Elementary education has become increasingly divided into subjects and focused on the demand for high math and reading scores. Consequently, teachers spend less time devoted to science and art instruction. However, teaching art and science is crucial to developing creative and rational thinking, especially for observation and questioning skills. In this study, third grade students attending an urban school in Portland, Oregon received instruction of an art strategy using observational and quantifying drawing techniques. This study examines, "Will an art strategy observing the local environment help students make observations and ask questions?" and "In what ways are student learning and perspectives of science affected by the art strategy?" The independent variable is the art strategy developed for this study. There are three dependent variables: quality of student observations, quality of questions, and themes on student learning and perspectives of science. I predicted students would develop strong observation and questioning skills and that students would find the strategy useful or have an increased interest in science. The art scores were high for relevance and detail, but not for text. There were significant correlations between art scores and questions. Interviews revealed three themes: observations create questions, drawing is helpful and challenging, and students connected to science. By examining science through art, students were engaged and created strong observations and questions. Teachers need to balance unstructured drawing time with scaffolding for optimal results. This study provides an integrated science and art strategy that teachers can use outdoors or adapt for the classroom.

This study examines how educators in a primary school view the teaching of HIV and AIDS and sexuality in the context of delivering the LO curriculum. It seeks to establish whether the educators are properly trained for and supported in their tasks and further seeks to establish their attitudes towards teaching these sensitive subjects. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with eight Life Orientation (LO) teachers who work at CJ Primary School (CJPS) in Durban. CJPS is a well established school that formerly served only a white learner community. Since the early 1990s its racial demography has changed and it is now racially mixed with Indian learners constituting a slight majority. The school offers classes from Grade 0 to Grade 7. The teachers interviewed for this study were all involved in teaching LO in the senior primary phase and all had delivered lessons on HIV/ AIDS and sexuality. The sample comprised one African, one White and six Indian teachers and was made up of three males and five females. The school timetable includes two LO periods a week (i.e. 2 hours per week is devoted to LO) and evidence suggests that teachers are serious about the teaching they do in these periods. It was found that levels of both pre and in-service training in the areas of HIV and AIDS and sexuality and gender were low. Only 2 out of the 8 teachers had been trained in HIV and AIDS and sexuality education. 5 of the 8 educators had received some form of training, (weeklong workshops, for example) but many still felt unconfident about teaching sexuality. Although national policy for teaching HIV and AIDS and sexuality does exist and the school also has its own set of policy documents relating to the LO curriculum, most of the teachers had not seen the national documents and were unaware of the school's policy. HIV and AIDS and sexuality are themes which are taught across the curriculum but rather cramped into one term's allotment of LO lessons which results in a lack of depth being achieved. Understandings of sexuality were basic and generally devoid of 'gender'. It appears as though the female teachers were more enthusiastic about teaching HIV and AIDS and sexuality than were the men and the lone African educator was the most strident in demanding that the school devote more attention to these subjects, possibly because in her own life she had already directly encountered the ravages of the pandemic. There is some competition within the curriculum about which subjects should get the most attention and priority. Generally speaking, language teaching and mathematics were considered more important than the LO. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a training package consisting of response restriction and the reinforcement of self-evaluation on letter reversal errors. Participants were 3 typically developing boys between the age of 5 and 7. The results indicated that the training package was successful in correcting reversals in the absence of a model during training and on application tests. These improvements maintained during subsequent follow-up sessions and generalized across trainers. Fading was not always necessary in correcting reversals, but was effective in correcting reversals that persisted during the overlay training procedures. The advantages to implementing a systematic intervention for reducing letter reversal errors in the classroom, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.

No description available.

No description available.

The project represents an ethnographic study of second grade children using video technology to facilitate self-evaluation in the reading/writing processes.

3rd grade -- Group discussion -- Literary elements (setting, plot development, characterization) -- Comparison charts, study groups, journals -- Shared meaning.

This project reviews the basic chemical and geographical features of the ocean, biological classification of marine life, background of the ocean's flora and fauna, and the ocean's environment. These facts are presented through an underwater documentary filmed at various sites along Southern California's coast and complemented with lesson plans designed for grades K - 4.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The fundamental purpose of this research is to establish whether mathematics can be taught effectively with the use of appropriate media and to further establish the possible effects of media in the teaching of mathematics. The research touched on the principles and guidelines of media selection and the various methods that could be utilized in conjunction with media in the teaching of mathematics in the pre-primary and primary schools. In media selection, the emphasis was that media must be chosen objectively rather than on the basis of personal preference and that the effectiveness of media is dependent on the suitability of the physical conditions surrounding it. The overall findings regarding media utilization is that most educators believe that media used in conjunction with a suitable or appropriate method should help to actualize what is expected from the learner. The research method in this study can be divided into a literature study and an empirical investigation. The literature study was done with a view to support the introductory orientation of this study. The focus was on learning as an active process, it also highlighted how the young learners acquire knowledge and how their interaction with their environment impacts on their cognitive development. The research also dealt with concept formation with special reference to the variety of concepts such as physical sensory concepts, action-function concepts, evaluative concepts and abstract concepts. The questionnaire was used to gather data from seventy (70) educators about media integration in the teaching of mathematics in the pre-primary and primary schools. An observation guide was also used during the observation of the presentation of twelve (12) lessons by eight (8) teachers from the pre-primary and primary schools. The lessons included the nature and characteristics of media employed in the lessons. The following factors were taken into account: (a) lesson plan layout (b) specific outcomes (c) contact accuracy and relevance (d) learner variables and interest (e) the learning environment and (ij the mediation capabilities of the educator (g) availability of media in schools The discussion of data collected was followed by the data analysis and interpretation. The statistical techniques were used to put the researcher in a position to either reject or accept the null hypothesis. The techniques used were the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test, the Pearson Correlation coefficient, the NPar Test and Friedman Test. On the basis of the findings the researcher has sufficient, concrete evidence to conclude that the results invalidate the null hypothesis tested. Therefore the researcher's conclusion is that: (a) there is a possible effect of media in the teaching of mathematics lessons in the preprimary and primary schools. (b) there is a possible effect of media selection and integration of media in mathematics lessons. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)