes. The results of the research suggest that teachers need to be highly trained, resourceful, creative, hardworking and sometimes go above and beyond the required duties to make active learning in large underfunded Physics classroom a success. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

The following study was conducted at an upper secondary school in Sweden and attempts to explore the question of what influences male pupils’ reading habits. Many quantitative international studies, including PISA, PIRLS and IEA Reading Literacy, have sought to answer this question, but only partially succeeded due to the limitations of their methods. Therefore, this study seeks to explore this question in more depth using qualitative methods, including interviews and classroom observations, but also minor tests. Two facts which the previously mentioned international studies have found is that boys and particularly immigrant boys tend to have worse reading results than their counterparts. It is therefore the aim of this study to study four male students in upper secondary school; of which two are native Swedes and the other two are unaccompanied refugee children; one from Afghanistan and the other from Morocco. The findings of this study are as follows. Firstly, necessity was found to be the single most important factor for the reading habits of these four pupils; especially the two refugees. Both refugees learnt to read under harsh circumstances in madrassas in their respective home countries. Moreover, the Moroccan pupil learnt to speak and read Spanish fluently during his seven years as a homeless child. Furthermore, in the absence of necessity, interest was found to be decisive in determining the pupils’ reading habits. In addition to this, the study theorizes that an interest in reading generally arises before the ability to read and not vice versa. However, teachers can in fact affect their pupils’ reading habits even in upper secondary school.

No description available.

Une approche classique pour traiter les problèmes d’optimisation avec incertitude à deux- et multi-étapes est d’utiliser l’analyse par scénario. Pour ce faire, l’incertitude de certaines données du problème est modélisée par vecteurs aléatoires avec des supports finis spécifiques aux étapes. Chacune de ces réalisations représente un scénario. En utilisant des scénarios, il est possible d’étudier des versions plus simples (sous-problèmes) du problème original. Comme technique de décomposition par scénario, l’algorithme de recouvrement progressif est une des méthodes les plus populaires pour résoudre les problèmes de programmation stochastique multi-étapes. Malgré la décomposition complète par scénario, l’efficacité de la méthode du recouvrement progressif est très sensible à certains aspects pratiques, tels que le choix du paramètre de pénalisation et la manipulation du terme quadratique dans la fonction objectif du lagrangien augmenté. Pour le choix du paramètre de pénalisation, nous examinons quelques-unes des méthodes populaires, et nous proposons une nouvelle stratégie adaptive qui vise à mieux suivre le processus de l’algorithme. Des expériences numériques sur des exemples de problèmes stochastiques linéaires multi-étapes suggèrent que la plupart des techniques existantes peuvent présenter une convergence prématurée à une solution sous-optimale ou converger vers la solution optimale, mais avec un taux très lent. En revanche, la nouvelle stratégie paraît robuste et efficace. Elle a convergé vers l’optimalité dans toutes nos expériences et a été la plus rapide dans la plupart des cas. Pour la question de la manipulation du terme quadratique, nous faisons une revue des techniques existantes et nous proposons l’idée de remplacer le terme quadratique par un terme linéaire. Bien que qu’il nous reste encore à tester notre méthode, nous avons l’intuition qu’elle réduira certaines difficultés numériques et théoriques de la méthode de recouvrement progressif. / In the literature of optimization problems under uncertainty a common approach of dealing with two- and multi-stage problems is to use scenario analysis. To do so, the uncertainty of some data in the problem is modeled by stage specific random vectors with finite supports. Each realization is called a scenario. By using scenarios, it is possible to study smaller versions (subproblems) of the underlying problem. As a scenario decomposition technique, the progressive hedging algorithm is one of the most popular methods in multi-stage stochastic programming problems. In spite of full decomposition over scenarios, progressive hedging efficiency is greatly sensitive to some practical aspects, such as the choice of the penalty parameter and handling the quadratic term in the augmented Lagrangian objective function. For the choice of the penalty parameter, we review some of the popular methods, and design a novel adaptive strategy that aims to better follow the algorithm process. Numerical experiments on linear multistage stochastic test problems suggest that most of the existing techniques may exhibit premature convergence to a sub-optimal solution or converge to the optimal solution, but at a very slow rate. In contrast, the new strategy appears to be robust and efficient, converging to optimality in all our experiments and being the fastest in most of them. For the question of handling the quadratic term, we review some existing techniques and we suggest to replace the quadratic term with a linear one. Although this method has yet to be tested, we have the intuition that it will reduce some numerical and theoretical difficulties of progressive hedging in linear problems.

Text in English / In a quest to identify best practices in teaching courses in English for Specific Purposes (ESP), this study investigated effective teaching of an online English module in an Open Distance Learning (ODL) environment. Although ODL is attractive to both students and lecturers, there are significant problems regarding how learning, teaching, interaction and assessment should be conducted in this context. The problems are exacerbated by the limited knowledge of using the online systems and constraints linked to time spent on tasks. The study adopted the qualitative research approach, using a case study design and data collected from three research instruments, namely online questionnaires, an online observation schedule and a content analysis schedule. The research population in the current study comprised students, lecturers, and e-tutors based at one ODL university. In order to engender best practices of effective teaching in an ODL environment, the Community of Inquiry (Col) framework and Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory were applied to the research findings of the current study. The findings indicate that effective teaching of an online English module in an ODL context could take place when content is effectively structured; assessment reflects course content; there is teamwork and collaboration amongst lecturers; students effectively interact with the material, lecturers/e-tutors, and with each other. The findings of this study add to the volume of research on best practices for effective online ESP teaching in ODL higher learning institutions. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)

Cette thèse s’intéresse à la création de nouvelles approches algorithmiques pour la résolution du problème inverse en biophysiques. Dans un premier temps, on vise l’application RMN de type DOSY: une nouvelle approche de régularisation hybride a été proposée avec un nouvel algorithme PALMA (http://palma.labo.igbmc.fr/). Cet algorithme permet d’analyser des données réelles DOSY avec une précision importante quelque soit leur type. Dans un deuxième temps, notre intérêt s’est tourné vers l’application de spectrométrie de masse. Nous avons proposé une nouvelle approche par dictionnaire dédiée à l’analyse protéomique en utilisant le modèle averagine et une stratégie de minimisation sous contraintes d'une pénalité de parcimonie. Afin d’améliorer la précision de l’information obtenue, nous avons proposé une nouvelle méthode SPOQ, basée sur une nouvelle fonction de pénalisation, résolue par un nouvel algorithme Forward-Backward à métrique variable localement ajustée. Tous nos algorithmes bénéficient de garanties théoriques de convergence, et ont été validés expérimentalement sur des spectres synthétisés et des données réelles / This thesis aims at proposing new approaches to solve the inverse problem in biophysics. Firstly, we study the DOSY NMR experiment: a new hybrid regularization approach has been proposed with a novel PALMA algorithm (http://palma.labo.igbmc.fr/). This algorithm ensures the efficient analysis of real DOSY data with a high precision for all different type. In a second time, we study the mass spectrometry application. We have proposed a new dictionary based approach dedicated to proteomic analysis using the averagine model and the constrained minimization approach associated with a sparsity inducing penalty. In order to improve the accuracy of the information, we proposed a new SPOQ method based on a new penalization, solved with a new Forward-Backward algorithm with a variable metric locally adjusted. All our algorithms benefit from sounded convergence guarantees, and have been validated experimentally on synthetics and real data.

The purpose of the research was to look critically at the language development of the young second-language learner within their social context, in relation to theory and practice (praxis), using as a ‘lens’, “the right to participation” (UNCRC General Comment No 12, 2009). Language and communication were seen by the researcher as fundamental to the child’s ‘right to participate’ as ‘agents of their own life’ (General Comment No 7, 2005) as they engage in meaning-making with others, both at home and at school. The research was conducted as a Case Study within a Pre-Primary School over a three month period, with the lead-researcher involving the teachers as co-researchers. A Participatory Action Research methodology was used, within a praxeological conceptual framework. Parents and their young children (between the ages of 2 – 6 years) were participants in the research. Ways were explored to build ‘bridges’ to overcome perceived ‘barriers’ to the children’s participation. Various data collection techniques were used, including the Persona Doll approach, the Mosaic Approach, Documentation of Learning and Learning Story Books. The results of the research were increased awareness of the value of inclusive practices that place a value on diversity and which actively support and promote the use of the mother tongue, as well as the learning of English as a second language. In the course of the research, it was seen as important for adults (parents or teachers) to support the learning of concepts in the mother tongue or in English by verbalizing for the child, while engaging in the process of meaning-making. The ‘choice’ to use English in preference over the mother tongue became apparent. Therefore the research methodology was seen as an important way to develop ‘critical, reflective practice’ amongst the teachers and to create partnerships with the parents. The aim was to strive towards ‘phronesis’ or wise practice, using as a ‘lens’ for critical reflection, the child’s ‘right to participation’ (UNCRC General Comment No 12, 2009). / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Educational Psychology)