Transmedia books are new and emerging technologies which are beginning to be used in current classrooms. Transmedia books are a traditional printed book that uses multiple media though the use of Quick Response (QR) codes and augmented reality (AR) triggers to access web-based technology. Using the transmedia book Skills That Engage Me students in kindergarten through second grade engage in curriculum designed to introduce science skills and careers. Using the modified Draw-a-Scientist Test (mDAST), observations and interviews, researchers analyzed pre and post data to describe changes students have about science and scientists. Future study may include the development and validation of a new instrument, Draw a Science Student, and examining the mDAST checklist with the intention of updating the parameters of what is considered positive and negative in relationship with work a scientist conducts.

It is the fundamental insight of phenomenology that meaning is first and foremost - not something which we intellectually reflect on. It is not a product of the mind reworking raw, perceptual experiences. Rather meaning, and our connection to the world, are perceptual phenomena. Thus, to understand the ways in which children find meaning demands a turn toward perceptual experiences - how children see and feel. In this theoretical dissertation, I explore questions of perceptual experiences through a phenomenological framework that I refer to as the perceptual rite of passage (PRoP). The conceptual framework, which centers on attentiveness, labors to help us understand the ontology of perception for preadolescents and how meaning emerges through everyday encounters.

This investigation examined Chinese children's development of place-value numeration concepts from ages 3 through 9, compared the development of place-value understanding of these Chinese children with that of American and Genevan children whose performances had been described in the literature, and examined the influence of adult assistance during Chinese children's performances on some of the place-value tasks.

Traditionally, K-5 students' writing has had a primarily academic aim-to help students master concepts and express themselves. Even if students take a professional writing course later, they typically do not have the opportunity to practice-over the long period of time mastery requires-the non-academic writing skills they will be required to use as part of their jobs and in their civic life. Based on a limited K-5 study, Texas' McKinney Independent School District is doing a good job of preparing students at the elementary-school level in the areas of collaboration and presentation. A fair job of helping elementary-school students understand the communication situation, define audience, clarify purpose, gather and evaluate resources, and test usability. [And] a poor job of helping elementary-school students with analysis and organization. With their teachers' help, K-5 students eventually grasp the communication situation and can broadly identify their audience and purpose, but they do not appear to select words, format, communication style, or design based on that audience and purpose. Their writer-based focus affects their presentations as well, although they do present frequently. If teachers routinely incorporated audience and purpose considerations into every aspect of communication assignments (format, communication style, design), students would be better prepared for non-academic communication. Texas pre-service teachers practice the types of documents they will write on the job but do not receive training in design or style. Likewise, they practice researching, collaborating, and presenting but receive little training in those skills. If Texas K-5 teachers are to supplement the curriculum with professional writing principles, as trends suggest they should, education programs need to focus on these principles in their pre-service teacher curriculum. Professional writing principles need to become part of ingrained writing patterns because these are the skills that will best serve students after they graduate, both in their careers and civic lives. Understanding how to tailor communication for audience and purpose; how to effectively collaborate; how to select, evaluate, analyze, and organize information efficiently and productively; and how to format presentations effectively requires practice over a long period of time.

The research dealt with the implementation of Gestalt play therapy for the treatment of the sexually abused primary school child who experiences problems to maintain himself. The need for research on the theme originated from the researcher's experience with sexually abused primary school children. The aim of the research was to render therapeutic support to the primary school child through Gestalt play therapy, in order to explore the influence of such support on the child's maintaining behaviour. The applied research design was used for this purpose. For the purpose of the research, one sexually abused child who experienced problems to maintain himself was identified by means of purposeful sampling. During each Gestalt play therapy session the child was brought into contact with his senses. Conclusions as well as recommendations were formulated as a result of the research. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

This study was conducted in order to assess the effects of creative stimulation in early childhood. The quantitative quasi-experimental study was set out to test a target group of 8 children in grade R, ranging in age from five to six years, to determine the importance of stimulation and intervention of creativity from a young age. A pre-test, evaluated the initial level of each child’s creative skills in fluency, flexibility and originality. This was followed by selecting one class as the experimental group and another class, from the same demographical location, as the control group. The experimental group underwent a six-week intervention programme which focused on the primary concepts in each area of fluency, flexibility and originality. Both groups continued with their normal school learning programmes. The results indicate that the impact of stimulation on young children was significant and that there was a great difference in the abilities and understanding of concepts in those children whohad been stimulated. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology))-University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The way in which society supports its children has a significant influence on the way in which it will develop and prosper. Children are the key to a healthy and sustainable society (Klein & Gilkerson, 2000). Promoting the development of all learners during early childhood therefore forms the foundation of the priorities the South African government has formulated for early childhood development, namely the phasing in of a compulsory Reception Year and Intersectoral support programmes for children from birth to five (Department of National Education 2000). The Report of the National Commission on Special Needs in Education / National Committee on Education Support Services (Department of Education, 1997a) makes recommendations for an integrated and inclusive system for all learners, with an emphasis on programmes for children in the pre-formal schooling phase. However, without strengthened education support services, notably relevant teacher training, the legal right to education for these learners cannot be implemented (Biersteker & Robinson 2000, 40). This study presents the interpretations of three pre-school teachers', from the Western Cape, South Africa, on their subjective experiences in implementing a motor – skills programme aimed at promoting school readiness. The sensory-motor skills a child possesses on entering school play an important role in the level of scholastic success they could potentially experience throughout their educational career. Thus when a child enters school poorly equipped to begin learning, their chances of fulfilling their potential are restricted. This research project focuses on the pre-school teacher who may have an influential role in stimulating children in developing their full learning readiness. A qualitative, interpretative research design was applied in order to conduct this study. The methods I made use of were semi-structured interviews to gain the teachers' unique experiences, my personal observations and field notes as well as the teachers' daily monitoring forms. Through the data generated I gained new insights into teachers' experiences of the implementation of a motor programme, through identifying themes from their experiences. The findings were presented in four areas of experience, namely teachers' experiences in terms of themselves, the children, the parents and the programme's implementation. I believe that although the ability to generalise the results, was limited by the small research sample, valuable information was gained with regard to teachers' experiences of programme implementation.

The research dealt with the implementation of Gestalt play therapy for the treatment of the sexually abused primary school child who experiences problems to maintain himself. The need for research on the theme originated from the researcher's experience with sexually abused primary school children. The aim of the research was to render therapeutic support to the primary school child through Gestalt play therapy, in order to explore the influence of such support on the child's maintaining behaviour. The applied research design was used for this purpose. For the purpose of the research, one sexually abused child who experienced problems to maintain himself was identified by means of purposeful sampling. During each Gestalt play therapy session the child was brought into contact with his senses. Conclusions as well as recommendations were formulated as a result of the research. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

This study was conducted in order to assess the effects of creative stimulation in early childhood. The quantitative quasi-experimental study was set out to test a target group of 8 children in grade R, ranging in age from five to six years, to determine the importance of stimulation and intervention of creativity from a young age. A pre-test, evaluated the initial level of each child’s creative skills in fluency, flexibility and originality. This was followed by selecting one class as the experimental group and another class, from the same demographical location, as the control group. The experimental group underwent a six-week intervention programme which focused on the primary concepts in each area of fluency, flexibility and originality. Both groups continued with their normal school learning programmes. The results indicate that the impact of stimulation on young children was significant and that there was a great difference in the abilities and understanding of concepts in those children whohad been stimulated. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Using a mixed-methods approach, the current study examined the relationship between early childhood preservice teachers' cultural awareness and their self-efficacy in equitable science education. It further aimed to determine if the relationship between these two constructs was moderated by their race/ethnicity or the number of languages they speak. Finally, it sought to identify preservice teachers' understanding of equity in science education, as well as how they planned to incorporate the equity concept into their future science teaching practices for diverse learners in early childhood classrooms. Data for this study were drawn from 380 preservice teachers who self-enrolled in a science methods course as part of a teacher preparation program. To measure the preservice teachers' cultural awareness and self-efficacy in equitable science education, two Likert-scale instruments, Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory (CDAI) and Self-Efficacy Beliefs about Equitable Science Teaching and Learning (SEBEST), were employed. Qualitative data were collected by administering six open-ended questions. For quantitative results, statistically significant findings indicated that when the participants were more aware of creating a multicultural environment and instruction and/or when they were less biased and were more sensitive/knowledgeable about diversity of students and families, their expectations about science learning of students from diverse backgrounds would be higher. Furthermore, when the participants were more aware of creating a multicultural environment and instruction and/or when they felt more comfortable about confronting students or parents whose cultures and languages were different from their own, they tended to have a stronger sense of efficacy in teaching science to those students. In addition, when the participants were less biased and were also sensitive and knowledgeable about students' and families' diverse backgrounds, they were more likely to have a strong sense of science teaching efficacy. Along with these findings, participants' race/ethnicity was a statistically significant moderator affecting the relationship between their sense of science teaching outcome expectancy and awareness of creating a multicultural environment and instruction. When the awareness of creating a multicultural environment and instruction of both White and non-White participants were increased at an equal level, White participants' expectations for science learning of students from diverse backgrounds were higher than those of non-White participants. Measurement challenges were identified through the analysis process that compromised the validity of the quantitative findings. Thus, they should be interpreted with caution. For qualitative results, three predominant themes related to the participants' conceptualization of equity in science education were identified. First, the participants harbored alternative understandings of the definitions of equity in science education. One third of the participants understood equity as providing appropriate access and support based on the levels of students' needs whereas another one third defined equity as providing identical teaching services and resources to all students regardless of their backgrounds. They also conceptualized equity in science education as an issue independent of their future students' racial/ethnic backgrounds; instead, they regarded it as a subject associated with their students' English proficiency.