Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 71-73).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 71-73). Also available in print.

Quality Teaching (QT) is a sought-after professional goal for educators and schools alike. It is easy to observe, harder to define, and hardest to understand how to achieve. This study attempted to identify QT amongst a select group (N = 6) of Boston-area award-winning high school chemistry teachers. Participants were selected based on having received at least two American Chemical Society-sponsored awards within the past ten years. Data were collected through survey, personal interview, classroom observations, post-observation debriefs, anecdotal information provided by teacher colleagues, supervisors, and past students, student success on externally administered chemistry examinations, and a capstone focus group interview with the teacher- participants. These data were then coded and cohered with two measures of exemplary teaching: The Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Educator Evaluation Rubric and the American Chemical Society Guidelines for Middle- and-High School Chemistry Teaching. Definitions for QT in general and high school chemistry teaching in particular are detailed from references in the Literature Review. Surveys and interviews were conducted via email and Zoom chats, and vii observations during COVID were conducted also by online Face-timing. Colleague, administrator, and past student anecdotes were obtained through these award-winning teachers’ award nomination letters that I had access to in my role as a member of the Northeastern Section American Chemical Society’s (NESACS) High School Awards Committee and as Chairperson for the HS Education Committee. I also had access to student results on externally administered local and national chemistry exams in my role as co-administer of the Ashdown Exam and Section Coordinator for the US National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO). The findings of this study showed that these award-winning teachers (AWTs) took varied pathways and educational backgrounds to arrive at their profession. Participants all agreed that there is no one best way to teach, but many right ways to get to award- winning teaching. These teachers all possessed “It,” that elusive, mystical, some say innate, art of teaching born of passion, charisma, and love of working with children alongside a continual drive to improve pedagogical practices. This study identified that drive as “relentless expectations,” both for themselves as constant lifelong learners and their students for whom they set high standards. Though recognized by these awards, all of these teachers expressed humility and claimed that other colleagues were equally qualified to be award-winners. Colleagues shared that this study’s participants were “teachers’ teachers” and selfless collaborators. Supervisors related that these great teachers made great schools, and past students exclaimed that these teachers transformed students’ lives and career pathways. The data suggest that award-winning status as a secondary high school chemistry teacher must incorporate a variety of factors, including a love of science learning, a mastery of the study of chemistry with an on-going interest to forward this learning, a passion for teaching and seeing teenagers succeed in learning chemistry, the ability to create a classroom of caring and trust to allow students to take academic risks, self- motivation to collaborate with colleagues through meeting, programing, and publication, self-confidence with a strong voice, and empathy. This study identified two overlooked factors that maintain award-winning teachers: relationships and reflection (the “R & R” of AWT). Other factors that contribute to AWT include supportive school and community with resources available to both teacher and student, freedom and professional trust to be able to innovate and create curriculum, and teachers’ creation and participation in collaborative venues such as collaboration time, workshops, presentations, and conferences. Participants in this study came to chemistry teaching as a second career and state that they acquired their award-winning pedagogy through a combination of most of these factors. Though each of their voices, classrooms, and school buildings looked different, these factors in total provided a common set of criteria to produce the award- winning teaching portrayed in this study.

The thesis focuses on innovation of chemistry education in topic of Plastics and their environmental consequences in primary schools. The content of theoretical part deals with plastics around us, their history, different types and possibilities of recycling. This thesis also contains analysis of valid curricular documents and textbooks which are frequently used in classes of chemistry in primary schools. Practical part deals with proposal of set of activities with project elements including experimental activities that were executed as a part of project day. Evaluation of prepared educational activities was completed using the mind maps created by students while observing the change in number of used terms and relevance in relation to assigned topic. The results of thesis which are collected and documented confirms our assumptions focused on efficiency of project days in primary schools and shows a way how teacher's project could be transformed into activities of individual students by assigning educational tasks. KEYWORDS lower secondary chemistry education, plastics, environmental education, school project day, student's miniproject

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Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1982.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1982. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

This thesis focuses on mechanisms and processes underlying spatial patterns of resistance and virulence and on local adaptations in plant–parasite interactions. The model system used comprises the plant host Salix triandra, the pathogenic rust fungus Melampsora amygdalinae, the leaf beetle Gonioctena linnaeana, and the galler Pontania triandrae. In this work, I (1) emphasize the most important factors determining the outcome of a plant–pathogen interaction, and the types of systems in which local adaptations can be expected, (2) examine the resistance structures of different populations of S. triandra, and whether the leaf beetle G. linnaeana responds to the local conditions of the populations of S. triandra in Sweden, and (3) address whether the distribution of parasites on S. triandra can be explained by the plant content of secondary metabolites. A review of several studies of the subject leads to the conclusion that adaptation of pathogens to their local hosts is more likely to be found in systems in which the pathogen is host-specific, non-systemic, and has a larger dispersal range and evolutionary potential than its host does. Furthermore, the scale of the study must be adjusted to that of the pathogen’s local population distribution. In addition, the temporary nature of host–pathogen interactions influences the importance of sample size, and too-small sample sizes can lower the chance of finding local adaptations, even though they may have evolved in a given system. The results of an inoculation experiment using material from physically isolated natural populations of S. triandra and M. amygdalinae confirm the importance of previous conclusions. Spatial variation in the resistance structure of S. triandra also has effects on the insect herbivore G. linnaeana, which has responded by adapting to the local hosts. However, local differences in secondary chemistry affect different parasites in different ways, and while P. triandrae is attracted by high levels of phenolic compounds, including tannins, M. amygdalinae and G. linnaeana are more rarely found on plant individuals with high concentrations of tannins. In addition, brood deposition by adult females of G. linnaeana and the performance of larvae are positively affected by luteolin-7-glucoside and an additional unidentified flavonoid, whereas they are negatively affected by the presence of (+)-catechin and high levels of tannins. Our results also show that plants traits that provide resistance to one type of parasite do not necessarily provide resistance to others. This indicates that different natural enemies potentially assert divergent selection pressure on S. triandra phenotypes which can be important for maintaining phenotypic variation in plant species.