This study investigates the effect of the student teaching experience on attitudes toward the use of punishment in the classroom. Student teachers in large innercity and suburban secondary schools furnished data, which were analyzed with a semantic differential technique and the Purdue Attitude Scale Toward Any Practice. The study seeks to determine the effect of student teaching on attitudes of prospective teachers toward punishment in the classroom for discipline purposes, as measured by a semantic differential; to determine differences in attitude changes when student teachers were grouped according to sex in pretests and posttests; to determine differences in attitude changes between those in inner-city schools and suburban schools; to determine the effect of student teaching on the attitudes of prospective teachers toward corporal punishment in the classroom as measured by the Purdue Attitude Scale Toward Any Practice. This study concludes that a beginning student teacher's attitudes toward punishment in the classroom changes significantly with experience. Attitudes of student teachers in inner-city schools do not change significantly more than those in suburban schools. Attitudes of female student teachers toward corporal punishment change more than those of males. The rules of the particular school in which the student teacher does his teaching influence the student teacher appreciably.

Title Chemistry education at secondary schools of civil engineering in the Czech Republic Abstract The goal of this work is to evaluate the chemistry education at secondary schools of civil engineering in the Czech Republic, which provide education of four-year study programs with school leaving exam. At first, question form of data gathering was used at the part of these schools. The general goal was narrowed by analyzing the answers of a questionnaire and the next work was concentrated on creating a study material containing themes of the chemistry of building materials. This material was used during the period of its creation and was modified due to the reactions of the students. The material was then extended with themes of general, inorganic, organic chemistry and biochemistry. The learning material was extended to the form of practice book, which has been used as a main educational tool for the chemistry education. The learning material was evaluated by theoretical methodology and by anonymous questionnaire filled by students. The objective evaluation of the impact of the learning material on the school grades was analyzed through five years. Key words Chemistry of building materials, secondary schools, learning material, workbook.

This research focuses on the language environment of children with Down syndrome (DS) in primary and secondary classrooms. In contrast to much of the previous work in this area, the study takes both qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection. In particular, it highlights teachers’ speech rates and speech strategies in relation to children’s individual listening comprehension. Previous research shows that the listening comprehension of children with DS may be limited by deficits in phonological loop capacity and hearing loss. However, most of this previous research has used quantitative measures to compare the memory performances of children with DS with their typically developing or mental agematched peers. This has tended to result in conclusions that regard children with DS as a homogeneous group. This study, however, aims to consider each child with DS as an individual and to explore in depth the relationship between their listening comprehension and teachers’ speech rates and speech strategies in classroom settings. The study was conducted in 2 stages, both using case-study approach to investigate individual children’s interactions with their class teachers (CTs) and teaching assistants (TAs). The Stage 1 research was conducted with three case-study children in four distinct phases and used an inductive approach to collect data. Phase one observed each child in their classroom environment, involving the interactions between teaching staff and the case-study child. Phase two identified the child’s language ability by using standardised language assessments. Phase three then assessed the impact of speech rates on children’s understandings and, finally, Phase four tested the research validity by representing the stories with a counter-balanced design. The results of the Stage 1 research suggested that the use of the slow speech rate improves the children’s listening comprehension although there were clear indications that there would be more significant benefit if they could be given more time to process information. The Stage 2 research focused on speech strategies, with an emphasis on clustered speech and a deductive approach was adopted. Six additional children with DS were assessed by the BPVS and WISC-IV to investigate further speech rate but also in the context of speech strategies. This further examined whether clustered speech could be beneficial to improving the children’s listening comprehension. The findings show that the clustered speech strategy can improve the listening comprehension of all of the children in this phase, particularly at the slow normal speech rate. The key benefit of this strategy is that it can be used to offset problems in processing information that the children experience because of their limited memory capacity. The outcome of my research can provide teaching staff with knowledge that will enable them to enhance the listening comprehension of children with DS.

Graph theory and its use in school mathematics This thesis deals with the inclusion of some problems of graph theory in education at secondary school. It contains the necessary theory for teachers as well as several examples of graph theory in school mathematics in elementary school; moreover it describes several well-known problems, which can be solved using graph theory. The work also includes preparation of two lessons. The theme of the first one is drawing in one stroke and an Eulerian cycle in general. Second topic is dedicated to mazes and labyrinths, their transformation to graph and few algorithms for passing through the maze. In the experimental part, the author examines whether the students are able to understand the selected parts of graph theory, and whether they find this topic more interesting than the usual mathematics they are used to at school. The results of this experiment are then compared for children from two types of lower secondary schools.

This research examines the involvement of the parents of secondary school children in career education and guidance (CEG). It is based on a secondary analysis of existing data from a research project I was involved in. This initial research evaluated the impact of a parent-involved career intervention, 'Parents Turn', in which six career teachers delivered four successive sessions to parent(s) accompanied by their child in the third or fifth year of their secondary school (HAVO) in the Netherlands. The study is important both to the field and to practitioners. Examples of parentinvolved career intervention in CEG are limited, scantily researched, and most were not sustained, which may explain why knowledge on involving parents in CEG is underdeveloped. I discuss these gaps in the evidence by providing an overview on the literature on parental influences and roles in their child's career development, an international inventory of and taxonomy for parent-involved, school-based career interventions, and providing relevant knowledge on parental-involvement in education in general. I then present new analysis of data collected by an earlier evaluation of the 'Parents' Turn' intervention. My secondary analysis approaches this data with new research questions, in-depth analyses and a non-parametric methodology. I integrated the quantitative and qualitative results to understand who was involved in the intervention, why, and whether the impact differed for the learning of parents with and without higher education (HE) qualifications. I also sought to understand the role of the school in the intervention. The findings suggest that a school-initiated career intervention involving parents, in the form of family learning and community interaction, can build and enhance parents' capacity to be involved in and support the career development of their child: their knowledge and skills, parental self-efficacy and parental role-definition. However, the career intervention works differently for parents who have different levels of HE level attainment. Lower-educated parents seem less aware of the consequences of early educational decisions in their child's career and also have different needs for being involved in the career intervention compared to highereducated parents. Despite the impact of the career intervention on their parental capacity, lower-educated parents remain unsure as a parent of how to make use of gained information, guidance and support tools. Third-year (14-16-year-olds) parents' information and support needs are the greatest and they are open to changing their attitude to grant their child autonomy in managing their own career development. The study also finds that features of the present school system are major barriers to sustaining the intervention. Recommendations for policies and practice at school level are offered. A more focused public policy for parental involvement in career education and guidance in secondary schools could both improve the efficiency of the education system and combat social injustice.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2016 / Refer to document

Researchers have associated parent involvement in primary schools with the improvement of grades, attendance, and the decrease of negative social behaviors. Consequently, parent involvement has improved in many primary schools. However, in secondary schools, parent participation continues to be deficient, particularly among Latino and African American communities due to language barriers, low incomes, and lack of social networks. Research is needed on how parent participation affects student achievement in secondary schools with underserved populations. Social capital theory provided the conceptual framework to help determine if parent involvement could create parent-school relationships that would lead to improved student academic and behavioral outcomes in a predominantly minority urban charter high school. The quasi-experimental observational study used program data and pre and post archived student records provided over a 2-year period from a convenience sample of 83 continuously enrolled students. Epstein's framework was used to categorize types of parent involvement, which constituted the independent variables. T tests and chi-squared analyses were used to test the association between the independent variables and dependent variables. The study found a limited association between GPA and ELA grades and certain types of parent participation activities for students overall, but not for English Language Learners. Attendance was not found to be affected significantly and data were lacking on suspensions and expulsions. The results of this study informs administrators who seek to increase parent involvement in order to improve student achievement and decrease the drop-out rate in high schools serving at risk students.

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2015 / This study seeks to investigate the availability and effects of Information Communications Technology (ICT) on teachers’ ability to perform their duties in terms of teaching and of managing other curriculum-related activities in Groot Letaba Secondary Schools of the Mopani District, Limpopo Province. A quantitative research approach was applied to conduct this research and a structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from participants in twelve Groot Letaba Circuit secondary schools. Secondary data was collected from a variety of electronic and printed media and official documents from the Department of Basic Education’s records. The findings reveal that, with the exception of a TV, photocopier and laptop/desktop computer, there is a scarcity of ICT resources at schools for ICT integration, and that the teaching and curriculum administration functions of most teachers have been impacted negatively by a lack of ICT equipment and/or insufficient use of these ICT resources for those schools who have them. In addition, while some teachers had received some form of ICT training, it was evident that such training has had minimal impact on the abilities of teachers to use ICT in their teaching or their curriculum administration work. The findings also reveal that there is a host of factors that negatively influence teachers’ readiness for, andconfidence in, using ICT. These need to be dealt with by the various stakeholders including,and especially, the Department of Education and the school management and private partners.

It is imperative that educators understand the current state of heritage language education because many locations have experienced large increases in their heritage language populations in recent years. This study reports on the findings of a statewide survey of secondary Spanish teachers in Utah regarding the instruction of Spanish heritage language students. Their perspectives give insight into Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) education in both traditional Spanish foreign language and heritage language classes. The information gathered describes the availability of specialized courses, the prevalence of SHL students in Spanish classes, and these students' backgrounds. It also describes the characteristics of Spanish teachers in terms of their beliefs and attitudes related to teaching SHL students and their preparation for doing so. Other issues considered include placement, materials, creating specialized classes, instructional approaches and accommodations, areas of emphasis, and teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of both their traditional and specialized Spanish classes in meeting SHL students' needs. Results indicate that specialized classes are not yet widely available in Utah, many teachers lack training to work with SHL students, and SHL students come from a variety of backgrounds. In traditional Spanish classes, teachers use many approaches to accommodate SHL students, and their schools have a variety of experiences in attempting to create specialized classes. Teachers of specialized Spanish classes report that their schools vary in whether or not they offer classes that are differentiated by levels, and that their classes' principal objectives typically include literacy and grammar. These teachers also typically perceive that their Spanish classes are more effective in meeting SHL students' needs than do teachers of traditional Spanish classes. In addition, this study includes many recommendations to improve Spanish heritage language instruction.

This study investigated the relationship between students’ perceptions of learning environments and their attitude to science in Australian secondary schools. It focussed on teacher support and equity in the lower secondary school years of 8, 9, and 10. Teacher Support and Equity are two of the five scales of the What Is Happening In this Class (WIHIC) questionnaire. The scale to measure Attitude to Science was drawn from the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA). Using the statistical package SPSS, gender differences and year level differences were examined for each of the scales. Results showed that the females rated the scales of Teacher Support and Equity more highly than did the males but the males had a more positive attitude to science than did the females. The Year 9 students were considerably less positive than those from years 8 and 10 on all three scales. Of the three scales, Equity received the highest rating across all the groups, while Attitude scored the lowest. Regression analysis showed statistically significant and positive associations between Attitude to Science and the Teacher Support and Equity scales. These results were consistent when tested separately for the male and female students, and for each of the year levels. To gain insights into science teaching and learning from a teacher’s perspective, one primary teacher, two high school teachers, and one pre-service teacher were interviewed. Their comments were found to support the quantitative results in that they agreed that teacher actions or inactions within the learning environment would affect the students’ attitude to science. / They expressed the view that students needed to feel able to ask questions without criticism and receive the help they needed to progress, which corresponded to the Teacher Support scale. They also felt that it was not appropriate for teachers to favour any group of students over any other, thus supporting the concept of the Equity scale. The findings will assist teachers to develop strategies to address the problem of students’ declining attitude to science, a problem that is viewed as a potential threat to the economic future of Australia.