Education Commons^™

The Influence Of Prior Knowledge Of Expository Text Structure On Comprehension In Young Children, Zenda Johnson

Theses : Honours

The effects of the instruction of report text structure on students’ comprehension of expository material with familiar m1d unfamiliar topics was investigated in both the short and long term. Two comprehension measures were used (ability to restructure an unstructured report text through written composition, and written recall of facts). Forty two Year Three students were matched in comprehension ability based on initial general comprehension performance in a standardized test, and were assigned to either an Experimental group which received text structure instruction, or a Control group which received no special instruction. Results indicated that the instruction and practise in report …

Selecting Content For An Introductory Training Course In Industrial Relations, Helen Handmer

Theses : Honours

A nine-member panel with acknowledged expertise across a broad range of industrial relations interests made up the respondent population. Panelists opinions were collected, summarised, then re-submitted to the panel with an invitation to review their opinions in the light of the group summary. This process was repeated three times -the first consisting of individual progressively structured interviews, the other two being written surveys. A high level of consensus was achieved, both in ;1 content selections and in the reasons for choosing such topics. This resulted in the development of a course outline consisting of the following major topics - historical …

The Role Of Computer Algebra Systems In Mathematics Teaching At Upper Secondary School, Wendy Johnstone

Theses : Honours

Computer algebra systems are programs that manipulate both symbols and numbers and so can reduce the tedium of algebra in the same way calculators can reduce the time and work involved in arithmetic. Some systems combine a wide ranqe of mathematical functions with graphing capabilities. As such they have the potential to reduce the time students spend calculating algorithms, allowing more time for concept development, which is enhanced by the ability of the program to concurrently represent mathematical functions graphically. Originally computer algebra systems were only developed for mainframe computers, but in recent years several systems have become available for …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of The Retelling With The Aid Of A Story-Map Procedure With Weaker Readers, Madeleine Boekeman

Theses : Honours

This study examines the effectiveness of the 'Retelling with the aid of a story-map procedure' as an instructional approach which could help weaker readers in their second year of schooling. Based on the literature and research findings which support a view of language as a developmental, holistic and natural process, the 'Retelling with the aid of a story-map procedure' was chosen. It was hypothesised that it would help the weaker readers make connections between oral language and written language, develop meaning seeking behaviours and increase their 'data pool' of linguistic knowledge. The goal of this study was to seek answers …

An Investigation Into Some Of The Processes And Strategies Underlying The Receptive Behaviour Of The Interlanguage Speaker, Kaye Malcolm

Theses : Honours

This study is based on Selinker's (1972, revised 1988) paper which describes the construct of interlanguage. Selinker claimed that the learner's interlanguage could be accounted for on the basis of three psycholinguistic processes and two strategies. He demonstrated how the operation of these processes and strategies could be inferred from the data of the learner's interlanguage performance in relation to the relevant first and second language systems, The processes and strategies identified by Selinker were: the processes of language transfer, overgeneralization and transfer of training, and the strategies of second language learning and second language communication. Selinker's claims relate to …

An Investigation Of The Use Of Verbalization To Improve Representational Drawing Performance, Patricia Waters

Theses : Honours

Drawing is a fundamental skill for the creation of art. This investigation set out to discover whether or not the application of verbalization to an efficient drawing strategy increased students' perceptual observation skills to enhance representational drawing ability. The study group consisted of 20 Year 8 art students from a northern suburbs coastal secondary school in Perth. Their ages ranged from 12 to 14 years. They were randomly divided into two groups, experimental and control. The pretest and posttest drawings of the students from both groups were analyzed by four expert judges using an evaluation guide to determine the accuracy …

Creativity In Aboriginal Students And The Implications For Language Teaching, Raeme Goves-Jacka

Theses : Honours

The current level of scholastic success of Aboriginal students in Western Australian schools is overviewed together with some concerns regarding Aboriginal cognition. The issues which appear to inhibit in Aboriginal children the sort of cognitive development which is beneficial for schooling are reviewed. These are seen as cultural discontinuity, Vygotsky's belief in the cultural transmission of language, political constraints and the concept that different cultures with different needs produce different modes of thinking. Aboriginal child rearing practices are also reviewed together with the definition, process and product of creativity. The review also deals with the creative person, the creative environment, …

A Pilot Study To Improve Academic Learning Time In Physical Education, Robert Walker

Theses : Honours

Academic Learning Time in Physical Education (ALT-PE) is defined as the portion of engaged time when a student is involved in practice appropriate to his or her ability. The amount of time students are appropriately engaged in physical education activities has been found to have a high correlation with student achievement (Godbout, Brunelle & Tousignant, 1983; Graham, Soares & Hanington, 1983; Harrison, 1987; Phillips & Carlisle, 1983; Placek & Randall, 1986; Silverman, 1985). The teacher has control over the amount of time children can practise the criterion skill in a particular lesson. Investigating the way in which the students spend …

The Nonparticipation Of Year 10 Female Students In Coeducational Physical Education In A Metropolitan Senior High School, Lisa Fardell

Theses : Honours

The nonparticipation of girls in coeducational physical education and physical recreation is of continuing concern to physical educators. It is apparent through observation that numerous girls opt out of physical activity by providing a variety of excuses or simply by remaining unchanged for physical education classes. The purpose of this study was to explore the stated reasons for the nonparticipation by Year 10 girls in coeducational physical education at Lynwood Senior High School. The primary technique utilized in ascertaining information was the structured interview format. Each Year 10 girl who presented to physical educ3tion classes as a nonparticipant was interviewed …

Computer-Aided Drafting/Design In Technical Drawing In W.A. Secondary Schools, Edmund V. Beagley

Theses : Honours

This study was conducted with the intention of identifying what effects may have occurred within upper school Technical Drawing in W.A. high schools following the recent introduction of Computer-Aided Drafting/Design (CAD). With CAD being in its infancy in W.A. high schools it was decided that this study should attempt to answer four specific questions:- i) Were there any problems experienced by Technical Drawing teachers following the introduction of CAD? ii) Are there any educational benefits to either students or teachers to be derived from the introduction of CAD? iii) What methods of teaching and evaluating CAD generated drawings were being …

The Relationship Between Cooperative Small Group Composition And The Learning Of A Mathematical Concept In The Primary School Years: A Pilot Study, Susan Eaton

Theses : Honours

In recent years small group cooperative learning has been given increasing attention by researchers. This interest has been a result of n growing awareness of the benefits that small group cooperative learning can bring to the learning process. These benefits include gains in areas of academic achievement, self-confidence as a learner, cross-cultural/cross-racial relationships, social acceptance of mainstreamed students, and improved attitudes towards school and learning. A particular focus of North American researchers has been small group cooperative learning in mathematics. Little work had been done in this area in Western Australian schools and with the changed emphasis in the Western …

The Effect Of A Vee-Mapping Strategy On Students' Perceptions Of Laboratory Activities, Sonia J. Hueppauff

Theses : Honours

Practical work is considered important for learning science, by teachers and science educators. This acceptance though, has been reported as based on intuition rather than evidence (Atkinson & White, 1961). A significant proportion of class time is occupied with doing practical work. It is evident that in a majority of situations, students commence laboratory activities unsure of their aim, the procedure they are going to carry out, or that experimentation is a way of forming knowledge (Moreira, I 960; Novak & Gowin, I 964). Vee-maps (Novak & Gowin, 1 964) are one way of making laboratory work more meaningful. That …

Adventure Outdoor Education And Physical Self-Concept: The Effects Of Adventure Percieved Activities, David Lawson

Theses : Honours

(a) There were no significant differences in the Physical Self Concept of adolescents who participated in Outdoor Education adventure activities, when compared to the Control group. (t = 0.9869, p > .05). (b) There were no significant differences in the Physical Self-Concept of those adolescents who perceived the activities to be of a high adventure nature compared with those who perceived them to be of a medium adventure nature (t = -0.3405, p > .05). (c) Males did not exhibit a more significant change in Physical Self-Concept than females, as a result of the adventure activities (t = 0.3405, p > .05) (d) …

An Evaluation Of The Kangaroo Creek Gang Drug Education Package, Andrew Thompson

Theses : Honours

The purposes of this study were (a) to analyse the implementation of the Kangaroo Creek Gang Drug Education Package (KCGDEP) (Kangaroo Creek Gang, 1988b), and (b) to evaluate teachers' perceptions of the KCGDEP in terms of its goals, format, processes and outcomes. The KCGDEP was found to have been implemented in 24% of the primary schools surveyed (N= 100), with a mean of 5.1% of teachers in these schools using the package. Teachers' perceptions of the KCGDEP were analysed through the administration of a curriculum evaluation questionnaire, adapted from Piper (1976, p. 83-89), and teacher interviews. This process was carried …

An Investigation Into The Interaction Of Children Using A Computer-Based Adventure Game, Jeffrey Mountjoy

Theses : Honours

This study investigated the types of Interactions which occurred as children played a computer based adventure game. Year six children (N = 15) from five different schools participated in the study and were observed playing the game over a period of three to four thirty minute sessions. Video tape recordings and direct observations were made of the groups as they played the game. Individual Interviews were conducted with each player at the conclusion of the treatment period. Data collected from each of the groups was used to study and the forms of Interaction displayed by players noted. It was found …

The Effect Of The Teaching Of An Explicit Top-Level Expository Text Structure On The Structure Of Year Seven Children's Semantic Memory, Les Phul

Theses : Honours

In order to examine the effect of the teaching of a top-level expository structure through writing on children's schemata for text structure, children in year seven were asked to display graphically the relationships between 42 randomly presented text items related to a central topic. The text items were designed to approximate the kinds of information that may be found in an encyclopaedia or a science text about a given topic. One class of children was then allocated to the control group and the other to the experimental group. The experimental group was taught the top-level structure for a scientific report …

Secondary Students' Difficulties With Designing A Controlled Experiment, Bradley E. Watson

Theses : Honours

This research investigation was conducted to identify the difficulties encountered by secondary science students in the design of a controlled experiment. These difficulties were illuminated by studying the combination of knowledge, skills and strategies employed by experts. Three categories of individuals were used in the study, Year 10 science students, Year 12 science students and science lecturers who had completed doctoral studies in their fields. There were six subjects interviewed in each category. Each of the subjects were given a task which involved thinking aloud while planning a controlled experiment. When the subjects had completed the task, they were asked …

The Effects Of Internalising A Narrative Text Structure On The Comprehension And Recall Of Narrative Texts, Julie M. Bayly

Theses : Honours

This study was an analysis of an aspect of oral language comprehension. The major purpose was to evaluate the impact of the facilitating effect of a knowledge of a narrative text framework, upon listeners' comprehension of narratives.

One research question was addressed: In the immediate recall of a simple, unfamiliar narrative text, presented orally, once only, will year six listeners who have been taught the schematic structure of narratives perform significantly better than similar year six students who have not?

A teacher-devised listening text was modified from an S.R.A. (1975) listening kit. The results of that test were used as …

Factors That Impinge Upon The Implementation Of A Formally Structured Pastoral Care Programme In A Government School, Eleanor Watson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

There is substantial evidence to indicate that societal ills have entered the schools and become manifest in the school environment in the forms of student alienation from the mainstream of the school community and pressures upon schools to provide a range of care related services Although schools are not responsible for the ills of society there is a general community expectation that they will act to counteract any of the social or educational disadvantages that accrue to the young as a consequence. In order to address such issues, Pastoral Care programmes, appear to have been developed in an ad hoc …

Professional Development And Training Needs Of School Principals In Tonga, Vili Vete

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The main aims of this study were to investigate and identify the perceived professional development needs of the school principals in Tonga in relation to the current situation. The inquiry was designed to provide a description of the understanding and perceptions which the principals and educators held concerning: I. The familiarity of principals and educators with the professional development issues and provisions made for the professional development of school principals . 2. The perceived professional development and training needs of school principals. 3. The extent to which the current provisions offered for professional development of school principals meet the needs …

An Examination Of The Pastoral Needs Of Students And The Needs Of Their Teachers As Providers Of Pastoral Care, Philip A. Crane

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The problem addressed by this research project is expressed in two parts. Firstly an examination of the pastoral care needs of students at a particular independent secondary school. Secondly, an examination of the needs of the teachers (as providers of pastoral care) who are attempting to understand and deal with the pastoral needs of the students. The research takes the form of a bounded case study, employing techniques of data gathering and analysis from each of the positivistic and naturalistic paradigms. As such then the study is described as mixed - mode research allowing for the triangulation (Jick, 1979. p.602) …

The Development And Evaluation Of A Computer-Assisted Strategy Designed To Change Student Misconceptions About Chemical Equilibrium, Hassan Hameed

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The main aims of this thesis are twofold. First, to identify and describe misconceptions about chemical equilibrium held by Year-12 chemistry students in the Maldives. Second, to investigate the effects of using a computer-assisted instructional strategy in changing those misconceptions. A misconception idenfication test and an interview schedule developed by Garnett & Hackling (1984) were used to diagnose student misconceptions about chemical equilibrium. The remediation aspect of the study used a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) package. The package was designed in accordance with a model of conceptual change proposed by Posner, Strike, Hewson & Gertzog (1982). The CAI package consists of …