Modern businesses place a premium on employees' oral communication skills.  Business schools are meant to develop future employees and leaders with the requisite skills for success.  Industry representatives, however, consistently express dissatisfaction with business graduates' oral communication skills.  There appears to remain a gap between business students' oral skills and marketplace demands. Research demonstrates that among many possible factors, oral communication apprehension (OCA) appears a significant contributor to ineffective oral communication. OCA may also significantly impede oral skills development by impacting the core aspects of spiral curriculum, an educational theory aimed at the processes of higher education.  The PRCA-24, the most utilized OCA measurement tool, assesses individuals' trait-like OCA levels across common oral communication settings (e.g., public speaking, interpersonal, group, and meeting) as well as their context (e.g., state) OCA levels within each setting.  This study examines whether OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables and therefore operates as a state.  If so, acquiring business students' situational OCA may benefit educators as complimentary data to PRCA-24 assessments. This study also examines business and non-business undergraduates' self-reported OCA levels across general public speaking, interpersonal, and group/meeting oral communication settings as well as those in respective high (and low) stakes situations meant to reflect the stress-inducing scenarios they will likely experience on the job after graduation.  Results indicate OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables (e.g., stakes).  Results are discussed in the framework of providing more relevant measurements of business students' OCA levels to help educators fill the oral skills gap. / Master of Arts

Teacher attrition affects the quality of services for students in K-12 education and poses an ongoing challenge for educational leaders, especially in the area of special education. Special educators leave the profession at higher rates than general educators. As a growing state, Florida has identified special education as a critical teacher shortage area. This study evaluated the Skills, Tips, and Routines for Teacher Success (STARTS) initiative of Volusia County Schools, a large district in east central Florida. Implemented in 2001 for new ESE teachers, STARTS offered four days of training in policies and procedures, curriculum, and classroom management. Research questions addressed whether STARTS influenced retention of new ESE teachers. Because the literature cited age, ethnicity, special education program area, and grade level assignment as factors in attrition, these were assessed as well. Incorporating employment histories from school year (SY) 1998-1999 through SY 2003-2004, the study evaluated 771 new ESE teachers. Of these, 422 teachers did not participate in STARTS; 349 teachers participated in STARTS. The study reported whether they returned the following year to an ESE position, a general education position, or exited the school system. Contingency table analysis with crosstabulation was used to evaluate statistical relationships among variables. Effect size was assessed with Cramer's V and the contingency coefficient. All analyses were conducted with an alpha of .05. A significant difference existed between the retention rates of new ESE teachers hired before STARTS and during STARTS. In 2000-2001, the school year preceding STARTS, 54.3% of new ESE teachers returned to an ESE position whereas in the first year of STARTS, 71.1% of new ESE teachers returned to an ESE position, an increase of 51%. By SY 2003-2004, 89.7% of new ESE teachers returned to an ESE position, an increase of 65% from the SY 2000-2001 baseline.

This paper titled "Evaluation of the lower secondary education students and its influence on learning motivation" is focused on the most frequently used methods of evaluation at today's schools. It considers not only evaluation methods complying with students but also relation between evaluation and learning motivation. It includes an analysis of current situation of students' self-evaluation. The whole paper is divided into a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical part portrays the core essence and the importance of the evaluation, its principles and qualities. It describes some important concepts, such as a pedagogical evaluation and its legal framework. It identifies function and techniques of the evaluation from the school legislation point of view and at the same time it illustrates the current tendencies in its development. It maps some types, forms and evaluation function. It explains in more details motivational function of evaluation as well as self-evaluation. The empirical part deals with a detailed research which is dedicated to exploration of the most frequently used pedagogical evaluation methods at the chosen schools. Simultaneously, it investigates which evaluation methods are preferred by students themselves and whether evaluation somehow impacts their motivation level...

Esta tese tem por objetivo descrever, analisar e interpretar as práticas de leitura literária de adolescentes que frequentam a escola. Para tanto, optou-se por uma pesquisa de caráter exploratório realizada com alunos do primeiro ano do ensino médio matutino de quatro escolas paulistas, duas da rede pública estadual e duas da rede particular, três delas situadas na capital e uma delas pertencente à região metropolitana da cidade de São Paulo. A coleta dos dados, realizada nos estabelecimentos escolares no segundo semestre de 2011, se deu por meio da articulação entre questionários com perguntas fechadas e abertas respondidas por 289 alunos e entrevistas realizadas com 63 desses alunos em aproximadamente cinco horas de gravações. A análise dos dados evidencia: 1) o forte apelo da cultura de massa presente nas práticas de leitura literária de best-sellers que os adolescentes de todos os extratos sociais escolhem fazer por conta própria; 2) a tensão existente entre os estudantes e a leitura dos livros requisitados pela escola causada pela obrigatoriedade, pelas dificuldades encontradas de ordem linguística ou de intelecção e pelos prazos e avaliações implicados nessas leituras; 3) a desconsideração, por parte dos agentes escolares, das leituras que os alunos praticam espontaneamente; 4) a demanda por uma mediação adequada para a leitura dos livros indicados pela escola por parte dos alunos; 5) a influência do nível socioeconômico e de formação das famílias de origem dos estudantes no que tange aos espaços e tempos disponíveis para a prática da leitura e ao acesso tanto no que refere ao objeto livro de modo geral, como à literatura considerada legítima dentro do campo literário. Observa-se, assim, o modo como a escola interfere na formação de leitores literários, tendo sido possível vislumbrar caminhos para o ensino da leitura literária para os adolescentes de hoje. A análise dos dados relativos ao que prende esses jovens nas leituras que praticam por conta própria e ao que os distancia da leitura dos clássicos escolares foi realizada à luz de conceitos da Psicologia Social (S. Moscovici); da História Cultural do Livro e da Leitura (R. Chartier); da Sociologia da Leitura (P. Bourdieu, B. Lahire, C. Baudelot, M. Cartier e C. Detrez); da crítica literária (H. R. Jauss, W. Iser, U. Eco, S. Fish, J. P. Paes, M. Sodré e S. Reimão); e das pesquisas sobre ensino de literatura e de leitura literária (J. M. Goulemot, A. Rouxel, V. Jouve, M. Butlen, M. T. F. Rocco, A. Vieira, C. Leahy-Dios, W. R. Cereja, M. Z. Versiani Machado, M. P. Pinheiro, N. L. Rezende, entre outros). / This dissertation aims at describing, analyzing and interpreting the literary reading practices by adolescents that are registered in schools. Therefore, an exploratory research was conducted with students from the first year of Ensino Médio High School in four schools in São Paulo, two at the public system and two private, three of them in the capital and one in the metropolitan area of São Paulo. The data collection was conducted in the schools during the second semester of 2011 and it was arranged through open-ended and closed questionnaires answered by 289 students and interviews made with 63 of those students including approximately five hours of recordings. The data analysis shows: 1) the strong appeal of mass culture present in the best-sellers in which adolescents from all social extracts choose to read on their own; 2) the existing tension between the students and the required reads demanded by the school caused by the obligation, the linguistic and comprehension difficulties and the deadlines and evaluations implied by these reading; 3) the disregard from the school agents of the readings made by the students; 4) the need of an adequate mediation for the reading of the required books for the students; 5) the influence of the socioeconomic level and the students families backgrounds regarding the spaces and time available for the practice of reading and access both as for the book as an object in general and as for what is considered legitimate literature inside the literary field. It is observed, thus, the way in which the school interferes in the training of readers, making it possible to see ways for the teaching of literary reading for the adolescents today. The analysis of the data related to what keeps the teenagers reading on their own and to what distances them from reading the school classics was carried out in the light of the concepts of social psychology (S. Moscovici); cultural history of the book and reading (R. Chartier); sociology of reading (P. Bourdieu, B. Lahire, C. Baudelot, M. Cartier and C. Detrez); literary criticism (H. R. Jauss, W. Iser, U. Eco, S. Fish, J. P. Paes, M. Sodré e S. Reimão); and research on the teaching of literature and literary reading (J. M. Goulemot, A. Rouxel, V. Jouve, M. Butlen, M. T. F. Rocco, A. Vieira, C. Leahy-Dios, W. R. Cereja, M. Z. Versiani Machado, M. P. Pinheiro, N. L. Rezende and others).

Esta tese tem por objetivo descrever, analisar e interpretar as práticas de leitura literária de adolescentes que frequentam a escola. Para tanto, optou-se por uma pesquisa de caráter exploratório realizada com alunos do primeiro ano do ensino médio matutino de quatro escolas paulistas, duas da rede pública estadual e duas da rede particular, três delas situadas na capital e uma delas pertencente à região metropolitana da cidade de São Paulo. A coleta dos dados, realizada nos estabelecimentos escolares no segundo semestre de 2011, se deu por meio da articulação entre questionários com perguntas fechadas e abertas respondidas por 289 alunos e entrevistas realizadas com 63 desses alunos em aproximadamente cinco horas de gravações. A análise dos dados evidencia: 1) o forte apelo da cultura de massa presente nas práticas de leitura literária de best-sellers que os adolescentes de todos os extratos sociais escolhem fazer por conta própria; 2) a tensão existente entre os estudantes e a leitura dos livros requisitados pela escola causada pela obrigatoriedade, pelas dificuldades encontradas de ordem linguística ou de intelecção e pelos prazos e avaliações implicados nessas leituras; 3) a desconsideração, por parte dos agentes escolares, das leituras que os alunos praticam espontaneamente; 4) a demanda por uma mediação adequada para a leitura dos livros indicados pela escola por parte dos alunos; 5) a influência do nível socioeconômico e de formação das famílias de origem dos estudantes no que tange aos espaços e tempos disponíveis para a prática da leitura e ao acesso tanto no que refere ao objeto livro de modo geral, como à literatura considerada legítima dentro do campo literário. Observa-se, assim, o modo como a escola interfere na formação de leitores literários, tendo sido possível vislumbrar caminhos para o ensino da leitura literária para os adolescentes de hoje. A análise dos dados relativos ao que prende esses jovens nas leituras que praticam por conta própria e ao que os distancia da leitura dos clássicos escolares foi realizada à luz de conceitos da Psicologia Social (S. Moscovici); da História Cultural do Livro e da Leitura (R. Chartier); da Sociologia da Leitura (P. Bourdieu, B. Lahire, C. Baudelot, M. Cartier e C. Detrez); da crítica literária (H. R. Jauss, W. Iser, U. Eco, S. Fish, J. P. Paes, M. Sodré e S. Reimão); e das pesquisas sobre ensino de literatura e de leitura literária (J. M. Goulemot, A. Rouxel, V. Jouve, M. Butlen, M. T. F. Rocco, A. Vieira, C. Leahy-Dios, W. R. Cereja, M. Z. Versiani Machado, M. P. Pinheiro, N. L. Rezende, entre outros). / This dissertation aims at describing, analyzing and interpreting the literary reading practices by adolescents that are registered in schools. Therefore, an exploratory research was conducted with students from the first year of Ensino Médio High School in four schools in São Paulo, two at the public system and two private, three of them in the capital and one in the metropolitan area of São Paulo. The data collection was conducted in the schools during the second semester of 2011 and it was arranged through open-ended and closed questionnaires answered by 289 students and interviews made with 63 of those students including approximately five hours of recordings. The data analysis shows: 1) the strong appeal of mass culture present in the best-sellers in which adolescents from all social extracts choose to read on their own; 2) the existing tension between the students and the required reads demanded by the school caused by the obligation, the linguistic and comprehension difficulties and the deadlines and evaluations implied by these reading; 3) the disregard from the school agents of the readings made by the students; 4) the need of an adequate mediation for the reading of the required books for the students; 5) the influence of the socioeconomic level and the students families backgrounds regarding the spaces and time available for the practice of reading and access both as for the book as an object in general and as for what is considered legitimate literature inside the literary field. It is observed, thus, the way in which the school interferes in the training of readers, making it possible to see ways for the teaching of literary reading for the adolescents today. The analysis of the data related to what keeps the teenagers reading on their own and to what distances them from reading the school classics was carried out in the light of the concepts of social psychology (S. Moscovici); cultural history of the book and reading (R. Chartier); sociology of reading (P. Bourdieu, B. Lahire, C. Baudelot, M. Cartier and C. Detrez); literary criticism (H. R. Jauss, W. Iser, U. Eco, S. Fish, J. P. Paes, M. Sodré e S. Reimão); and research on the teaching of literature and literary reading (J. M. Goulemot, A. Rouxel, V. Jouve, M. Butlen, M. T. F. Rocco, A. Vieira, C. Leahy-Dios, W. R. Cereja, M. Z. Versiani Machado, M. P. Pinheiro, N. L. Rezende and others).

Tinnitus has the potential to influence a wide range of routine and important activities in a person's life. It can impair sleep, communication, concentration, and in severe cases can be affected by depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. Perhaps more important, tinnitus may influence the patient's psychological state; its bidirectional effects, although well established, often challenge patients and providers across a variety of clinical settings. Management of tinnitus requires audiologists to be adept at communicating and supporting coping strategies that may include, but should not be limited to, patient-centered counseling and delivery of sound therapy or hearing aids. In the short term, patient care may benefit from interprofessional collaborations and effective referral networks. In the long term, the inclusion of tinnitus clinic rotations, classes, and interprofessional opportunities for students in Audiology programs should provide AuD students the experiences and competencies to provide for patients with tinnitus.

Submitted by REGINA PINTO (reginafp@ufba.br) on 2015-03-18T19:46:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO REGINA VERSÃO FINAL PDF.PDF: 1068122 bytes, checksum: da175005751c4dc630d1e0987d302b3c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Urania Araujo (urania@ufba.br) on 2015-03-27T18:09:21Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO REGINA VERSÃO FINAL PDF.PDF: 1068122 bytes, checksum: da175005751c4dc630d1e0987d302b3c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-27T18:09:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO REGINA VERSÃO FINAL PDF.PDF: 1068122 bytes, checksum: da175005751c4dc630d1e0987d302b3c (MD5) / Esta dissertação investiga a contribuição da biblioteca escolar para a formação do aluno do ensino básico, visando a sua autonomia para uso da biblioteca universitária. Como espaço de aprendizagem, a biblioteca da escola deve estar sustentada na proposta pedagógica que norteia a prática desenvolvida nessa unidade de informação. O planejamento dessa proposta está centrado nas ações e atividades que a biblioteca desenvolve junto com os professores para a formação desse aluno. O universo da pesquisa abrange a Universidade Federal da Bahia; a população-alvo são os concluintes dos cursos de biblioteconomia e pedagogia, que poderão atuar em bibliotecas escolares e em salas de aula, respectivamente, tendo a biblioteca como espaço de aprendizagem, na amostragem foram selecionados 14 concluintes do curso de biblioteconomia e 48 do curso de pedagogia de 2011.2. O instrumento de pesquisa usado para a coleta de dados foi o questionário semiestruturado. Para os procedimentos da análise dos dados, optou-se pelo método de análise de conteúdo por permitir a interpretação das respostas ao questionário, através da categorização desses dados. Assim, foram criadas 5 categorias: 1) Biblioteca na escola; 2) Biblioteca escolar e formação do aluno-usuário; 3) Frequência à biblioteca escolar para autonomia na biblioteca universitária; 4) Ações da biblioteca escolar para autonomia do aluno na biblioteca universitária; 5) Trabalho e/ou estágio no ambiente escolar. Nas categorias 1, 2 e 5 foram estabelecidas subcategorias para aprimorar a interpretação dos conteúdos. Na análise, buscou-se identificar a existência da biblioteca escolar no período da educação básica dos sujeitos da pesquisa, observando a que rede de ensino a escola pertencia – pública ou particular –, com o interesse de confirmar a presença da biblioteca nessas instituições de ensino e analisar as ações desenvolvidas para a formação desses sujeitos, bem como sua contribuição para a autonomia do aluno na biblioteca universitária. Os resultados apresentados demonstram uma incipiente contribuição da biblioteca escolar na formação do aluno, fato que se reflete na sua restrita autonomia para o uso da biblioteca universitária. / ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates the contribution of school libraries in students education background, aiming their autonomy to the use of the university library. As a learning center, the school library must be considered in the pedagogical proposal that leads the developed practicum in this information unity. This proposal planning is centered in actions and activities that library and teachers develop towards the students education background. The research universe includes the Federal University of Bahia State; the target-population are librarianship and pedagogy seniors, who would be able to work, respectively, in school libraries and classrooms , focusing on library as a learning Center, as for the research sampling, it was selected 14 seniors of librarianship major and 48 of pedagogy major graduating in 2011.2. The used research instrument for data collecting was the semi structured questionnaire. For the data analysis proceedings, It was chosen the analysis of content thus it permits the questionnaire answers to be interpreted through data categorizing. So 5 categories were created: 1) Library in school 2) School library and the library-user student education background 3) Library attendance towards autonomy in the university library 4) School library actions towards the students autonomy in the university library 5) Working and/or interning in the school environment. In categories 1, 2 and 5, subcategories were established for majoring the interpretation of contents. In the analysis, it was aimed to identify the school library presence in the interviewee’s basic education, considering to which school system he/she came from- whether the public one or the private one-, with the goal of confirming the library presence in those institutions and analyzing the developed actions for the education background of those people, as well as its contribution for the student’s autonomy in the university library. The showed results demonstrate an incipient school library contribution for the student’s education background, which is reflect of the restrict autonomy for the use of university libraries.

No description available.

Domestic violence and sexual assault (DVSA) are major health issues on which medical schools across the country fail to adequately educate future physicians. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in three women and one in four men will be a victim of intimate partner violence in their lifetime. The same source reports that one in five women are raped in their lifetime. Because of the widespread nature of these societal problems, the aim of this research was to evaluate the benefit of providing medical students with DVSA education. First and second year medical students at the Quillen College of Medicine attended a mandatory educational lecture on DVSA. We designed a survey to assess the attitudes and knowledge surrounding patient care for DVSA survivors. Students volunteered to complete the same survey before and after the lecture. The surveys were evaluated for statistical significance. A paired t-test showed that the 128 students who took the survey reported a significant increase in comfort level on interviewing, performing a physical exam, and explaining resources to victims of DVSA. Questions regarding knowledge of who should lead exams and the role of emergency contraception in cases of sexual assault also showed statistically significant change by paired t-test analysis following the educational intervention. These findings suggest that medical schools should integrate curriculum on DVSA survivor support in order to increase comfort and knowledge of future physicians in addressing these sensitive topics.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of the Equals mathematics curriculum had any statistically significant impact on the 2012 Florida Alternate Assessment mathematics scores of students with disabilities in six Florida school districts when comparing the scores of those who received mathematics instruction via the curriculum to the scores of students with disabilities in six other Florida school districts who did not receive mathematics instruction via the curriculum. This study further examined the perceptions of and attitudes about the Equals mathematics curriculum that exist among Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teachers who teach mathematics to students with disabilities participating in the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA). The study utilized a mixed methods approach to research that included both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The quantitative portion of the study was conducted using archival data obtained from the 2012 Florida Alternate Assessment Data Book. A Mann-Whitney U Test was conducted through SPSS at a significance level of α = .05 to test for relative differences in performance between the treatment (Equals) and control (non-Equals) groups. Based on the results, the Equals mathematics curriculum did not have any statistically significant impact on the 2012 FAA mathematics scores for students with disabilities in the treatment school districts at any of the tested grade groupings (elementary, middle, high, and overall). The qualitative method of data collection utilized an online teacher survey. The results were analyzed using the researcher-coded results and assisted through summary iv tables provided by Survey-Monkey. Differences and similarities among the survey question responses were explored. Common terms and themes were noted and compared. Data triangulation was used by surveying teachers from five of the six treatment counties. This promoted generalizability for study replication since the treatment counties train teachers and utilize the curriculum in different manners. The results of the qualitative analysis indicated that many teachers were not satisfied with the training they received and felt overwhelmed by the curriculum itself, specifically in the areas of lesson planning and delivery. Based on the quantitative and qualitative results, it was concluded that further research needs to be completed to determine the effectiveness of the Equals mathematics curriculum when used with true fidelity.