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Online teaching of the gifted 4th and 5th grade mathematics students
Get PDFThe 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 school years were marked by the COVID-19 epidemic. As a result of the epidemic, lessons in the school year 2019/2020 from March to May and in the school year 2020/21 from October to the end of January were transferred online. Thus, teachers were forced to take a completely different approach than they were used to. Teaching moved from classrooms to the web and desks were replaced by computers.
In this master’s thesis we focused on the motivation of talented pupils while teaching remotely. The theoretical part of the master's work consists of three sets. In the first set we presented the characteristics of mathematics lessons. In the second part we introduced talented students in maths class. Just as students with deficits in specific areas need special attention from the teacher, complementary instruction and tailored tasks to progress in substance, talented students need additional incentives, problem tasks, and additional instruction to fully develop their potential. In the last, third part, we focused on distance teaching. We touched on the use of ICT in education, briefly described the history of distance education, and we paid special attention to distance mathematics teaching.
In the empirical work we explored how the math lessons took place in the 4th and 5th classes during distance teaching and how teachers adapted math lessons for gifted pupils. The study consisted of two parts. In the first part we used a quantitative approach. The surveys examined the opinion of teachers and teachers on the effectiveness of distance teaching. We wanted to know whether remote lessons influenced the way teachers work with talented students in maths lessons. However, we wanted to check whether there are differences in teachers in grade 4 and 5 in terms of their competence to adapt to remote training for talented pupils in March 2020 and today, and whether there are differences in teachers in grade 4 and 5 in terms of their ability to adapt distance lessons for talented pupils in classrooms and at a distance. In the second part, we tried to obtain examples of good practice for teaching talented pupils at a distance through interviews.
The results showed that distance learning had an impact on the work of teachers with gifted pupils in maths lessons. The proportion of teachers adapting maths lessons for gifted pupils at a distance was lower than the proportion of teachers adapting to maths classes for gifted pupils in the classroom. In addition, there were differences between the ways of adaptation itself. Teachers mainly use supplementary lessons and peer support when adapting maths lessons in the classroom, but mostly they did not use these two methods of adaptation during distance learning. In analysing the questions from the interview, we received examples of good practice in how to adapt math lessons for gifted pupils at a distance. We have presented some of these
Domain ontology of programming patterns in introductory programming courses
Get PDFComputer programming is one of the fundamental skills in computer science. It enables students to develop problem solving skills, algorithmic, analytical as well as abstract thinking and logical reasoning. This gives them an important advantage in today's technological world. Experience shows that beginners often find it difficult to acquire this knowledge because they lack strategic knowledge. This is because the traditional way of teaching programming emphasizes syntactic and semantic knowledge, which is not the biggest problem for beginners. The most difficult challenge for beginners is the process of developing a solution when they have to combine the functionalities of different programming constructs into a correct solution.
Experts are very effective at this because they use a wide range of programming patterns that they have acquired through a long learning process. Programming patterns are abstract representations of solutions to recurring algorithmic problems encountered in programming and allow problem solving to be approached at a conceptual level. Incorporating these patterns into the learning process helps in learning general problem-solving strategies, enables the use of abstract concepts, helps in gaining a general understanding of the fundamentals of programming, and enables the writing or understanding of complex programs by assembling smaller, interconnected parts. Beginners learn most effectively from knowledge embedded in patterns when they are taught explicitly. This requires their formal representation. The latter provides a deeper insight into the processes of algorithmic problem solving. Despite the growing body of literature on programming patterns, there is a conspicuous lack of approaches to formalizing them.
In this dissertation, we have developed a programming language-independent formalization of programming patterns that allows their declarative representation at different levels of abstraction. The declarative representation of a programming pattern describes its structure through its elements and the relations between them. The chosen level of abstraction, in turn, allows us to represent the parts of a programming pattern in arbitrary detail.
Existing formalizations of programming patterns, such as block diagrams and abstract syntax trees, are based on procedural features of algorithms. This means that they focus on describing the execution order of instructions and implementation peculiarities in a concrete programming language, thus obscuring the structure of the programming pattern and consequently not providing declarative insight into the essential aspects of the design of the solution. The proposed formalization directly addresses the highlighted shortcomings of existing approaches by providing explicit insight into the structure of the pattern, thus providing a means to study and investigate the solution design process. The declarative nature of the representation of a pattern also provides the basis for realizing a modular approach to the composition of programming patterns from elementary to complex. Insight into the elements that make up a pattern and how they relate to each other allows the process of pattern construction to be followed more closely, supports the construction of complex patterns, and facilitates the application of knowledge embedded in programming patterns to new problems.
The basic premise of formalization is the perception of the algorithm as an interplay of data operations with operations that control the flow of instruction execution. On this basis, we have defined the elements of formalization: elementary patterns, composite patterns, modules, and relations. Elementary patterns represent the basic building blocks of formalization and illustrate basic programming constructs (start/end, conditional statement, loop) and/or basic operations on data (query/set value and traversals over the data structure). A composite pattern is a declarative representation of a programming pattern and expresses its structure. A composite pattern is created by linking elementary patterns with relations that define the relationship between them. A module is a composite pattern that is represented as a single unit and can be included in another composite pattern depending on the defined interface. The use of modules allows us to represent more complex patterns at different levels of abstraction.
The validity or usefulness of the formalization was demonstrated in an experiment with students enrolled in the Two-Subject Teacher undergraduate program at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, who had successfully completed the introductory course in programming. We analyzed their solutions and found that the correct solutions, which were implemented in different ways and did not contain redundant code, corresponded to the same pattern written in the formalization. For the correct solutions that contained redundant code, the formalization gave a clear indication of where the redundant code was added to the solution. Comparing the representation of the patterns of the incorrect solutions with the correct solutions showed at which stage of the solution design the learner had made a mistake. These are important results that demonstrate the usefulness of formalization in programming didactics.
Another important result of the dissertation is the ontology of programming patterns that we developed based on the presented formalization. Representing the knowledge domain of programming patterns using the ontology allows us to develop efficient methods for evaluating solutions, identify knowledge deficits at the conceptual level, find common misconceptions, define personalized learning paths, structure learning materials and use them in tutoring systems. The developed ontology illustrates a conceptual shift in the representation of programming patterns by providing insights into the structure of programming solutions or ways of thinking of programmers. It is this feature of formal representation of strategic knowledge embedded in programming patterns that provides the basis for didactic approaches that can address the problem of lack of strategic knowledge among novices. It also provides many opportunities for further research to find innovative ways to use and develop ontology for the purposes of programming didactics
Early identification of developmental coordination disorder in preschool children
Get PDFThrough movement, a baby discovers the world around him. Through movement, the child learns and tests himself in various activities that take place through the process of growing up. As a child gains an increasing sense of control over movement, control and directs their behavior, movements become more and more automated. At first, the complex movements soon seem simpler to the toddler. First, large motor movements are developed, which continue until the development of fine motor movements. Children reach developmental milestones at different speeds but in the same order. If a child experiences delays in conquering milestones, more attention should be paid to it. Some children have difficulty moving, which can affect their daily activities. One of the reasons for this may be a neurodevelopmental disorder called developmental coordination disorder (hereinafter DCD) or dyspraxia. It is a specific learning disorder that causes problems with the movement, organization, coordination, and processing of sensory information. People with DCD have the most problems in the field of motor skills, both fine and coarse. Among children today, DCD is detected and diagnosed more and more often, mostly during the school period. Although DCD has not yet been fully researched and the reasons for its occurrence have not yet been explained, we professionals must be able to deal with the problems that arise due to DCD and pay attention to the problem of the disorder. By recognizing the early signs of DCD in preschool, we can prevent or at least minimalize the primary problems and thus the problems that arise from them.
Children who attend kindergarten spend there a lot of time. For these children, kindergarten is the main socializing element in their personal development, which affects their mental health and quality of life (Stipanovič, 2020). Therefore, educators and their assistants must pay attention to any deviations in reaching developmental milestones, which could be indicators of early signs of DCD. It is important to offer children with early signs of DCD early treatment as soon as possible, as a movement in children can be most influenced in preschool children. The pre-school period is extremely sensitive to children's development. Early recognition, appropriate treatment and inclusive orientation of the kindergarten the child attends (Zadravec, 2020) are crucial for optimal child development, as we want to draw attention to the importance of recognizing early signs of DCD in preschool children.
The main topic of the master's thesis is the recognition of early signs of DCD in preschool children in kindergarten by kindergarten teachers and their assistants. We present theoretical starting points, which include the findings of foreign and domestic authors dealing with the field of DCD. We emphasize the importance of recognizing early signs of DCD in preschool children, as it is usually recognized only upon entering school, which may be late for some children
Inclusively designed outdoor playgrounds for kindergartens
Get PDFPublic kindergarten should follow the idea of contemporary, open educational institution, which is obligated to create and maintain equal opportunities for optimal development of every child. To follow the idea of inclusion, they have to remove every hampering factor which is in a way on providing good quality, balanced and meaningful play opportunities. In order to do that some changes in the physical and social environment are needed. This work will describe changes from outdoor playground spheres. Specific features of outdoor playgrounds support authentic experiences, which makes this place such an important part of preschool education. Even though these experiences can't be replaced and gained in indoor places, the national curriculum doesn't put much attention on the outdoor space. Also, some recent observations conclude that current outdoor playgrounds mainly aren't stimulative or flexible, because of dominant criteria of safety and the high level of structure of the place. This leads to playgrounds that are not answering a variety of needs of a very diverse group of users. To achieve the goal – create a space where every child will feel like a part of the community, as respected, heard, and equal member – the literature review and reflection on the quality of play opportunities in the outdoor playground is very much needed. Reflection should contain changes in the physical environment taking into account knowledge of inclusion design and also changes in a social environment – the role of a kindergarten teacher and his everyday use of space and support of children play. The purpose of this work is to describe the criteria of the inclusive outdoor playground from practices and theory. I will define inclusive play, inclusive design, the role of a kindergarten teacher, and the active participation of children. The goal of the paper is guidelines for (re)design and (re)organization of kindergarten outdoor playgrounds. I will also include ways in which kindergarten teachers can support children's play; both with attention to increasing the level of inclusion. Guidelines will be a starting point for evaluating the current outdoor playground and for reflection of current actions and maybe good support to make explicit ideas for change
Slovene primary students’ perceptions of their plurilingual competencies
Get PDFAs stated in the Council of Europe's document Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR, 2011), a major goal of compulsory education is for each individual to develop their multilingual skills as best as possible. The only way they can develop them is if they are surrounded by a stimulating learning environment for learning different languages that engages all the students. There is a lack of research into multilingualism in Slovenia, especially at the primary school level. For this reason, we wish to determine the knowledge of languages and culture that primary school students possess; which skills they are developing; what their opinions are on multilingualism; how strongly they express these opinions; and what motivates them to develop multilingual skills. We are also interested in the factors that co-create a supportive learning environment for the development of multilingual skills. The data will be obtained through quantitative research, using a survey questionnaire and a Likert-type attitude scale. The master's thesis examines the multilingual skills of Slovenian primary school students. In the theoretical section, the purpose was to explore the background of the research topic, the characteristics of the multilingual ability, and the areas it covers. In the empirical section, descriptors of knowledge, opinions and skills were used to determine the knowledge, skills and opinions that the students possess; the most common motivating factors for learning a foreign language; and the factors of a supportive learning environment. We were interested in their self-assessment of their own linguistic competence and whether the assessments differ by gender. In the empirical section, the results were obtained by means of a survey questionnaire. Prior to conducting research, we posed nine research questions. The results show that primary school students are in favour of learning foreign languages and are aware of the importance of developing multilingual skills. The most common motivational factors for learning languages are their peers, and opening doors to new social prospects and career paths. The findings show that students who started learning foreign language in preschool age agreed the most with the statements and rated their linguistic skills, knowledge and competence the highest. They are also the most motivated for learning languages and the most in favour of developing multilingual skills. The opinions most often expressed by the respondents speak in favour of developing multicultural and multilingual skills. The students feel confident in speaking foreign languages and in entering a multicultural environment; however, they are less certain of their metalinguistic knowledge. In their opinion, the factors that influence the process of developing multilingual skills are: the school climate; quality literature and ICT tools; quality lessons adapted to their prior knowledge; their peers; their home environment (parents, relatives); foreign language teachers and teachers of second languages
Addressing people with autism spectrum disorders in the contemporary media
Get PDFIn this master's thesis, we studied how people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are depicted in contemporary media. In the theoretical part, we defined ASD, presenting how it was first detected, acknowledged and named, and presented the main signs of ASD. After listing and describing three main areas children with ASD struggle with, we presented the historical overview of how attitude towards people with special needs has developed and compared it to the historical overview of how people with special needs have been depicted in the media, trying to find similarities. We described the general attitude towards people with special needs in contemporary media, detailing how they are depicted in books, shows and films. In the empirical part, having selected four contemporary films and shows and two books addressing people with ADS, we studied how these characters are presented and how their depiction might influence their perception and acceptance in the general public. We conducted a semi-structured interview with actor Urban Kuntarič, who played a person with ADS in a Slovene crime show, titled V Imenu Ljudstva. According to the results presented using the descriptive method, we determined that in contemporary media people with special needs are mostly presented stereotypically. In most cases, they are played by a white male aged between 20 and 30, who, in addition to having all »prescribed« signs of autism, is exceptionally gifted in a certain field, mostly scientific. Such a depiction might be harmful, as it makes the general public and people with ADS create unrealistic expectations, which only 10% of all people with ADS can fulfil. More research in this field would be desired, in order to determine the overall influence of the depiction of people with ADS in contemporary media on their general perception. An unrealistic depiction might be misleading, while a realistic depiction might help people better understand the disorder and develop deeper empathy for people with ADS as well as their families
Origami geometry
Get PDFOrigami is an old Japanese art of paper folding. From a mathematical point of view, we consider a sheet of paper as a model of a plane and study the properties of geometric objects - points and line segments, which are formed by folding. In the master's thesis we will explore the geometry of origami. In the first part, we will focus on the question of what we can construct by folding paper. We will present the Huzita-Hatori axioms, which represent the basic procedures of paper folding. We will present constructions with a compass and an unmarked ruler based on five Euclidean postulates, compare them with the axioms of origami, and then prove that we can make all Euclidean constructions by folding paper. In the second part of the master's thesis, we will focus on the fundamental reason why mathematical origami is a more powerful tool than the unmarked ruler and compass. We will prove that the axioms of origami allow us to construct solutions of cubic equations. We will present the work of Margharita P. Beloch and her origami constructions of length ∛2 and solve some cubic equations by finding real roots using the graphical Lill’s method. By folding the paper also some ancient Greek problems can be solved in this way. We will present Abe's and Justin's trisection - two different procedures of forming a tertiary angle and the process of doubling the volume of a cube using Messer's construction of the number ∛2
Motivations for choosing a teaching profession and the professional development process of mathematics teachers
Get PDFThe master’s thesis is divided into two main parts, theoretical and empirical. Theoretical part has got four main content sets: the first one contains characteristics of teaching profession and teacher's competences, the second part defines professional development and influencing factors and presents different models of professional development, the third part defines teacher's professional identity and influencing factors, the last part enumarates motives which influence decisions to become a teacher,
The empirical part of the thesis demonstrates results of the research which was carried out on the sample of primary school math teachers in the Republic of Slovenia. The purpose of the thesis was to determine how diverse motives for teaching profession influence career satisfaction, teacher's professional identity and development. Acquired results are presented in five main content sets which were formed acoording to the research questions. Motives which influence a decision to become a math teacher are presented in the first section. They are followed by the rate of satisfaction between teachers and factors influencing the latter. The third section is about teacher's judgement of professional development importance and factors influencing the latter. The fourth section is dedicated to teaching identity and factors which influence the creating of identity the most. The final part unites all first sections. Combination of motives with professional satisfaction, teaching identity and professional development estimation is demonstrated.
The research showed among other that teachers choose to become math teachers on the basis of their passion for maths, wish to teach youth and work with children. The research revealed that teachers are satisfied in their occupation and pay a lot of attention to their professional development influenced mostly by expert team work.
The purpose of the thesis is to find ways to encourage professional development of math teachers. Outcomes of our research were compared to some foreign ones and one came to a conclusion there are differences between Slovene math teachers in motives for choosing a profession and professional development concept and other countries
Preschool teacher's role in the play of children aged 1-3 years
Get PDFPlay is dominant activity of the preschool children. Not only is it relaxing and fun, but it's also extremely important for the child's healthy development, so they can learn about themselves, others and everything around them. Adults often forget how important play is, because it's so free, intrinsically motivated and the child's natural activity. Play is influenced by variety od factors, including play materials, peers, age, gender. The role of the preschool teachers is also very important because they provide time, a safe and stimulating space, appropriate play materials, help to resolve conflicts, observe play, watch and document child's development and participate in play.
The role of the preschool teacher and his participation in the children's play is very important, in both, the 1st and the 2nd age group, but the role is a bit more important in the play of children aged 1-3 years, due to developmental characteristics (communication problems, fine motor skills, social behaviour, lack of understanding the rules of the games …).
The thesis entitled Preschool Teacher's Role in the Play of Children Aged 1-3 Years consists of a theoretical and an empirical part. In the theoretical part I defined play, the characteristics of children's play, the importance of play for children and the factors that influence play. I presented the types of play in terms of content and social participation. I defined toys and play materials. At the end of the theoretical part I focused on the role of the adult or preschool teacher in children's play. In the last chapter I described the characteristics of children aged 1-3 years in relation to play and toys. In the empirical part I described the methodology – the purpose and goals of the research, the research questions, the research method and the research sample. I described the process of data collection and processing and then I presented and interpreted the results that I obtained by surveying preschool teachers and assistant preschool teachers who have experience working with children ages 1-3.
Based on the data I collected through the questionnaire, I found out that most preschool teachers and assistant preschool teachers are aware of the importance of play for children's healthy development, are directly and indirectly involved in play and provide time, a safe play space and appropriate play materials
Motif and thematic aspect of fiction in the journal Naš rod (1929-1944)
Get PDFThis paper focuses on the Naš rod Journal. The theoretical part concentrates on young adult fiction and its time period, presents the publishing period of the journal, its importance and the importance of the journals, published earlier. In addition, it describes the journal more in detail, its columns, editors and the means of publishing.
The empirical part includes the quantitative analysis, which presents the number of volumes, the number of issues in individual volumes and the number of fiction pieces from the entire collection. It also compares the number of works written by male and female authors. Furthermore, it includes the qualitative analysis, which deals with the motifs and themes aspects that can be seen in poems and the differences between male and female authors in connection to the aspects. It also presents the subthemes of individual aspects and touches upon the illustrations.
The degree paper establishes the relations between gender and sociocultural position in the publishing period of the Naš rod Journal and connects them with the motifs and themes aspects of fiction poems