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Most of the existing predictive malaria risks models use very broad spatial scales. They are usually built for continental or national outlines. These models do not account for the complexity of socio-economic variables intervening in the malaria transmission process. Most of them are driven by weather data. However, it is difficult to make antimalarial interventions at a continental or national level and to act on climate variables alone. Consequently, the suitability of these models for real malaria prevention strategies is not high. Moreover, the existing informational-based prevention strategies are not suitable, since they are usually limited to the occasional usage of large public mass media to transfer bits of information. This study proposes new paths in malaria modelling and prevention. It is dedicated to the building of a thematically extended model integrating both environmental and social variables. The proposed prevention strategy is based on an educational philosophy integrating the actual malaria modelling results. The study starts with the implementation of a methodology dedicated to data creation and data analysis. The protocol of data creation is based on an urban malaria paradigm. It encompasses the epidemiological, environmental, and social components of malaria risk. The epidemiological component is elaborated through retrospective, self-reported, malaria febrile and clinical episodes of individuals at the household level. In addition to climate data, key ecological variables are created from remote sensing sources with a very high spatial resolution. New social indexes and coefficients measuring economic status, crowding conditions and prevention capacity of the population are created. A morphospatial structure of Yaoundé, which assumes the presence of distinct population aggregates, representing similar socio-economic profiles, is established using an object-oriented classification of QuickBird images. A spatial based index of urbanity (IU), quantitatively marking the difference between “urban” and “rural” patterns, is also built. A knowledge-base expressing the social, ecological and malarial significance of both population aggregates and index of urbanity is established and used in a Fuzzy Logic simulation approach to predict urban malaria in Yaoundé. The yearly malaria prevalence based on individuals in households in Yaoundé is 9% while the malaria prevalence based on households as an entity is 27%. Malaria prevalence is higher during the small rainy season. It is much more marked in peri-urban areas during this season, while people in central areas are more exposed during the big rainy season. A statistical multinomial model identified socio-economic and socio-ecologic variables, notably those related to the physical condition of houses, as being highly associated with frequent episodes of malaria in households. Variables related to prevention capacity perform very well in predicting the absence of malaria in households. Among the ecological variables, only elevation and the distance to urban agriculture (UA) areas are associated with malaria. The statistically (from multinomial models), overall-predicted household prevalence of malaria is lower than the observed one. The morphospatial structure of the city shows a clear distinction between very dense, centralized and “urbanized” population aggregates (PA) and very isolated, mostly peri-urban, “rural” population aggregates. The morphological model suggests that the intensity and sustainability of the malaria transmission are both dependant on demographical gradients. The less urbanized population aggregates, although being in proximity of urban agriculture areas, are demographically not suitable for a sustainable malaria transmission. The most urbanized population aggregates are too dense and too far from urban agriculture areas. This does not favour local malaria transmission. This rigid ecological pattern is somewhat biased by the identified social patterns. The densest population aggregates mostly host very poor people. This allows a part of this population to be at a high risk of malaria through localized urban farming activities. The other parts of dense population aggregates are located in centrally situated planned zones. They have better socio-economic and socio-ecologic conditions which significantly reduces their vulnerability to malaria. Population aggregates with suitable demographic conditions (not too dense or too isolated), in addition to a higher environmental and social vulnerability, are the most exposed. Although the Fuzzy Logic simulation procedure produces a predicted prevalence which is lower than that of the overall multinomial model, it also identifies these intermediate population aggregates as being the most exposed. Results of interviews show that, in general, the knowledge and perception of people of basic key factors associated with malaria transmission is bad. Moreover, this knowledge follows a social stratification with the richest people having the best background. An association between knowledge and prevention behaviour is also established. In order to use the model for malaria prevention, three educational game-based tools have been created. The tools are designed for different target audiences with regard to required support and cognitive capacities. A follow-up method based on a pre- and post-test, before- and after-, play sessions is used to measure the information transfer capacity of each game to players who had various social profiles. Until now, official antimalarial campaigns in Cameroon used other media such as posters, television, and paper journals. Games had been not used at all before. From the point of view of players, the proposed games are highly attractive. Among them, the computer-based one, mixing visual and audio cognitive aspects in the information transfer, shows a good information transfer capacity. Furthermore, the degree of progress in the acquisition of malaria relevant information is highly dependent on the frequency of play.
ix Introduction The study has the purpose (1) to describe and explore the Mathematics student teachers’ performance inside the classroom during the training course “teaching practice” at the University of Jordan/ Amman, and (2) to include the main factors which influence the development of the professional teaching competence in their mode of action. This study has particularly the aim to investigate the difficulties which face the student teachers’ performance, and the facilities which help them in their performance and decrease the obstacles of the development of student teachers’ performance. The study has the aim to answer the following questions: 1. How does the performance of student teachers develop with respect to time of the training course? 2. What difficulties do the student teachers face during the training course? 3. What are the facilities that help in developing student teachers’ performance during the training course? 4. What are the factors related to performance? Are they personal, social, methodological, or related to mastering the curriculum? 5. What is the relation between student teachers’ performance and supervision? The 1st opening chapter of the study describes some facts about Jordan, the school system there, the system of pre-service teacher education, the background of the study, and the purpose of the study with the questions mentioned above. In the 2nd chapter a review of the existing literature follows with the theoretical concepts which are connected with the questions. Main concepts are: development of teachers’ performance, factors affecting the trainees’ performance, supervision and teacher development, problems of beginning teachers, models in teacher development, facilities that help trainees, standards of teaching competences, methodological basis of teaching Mathema tics. Chapter 3 describes the plan of the empirical research and the four methodological tools which are used: video tapes, interviews, questionnaires, and self reports. It is a case study with the seven Mathematics student teachers of the academic year 1999/2000 at the university of Jordan/Amman. Chapter 4 contains the data collection from the four resources in English. The data material was collected in Arabic and then translated into English by the author. Chapter 5 starts with the data analysis and description of the 7 cases. Chapter 6 continues the data analysis, presents the results, discusses these in an overview. This leads in chapter 7 to a combination of the results which come from the analysis of chapters 5 and 6, and to the answers to the que stions 1—5. The main results are concentrated around the main features of performance, which are in the teacher education plan of Amman five areas: lesson plan, mastering content knowledge, methods of teaching, assessment of teaching, and classroom management. This study is the first one which describes and analyses scientifically the phase of practice teaching at Jordanian universities. It is done exemplary at the University of Jordan/Amman with all Mathematics student teachers of one academic year. It for the first time is possible to win insight in the individual professional development of single student teachers in Jordan, and insight in the influence of specific relating factors. This study has a valuable starting point, looks to be won for a further development of the teacher-training in Jordan. These are attached in a short section as "recommendations".
Mozambique is among the poorest countries in the world in such a way that many schools lack essential resources (electricity, chairs, internet, computers, water, and others). As a result, the traditional model is still the most used one in subjects related to programming in different courses where the teacher presents new content during face-to-face sessions and students take assignments and exercises to complete at home. This subject is still new for many students, so, they find it challenging to complete the tasks at home. Furthermore, programming is taught only at the university level, so, students find it difficult to understand it for the first time, resulting in a motivation decrease as well as the increase of drawbacks in programming subjects. In this way, methods like the cognitive apprenticeship model (Collins, Brown, Newman, 1989), extreme programming (Beck & Fowler, 2001), gamification (Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, & Nacke, 2011), and flipped classroom (Lage, Platt, & Treglia, 2000) could be used or combined to motivate students and overcome these challenges. Since programming consists of a set of sequential steps and procedures, Gamified Flipped Classroom (GFC) seemed to be an appropriate method as it could be easy to demonstrate the “how to” procedures to students, letting them work on them at home (video lectures, links, documents). The teacher would act as a guide and facilitator for both home and in-class sessions, supported by gamification elements. Nevertheless, the thesis aimed to design a GFC learning environment adapted to the Mozambican context, investigate the student’s perception regarding this combination and analyse motivation and learning outcomes regarding day and night shifts. The research was conducted through Design-Based Research (DBR) for the learning environment design as well as student perception analysis and through a quasi-experiment for motivation and learning outcomes processing. The results indicate that The GFC learning environment for the Mozambique context should rely on three core aspects: A low-cost approach, availability of institution facilities and a proper curriculum plan adaptation. Furthermore, student’s perceptions were mostly positive, despite the occurrence of some negative ones related to connectivity problems. Lastly, generic data indicates that GFC did not significantly impact students’ motivation, however, separate analysis indicates that students from the day shift tended to feel more motivated than the day shift ones. Results also indicated that both shifts tended to increase their sense of competence and interest/enjoyment during the GFC learning environment but their sense of pressure was almost the same. Regarding learning outcomes, students scored higher marks during the traditional learning environment than in GFC, nevertheless, day-shift tended to have higher scores than night ones. So, it can be concluded that students from the day-shift felt more motivated and had better outcomes than the night ones.
The present thesis served as a starting point for promoting a change of paradigm in teaching programming, especially in countries with limited access to technology like Mozambique by adapting methods like GFC to its context.
Abstract: Immediate effect study Purpose: The immediate effects of altered auditory feedback (AAF) and a placebo condition on clinical attributes of stuttering during scripted as well as spontaneous speech are investigated herein. The primary purpose is the extension of the evidence-base of the impact of AAF on the clinical characteristics of stuttering. Method: Two commercially available AAF devices were used to create the delayed auditory feedback (DAF) and frequency altered feedback (FAF) effects. The participants consisted of thirty German-speaking people who stutter (PWS), aged 18 to 68 (M = 36.5; SD = 15.2). Each subject produced four sets of oral readings, three sets of monologs and three sets of dialogs. The participants were exposed to different experimental conditions (No device, Placebo, active AAF using Device A, and active AAF using Device B) while producing the speech samples. The recordings were then electronically analyzed to detect changes in select features of stuttering; frequency, duration, speech rate, articulation rate and core behaviors. The occurrence of these variables was examined across all speech samples collected within the four experimental conditions. Results: A statistically significant difference in the frequency of stuttered syllables (%SS) was found while using both devices (p = .000). Although individual reactions varied widely, the most notable reductions in %SS occurred within the reading (M = 2.33, SD = 3.75) and monolog (M = 2.26, SD = 3.32) samples. Thus, active AAF settings had the least impact on speech fluency during conversational speech (M = 1.49, SD = 2.71). During the placebo condition (no active AAF parameters), the subject group also experienced a statistically significant decline in %SS (p = .028). Conclusion: This result indicates that the effects of AAF alone may not be the sole reason for fluency enhancements experienced when using a portable speech aid. Abstract: longitudinal trail Purpose: The effects of a portable altered auditory feedback (AAF) device on the severity of stuttering over a three-month period were investigated. The main goal was to examine the usage behavior and fluency-enhancements displayed during extended device utilization. Method: Qualitative data on implementation environments, utilization patterns and user satisfaction were collected weekly from a group of seven adults (M = 45.3; SD = 11.4) who stutter. For the analysis of quantitative changes in stuttering severity, speech samples were collected in person at the beginning and end of the trial period. Two phone conversations throughout the study provided additional conversational samples. Results: Individual responses were quite diverse within both quantitative and qualitative measures. Group analysis revealed that conversational speech was overall significantly more fluent when a device was used. The percentage of stuttered syllables was significantly lower z = -2.201, p = .028, r = -0.18 upon first using AAF (with device: Mdn = 1.53; without device: Mdn = 3.53) and during the personal conversation at the end of three months (with device: Mdn = 1.89; without device: Mdn = 3.97). However, during the two mid-trial phone conversations during which a device was used (T2 & T3), stuttering frequency remained largely unaltered T2: z = -.943, p = .345 (Mdn = 3.87); T3: z = -1.57, p = .116 (Mdn = 3.00). The analysis of weekly questionnaires and user diaries revealed that the device was most commonly used in familiar environments (63% at home). On average, the speech aid was utilized four to five times a week, with an overall satisfaction rate of 42%. Conclusion: Some meaningful conclusions for clinical work with clients wishing to use AAF can be drawn from these results. While AAF has its limits in reducing stuttering, ability to use a device may be optimized if usage is acquired in a guided clinical process.
Technologies based on Geographic Information System (GIS) are widely used in society and are increasingly being integrated into school curricula and practice. Many claims have been made that the use of GIS in class has positive effects on a wide range of achievement and affective variables. However, empirical evidence for that, especially in the German situation, has been scarce.
Systemic thinking has been central to the guiding objective of German geography education for many years and constitutes an important contribution to prepare students for life in a complex world. Yet, so far, specific test instruments and studies elucidating factors that help students improve this competency have been far from extensive.
This dissertation aims at exploring the influence of a short ‘working with GIS’ vs. ‘working with maps’ unit on students’ achievement in geography, specifically, the systemic thinking competency. Based on literature a definition of geographic systemic thinking and an associated competency model were developed. In total, three one test time and two pre-/posttest with control group studies were conducted to develop test instruments and a treatment as well as to study the question at hand. The treatment used the topic ‘tourism in Kenya’. Partly Desktop-, partly Web-based GIS versions were used. In study 5, there were two different types of materials, which contained parallel contents/tasks. While one used an overview sheet of relevant GIS functionality (‘old’), the other integrated more step-by-step instruction directly into the text (‘new’). Variables included were systemic thinking, sex, age, stream/type of geography study/pre-score, grade/semester, language and migration background, pre-experience, affective variables, pre-basic spatial thinking skills, treatment and material type. Not all variables were used in every study.
The largest study (study 5) used the results of 932 seventh grade students for analyses. The sample contains both high and middle stream students from three German federal states. The study highlights issues such as e.g. test time constraints, open task coding, partly ceiling effects and item difficulties partly deviant from the model expectations. For the analyses, both raw average scores and WLE estimates obtained by a Rasch analysis are used. Additionally, based on the WLE scores, HLMs are calculated.
Overall, in study 5 GIS students do not improve pre- to posttest in systemic thinking. Consequently, GIS has no positive, and partly a significantly negative impact compared to maps, e.g. in a HLM with all other variables having significant effects included. Results for material type are mixed. For instance, on the one hand, t-tests show no significant difference in pre-posttest-change between students working with ‘old’ and ‘new’ WebGIS materials. On the other
hand, the overall HLMs with other variables included show a significant negative effect only for the ‘old’ but not for the ‘new’ WebGIS materials.
Only 23 students could be included in the ‘having already worked with an educational GIS’-sub-group (vs. 520). The improvement of these students pre- to posttest is not significant, but has an effect size above 0.2. A calculation with the ‘no pre-experience’ sub-group being reduced to students with similar characteristics (e.g. in terms of stream, GIS type) leads to 19 vs. 84 students and similar results. In both cases, students with pre-experience perform not significantly, but with an effect size above 0.2, better than students without pre-experience. Overall, the results could hint at students needing more pre-experience so as to not have so much mental capacity tied to getting used to the software and being able to concentrate more on the system interrelationships. However, due to the sample characteristics and study design, this cannot be proven by the present data and thus needs to be explored in further studies.
Other variables (age, sex, migration and language background, stream, pre-score, pre-spatial thinking score) show mixed results depending on the analysis method used. This underlines the impact of methodological choices and the need for large sample studies in order to be able to take a closer look at individual sub-groups. Furthermore, the HLM results point to not all influencing variables having been included. In general, the impact of variables such as pre-achievement/ stream and sex on pre-posttest change evident in some of the analyses points to the need for more research to develop differentiated learning materials.
The conducted studies also show, e.g. through deviations from the assumed model of systemic thinking, that there is still a great need for more studies in terms of test- and model development for systemic and spatial thinking in a geographic context.