Submitted by Mariana Dornelles Vargas (marianadv) on 2015-05-04T13:58:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 crencas_mudancas.pdf: 344516 bytes, checksum: 152c4ea6768b634922b21fed0a26fd3c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-04T13:58:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 crencas_mudancas.pdf: 344516 bytes, checksum: 152c4ea6768b634922b21fed0a26fd3c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Nenhuma / Esta pesquisa analisa as crenças que alunos em formação possuem em relação ao ensino e aprendizagem de Língua Inglesa ao iniciarem o período das práticas curriculares, bem como as alterações que podem ocorrer nesse processo. O tema tem sido estudado e discutido por vários pesquisadores preocupados com as concepções que se transportam de um indivíduo a outro no processo de ensinar e aprender uma Língua Estrangeira, uma vez que criamos nossas concepções na interação com o outro. Assim, crença é toda a ideia que uma pessoa toma por verdadeiro, influenciando suas ações. E a partir de princípios sociointeracionais orientados pelas proposições de Vygotsky (1998), Lantolf (2000) e Mitchell e Myles (2004), e considerações sobre crenças de Barcelos (2004 e 2007), bem como outros resultados de pesquisas nessa área (ALVAREZ, 2007; COELHO, 2006 e SILVA 2006), é que se construiu o aporte teórico que guiou este trabalho. Os dados foram levantados através de um estudo qualitativo, envolvendo questionário, observação e gravação das aulas de quatro alunos-professores, selecionados aleatoriamente, em período de estágio, e ainda foram analisados os planos de aula e relatórios. Finalmente, por meio de uma triangulação de informações foram identificadas as concepções que permaneceram iguais durante esse processo e as que sofreram algum tipo de alteração. Os resultados indicam que mesmo que os alunos entendam ou reconheçam as considerações teóricas aprendidas ao longo do curso, suas ações nem sempre as acompanham. / This study analyses the beliefs that training students have about teaching and learning English language when they start the period of curricular practices, as well as the changes that may occur in this process. The subject has been studied and discussed by many researchers concerned with the concepts that are transferred from one person to another in the process of teaching and learning a foreign language, since we create our ideas in interaction with others. So belief is the whole idea that a person takes to be true, influencing his actions. And based on interactionist principles guided by the propositions of Vygotsky (1998), Lantolf (2000) and Mitchell and Myles (2004), and considerations regarding the beliefs of Barcelos (2004 and 2007) and other results of research in this area (Alvarez, 2007, Coelho, 2006 and Silva 2006), the theoretical framework that guided this work was built. The data were collected through a qualitative study involving questionnaire, observation and recording classes from four students, and also the lesson plans and reports are analyzed. Finally, through triangulation of information were identified concepts that remain the same during this process and those who suffered some type of change. The results indicate that even if students understand or recognize the theoretical considerations learned along the way, their actions do not always follow them.

Social applications such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have driven the public growth of Web 2.0. Universities and colleges are using social media to reach student prospects, keep contact with current students and alumni, and provide a mechanism for group collaboration and interaction in the classroom. Higher education institutions are influenced by current social media trends, and figuring out how to effectively interact with various constituencies within the social media environment can be challenging. In this study, a group of higher education students were surveyed about their social media practices and preferences with a focus on education-related activities. The goal of the research was to determine what aspects of social media use were most effective in reaching the student constituency based on social media usage patterns. The results led to significant observations that aid in the development of social media tactics to reach university and college students.

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Teacher Attribution Measure for Early Elementary (TAM-EE), a measure adapted from the Preschool Teaching Attributions (PTA) measure, to assess the challenging behavior attributions of early elementary teachers. Like the PTA, the TAM-EE uses a series of student-specific behavior scenarios as prompts for teachers who then rate statements aligned with dimensions of attribution theory on a 6-point scale. A sample of 41 teachers completed the TAM-EE on 79 students in grades K-3 screened for risk of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Teachers also completed reports of student behavior, self-efficacy, and perceptions of the student-teacher relationship. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the two-factor model (Causal and Responsibility) used for the PTA was best fit. Combined with significant correlations with measures assessing teacher perceptions and practices, this study provides both an initial psychometric evaluation of the TAM-EE and additional support for the validity and reliability of the PTA.

This thesis will use data derived from in-depth interviews, historical research, and environmental justice literature to examine the academic achievement of students living in the Community of Lennox. Specifically, this thesis will explore the intersectionality between social environments and academic resources to analyze how it supports or deters students from obtaining a higher degree education.

The present study aimed to investigate the self-efficacy levels of prospective teachers and to examine whether attitude towards teaching, competency in subject matter, mentor teacher - student teacher relationship and being a graduate of Anatolian Teacher High School (ATHS) predicted prospective teachers&rsquo / self-efficacy for teaching regarding classroom management, student engagement and instructional strategies. Participants of the study were 179 fourth year prospective teachers of English studying at the Foreign Language Education Departments of Gazi University, Middle East Technical University and Hacettepe University. Data was collected through (1) Teachers&rsquo / Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran &amp / Hoy, 2001), (2) Relationship with Your Mentor Scale (Capa &amp / Loadman, 2004), (3) Scale for Students&rsquo / Attitudes Towards the Teaching Profession (Semerci, 1999). Data analysis was conducted using the statistical software SPSS 15.0. Results of the study revealed that the prospective teachers of English feel quite positive about teaching when their self-efficacy composite scores were considered. In relation to the self efficacy levels of prospective teachers regarding classroom management, student engagement and instructional strategies, the results of this study showed that pre-service teachers of English believe that they are more efficacious in applying instructional strategies than they are in engaging students and they are found to be the least efficacious in managing the classroom. According to the results attained through hierarchical regression analyses, attitude towards teaching variable significantly predicted self-efficacy composite scores, efficacy scores for student engagement, classroom management and instructional strategies. Self-efficacy composite scores and efficacy for instructional strategies were significantly predicted by the competency in subject matter variable. Mentor teacher-student teacher relationship variable predicted only the efficacy for student engagement scores and finally the findings indicated that being a graduate of ATHSs was a significant predictor for neither efficacy belief composite scores nor the subscales. Findings were discussed in the light of the literature and implications of the findings and recommendations for practice and further research have been presented.

This study reports a reflection upon the experience of a multiyear elementary school learning community designed for improved teaching and learning. The exploration uses interview data to describe the perceptions and reflections of the principal and teachers directly engaged in this project of educational reform. The goal of this process is to gain a deeper understanding of the experience and to determine to what factors the participants attribute the outcomes of this project. Through an auto-ethnographic reflective critical practice inquiry and extended interviews, this study describes the context and environment of this learning community and how the participants reflect on their experiences in that community. It also provided an opportunity for participants to review and explain their perceptions and attributions regarding both the measured and the unintended outcomes associated with this learning community project. Results from teacher and administrator reflections indicate that the strength of a multiyear learning community is the positive relationships that they foster and the institutional consistency for both parents and students. Evidence from the interviews indicates that teachers' expectations for outcomes of multiyear learning communities may differ from those of administrators, and be less concerned with improved achievement measures than other, relationship-focused outcomes. A key implication of this study is that, although the principal players involved in the creation and implementation of this learning community use terms that describe or refer to the overall experience as very successful, test scores did not respond significantly to this innovation. This suggests that comprehensive plans need to be developed in advance to assure appropriate and accurate methods of measuring success in innovations such as this.

Bien que les facteurs de risque associés au faible engagement scolaire aient été largement étudiés, les mécanismes qui conduisent les enfants moins bien préparés pour l’école à se désengager dès le début de leur parcours scolaire demeurent méconnus. Une meilleure compréhension de ces mécanismes permettrait de prévenir le désinvestissement de ces élèves et favoriserait leur persévérance scolaire. Étant donné l’importance des relations sociales en début de scolarisation, la présente étude a pour objectif d’examiner dans quelle mesure la relation que l’élève entretient avec son enseignant en première année peut expliquer le lien entre la préparation à l’école en maternelle et l’engagement scolaire en deuxième année. Des régressions linéaires multiples hiérarchiques réalisées sur un échantillon de 1492 élèves québécois ont permis de vérifier cette hypothèse. Les résultats obtenus confirment que la relation maître-élève chaleureuse et conflictuelle permet d’expliquer le niveau d’engagement des élèves qui présentent une faible préparation à l’école lorsqu’ils entrent à la maternelle. Les implications pour la recherche et la pratique des intervenants en milieu scolaire seront discutées. / Risk factors associated with lower school engagement have been widely studied. Children entering school with lower levels of school readiness tend to be less engaged in school activities. However, the mechanisms leading those children to early disengagement are yet to be discovered. Better understanding these mechanisms could help prevent disengagement and school dropout. Social relationships are known to be of high importance, especially at school entry. Therefore, the present study will test if the teacher-student relationship in grade 1 can explain the association between school readiness in kindergarten and school engagement in grade 2. This hypothesis was verified using multiple linear regressions and a sample of 1492 French-canadian pupils. Results show that children’s readiness for school in kindergarten can predict their level of school engagement two years later. Furthermore, conflict and closeness in the teacher-student relationship are mechanisms which can explain this predictive relationship. Implications for further research and school intervention will be discussed.

Alongside the international consensus about the importance of mathematical competencies in today’s knowledge society, the awareness about children’s and adult’s mathematical anxiety has increased. Within this, relatively limited, field of research it has moreover been revealed that the level of mathematical anxiety is considerably higher among students within teacher education programs compared to other university students. Furthermore, the studies suggest that the anxiety of prospective teachers may influence their performance in the classroom and in turn their pupils’ perception of mathematics. In the case of Sweden, the PISA 2012 revealed a significant increase of mathematical anxiety among Swedish 15 year old pupils in the past ten years. With this background, the purpose of this study is to investigate prospective teachers’ feelings and experiences towards the subject of mathematics where the aim is to gain a deeper understanding about negative feelings, such as mathematical anxiety. Based on a qualitative research approach, including a survey with around 100 Swedish student teachers, interviews and a focus group session with a smaller group, the findings of the study have shown that the majority of the participants have in different ways experienced negative feelings towards mathematics. With support in poststructuralist theories, where emotions are viewed as a social construction, the study indicates that feelings emerge when students position themselves, or become positioned, within discursive practices. The concept of subjectivity was further used to gain a deeper understanding of students’ process in becoming a teacher. / Vid sidan av den internationella konsensusen där vikten av matematik lyfts i dagens kunskapssamhälle, har medvetenheten kring matematisk ångest bland barn och vuxna ökat. Inom detta, relativt begränsade, forskningsområde har studier visat på att matematisk ångest är avsevärt större bland lärarstudenter i jämförelse med andra universitetsstuderande. Dessutom har studier påvisat att denna ångest kan påverka lärares framförande i klassrummet och i sin tur sina elevers uppfattning av matematik. I Sverige har resultaten från PISA 2012 undersökningen visat att svenska 15-åriga elevers ångest gentemot matematik har ökat signifikant de senaste tio åren. Med denna bakgrund är syftet med denna studie att undersöka en grupp lärarstudenters känslor och erfarenheter kring matematik, med målet att få en djupare förståelse för negativa känslor, så som matematisk ångest. Utifrån kvalitativa forskningsansatser, där en enkätundersökning med drygt 100 svenska lärarstudenter, intervjuer samt en fokusgrupp med en mindre grupp studenter har genomförts, visar resultaten att majoriteten av undersökningspersonerna har upplevt negativa känslor av olika slag gentemot matematik. Med stöd i poststrukturella teorier, där känslor betraktas som en social konstruktion, påvisar studien indikationer på att känslor uppkommer när studenter positionerar sig, eller blir positionerade, inom diskursiva praktiker. Subjektivitet konceptet har därtill varit väsentlig för en djupare förståelse för studenternas process mot att bli lärare.

Les élèves aux problèmes de comportements externalisés comme l'opposition éprouvent généralement de la difficulté à s’engager dans leurs apprentissages (Janosz, 2000). Or, un faible engagement scolaire peut générer des problèmes d’ordre académique et mener au décrochage. Toutefois, certains facteurs environnementaux tels que la relation maître-élève semblent influer sur l’investissement des élèves dans les activités scolaires. La présente étude vise à examiner le lien entre le degré d'opposition d'élèves du 2e cycle du primaire et leur engagement comportemental et affectif en français. Elle tente aussi de vérifier si la chaleur ou les conflits présents dans la relation maître-élève agissent comme facteurs de protection ou comme facteurs aggravants face à l’engagement scolaire des élèves oppositionnels. Finalement, cette étude s’intéresse à l’effet différentiel de la relation maître-élève sur l’engagement scolaire des garçons et des filles. Des régressions linéaires multiples hiérarchiques effectuées sur 385 élèves québécois ont permis d’atteindre ces objectifs. Les résultats obtenus révèlent que la chaleur n’agit pas à titre de facteur de protection en ce qui a trait à l’engagement comportemental des élèves oppositionnels, mais qu’elle est bénéfique pour l’engagement comportemental des filles. Les résultats confirment également l’effet aggravant des conflits sur l’engagement comportemental des élèves oppositionnels. Finalement, cette étude indique que les conflits élèves-enseignants sont nuisibles pour l’engagement affectif des garçons. Les implications de ces résultats pour la recherche et pour l’intervention en psychoéducation seront présentées. / Students who display externalized behavior problems such as opposition generally find it difficult to engage themselves in their learning (Janosz, 2000). Yet, a lack of engagement toward school can result in diverse academic problems and eventually lead to drop-out. However, certain school-related factors such as the student-teacher relationship might influence students’ investment in academic activities. The current study has three objectives. First, it attempts to examine the link between the degree of opposition of 3rd and 4th grade students’, and their behavioral and emotional engagement toward French activities. Then, it tries to verify whether the level of closeness or conflict in the student-teacher relationship acts as a protective or aggravating factor regarding the school engagement of oppositional students. Finally, the current study is interested in the differential effect of the student-teacher relationship on the school engagement of boys and girls. Hierarchical linear regressions were conducted on a sample of 385 students from Quebec in order to reach the study’s objectives. Findings reveal that closeness does not act as a protective factor for the behavioral engagement of oppositional students, but that it is beneficial for girls’ behavioral engagement. Results also confirm that conflict is an aggravating factor for the behavioral engagement of oppositional students. Finally, this study indicates that student-teacher conflict is harmful for boys’ emotional engagement. Implications of these findings for research and for intervention will be discussed.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the factors affecting mathematical literacy of 15-year-old students in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) across different cultural settings. The present study was conducted across three countries. These countries are Brazil, Japan and Norway. The countries were selected on the basis of their rankings in PISA 2000 study. Japan represented a high performing country with an average score of 557, Norway represented an average performing country with an average score of 499, and Brazil represented a low performing country with an average score of 334. The study explored how mathematical literacy is stimulated by predictors related to the students, the families and the school. A separate factor analysis was carried out for each questionnaire such as student questionnaire and cross curricular competencies questionnaire within the data of each country. Since the results of factor analyses of three countries were parallel, the observed variables representing the latent variables were selected from the student questionnaire and cross curricular competencies questionnaire administered in PISA 2000 in order to be used in the structural equation modeling. The included factors affecting mathematical literacy in PISA 2000 are attitudes towards reading, student-teacher relations, climate, communication with parents, usage of technology and facilities, attitudes towards mathematics and reading literacy. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling across three different cultures with different performance levels in PISA 2000. The findings of the study show that the latent independent variable having the strongest effect on mathematical literacy is the usage of technology and facilities in Brazil, communication with parents in Japan and attitudes towards reading in Norway. Moreover, the results were as follows: (1) Reading literacy significantly and positively influences mathematical literacy in all three countries. (2) There is a reciprocal relationship between the attitudes towards mathematics and mathematical literacy. In Brazil, the influence of attitudes towards mathematics on mathematical literacy is higher. However, the influence of mathematical literacy on attitudes towards mathematics is higher in Norway. (3) The attitudes towards reading have a negative direct effect and a positive indirect effect on mathematical literacy. (4) The student-teacher relations have a positive effect on mathematical literacy in Japan and Norway. But, in Brazil, this effect is negative. (5) The student-related factors affecting school climate are significantly and positively related to mathematical literacy in Brazil. On the other hand, the effect of climate on mathematical literacy is negative in Japan and non-significant in Norway. (6) Communication with parents significantly and positively influences the mathematical literacy in all three countries. (7) The usage of technology and facilities significantly and positively affects mathematical literacy in Brazil. However, this effect is negative in Japan and non-significant in Norway.