Dictionary use has played an important role in English learning. Researches showed that dictionary has facilitating effects on vocabulary learning, writing and reading comprehension. However, not all dictionary users can benefit from the use of dictionaries. In fact, dictionary use is not as easy as what we thought, but dictionary skills instruction does not receive much attention in spite of the prevalence of dictionaries. The purpose of this study is to carry out dictionary skills instruction in English classrooms and to assess the effects of dictionary skills instruction on reading comprehension of junior high EFL students in Taiwan. The subjects in the study were 40 second-year junior high students of two classes from Tainan Municipal Cheng-gong Junior High School. Each class was randomly assigned to the experiment group or the control group. The experiment group received dictionary skills instruction in English classes, and the control group did not. First, the 40 subjects were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their dictionary use backgrounds. Then, they were asked to take a pre-test on their dictionary skills and local reading comprehension. After the pre-test, the experimental group received dictionary skills instructions during each class time for about 20 minutes. The instruction lasted about 3 weeks in the beginning of the second semester. Finally, the 40 subjects were asked to take a post-test on their dictionary skills and local reading comprehension. The major findings of the current study were summarized as follws: 1. Generally speaking, among the ten dictionary skills investigated in the current study, junior high EFL students in Taiwan encounter problems more or less. The problems include understanding short forms, labels, and grammar codes of the dictionary, getting familiar with the alphabetical orders, making use of guide words, scanning a dictionary page, distinguishing a homograph, removing regular inflections, removing affixes of derivatives, scanning nearby entries or seeking in the addendum, recognizing compounds or idioms, and finding the right meaning of a polysemous. 2. In addition to these problems, the frequent application of ¡¥Kidrule strategy¡¦ made the situation worse. The participants were very likely to pick any Chinese fragments ¡¥near¡¦ the target words (or other words with similar spellings.) and misinterpret the fragments as the meanings of the target words. 3. Most of the above mentioned problems could be reduced after receiving dictionary skills instruction from their English teacher in a short time. Only the ability to distinguish a homograph can not be improved merely through the teacher¡¦s instruction in a short time. It seems that, to distinguish homographs, the participants¡¦ grammatical knowledge played a more important role than the dictionary skills instruction. As for the using of guide words and the removing of inflections, these two skills can be improved without the teacher¡¦s instruction. 4. According to the study, the use of dictionaries with proper dictionary skills instruction and enough practice could make a significant difference in the performance of local reading comprehension tasks.

The purpose of the present study is to design and examine the effects of a Friendship Making Skills Training with Board Game on friendship making skills of fourth grade elementary school students. An experimental design (2X2) with one training and one control group and two measurements (pre and post) was used in the present study. The participants were 18, fourth grade students from a state elementary school in Altindag province in Ankara. Data were collected by the Friendship Making Skills Assessment Scale (FMSAS) that was developed by the researcher to measure the friendship making skills of the students. The experimental group (n=9) received a nine-week friendship making skills training with board game, which was developed by the researcher, while the control group (n=9) did not receive any training. The experimental group met twice a week, for duration of 40 minutes for each session. Non-parametric analysis was conducted by using Mann-Whitney U Test and Wilcoxon Sign Tests. The results revealed that though there was no significant difference between experimental and control groups&rsquo / Friendship Making Skills Assessment Scale (FMSAS) pre-test and post-test scores, experimental group participants gained significantly higher total scores at the end of the study.

This is a thesis in Personal- och Arbetslivsprogrammet at Dalarna University with thepurpose of evaluating an education initiative in Borlänge kommun. The educationCoaching Leadership is an initiative for the managers in the organization to exercisegood leadership and the education also serves as an incentive for managers. Eightbusiness managers and one from the HR staff have completed the training. Out of thetotal 9 participants in the training, six of them took part in this evaluation. Based on thethesis aim and questions we wanted to explore participants' attitudes to the education,and what skills and abilities they have acquired on the basis of educational goals andcontent. To obtain results, a semi-structured interview methodology was used, this inorder to get answers to predefined questions while the participants would have theopportunity to give an as broad picture as possible.The result of this evaluation demonstrates that the participants are in favor of trainingand they've got the tools, knowledge and ability to apply coaching in their job role,which was included in the educational goals. For the CL-education to promote theorganization's development potential, the participants mentions that it takes time totrain and that employees must have the knowledge of the organization's educationaldirection. / Detta är ett examensarbete inom Personal- och Arbetslivsprogrammet vid HögskolanDalarna med syftet att utvärdera en utbildningssatsning inom Borlänge kommun.Utbildningen Coachande Ledarskap är en satsning för cheferna i organisationen för attutöva ett gott ledarskap, utbildningen fungerar även som ett incitament för cheferna.Åtta verksamhetschefer och en HR-medarbetare har genomfört utbildningen varav sexdeltagare deltog i denna utvärdering. Utifrån examensarbetets syfte ochfrågeställningar ville vi undersöka deltagarnas inställning till utbildningen samt vilkakunskaper och förmågor de erhållit utifrån utbildningens mål och innehåll. För att fåfram resultat användes en semistrukturerad intervjumetodik, detta för att kunna få svarpå fördefinierade frågor samtidigt som deltagarna skulle kunna få möjlighet att ge en såbred bild som möjligt.Resultatet av denna utvärdering påvisar att deltagarna är positivt inställda tillutbildningen och att de har fått de verktyg, kunskaper och förmåga att tillämpacoaching i sin befattning vilket inkluderades i utbildningens mål. För att CLutbildningenskall kunna främja organisationens utvecklingsmöjligheter, nämnerdeltagarna att det krävs tid för att träna och att medarbetare måste få vetskap omorganisationens satsning.

There are a number of different safety threats that children face in their lives. One infrequent, but highly dangerous situation a child can face is finding a firearm. Hundreds of children are injured or killed by firearms each year. Fortunately, behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) are effective approaches for teaching a number of different skills, including safety skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a teaching package for preschool teachers to learn to conduct BST to teach safety skills. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of this teaching package implemented by the teacher with seven preschoolers. Five children demonstrated the skills following in situ training and additional reinforcement or time out. Two children did not complete the study.

Previous research has demonstrated that behavioral skills training (BST) is effective in teaching social skills to individuals with developmental disabilities, but often the skills fail to generalize. One strategy to promote generalization has been the use of in situ training. In an effort to improve upon previous research BST plus in situ training was evaluated to teach greeting skills to adults living in a group home setting. The percentage of correct greeting responses was evaluated in a multiple baseline across participants design. Results showed that BST was only partially effective in teaching greeting skills to the participants. However, In-situ training resulted in a greater increase in correct greeting skills across all participants.

Educators, researchers, and government officials have concluded that today’s students, at all levels of the educational system, are lacking in the skills needed to ensure their success in the workplace. This awareness is driving a movement to change educational curricula to include skills training in the areas of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Collectively, these areas make up what are called “21st Century Skills.” The question becomes how to develop a program that effectively teaches these skills to students and how to get that program implemented into a usable curriculum. This thesis asserts that the direct study and application of the framework and specifically identified processes of project management (i.e. the key fundamental elements) is an effective methodology for building a foundation upon which to teach students “21st Century Skills”. Using the term “direct study” means that students are explicitly taught key terms, concepts, and processes of project management and then instructed to implement them in a project. The distinction being made here is the belief that, whereas some types of skills are better learned by simply doing, introduction to 21st century skills should be prefaced with some amount of theory and discussion and then reinforced with practical application. Several of the student project management programs discussed in Chapter 3 offer data that backs up this assertion. Additionally, a course outline for a proposed high school curriculum to teach students the key fundamental elements of project management is included in Appendix A. / text

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Through qualitative interviews with five teachers from three schools, two public schools within the same school management and a Waldorf school, the purpose of this study is to find out teachers' views on the phenomenon of life skills in the lower classes in school. What is the subject, how do teachers work with life skills, and should it be seen as a separate subject or integrated in all school subjects? The results show that the definition of life skills is a term with many interpretations. Two concepts that can be seen as the common denominators in the educators' views on the subject, however is, social and emotional skills. This is something that educators believe develop self-awareness and empathy in children and sees that as important as learning other subjects. However, different educators' perceptions of the life skills should be a subject or not. The methods that teachers mainly work with is SET, social and emotional training. Various calls, role-playing games, values clarification and EQ-bears are also essential elements. The teacher is seen as a great role model and her attitude is an important part in the work. / Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på pedagogers uppfattningar kring fenomenet livskunskap i de lägre klasserna. Vad innebär livskunskap, hur arbetar pedagogerna med denna samt bör det vara ett eget ämne eller integrerat i alla ämnen? För att få svar på dessa frågor har kvalitativa intervjuer gjorts med fem pedagoger från tre olika skolor, varav två kommunala inom samma rektorsområde samt en waldorfskola. Resultatet visar att livskunskap är ett mångfacetterat område. Två delar vilka kan ses som de gemensamma nämnarna i pedagogernas syn på ämnet är social och emotionell kompetens. Detta är något som pedagogerna tror utvecklar barnens självkännedom och empatiska förmåga samt ser som lika väsentligt som att lära sig övriga ämnen. Dock skiljer sig pedagogernas uppfattningar kring om livskunskap bör vara ett skolämne eller inte. De metoder som pedagogerna arbetar med är främst SET (social och emotionell träning). De arbetar även med olika samtal, värderingsövningar, rollspel och EQ-björnar. Läraren ses i arbetet som en stor förebild och dennes förhållningssätt är således en viktig del i arbetet.

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of mental challenge in individuals and is associated with many ocular disorders. One of these anomalies which is frequently present in this population is reduced accommodation and many studies have reported this. Accommodation is the ability of the crystalline lens in the eye to focus for objects at different distances. Prescribing bifocals could potentially help in correcting the resultant inaccurate focus, although this modality of treatment is not very commonly practiced. The impact of bifocals on reading and literacy skills (academic skills) as well as visual-perceptual skills in individuals with DS has not been studied previously. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of bifocals on the educational attainment of children and young adults with DS who have reduced accommodation and monitor their performance longitudinally. This is the first time that the impact of bifocal provision on the functional performance of children and young adults with DS has been studied. Also for the first time in children with DS, frequent measures of performance have been used to control for progression with time before and after bifocal prescription. A battery of tests comprising early literacy and visual-perceptual skills was administered before and after bifocal prescription. Accommodation and printing skills were also measured periodically. It was expected that the prescription of bifocals would help to improve near visual acuity and that the improved near acuity would result in educational achievements at school. Compliance with spectacle wear and school reports were also considered. A longitudinal observational study design was utilized with each child acting as his/her own control. Fourteen children and teenagers aged 8-18 with DS were recruited and underwent a basic optometric exam including measurement of their accommodative ability and a cycloplegic refraction. Seventy nine percent required a change in their spectacle prescription and were prescribed single vision (SV) lenses. One hundred percent had reduced accommodation both before and after new SV glasses were prescribed. Distance visual acuity did not significantly improve with SV lenses (p>0.05) but near visual acuity showed a significant improvement (p-=0.015) from 0.64±0.25 logMAR to 0.54±0.20 logMAR. A high prevalence of high refractive errors, including both hyperopia and myopia, was observed t andnear visual acuity even with a habitual correctionwas reduced compared to distance VA. A full battery of reading and visual-perceptual tests was administered with SV lenses. Thereafter the participants were followed for 6 months and monthly subtests (probes) of literacy skills and printing tasks were administered. These “probes” acted as immediate indicators of the child’s performance with his/her correction and change in performance over this time period was monitored. Over the 6 months the participants showed no noteworthy progression in their literacy skills. The group of participants performed at an age-equivalent between 3-10 years. The quality of printing formation in this population has been studied for the first time and showed no significant change over time. It was observed that some aspects of visual-perceptual and early literacy skills could be measured in all the participants. Chronological age and receptive vocabulary were significantly correlated with visual motor integration and Word Identification. Eighty five percent of the participants were prescribed bifocals with additions ranging from +1.00D to +3.50D at the 6th month after the provision of SV lenses. Post-bifocal measures of visual acuity, accommodation, visual-perceptual and early literacy skills were taken 1-2 weeks, and finally 5 months, after bifocal correction. Throughout the pre- and post-bifocal period, verbal compliance with spectacle wear was assessed through school and parental reports. The mean near logMAR VA improved with bifocals (p=0.007) compared to SV lenses. Accommodative accuracy improved with bifocals (less accommodative lag) compared to SV lenses (p=0.002) but there was no change in the accommodation exerted through the distance portion of the lens compared to SV lenses (p=0.423). There was a main effect of bifocals on sight words (p=0.013), Word Identification (p=0.047), and 2 out of 3 tests of visual perception (p<0.05). It was observed that bifocals have a positive impact on the children’s visual and school performance and this was supported by reports of improved performance in school for nine out of eleven individuals who were prescribed bifocals. The children adapted to bifocals more readily than the SV glasses, wearing them for the majority of their waking time. All the sessions of early literacy and visual-perceptual skills administered throughout the duration of the study were videotaped and were then analyzed by a naïve examiner. The time taken to perform each task was calculated and compared between the main single vision and bifocal visits. There was a significant decrease in the completion times on the test battery with bifocals for Word Identification (p=0.0015) and the Dolch sight words (p=0.048). All participants who completed the monthly probes took less time to complete the Dolch sight words (p= 0.025) and the number writing task (p=0.001) with bifocals. Similar results were not observed for the visual-perceptual tests. Performance in the monthly probes was compared before and after bifocal prescription in terms of the average raw scores and time taken. The rate of improvement in performance with bifocals was calculated by plotting the test scores against time and determing the regression lines. There was an overall significant improvement in the monthly probe scores of Word Identification (p=0.050), Dolch sight words (p=0.025) and the number test (p=0.023) with bifocals. The rate of progression in scores increased with bifocals for the Word Identification (p=0.008). Evidence of improved and faster performance with bifocals on some literacy skills was seen. It was concluded that bifocals, which result in improved near focusing, help individuals with DS to maximize their educational potential. It is suggested that more children and teenagers with DS will benefit from bifocal prescription, as they were observed to improve near visual acuity and enable better focusing for near. This thesis has provided a comprehensive analysis of the some tests of literacy, visual- perceptual and early printing skills before and after a bifocal prescription in a group of children and teenagers with Down syndrome. This is the first study to longitudinally monitor the educational impact of bifocals in a population with Down syndrome. Furthermore, the quality of printing formation in this population is a previously unstudied area and was studied longitudinally prior to and after bifocal intervention. The impact of bifocals on printing skills is also discussed. Another novel approach was that all the literacy, writing and visual-perceptual tasks sessions were videotaped to calculate the time taken to complete each task pre- and post-bifocals. This thesis is an addition to the existing literature on bifocal prescription in Down syndrome populations. From the findings in this thesis, the following recommendations are made in order to improve the standard of clinical eye care in this population. Measurement of accommodation should be considered a routine test in the clinical ocular examination for young individuals with DS, now that it is known that many of them present with accommodative deficits. When accommodation is found to be reduced, prescription of bifocals is indicated and should also become the standard of care in this population.