Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Teaching skills'

This study examined the effects of a smoking prevention program on the acquisition of refusal skills in junior high school students. Sixty-three seventh graders were randomly assigned to a refusal skill training group (N=29) or a no treatment control group (N=34). Students' refusal skill performance was assessed pre and post training. Assessment consisted of a peer trainer offering the student a cigarette while being videotaped. The smoking refusal skill was broken down into 5 component parts: (1) eye contact; (2) upright posture; (3) voice intonation; (4) response to approach; (5) reason for refusal. Results showed significant improvement for both the training and control groups. However, a significant training by pre-post assessment interaction was also found, F (1,61) = 10.37, p < .01, which indicates that students who received training demonstrated more proficiency in refusal performance after training than those who did not. A generalization probe in the natural environment conducted seven weeks after training showed no differences between the two groups.

Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of bullying interventions targeted at bystanders; however, a fluency component has not been used in any studies to teach these skills. The present study investigated the inclusion of fluency training to teach and enhance skills that can be used when responding and defending the victim in fourth- and fifth-grade students (N=55 and N=53, respectively). All students participated in a modified version of the Bully Prevention in Positive Behavior Support for Elementary School program and filled out pre- and postrating scales to determine participant roles related to bullying. An experimental group also participated in fluency training sessions to teach bystander skills. Results showed that there was a significant interaction between group and time showing more growth on correct responses per minute (CRPM) for the experimental fluency group than the control group on bystander skills fluency task. Additionally, results showed that defender role scores significantly increased for the fluency group at post but not for the control group. There were no significant differences for the reinforcer or outsider role scores. Implications of these findings for school-based practice and research are discussed.

This project was designed to address the need for a curriculum that links environmental education and social skills. All of the social skills units were created to improve the students' understanding of social skills and important environmental concepts.

Behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) have been evaluated as methods to teach different safety skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. Research on BST has examined topics such as gun safety, abduction prevention, poison avoidance, and sexual abuse prevention. A large safety issue that is missing from the literature is drowning prevention and water safety skills. Drowning is one of the most prevalent issues facing facing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), particularly those who elope from their homes or caregivers. The current study aimed the effectiveness of using BST+IST to teach three water safety skills to three children with ASD. The intial form of intervention was BST with total task presentation of the skill, using verbal instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. If this intervention did not result in an increase in performance, the skill was broken down into individual component presentation, in which each component of the skill was taught using the same procedures. Results from the current study showed that BST+IST was effective in teaching all skills to all participants.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-129).
An automated software system has been developed to allow robots to learn a generalized motor skill from demonstrations given by a human operator. Data is captured using a teleoperation suit as a task is performed repeatedly on Leonardo, the Robotic Life group's anthropomorphic robot, in different parts of his workspace. Stereo vision and tactile feedback data are also captured. Joint and end effector motions are measured through time, and an improved Mean Squared Velocity [MSV] analysis is performed to segment motions into possible goal-directed streams. Further combinatorial selection of subsets of markers allows final episodic boundary selection and time alignment of tasks. The task trials are then analyzed spatially using radial basis functions [RBFs] to interpolate demonstrations to span his workspace, using the object position as the motion blending parameter. An analysis of the motions in the object coordinate space [with the origin defined at the object] and absolute world-coordinate space [with the origin defined at the base of the robot], and motion variances in both coordinate frames, leads to a measure [referred to here as objectivity] of how much any part of an action is absolutely oriented, and how much is object-based. A secondary RBF solution, using end effector paths in the object coordinate frame, provides precise end-effector positioning relative to the object. The objectivity measure is used to blend between these two solutions, using the initial RBF solution to preserve quality of motion, and the secondary end-effector objective RBF solution to increase the robot's capability to engage objects accurately and robustly.
by Jeff Lieberman.
S.M.

This project explores research-based methods for creating an e-learning resource to teach an intellectual skill. Intellectual skills are one of the five domains of learning defined by Robert M. Gagné. The intellectual skill taught via the e-learning resource is the rules of Turkish vowel harmony, a fundamental phonological feature of the Turkish language. The purpose of the e-learning resource is to provide novice learners with a set of tools and strategies with which to approach the future study of Turkish. A literature review was conducted in three areas: Gagné’s instructional design theories, Turkish language learning, and best practices for the design of multimedia e-learning. Two rapid prototypes in the form of Moodle course sites were developed. Guidance for improving the prototypes was sought from experts in instructional design, usability, and computer software. The resulting finished e-learning product is a nine-topic Moodle course based on Gagné’s nine events of instruction. The main Moodle course content teaches the rules of Turkish vowel harmony as an intellectual skill which has been broken down into discriminations (the Turkish vowels), concepts (the Turkish vowel groups) and rules (Turkish vowel harmony). Higher order rules are taught in the form of exceptions to the rules of Turkish vowel harmony found in foreign loan-words in Turkish. Practice is provided in applying the rules of Turkish vowel harmony as a set of word attack skills for approaching Turkish language artifacts found online and in the environment. A comprehensive list of resources relating to learning Turkish, learning about the Turkish language, and learning about learning Turkish, is provided to facilitate future extension and application of what was learned in this course. Each lesson is presented in the form of a Moodle book. Each lesson is followed by an ungraded assessment in the form of an Adobe® PDF quiz. The quizzes and accompanying answer keys are designed to provide guided practice, feedback, and self-assessment to help students extend and apply the lesson material. All lessons were beta-tested to ensure usability and reduction of extraneous cognitive load. The project resulted in the development of a Best Practices Checklist for designing e-learning resources to teach intellectual skills. The Best Practices Checklist, which can be found in Appendix B, was used to develop the outline for e-learning resources to teach intellectual skills in other subject areas and was found to be an effective rapid prototyping and instructional design tool. Insight was gained into the significance of prior knowledge for teaching intellectual skills, and on how to calibrate cognitive load in e-learning design relative to the learner’s prior knowledge of the subject matter being taught.

Motivating students to learn and practice effective communication skills has always been a dilemma for teachers of all grade levels. Video cameras and camcorders are now being used as teaching tools in many schools to not only motivate students to use and practice a variety of skills, but to stimulate their creativity, as well. Loretto Elementary School in Jacksonville, Florida, is developing a program which incorporates student-written video productions into its existing curriculum. Loretta's innovative program is a direct result of a 10-rninute informational video tape production done by graduate student Jane Fleetwood and Continental Cablevision, a local cable television company. This paper describes the step-by-step procedures involved in that production, the business education partnership which exists between the school and the cable company, and the school's plans for making video productions as integral part of its curriculum.

Instructional reform requires learning by those who implement it. Learning involves a process of reconstructing knowledge and beliefs entailed by complex behavioral change. A cognitive perspective of policy implementation underscores that behavioural changes have a fundamental cognitive component. By assuming that policy implementation as a relatively straightforward process of transmitting behavioural rules drawn up by policy-makers to those responsible for implementing the rules, a top-down policy implementation tends to undermine the learning needs of those who are implementing instructional change. This implies a connection between the organisational factor, learning and change. There is a rich base of literature on educational change theory and learning theory. What is lacking is research attempting to link these fields. This case study sheds light on the discussion about organisational factor, learning and change by investigating the implementation of a thinking skills policy in the context of teacher education in a fully centralised education system. This involves the examination of how eight teacher educators conceptualised the thinking skills policy and implemented the intended change in their teaching. Specifically, the research questions seek to examine the acquisition of knowledge and the alteration of belief which guide the change in practice with regard to thinking skills policy. Data were collected through interviews, observations and questionnaires. The study produces three key findings. The first finding concerns the gap and uncertainties of was the absence of the intended change in practice. The third finding relates the many barriers that impede the change in teaching practice to the lack of consideration of systemic factors in the change process. All the results are connected to the issue of the organisational factors as the framing that underlies the change process. The implications of the finding for the policy-making process are discussed

This thesis aimed to develop an intervention to improve the life skills of British adolescent competitive sport participants, who are in full time education. Study one investigated the life skills needs of adolescent competitive sport participants and provided a participant-centred definition of life skills. The problem exists that it is unclear which life skills are needed by adolescent competitive sport participants and which life skills should be included in life skills programmes. As such, existing programmes may not reflect the needs of adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the life skills needs of competitive adolescent sports participants from the perspective of youth sport participants, coaches, and experts in sport psychology and youth sport. Eighteen adolescent sports participants, fourteen coaches, and four experts in sport psychology and youth sport participated in a series of focus group interviews. An inductive analysis revealed how participants defined life skills and which life skills adolescent sports participants need. Life skills were defined as ranges of transferable skills needed for everyday life by everybody, that help people thrive above and beyond the normal requirements of everyday existence. Participants described the need for interpersonal skills including social skills, respect, leadership, family interactions, and communication. Personal skills including organisation, discipline, self-reliance, goal setting, managing performance outcomes, motivation, and identity were also reported. Participants described communication skills and organisation as the most important life skills for British adolescent competitive sport participants to acquire. Study two presents an in-depth, idiographic study illustrating how life skills were learnt through the experience of sport. The aim of the current study was to investigate how life skills could be learnt and improved through experiences in sport. (Continues...).

Independent living skills are extremely important for individuals with developmental disabilities as these skills aide in autonomy, lessen the burden on caregivers, and assist with integration into the community. An important skill that should be targeted is purchasing skills. Teaching purchasing skills can bring individuals into contact with new environments and access to items that would not have been available for them to access independently before learning the skill. Traditional purchasing skills often target teaching money and math skills. However, as technology advances, these skills are not only hard to teach to various individuals but may be outdated. There have been a few studies that targeted teaching purchasing skills to individuals using forms other than cash. This study taught debit card purchasing skills using a multiple baseline across participants design to individuals with developmental disabilities and evaluated the effects of using multiple exemplar training on generalization to novel settings. All three study participants showed improved performance after training by demonstrating 87% or more of the steps accurately in the natural setting during post-training generalization probes to the trained stores (average across the three participants and three stores was 90%). Two out of three participants generalized the skill to a novel store with at least 90% accuracy. The third participant generalized the skill to a novel store with 83% accuracy. Maintenance probes were conducted for two of the three participants and those two participants were able to maintain the skill well above baseline accuracy.

The present study evaluated the use of stimulus equivalence to train novel money relations with adults with developmental disabilities. Three programs from the PEAK Relational Training System: Equivalence Module (PEAK-E) were used: Reflexivity: Money, Symmetry: Money to Monetary Value and Equivalence: Monetary Exchange. The overall goal of the study was to evaluate how stimulus equivalence could help the subjects improve money skills, a socially significant behavior for all adults. The study used a multiple probe design across programs to evaluate skill acquisition following the train/test procedure for each program. Results demonstrated a significant increase in PEAK scores from baseline probes for two of the three programs for all subjects. Additionally, results showed that all subjects learned untrained skills. The results of this study demonstrated the value of stimulus equivalence for teaching money skills as well the efficacy of the PEAK-E training system to teach adults with developmental disabilities.

The Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) is designed to individualize instruction based on traditional learning theories. Students are required to demonstrate mastery before advancing to new material. A self-pacing feature allows students to dictate their rate of progress. Compared to lecture-discussion instruction, PSI courses have demonstrated superior examination performance as well as increased ratings of course quality. However, studies have been criticized for testing only basic skills while ignoring more complex processes. In this research project, the PSI study guides were designed to emphasize complex processes and mastery test and review examination questions reflected increased item-level complexity. Results showed that students were able to master these complex items at the required 90% criterion. Performance on the comprehensive review examinations was slightly lower for complex items. Expected differences relating to the three group sequence requirements were not obtained. Nevertheless, mastery performance on the complex items was achieved by all students regardless of experimental group.

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a teacher-implemented behavioral skills training (BST) procedure for teaching preschool students to exhibit an appropriate safety response in the presence of chemical bottles. Students’ safety responses were evaluated during baseline and teacher lessons (before and after BST) for each classroom. Prior to training, teachers were prompted to give a lesson including three safety steps (don’t touch, walk away, tell a teacher). No additional instructions were provided. Next, teachers received training from a researcher on how to implement BST in a classroom setting. Results indicated that the training procedure utilized was effective for increasing the number of BST components used by teachers. Further, teacher-implemented BST resulted in increases in preschool children’s appropriate responses to chemical bottles for two classrooms; however, the increase for one of the two classrooms was only moderate, and no increase was observed for children in a third classroom. Therefore, in-situ feedback was required for these two classrooms. In addition, the procedures resulted in generalized responding to a novel set of chemical bottles, as well as, a novel category of dangerous item (medicine bottles).

There have been many studies on teaching behavior analytic skills to parents for addressing problem behavior exhibited by their children. However, very few studies have addressed the issue of teaching parents to conduct a functional assessment and design a treatment for the problem behavior. The present study utilized behavioral skills training to teach parents how to conduct ABC recording, write a summary statement based on the data collected, and determine the proper treatment choices. The 8 participants participated in one 3 hour class in which a trainer used instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback to teach these three skill sets. Prior to class, during class, directly after class training, and 1 to 2 weeks following class, the participants viewed at least four videos with each showing a problem behavior serving a different function in the context of a parent child interaction. The percentage of correct responding for each dependent variable (ABC recording, summary statement, and treatment choices) was calculated and baseline and post-treatment scores were compared via a multiple baseline across participants design. The results showed an increase in the percentage correct for most skills for most participants. These results show that it is possible to teach parents to conduct a functional assessment and chose proper treatment strategies. Future implications in parent training are discussed.

Problem behaviors are one of the most common issues competing with school readiness skills for young children. There are numerous curricula created to address social-emotional needs of young children..However, many studies evaluating the effectiveness of social -emotional curricula have relied on indirect measures to report changes in behavior, did not objectively define problem behaviors they sought to change, or did not include children with disabilities. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum to decrease aggression, noncompliance, and tantrums of four preschool students with disabilities by teaching an alternative self-regulation technique. Results showed a reduction in aggression and tantrums in three students. One student demonstrated appropriate alternative behaviors when prompted but this behavior was not maintained throughout the intervention. Considerations are addressed related to the implications of the results of social skills training in preschool children with disabilities.

Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Lingüística mención Lengua Inglesa
This thesis reports on a study focused on teaching listening micro-skills to EFL Chilean students. The present study aims to examine the effects of teaching listening micro-skills on EFL students´ listening comprehension performance. This study looks to give insights in the area of second language acquisition, as well as proposing a strategy for teaching listening comprehension through the use of listening micro-skills. The participants of this study were 26 high school students from a private school located in Peñalolén, Santiago de Chile. Participants were divided into two groups of 13 students. One of the groups was given awareness about listening micro-skills while the other did not receive any treatment. The treatment consisted of 10 sessions of teaching and practicing 10 listening micro-skills in order to enhance listening comprehension. Both groups were tested at the beginning and end of the research intervention. The data obtained from the participants’ tests was analyzed in order to determine the effects of teaching listening micro-skills on EFL learners’ listening comprehension.

Introduction: To meet society‘s expectations that physicians ―can and will attend equally to all aspects of health care,‖ the Association of American Medical Colleges‘ Medical School Objectives Project Report I has stated that physicians must be altruistic, knowledgeable, skillful, and dutiful. Considering that skills may be defined as actions and reactions performed by an individual in a competent way in order to achieve a goal, there is no doubt that this goal will be better managed the greater the expertise and practical skills of its performer. Based on this statement, the recreation of real situations to improve practical skills, allows the benefits of learning through simulation to become increasingly effective and reliable. It is obvious that clinical procedures require technical skills. Skills‘ training using simulation has, for the most part, focused on technical expertise, ignoring other key competencies such as professionalism and communication skills. Despite studies on non-technical skills (NTS) claiming the emerging need of their valuation and implementation in medical education alongside technical skills (TS), in most instances and institutions such education is lacking. Objective: The main purpose of this study is better understand the importance attributed to teaching of NTS alongside TS, and the implementation of such skills teaching through medical simulation in medical simulation centres around the world. Methods: This was an exploratory study. The research model used was descriptive and correlational (i.e. centred on the description and characterization of variables involved); 1090 Simulation Centres worldwide were randomly mapped by manual search via Internet. Of these, 39 answered an online questionnaire. Results: 1090 Simulation Centres worldwide were mapped and a contact list was created. Of the 39 centres that responded, most were from the United States of America (n=22). About half of the total participating centres were founded after 2004 and about a quarter after 2007. The surveyed institutions teach on average around 193 courses per year to an average number of 1532 students. Of all participants in the study, 64.7% of them (n=22) said they had a course with special focus on NTS, and twelve declined (36.1%). Results also show that centre‘s antiquity appear to relate with the amount of courses supplied by these centres (p=0.038 and p=0.011<0.05, respectively). Besides, it is also possible to conclude that there is a differentiated focus on the teaching of NTS according to the Simulation Centres‘ antiquity (p<0.05), which proves that in older simulation centres there is a greater differentiated focus on the teaching of NTS.Conclusion: Nowadays, being the teaching of NTS a recent but growing phenomenon, the level of implementation of NTS is still far from meeting expectations, and the importance attributed. It may also be noted, by distribution found, that many simulation centers exist worldwide especially in the United States, but increasingly in Europe and Asian nations. Moreover, one may conclude that there is a strong relationship between the antiquity of the institutions, the training supply of the centres and the existence of a differentiated focus on the teaching of NTS. The oldest institutions, with greater volume of courses to be taught, are usually also the ones who contemplate courses geared specifically to teaching non-technical skills.
Introdução: No sentido de corresponder às expectativas da sociedade, de que os médicos "podem e vão atender igualmente a todos os aspectos dos cuidados de saúde", a Associação Americana dos Colégios Médicos, através do projecto ‖Objectivos da Escola Médica - Relatório I‖ postulou que os médicos devem ser altruístas, inteligentes, dotados de habilidades/competências, e atenciosos. Este aprimoramento não será de todo fácil, mas é óbvio para todos que devem ser operadas mudanças na prática médica para que esta se torne cada vez mais uniforme e segura para o doente. Com os olhos postos em outras áreas profissionais, nomeadamente a aviação, tem-se constatado que a minucia exigida no desempenho de variadas funções nessa área, assim como a necessidade de rápida tomada de decisão, se assemelha largamente à capacidade prática de desempenho/competências exigidas aos médicos no exercício, por exemplo, de procedimentos cirúrgicos, ou simplesmente na tomada de decisão correcta e atempadamente em situações de perigo iminente para a vida do doente, ou, no caso da área supramencionada, da tripulação. Considerando essas competências como acções e reacções realizadas por um indivíduo de uma forma competente, a fim de atingir uma meta, não há dúvida de que essa meta será tão melhor conseguida, quanto maior for a experiência e as habilidades práticas do seu executante. Com base nessa declaração, a capacidade de recriar situações reais, proporcionada pela simulação, permite, hoje em dia, adquirir experiência e ao mesmo tempo possibilita o desenvolvimento de determinadas competências e habilidades práticas, essenciais ao médico no exercício da sua profissão. A simulação tem-se revelado, assim, uma mais-valia para a prática médica, sendo cada vez maior a eficácia e fiabilidade da aprendizagem realizada desta forma. No entanto, e sendo óbvio que os procedimentos clínicos requerem competências técnicas, o treino de habilidades, através da simulação, temse focado, quase exclusivamente, no treino da componente técnica/prática, ignorando outras competências-chave, não técnicas, como a capacidade de comunicação, de tomada de decisão e o profissionalismo. Apesar de ainda poucos estudos terem sido realizados no âmbito destas competências não técnicas, estes reivindicam a necessidade emergente de sua valorização e aplicação no ensino médico, juntamente com o ensino de competências técnicas, em falta, actualmente, na maioria dos casos e instituições de ensino. Objectivo: O objectivo principal deste estudo é entender melhor qual a importância atribuída ao ensino da competências não técnicas, a par do ensino de competências técnicas, e a que nível se encontra actualmente a implementação do ensino de tais habilidades através da simulação, nos centros de simulação médica de todo o mundo. Métodos: Este foi um estudo exploratório. O modelo de pesquisa utilizado foi o descritivo e correlacional (ou seja, centrado na descrição e caracterização das variáveis envolvidas); 1090 Centros de Simulação em todo o mundo foram aleatoriamente mapeados através de pesquisa manual na Internet. Destes, 39 responderam a um questionário online, enviado por correio electrónico, constituindo estes respondentes a amostra final. Resultados: 1090 Centros Simulação em todo o mundo foram mapeados e foi criada uma lista de contactos dos mesmos. Dos 39 centros que responderam, a parcela mais representativa foi dos Estados Unidos da América (n=22). Cerca de 50% dos centros participantes foram fundados depois de 2004 e cerca de 25% depois de 2007. Em média, as instituições inquiridas ensinam 193 cursos por ano, a uma média de 1532 alunos. Do total de participantes no estudo, 64,7% (n=22) afirmaram ter um curso direccionado especificamente para o ensino de competências não técnicas, e doze negaram-no (36,1%). Os resultados mostram também que a antiguidade da instituição, e género do seu director parecem relacionar-se com a maior oferta de formação das instituições (p=0,038 e p=0,011<0,05, respectivamente). Portanto, instituições com mais anos de existência e dirigidas por homens possuem, em média, um volume maior de oferta formativa. Também se pôde concluir que existe uma relação estatisticamente significativa, com valor-p<0,05, entre a antiguidade da instituição e o enfoque diferenciado no ensino de competências não técnicas dado por esta, ficando explícito que centros de simulação mais antigos têm, em média, cursos direccionados especificamente para o ensino de competências não técnicas. Conclusão: Actualmente, e sendo o ensino de competências não técnicas um fenómeno relativamente recente e ainda em crescimento, o nível de implementação deste ensino nos centros de simulação médica está ainda aquém das expectativas, apesar da importância que lhe é atribuída e reconhecida. Pôde-se também constatar, pela distribuição encontrada, que muitos centros de simulação existem em todo o mundo, especialmente nos Estados Unidos da América, mas cada vez mais na Europa e também em países Asiáticos. Finalmente, pela análise dos resultados pode-se concluir que existe uma forte relação entre três variáveis, a antiguidade das instituições, a oferta de formação das mesmas e a existência de um enfoque diferenciado no ensino de competências não técnicas, sendo que, instituições mais antigas e com maior volume de cursos a serem leccionados, normalmente também comtemplam cursos direccionados especificamente para o ensino de competências não técnicas.

The purpose of the study was to determine if training in social skills in a classroom setting would lead to greater achievement in writing. Fifty-seven children in grades six through eight (ages 11-14) from a predominantly middle-class school in a largely urban school district in South Florida participated in this study. Participation in the study was limited to students who had been evaluated, met diagnostic criteria for learning disabilities and were placed in a learning disabilities language arts class. Seven dependent variables were measured to evaluate the effects of social skills training (independent variable) on the writing skills of children with learning disabilities. The four writing variables were thematic maturity, syntactic maturity, fluency, and quality of expression. Three social skills measures were parent rating, student rating, and teacher rating of social skills behavior in the classroom. Three tests designed to measure changes in written language development and social skills acquisition and performance were used for pre-testing and post-testing. To assess the writing skills, two assessment instruments were selected: Test of Written Language-2 (TOWL-2) (Hammill & Larsen, 1988) and the Woodcock Psychoeducational Battery Achievement and Supplemental Tests (Woodcock & Johnson, 1990). To assess social skills, Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliott, 1990) was selected. Areas of significant improvement in the writing measures were syntactic maturity and quality of expression in the experimental group. In the control group, syntactic maturity improved significantly more than in the experimental group. When pre and post test differences were examined for both groups, only syntactic maturity was significant. However, the gain score was greater for the control group than for the experimental group. The students' home language had a significant effect on syntactic maturity but not on any other variable. Thematic maturity approached significance and should be considered when practical applications are discussed. Examination of the results of the social skills measures revealed that no significant differences were evident in any area. There were no significant effects on the parent, student or teacher rating measures either by the social skills training or the writing instruction. The home language of the students had no effect on the social skills measures.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1995.
Title from title page screen, viewed May 10, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Dent M. Rhodes (chair), Larry Kennedy, Kenneth Jerrich, Frederick Drake. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 195-204) and abstract. Also available in print.

Students at Norman County East High School learn science concepts in a typical teacher-centered approach. In moving toward an inquiry-based, student-centered learning environment, it is imperative that students develop skills of critical thinking and argumentation. To accomplish this, students must be able to define a problem, select strategies for solving the problem and defend their choices. This study will attempt to evaluate the amount of improvement of their argumentation skills through the use of a game using the principles of argumentation as stated by Toulmin. Three questions will guide this study: 1. Will activities emphasizing argumentation lead to more sophisticated explanations of curriculum concepts by students? 2. Will students effectively critique each other? 3. Will argumentation assist students in explaining relationships between scientific concepts and what has been observed? The study will take place in a class of grade 9 Physical Science students consisting of 12 girls and 5 boys. Data will be collected using pre and post testing of the concepts of density, buoyancy, heat and thermodynamics. Interviews and formative assessments of students before and after they participate in the studies activities and artifacts from the activity will be coded to measure changes in argumentation performance.

This study dealt with teaching archaeological skills and knowledge to adults with mental retardation using procedures and techniques of applied behavior analysis. The components of this research consisted of: (a) a descriptive study of archaeological field excavation procedures and activities; (b) an experimental study of three archaeological laboratory tasks that involved washing, counting, and sorting ceramic artifacts; and (c) a survey of opinions of archaeologists concerning the use of adults with mental retardation and other handicapping conditions to assist in archaeological research. Results from the descriptive study demonstrated the ability of three participants to successfully perform all skills required in the field excavation of artifacts, and their accurate identification in retrieval screens. Results from the experimental study of six participants demonstrated successful performance with respect to rigorous and specified criteria for all participants who completed training across all three tasks. In addition this study demonstrated the ability of archaeological personnel to successfully perform the teaching and monitoring procedures of the skills involved in this study. Results form the survey of opinions of three archaeologists provided a positive response to the inclusion of persons with mental retardation into archaeological projects and identified four areas of consideration for future projects in this area.

What strategies are effective for clinical nurse instructors to use in developing critical thinking in student nurses? Many clinical strategies have been discussed in, literature, but only a few have been verified through research as to their usefulness.This study used the qualitative research methodology of multiple case studies. Participants were six clinical nurse instructors. Nursing experience ranged from 17-27 years, teaching experience involved 2-24 years. Four instructors had doctorates, one nurse had a masters degree, and the sixth nurse lacked two courses before completing a masters degree. The six instructors were from five areas of nursing: medical/surgical (beginning and intermediate level), maternity, mental health, community health and management.Each instructor was interviewed three times during the same semester, approximately two weeks apart. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Spradley's (1979) domain and taxonomic analyses were used to analyze the data.Data analysis showed that some strategies were used by all instructors, with adaptations made for the specialty. The strategies used by all instructors were questioning, nursing care plans and clinical conferences. More than one instructor used student journals, teaching projects, research articles, milieu assessments, and case studies/scenarios.This research strongly supported the use of questioning to help the student progress in critical thinking. Contrary to some research, the present research found that questioning by the instructors was not detached but was situated in the client setting which helped the student synthesize facts into a whole. The research identified many questions used by the clinical nurse instructors.Instructors identified their role in assisting students toward critical thinking as helper, facilitator, coach and guide. Instructors also identified the following characteristics as necessary to help students: caring attitude, creativity, perseverance, knowledgeable, listener, encourager and learning attitude. The instructors motivated students as they progressed in critical thinking through verbal and nonverbal rewards. Students gained self-confidence as they experienced success in their journey towards critical thinking. Implications for nursing practice are provided. The importance of this research lies in the rich depth of discovering how these strategies, roles, characteristics, and motivators assist nursing students in developing critical thinking skills in different clinical settings.2
Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to construct teaching strategies for selected skills and concepts in brass-instrument performance. The skills to be studied initially consisted of breathing, embouchure, sound production, and articulation; after research and analysis the skill of posture Haas added. The selected concepts were those identified by various brass authors as representing the elements of classical style; namely, "sostenuto," "accent," "staccato," and the "short accent" or "inarcato." While the brass authors also indicated the importance of tempo and dynamics to classical style, the latter were seen by the writer to be self-explanatory to a far greater extent than the primary elements named.Teaching strategies for the selected skills and concepts were constructed by utilizing relevant results of researchers' studies in motor skill acquisition and conceptual learning. These strategies were combined with the skills and concepts of the study to yield empirically-based methodologies to be used in beginning brass instruction.

Thesis (M.S.)--Central Connecticut State University, 2000.
Thesis advisor: Ron Cassella. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Teacher Education." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-98).

This paper presents the contributions of the first stage of the investigation«Theories and challenges in teacher education in Mexico,» which analyzes aspart of the transition from the current educational reform mastery of teachingskills of teachers. The aim of this study was to identify the education and trainingof teachers of primary and secondary higher state of Tlaxcala to develop theirteaching skills and education. The research was conducted with a cross-cuttingdescriptive quantitative methodology, were surveyed 346 teachers from the threeeducational levels. In the results it is emphasized that a considerable number ofteachers lack pedagogical training and acquire specific skills for the exercise of theteaching function.
El presente artículo expone las contribuciones de la primera etapa de lainvestigación «Teorías y retos en la formación del profesorado en México», la cualanaliza en el marco de la transición de la Reforma Educativa actual el dominio delas competencias docentes de los profesores. El objetivo de este estudio consistióen identificar la formación y práctica de los maestros de educación básica y mediasuperior del estado de Tlaxcala para el desarrollo de sus competencias docentes.La investigación se realizó con una metodología descriptiva transversal de cortecuantitativo, se encuestaron a 346 docentes de los tres niveles educativos. Enlos resultados se resalta que un número considerable de docentes carece de la formación pedagógica y adquieren las competencias específicas durante el ejercicio de la función docente.
O presente artigo expõe as contribuições da primeira etapa da investigação «Teorias e desafios na formação dos professores no Mexico», o qual analisa no marco da transição da Reforma Educativa atual, o domínio das competências docentes dos professores. O objetivo deste estudo consistiu em identificar a formação e pratica dos professores do ensino básico e fundamental do estado de Tlaxcala para o desenvolvimento de suas competências docentes. A investigação realizou-se com uma metodologia descritiva transversal de corte quantitativo, 346 docentes dos três níveis educativos, responderão a um questionário. Nos resultados ressalta-se que um número considerável de docentes carece de formação pedagógica e adquirem as competências especificas durante o exercício da função docente.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Melodies to Assist Social Interaction (MASI) would affect the social skills performance of the educable mentally retarded. The study employed a pretest-posttest control group design with an N of 27 mentally-retarded subjects. It also employed a one-group pretest-posttest design with an N of 8 non-mentally retarded subjects. All of the subjects received a pre- and post-score for their social skills performance level. Nineteen of the mentally-retarded subjects and all eight non-mentally retarded subjects received the MASI social skills teaching program as part of their regular curriculum. The pre- and post-treatment performance was analyzed by a correlated means t-test. An analysis of covariance was used in which the posttest means were compared using the pretest means as a covariate. It was concluded that MASI did not have an impact, positive or negative, on the social skills performance level of the subjects.

The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in a cognitive training program administered by teachers within their classrooms would significantly improve the academic achievement, attentional responding styles and auditory and visual attention and memory skills of elementary self-contained learning disabled students.;Subjects were thirty-six elementary age self-contained learning disabled students 8-0 to 11-11 years of age and with total I.Q. scores on the Wechsler intelligence Scale for Children-Revised of 80 or greater from the Virginia Beach City Public Schools in Virginia Beach, Virginia.;Three instruments were used to measure the dependent variables in this study: the reading, mathematics, and written language clusters of the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery; the auditory and visual attention and memory subtests of the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude; and the Matching Familiar Figures Test to measure impulsive vs. reflective responding styles.;The research design was the Pretest-Posttest Control Groups Design. The data was analyzed using a 2 x 2 analysis of variance with the hypotheses being tested at the .05 level of confidence.;The findings indicated that participation in a program of cognitive training procedures administered by self-contained learning disabilities teachers in their classrooms did significantly improve the reading and math achievement test scores, the auditory memory and attention test scores and the reflective attending style test scores of the students involved in the training. No significant improvement was noted in the students written language test scores on the Woodcock or in the visual attention and memory test scores on the Detroit.;Future research is suggested with larger samples of both self-contained and resource learning disabled students.

This study evaluated the treatment components of a conversation based Behavioral Skills Training (BST) package used to teach conversation skills to three young adults with developmental disabilities via a component analysis. Following each component, participant's performance was compared to a task analysis that included both vocal and non-vocal conversation skills, such as making comments related to the conversation topic, maintaining eye contact, maintaining and appropriate distance from the conversation partner. The components of the BST package included instructions, modeling of an appropriate conversation, rehearsal, rehearsal with feedback, in-situ training with feedback provided to the participants in a private observation room, and in-situ training with feedback plus reinforcement. The results indicated that different components were correlated with acquisition of the conversation skills for each participant. Implications of the results and areas for future research are discussed.

English is one of three core subjects in upper secondary school and it is essential that students

receive a good education in this subject. Since writing and speaking are such prominent parts

of the English language, the teacher is obliged to possess knowledge of how to improve

students’ proficiencies in an efficient way. The question is how to use this knowledge when

the teacher is supposed to compose different methods for lessons, evaluate the exercises and

give proper feedback to the students.

This investigation is based on various literary sources, interviews with teachers and

questionnaires with students and the background information is the basis for the interview

questions and the questionnaire.

There are endless possibilities for appropriate exercises to improve writing and speaking and it

is impossible to investigate every single one there is in a relatively short essay. I have,

however, found a fair number of methods, which will be described in this paper. In order to

evaluate exercises, the teacher needs to be prepared and know what to focus on in the exercise

as it is in progress, but also listen to the students’ opinions since they know if they have

learned anything or not. Correction of spoken errors should be handled cautiously by the

teacher but the students should be made aware of the written mistakes they make.

This study investigates English language learners’ interaction with paper text and web text reading. Four main research questions shape the study: 1) What evidence exists to suggest that ESL learners use different strategies when reading printed text as opposed to reading web text? 2) What metacognitive strategies do ESL students use and report when reading and learning from printed and web-based texts? 3) What issues do ESL learners identify in relation to their use of the Internet? and 4) What are the implications for ESL pedagogy? While research has increasingly been focused on second language reading, it has primarily been centered on how the learner interacts and decodes printed text. However, little research has been conducted on how the English language learner processes web text, navigates the Internet, or evaluates and comprehends what he/she is reading through the use of digital literacy skills and metacognitive strategies. The intention of this study was to gain insight into the online reading strategies of English language learners in order to explore if there was a need for the Teaching of English to Students of Other Languages (TESOL) profession to teach digital literacy in the language classroom. A subjectivist approach was used to examine the metacognitive online reading strategies of intermediate and upper intermediate ESL students. The present writer acted in the role of both workshop facilitator and researcher during the eight-week study between September and November 2011. Data were drawn from the researcher’s observation notes, interviews with the student participants, group discussions, and student participants’ journals. As a result, data generation included both public views (expressed orally through interviews) and private and reflective views (expressed through journal writing). Thus, the data contained both real time and ex post facto viewpoints. The central voices heard were the researcher and the student participants. The research methodology for the study was interpretive and qualitative. Data triangulation was achieved through a series of interviews and text analysis. The findings of this thesis suggest that while students may appear digitally literate enough to randomly surf the Net, they lack sufficient skills to effectively research and evaluate information online. In addition, the study shows that language learners engage in characteristically different reading practices and strategies when reading print and web text. The research also indicates that there is a need for digital literacy skills to be taught in conjunction with the teaching of the target language in the TESOL settings studied. Recommended pedagogical practices include suggestions to teach digital literacies in conjunction with print-based literacy practices; to provide both TESOL teachers-in-training and seasoned TESOL educators the means to develop digital literacy skills through formal instruction or through professional development workshops; to emphasize the need for lifelong learning of digital skills to keep current with the constant changes and development of digital technology; to reshape TESOL curricula to accommodate digital literacy and language teaching practices to meet the needs of the language classroom in the 21st century; to create literacy lesson sequences that will help the language learner develop, strengthen, and apply critical reading strategies; and to promote the wider adoption of more interactive teaching.

Teachers sometimes fail to use previously acquired teaching skills. A review of studies which had examined the maintenance of teaching skills found that some training programmes which used skill practice and feedback on performance were successful in achieving maintenance. The present study was designed to test the effect of practice and feedback in diverse settings on the acquisition and maintenance of teaching skills. The following skills were selected for training: 1. Increasing the use of approval and decreasing the use of disapproval. 2. Increasing the use of feedback and decreasing the use of criticism. 3. Using wait-time: (a) after asking a question and before calling on a student to answer, (teacher wait-time) and (b) after a student response has finished (pupil wait-time). Repeated measures were made of nineteen student teachers teaching during a six week student teaching practice prior to the training course and again immediately following it. Ten of them, who also secured teaching positions, were observed when teaching in their own classrooms. During the training course, the subjects practised some skills until the training targets had been achieved five times in each of two settings (the 2 X 5 treatment). They practised the remaining skills until the training targets had been achieved two times in each of two classroom settings (the 2 X 2 treatment). The subjects observed one another practise and the results of these observations were used to provide them with performance feedback. There was a general training effect although there was no treatment effect for the amount of practice. More maintenance was found when the subjects became employed as classroom teachers than was observed immediately after training. More skills were maintained when there was a match between the class level being taught and the class level practised with during training. Feedback was maintained by most subjects while teacher wait-time and low rates of criticism were maintained by the fewest subjects. It was hypothesized that the subjects had previously been subjected to thousands of hours of observational learning of teacher behaviour and that a brief training course may not have had sufficient impact to counter such prior learning. It was also hypothesized that there were unidentified stimuli, context variables and sources of reinforcement controlling the performance of particular skills by individual subjects. It was concluded that future research in this field should seek to identify these sources of stimulus control.