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Identifying gifted children in kindergarten
Get PDFFor my dissertation, I dealt with the identification of gifted children in the preschool period. In the theoretical part, I first presented the system of preschool education in Slovenia and also relied on the national document - Curriculum for Kindergartens and all the principles mentioned in it. I described the developmental characteristics of a preschool child, defined the concept of talent and the characteristics and needs of gifted preschool children. I also devoted an extensive part of the theoretical part of my diploma thesis to the identification of talented children in kindergarten, where I also emphasized the technique of observation. I completed the theoretical part by teaching talented people in a family environment and in preschool institutions. I also stressed the importance of communication between parent and educator for the effective identification of a gifted child.
For the needs of empirical work, I compiled a questionnaire in which I asked five questions related to the topic of gifted children in kindergarten. The questionnaire was completed by 40 preschool educators from two different kindergartens. Based on the results obtained from the research, I found that some educators who were included in the research have already encountered gifted children in their pedagogical work. Most of the respondents identified a child who stands out within the kindergarten department as a gifted person, a child who is more skilful, above average, characterized by a strong field, etc. Respondents are of the opinion that the easiest way to identify a talented preschool child is with an observation technique, based on certain characteristics. The characteristics for identifying gifted preschool children, which I included in the survey questionnaire, were mostly assessed by the respondents as suitable for identifying gifted children in kindergarten. In addition to the characteristics for identifying a gifted child, which I included in the questionnaire, they also added characteristics in the cognitive, behavioral and emotional areas, which I myself mentioned several times in the theoretical part. On average, the surveyed educators most often had experience with a gifted preschool child in the field of movement and art. Several times, however, they also mentioned the behavioral characteristics by which they identified the gifted
Outdoor activities in urban and suburban kindergartens
Get PDFNumerous studies indicated that outdoor play and learning could improve development of children and more and more preshool teachers and other professional workers are aware of that. Despite this, researches indicated that today children spend outside much less time and that they are losing the contact with nature consequentially. My master thesis is based on findings of authors on play in nature, spending time outside, forest educational sciences etc. I introduced results of some Slovene and foreign researches that are emphasising importance of outdoor play and learning. As it is important to include also perspective of children in life of preschool education, I write also about participation and research with children.
With qualitative research I was exploring outdoor play and learning in two preschools located in different surroundings – one in urban and other in suburban. The term outdoor play and learning refers to any kind of play outside on a playground or in nature, walk in nature or into a town, visits of important and interesting institutions (for example museums, library, farm etc.). Main goal was to look into preschool teachers' and children's opinions and to expose barriers when planning and organising outdoor play and learning. With partly structured interview with three teachers from each preschool I was gaining data on their view of outdoor play and learning, how much time they devote to it, how they plan it, what are their practices and what barriers they are challenging. I also prepared questions for the conversation with children where I was finding out how they were experiencing outdoor play and learning. I supplemented findings with choice of photograph of their favourite place and their drawings. Results indicated, that children like spending time outdoor very much and that preschool teachers are aware of meaning of outdoor play and learning but their behaviors are sometimes limiting child play and learning outside. Beside barriers as the distance of natural environments, weather, parents etc., I think the reason for eventual lack of outdoor play and learning is also lack of consciousness of all possibilities of use and advantage of outdoor and lack of belief that outdoor learning is equivalent to indoor learning, if not yet more important, or that both types of learning complete each other. With the research I wanted to contribute to awareness of preschool workers on importance of outdoor play and learning and to the improvement of practice on this field. Findings could contribute also to better participation of children
Presentation of liquid crystals in primary school
Get PDFpresented physics in lower secondary schools in the theoretical part of my master's
dissertation. I mainly focused on experimental work and the importance of integrating
contemporary physics topics in a lesson. I examined the properties of liquid crystals, the
polarization of light, and the operating system of the LCD screen. The main target of my
master's thesis was planning and implementing a workshop on liquid crystals in a primary
school. In the second part, I presented teaching materials for experiments with liquid crystals.
The objective was to introduce the main properties of liquid crystals understandable to primary
school students. Experimental teaching provides better motivation, especially for modern
topics, not defined in the curriculum, although the students daily come across them. Moreover,
they can increase their learning motivation in physics lessons.
In a two-hour workshop, the 8 and 9-graders tested the learning material. By working
individually and in groups, by demonstrating and explaining, the students learned about the
properties of liquid crystals, the polarization of light, and the operating system of LCD screen
i.e. how the colour image appears on the screen. The fast pace of lessons defined in the
curriculum hardly allows any additional activities in class. Hence the teaching material offers
the students an option to perform only a few experiments, they don’t have to do all of them.
The empirical part evaluates the workshop. My goal was to determine the strengths and flaws
of the teaching material and to find opportunities for improvement. I collected data by using a
combined questionnaire, a survey questionnaire, and a test, and my own observation notes. The
findings lead me to believe that the teaching material with only minor adjustments is highly
appropriate and useful for primary school students. Additionally, the workshop definitely
increased students` interest and engagement in the subject
Representations of integers by sums of squares
Get PDFThe thesis discusses classical number theory problems on representations of integers by sums of two, three or four squares. The theorem on representation of prime numbers as sum of two squares, which is presented as first, is proven using different mathematical techniques in 8 different ways (using involutions, pigeon hole principle, convex subsets, integer partitions, method of infinite descent, Gaussian integers, congruences and geometric forms). Theorems on representations of natural numbers by sums of two or by four squares are also proven in two different ways and also some interesting results on the number of such representations are given. Finally, the theorem on representation of natural numbers by sums of three squares is proven using the classical aproach by Dirichlet with quadratic forms and properties of quadratic congruences.
In the conclusion we discuss some possible approaches to communicate these problems in form of math investigations to students in primary or secondary schools. For this purpose we have created a worksheet, which teachers could use to implement such activity in their classroom
Using languages to respect diversity, benefit the brain and ensure peace : 2022 Languages Matter Final Conference: books of abstracts: University in Ljubljana, Faculty of Education and online, Zoom (hybrid conference); 26th-27th September 2022
Get PDFThe main objective of the Languages Matter project is to identify which factors support and which inhibit the
creation of a supportive learning environment for the development of plurilingualism in the Slovenian school
environment. Based on the data from the targeted analyses and the variables identified, guidelines are being
developed to help create a multilingual-friendly educational environment.
The project guides educators to go beyond learning about and teaching only one culture and one language, as their
intensified confrontation in the modern world has given rise to the need for intercultural content in all subject
areas. The inclusion of intercultural aspects in language and non-language subjects should lead to an informed
acceptance of different linguistic and cultural realities, thus helping learners to avoid slip-ups in intercultural
communication and to develop the capacity for critical cultural awareness, thus encouraging them to continually
explore and respond to changing realities without unnecessary stereotypes and prejudices
Optical properties of Helleborus odorus and H.niger perianth at diffrent stages of flower development
Get PDFHelleborus niger is an evergreen species, while Helleborus odorus is a herbaceus understorey species that develops flowers before the canopy layer closes. They have sepals that remain after flower senescence and have multiple functions. To further elucidate sepal function during flower development, we examined their optical and biochemical properties, and photochemical efficiency of PS II in the developing, flowering, and fruiting flowers. Sepals of both species differed significantly in the contents of photosynthetic pigments and anthocyanins, but less in the UV-absorbing substances contents. Significant differences in photosynthetic pigment contents were also obtained within different developmental phases. Sepal potential photochemical efficiency of PS II was high in all developmental phases in H. odorus, whereas it was initially low in H. niger. The shapes of the reflectance and transmittance spectra were similar. In the green H. odorus sepals, we obtained typical green leaf spectra with peaks in the green and NIR regions, and a low response in the UV region. On the other hand, in the white H. niger sepals in the developing and flowering phase, the response was relatively constant along the visible and NIR regions. Biochemical properties, especially chlorophylls, revealed to be important in explaining sepal optical properties, as together they explained 44 % and 34 % of the reflectance and transmittance spectra variability, respectively
Use of a Cycles Phonological Remediation Approach in the therapy of a child with a phonological disorder
Get PDF: In speech therapy, the use of therapies that belong to evidence-based practices is key, as this enables speech therapists to make evidence-based decisions, ensure a higher quality of services, and monitor the needs of individuals with speech and language disorders (Evidence-Based Practice (EBP), b. d.). It is also extremely important to choose the appropriate types of therapies that relate to individual disorders. One of the therapies intended to treat phonological disorders of spoken voices is the Cycles Phonological Approach (Prezas and Hodson, 2010). Theoretical part of this master's thesis describes key elements and guidelines for the implementation of this evidence-based approach, and briefly presents phonological processes and deviations from expected phonological development.
Primarily, CFP is used in the English language, but with this case study we studied its usability in Slovenian as well. In the case of a younger child who shows developmental deviations in phonological field and is unintelligible, based on the results obtained with the Nonlinear Phonological Scan Analysis for Intervention Planning, the phonological awareness test and our occasional test, we designed individualized therapy according to the recommendations of dr. Barbara Hodson. We discussed posterior-anterior contrasts, namely the sound /x/ at the beginning and end of the word, and the reduction of the consonant cluster, namely /ʃp/ and /ʃt/ at the beginning of the word. After the CFP therapy, we repeated the tests and assessed the final state, then conducted an intelligibility test for an unrelated person and inquired about how the parents' point of view about the experience of being involved in therapy after the CFP.
The test results showed a significant positive contribution of the CFP therapy to the improvement of the child's intelligibility. Namely, the selected child correctly pronounced critical parts of the word, which contained the same target phonological patterns as the target words in question. The improvement in the child's intelligibility was also confirmed by the intelligibility test for an unrelated person. According to the results of the phonological awareness test, the implementation of the CFP also had a positive effect on the child's phonological awareness, where the greatest improvement was observed in the recognition of the first sound in the word and in the recognition of rhymes. The parents of the selected child were satisfied with their involvement in the implementation of the CFP. The obtained results are an encouraging guide for further research and use of the cyclic phonological approach in Slovenia
Career decision-making and upper secondary school students' interest in studying engineering and technology
Get PDFUpper secondary students' interest in studying engineering and technology is relatively poorly researched field in Slovenia, however, the number of these professions is decreasing and the demand is increasing, making this field interesting for research.
In this master's thesis, we wanted to find out, which professions interest the current upper secondary students the most, and to establish, what kind of perception, opinion, point of view and experience these students have regarding the aforementioned studies. To compare our findings and place them into context, we firstly needed to research, what is the current state in this field. We also wanted to find out, what kind of self-efficacy the participants of the research have and how we can connect it to their choice of study and to what extent it influences their choice. At the same time, we were interested, what motivates them and what emotional needs they have. We compared the state according to gender as well as grade of education. Finally, we suggested, how we could improve the state in this field.
In the theoretical part of this thesis, we placed the problem into a context and set a theoretical plan. We got to know the Slovene school system and checked its state. We wanted to find out, which professions are lacking and the state in the number of teachers in engineering and technology. We studied the field of self-efficacy and different theories, which influence the development of an individual. The emphasis was also on the environment factors, mostly the influence of gender and gender stereotypes, which are mostly shown in the shortage of women in engineering. We also researched motivation and career-planning with the help of self-determination theory and career, interest and professional interest for technology and engineering. We studied the emotional needs of individuals as well, because everyone wishes to be accepted and feel good in their society.
The empirical part of the thesis follows with research questions. For the purpose of the research, we used a qualitative-quantitative approach of pedagogic research with the main method of questionnaires. We used the LAESE questionnaire and adapted it for our research. We analysed the collected results according to questions and separate variables and searched for correlations, levels of connectivity, etc. with the IBM SPSS programme. With the collected results and the help of theory from the theoretical part of the thesis, we answered the researched questions and aims of this master's thesis. We established that merely a fifth of the respondents is interested in an engineering profession. There was no significant difference in number according to gender, however, the male respondents evaluated themselves better in connection with engineering and technology in all categories of the questionnaire. A statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) appeared according to gender in all categories with an exception in category of dealing with self-efficacy. The comparison according to grades of education and categories showed that statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) appear only among the second and fourth grades, namely in categories of engineering career expectations and engineering self-efficacy. The correlation analysis showed there is a high connectivity between categories engineering self-efficacy I and II, which is a logical turnout, as well as between engineering self-efficacy II and engineering career expectations. We can also stress out the fact that the respondents evaluated engineering self-efficacy I and II below average in the scale of agreeing, which shows that they are not sure about their success in engineering and technology and at the same time, they are not willing to sacrifice their private life.
With this master’s thesis we wish to give an insight into state of interest for engineering and technology in Slovenia and establish how to improve this state. We want to find out the level of self-efficacy of current students and how they function in society
Suitability of differentiation of reading tasks in literature classes in the second triad of primary school
Get PDFTeachers need to be aware that there are differences among their learners, even if they are not noticeable at first glance. These differences should be identified and taken into consideration both in planning and in delivery of lessons. Teaching literature is no exception. The so-called new task phase provides teachers with many opportunities for differentiation. Whether teachers make use of it and how appropriate the tasks are depends on their views on the importance of teaching differentiation, their qualifications, the methods of differentiation, etc. The aim of this research was to establish how teachers assess the importance of differentiation in reading tasks, how they assess their own competence to deliver it, how often they deliver it, for whom they deliver it, what they take into consideration and in what ways they adapt the tasks, how many tasks they offer to their learners, how often they include differentiated tasks in their lesson plans and whether they achieve the same educational objective with them. Our goal was also to establish which differences occur between teachers of different seniority in their assessment of the importance of delivering differentiated tasks, and in their qualifications and frequency of delivery of differentiated reading tasks. The empirical part of this thesis presents the results gathered through an online questionnaire and the analysis of lesson plans. Our sample consisted of class teachers who were teaching in the second trimester of Slovenian primary schools in the school year 2020/21 and teachers who were teaching Slovene in grade 6 of primary school in the same school year. 141 teachers responded to the online questionnaire and 74 teachers submitted one lesson plan each.
Following the results of the online questionnaires, we found that on a 5-point scale, where a score of one means very poor and a score of five means excellent, teachers on average rate their qualification to differentiate reading tasks in teaching literature at a score of three, which means good. On average, teachers with the longest seniority rate their qualification to differentiate reading tasks highest, while teachers with the shortest seniority rate their qualification lowest. Most teachers differentiate reading tasks by adjusting the level of difficulty according to Bloom's taxonomy, and most of them take into consideration the development of language, reading and literary perception and the horizon of expectation. We also established that the highest proportion of teachers differentiate reading tasks for learners with special educational needs. Most of the teachers responded that they include differentiated tasks in their lesson plans. Through the online questionnaire and the analysis of lesson plans, we found that most teachers use differentiated tasks to achieve the same educational objective. The average number of differentiated tasks in the analysed lesson plans was 3.36.
Recommendations have been formulated to help teachers in creating appropriate differentiated reading tasks. We have also compiled samples of differentiated tasks which, based on the criteria selected, we have determined to be appropriat
Reading literacy linked to bilingualism in 4th grade elementary school Slovenian language classes
Get PDFWe live at a time of increased internationalisation and mass migrations, resulting in the increase in bilingualism, which is becoming a certain norm in the modern society. In the Republic of Slovenia, the population of bilingual children is growing, and compared to previous years, changes in linguistic composition of pupils attending elementary school are starting to take place. According to recent data and immigration trends, experts believe that the proportion of those whose first language is Slovenian will further decrease in the next few years. In the Republic of Slovenia, education institutions have been recently focusing to plan the inclusion of immigrant children in the educational system, as during this process, pupils whose first language is not the language of instruction struggle because they are not fluent enough in the language of instruction compared to their peers. This consequently results in poorer development of reading literacy, which is the main element and basis for most of the other types of literacy and activities. For this purpose, this master's thesis studies reading literacy linked to bilingualism in Slovenian language classes in the fourth grade of elementary school. In the theoretical part, we presented and described languages and their status in Slovenia. After defining bilingualism and reading literacy, we portrayed learning processes, processes of learning the first and the second languages, reading development models and reading literacy development. We presented findings of previous Slovenian and foreign studies in this field as well as projects encouraging reading literacy. For this master's thesis, we drew up a survey and a reading literacy test, which were completed by 52 monolingual and 50 bilingual fourth-grade pupils attending elementary school. By conducting this research, we tried to gain insight into reading habits of fourth-graders, their attitude towards reading, problems related to Slovenian language classes, self-assessment of reading literacy and performance on the reading literacy test. Based on the comparison of our results, we studied basic differences between monolingual and bilingual fourth-graders in this field. According to a statistical data analysis, most fourth-graders daily devote less than 30 minutes of their free time to reading, even though most of them have a positive attitude towards reading, borrowing books and discussing what was read. Based on the result analysis, we noticed that bilingual fourth-graders attending elementary school face bigger problems in Slovenian language classes than their peers. Their self-assessment of their reading capabilities is quite low as well. Assessing performance on the reading literacy test, we realised that monolingual pupils achieve on average better results both in the field of literature and language. The analysis of performance on the reading literacy test also showed that monolingual students obtained a third more points than bilingual students. By studying literature and considering findings of this research, we drew up guidelines and recommendations for effective teaching of bilingual students whose first language is not the language of instruction. These guidelines, which act as a framework for working with bilingual students, may be helpful for Slovenian teachers