Families with Children with Autism, Developmental Delay, and Typical Development: The Relationships of Parenting Self-Efficacy, Parenting Strategies, and Child Problem Behaviour

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and developmental delays (DD) may experience more child problem behaviours, report lower parenting selfefficacy (PSE), and be more reactive than proactive in their parenting strategies than those who have children with typical development (TD). Differences in PSE and parenting strategies may also influence the extent to which child problem behaviours are experienced by parents who have children with ASD and DD, compared to those who have children with TD. Using a convenience sample of parents of children with ASD (n = 48), DD (n = 51), and TD (n = 72), this study examined group differences on three key variables: PSE, parenting strategies, and child problem behaviour. Results indicated that those in the DD group scored lower on PSE in preventing child problem behaviour than the ASD group. The TD group used fewer reactive strategies than the DD group, and fewer proactive strategies than both the ASD and DD groups. For the overall sample, higher reactive strategies use was found to predict higher ratings of child problem behaviour, while a greater proportion of proactive to reactive strategies use predicted lower ratings of child problem behaviour. PSE was found to moderate DD diagnosis and child problem behaviour. Implications for a behavioural (i.e., parenting strategies) or cognitive (i.e., PSE) approach to parenting are discussed.

ESL Collections, University Libraries, and Internationalization

This research study examines the content, types of materials, locations, and library collection development policies concerning ESL (English as a second language) materials collections on university campuses in the United States and Canada. ESL learning materials are defined in this study as those materials supporting adult learners who are non-native speakers of English in a higher education setting. The purpose of this study is to describe the content and types of materials in these collections, to learn where these collections are typically housed on university campuses, to discover what collection development policies may inform the building of these collections, and to explore the potential significance of these collections for university libraries. The overriding question that informs this study is the following: Can involvement with ESL collections serve as a way for university libraries to participate in internationalization by supporting the language needs of international students?

Using Effective Teaching Strategies and Personality Type to Enhance the Mathematics Classroom: A Handbook for Intermediate Math Teachers

This project addressed the need for more insightful, current, and applicable resources for intermediate math teachers in Canadian classrooms. A need for a handbook in this division seemed warranted by a lack of government resource support. Throughout an extensive review of the literature, themes and topics for the handbook emerged. The handbook was designed to not only provide educators with examples of effective teaching strategies within the mathematics classroom but to also inform them about the ways in which their personal characteristics and personality type could affect their students and their own pedagogical practices. Three teaching professionals who had each taught in an intermediate math class within the past year evaluated the handbook. The feedback received from these educators was directly applied to the first draft of the handbook in order to make it more accessible and applicable to other math teachers. Although the handbook was written with teachers in mind, the language and format used throughout the manual also make it accessible to parents, tutors, preservice education students, and educational administrators. Essentially, any individual who is hoping to inspire and educate intermediate math students could make use of the content within the handbook.

Strategies and Techniques for Teaching Children with Learning Disabilities: A Case Study of the Spring Reading Program

This case study explored strategies and techniques in order to assist individuals with learning disabilities in their academic achievement. Of particular focus was how a literacy-based program, titled The Spring Reading Program, utilizes effective tactics and approaches that result in academic growth. The Spring Reading Program, offered by the Learning Disabilities Association of Niagara Region (LDANR) and partnered with John McNamara from Brock University, supports children with reading disabilities academically. In addition, the program helps children increase their confidence and motivation towards literacy. I began this study by outlining the importance of reading followed by and exploration of what educators and researchers have demonstrated regarding effective literacy instruction for children with learning disabilities. I studied effective strategies and techniques in the Spring Reading Program by conducting a qualitative case study of the program. This case study subsequently presents in depth, 4 specific strategies: Hands-on activities, motivation, engagement, and one-on-one instruction. Each strategy demonstrates its effectiveness through literature and examples from the Spring Reading Program.

Exploring the use of effective learning strategies to increase students' reading comprehension and test taking skills /

This study examined the effects of providing students with explicit instruction in how to use a repertoire of reading comprehension strategies and test taking skills when reading and responding to three types of questions (direct, inferential, critical). Specifically, the study examined whether providing students with a "model" of how to read and respond to the text and to the comprehension questions improved their reading comprehension relative to providing them with implicit instruction on reading comprehension strategies and test taking skills. Students' reading comprehension and test taking performance scores were compared as a function of instructional condition. Students from 2 grade 8 classes participated in this study. The reading component of the Canadian Achievement Tests, Third Edition (CAT/3) was used to identify students' level of reading comprehension prior to the formal instructional sessions. Students received either explicit instruction, which involved modelling, or implicit instruction, which consisted of review and discussion of the strategies to be used. Comprehension was measured through the administration of formative tests after each instructional session. The formative tests consisted of reading comprehension questions pertaining to a specific form of text (narrative, informational, graphic). In addition, students completed 3 summative tests and a delayed comprehension test which consisted of the alternative version of the CAT/3 standardized reading assessment. These data served as a posttest measure to determine whether students had shown an improvement in their reading comprehension skills as a result of the program delivery. There were significant differences in students' Canadian Achievement Test performance scores prior to the onset of the study. Students in the implicit group attained significantly higher comprehension scores than did students in the explicit group. The results from the program sessions indicated no significant differences in reading comprehension between the implicit and explicit conditions, with the exception of the 6th session involving the reading and interpreting of graphic text. Students in the explicit group performed significantly better when reading and interpreting graphic text than those in the implicit group. No significant differences were evident between the two study conditions across the three summative tests. Upon completion of the study, the results from the Canadian Achievement Test indicated no significant differences in performance between the two study conditions. The findings from this study reveal the effectiveness of providing students with explicit strategy instruction when reading and responding to various forms of text. Modelling the appropriate reading comprehension strategies and test taking skills enabled students to apply the same thought processes to their own independent work. This form of instruction enabled students in the explicit group to improve in their abilities to comprehend and respond to text and therefore should be incorporated as an effective form of classroom teaching.

Parental goals among Italian-Canadian and Anglo-Canadian families : their connection to socialization practices and the quality of parent-young adult relationship /

Parenting goals are the behavioral, cognitive, and affective outcomes that parents implicitly or explicitly strive to achieve during specific interactions with their children. In the present study, intergenerational parenting practices and goals in Italian-Canadian and Anglo-Canadian families were examined. The association between parenting goals, parents' socialization practices, and the quality of relationship between parent and child were investigated. Participants included individuals ranging in age from 1 8-26 years and their mothers from Anglo-Canadian (n= 31) and Italian-Canadian families (n= 50). The young adults and their mothers were asked to imagine how their respective parents would have reacted to five hypothetical vignettes depicting difficult parent-child interactions. Young adults and their mothers were also asked to rate the importance of parenting goals within these parent-child situations. In addition, young adults assessed the perceived quality of their present relationships with each parent. Cultural differences were revealed such that Italian-Canadian parents endorsed more authoritarian parenting strategies and relationship-centered goals than Anglo-Canadian parents. However, Italian-Canadian and Anglo-Canadian parents were not found to differ on their endorsement of parent-centered goals. Italian-Canadian parents' who did use authoritarian strategies were found to have young-adult children who perceived their relationship with their parents as less satisfying, intimate, affectionate and having relatively high levels of conflict than parents who did not use authoritarian strategies. Anglo-Canadian parents' authoritative strategies were correlated with a better perceived relationship quality by young-adult children.

Heroes on the home front : heroism and virtue in post-9/11 American cinema /

This thesis is intended to contribute to critical discussion of the American male hero in mainstream American war and action films post September 11, 2001 . The thesis investigates how these heroes' behaviour echoes a patriotic, conservative construction of the modern American as created through speeches given by George W. Bush in the wake of the events of September 11, 2001 . The thesis examines the hero in six primary sources: the war films We Were Soldiers, Behind Enemy Lines and The Great Raid and the action films Collateral Damage, Man on Fire and The Punisher. By analyzing the ideological subtext, political content, visual strategies and generic implications of the films, as well as the binary constructions of a selection of Bush speeches, and by reviewing historical representations of American male heroes on film produced in the wake of political events, the thesis concludes that the six films mobilize the USA's conservative viewpoint towards war and military action, and in concert with the speeches, contribute to an ongoing militarization of visual culture. Both systems echo a dangerous ideological fantasy of American history, life and patriotism.

An after-school literacy program : investigating the experiences of students with literacy difficulties, their volunteer tutors, and the tutors' transition into the teaching profession

This research responds to a pervasive call for our educational institutions to provide students with literacy skills, and teachers with the instructional supports necessary to facilitate this skill acquisition. Questions were posed to gain information concerning the efficacy ofteaching literacy strategies to students with learning difficulties, the impact of this training on their volunteer tutors, and the influence of this experience on these tutors' ensuing instructional practice as teacher candidates in a preservice education program. Study #1 compared a nontreatment group of students with literacy difficulties who participated in the program and found that program participants were superior at reading letter patterns and at comprehending the elements of story grammar. Concurrently, the second study explored the experiences of 19 volunteer tutors and uncovered that they acquired instructional skills as they established a knowledge base in teaching reading and writing, and they affirmed personal goals to become future teachers. Study #3 tracked 6 volunteer tutors into their pre-service year and identified their constructions, and beliefs about literacy instruction. These teacher candidates discussed how they had intended to teach reading and writing strategies based on their position that effective teaching ofthese skills in the primary grades is integral to academic success. The teacher candidates emphasized the need to build rapport with students, and the need to exercise flexibility in lesson plan delivery while including activities to meet emotional and developmental requirements of students. The teacher candidates entered their pre-service education with an initial cognition set based on the limited teaching context of tutoring. This foundational ii perception represented their prior knowledge of literacy instruction, a perception that appeared untenable once they were immersed in a regular instructional setting. This disparity provoked some of the teacher candidates to denounce their teacher mentors for not consistently employing literacy strategies and individualized instruction. This critical perspective could have been a demonstration of cognitive dissonance. In the end, when the teacher candidates began to look toward the future and how they would manage the demands of an inclusive classroom, they recognized the differences in the contexts. With an appreciation for the need for balance between prior and present knowledge, the teacher candidates remained committed to implementing their tutoring strategies in future teaching positions. This document highlights the need for teacher candidates with instructional experience prior to teacher education, to engage in cognitive negotiations to assimilate newly acquired pedagogies into existing pedagogies.

An exploration of gifted and highly able adolescents' experiences with stress and coping /

This narrative case study explored gifted and highly able adolescents' experiences with stress and coping. Nine students, ages 13-18, at 2 independent schools in southern Ontario, participated. They completed the Adolescent Coping Scale (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993), and I generated individualized graphs of coping strategies. Participants talked about experiences they perceived as stressful in their academic, personal, social, and familial settings during a 60-90 minute one-on-one audiotaped interview. During the interview, each participant made observations about their own coping strategies profile. The interview was analyzed to identify stressor and coping themes. Participants completed a writing or art task to record perceptions of stress and coping. The 3 data sources were used to craft 9 individual story portraits, from which 5 main stressor themes emerged: issues of time; relationships, emotions, and communication; ethical, moral, and spiritual issues; global issues; and silences, or stressors not talked about in depth. Coping themes were: seeking relaxing activities; having positive attitudes and making wise choices; maintaining relationships with peers and family; understanding the role of faith and moral beliefs; having a supportive environment; knowing your own personality type; being aware of negative coping strategies; and keeping busy and avoiding stressfiil issues. The narratives are important because they present teenagers talking about their socioemotional worlds. The present findings provide empirical groundwork for curriculum development in affective education and highlight the importance of socioemotional development for future research in the area of giftedness and adolescence.

Developing and nurturing professional learning communities: principles used by elementary administrators /

This study examined the strategies used by elementary school principals to facilitate and nurture the development of professional learning communities (PLC) within their school settings. Using a reputational sample of administrators whose schools were demonstrating observable characteristics of PLCs, this study documented and described the strategies and actions taken by the principals to move their schools forward. Data collection included the use of open-ended interviews as well as observations capturing the means by which the principals addressed the areas of culture, processes, and structures within their school setting. A grounded theory approach to data analysis uncovered 4 guiding principles used by the principals to facilitate the development of the PLCs within their school: (a) protecting the purpose; (b) attending to relationships; (c) sharing the responsibility; and (d) valuing the journey. The guiding principles were used by each administrator to anchor the decisions they made and develop responsive, contextspecific strategies to support the PLC at their school. The results highlighted the complex role of the principal and the supports required to tackle the difficult work of facilitating PLCs.

Enhancing teaching and learning speech acts: action research of Japanese as a foreign language /

This action research observes a second year Japanese class at a university where foreign language courses are elective for undergraduate students. In this study, using the six strategies to teach Japanese speech acts that Ishihara and Cohen (2006) suggested, I conducted three classes and analyzed my teaching practice with a critical friend. These strategies assist learners toward the development of their understanding of the following Japanese speech acts and also keep the learners to use them in a manner appropriate to the context: (I) invitation and refusal; (2) compliments; and (3) asking for a permission. The aim of this research is not only to improve my instruction in relation to second language (L2) pragmatic development, but also to raise further questions and to develop future research. The findings are analyzed and the data derived from my journals, artifacts, students' work, observation sheets, interviews with my critical friend, and pretests and posttests are coded and presented. The analysis shows that (I) after my critical friend encouraged my study and my students gave me some positive comments after each lesson, I gained confidence in teaching the suggested speech acts; (2) teaching involved explaining concepts and strategies, creating the visual material (a video) showing the strategies, and explaining the relationship between the strategy and grammatical forms and samples of misusing the forms; (3) students' background and learning styles influenced lessons; and (4) pretest and posttests showed that the students' Icvel of their L2 appropriate pragmatics dramatically improved after each instruction. However, after careful observation, it was noted that some factors prevented students from producing the correct output even though they understood the speech act differences.

Motivational differences in science course enrolment shown by males and females in grades 9 through OAC

A sample of 1,345 students enrolled in advanced-level science courses from Grades 9 through OAe was surveyed in order to gain perspective into the existence of motivational differences attributing to science course enrolment by gender. Records of enrolment were examined in order to detect patterns and trends. A questionnaire was devised and piloted. It measured five motivational variables - demographics, science and science-related experiences, science ability and attitudes, impressions about women in science, and importance of science and science-related skills. The students also provided some impressions about the image of scientists. Results of the questionnaire were analyzed for frequency of responses and for significant gender differences using the chi-square. Differences were found to exist in the areas of science anxiety as it relates to testing and oral participation; in motivation generated by the performance of extra-curricular science and science-related activities, and by the classroom environment; in impressions of women in science; in the importance of science skills, and in the area of teacher influence. The study also showed a differential enrolment of females, with an emphasis on biology and chemistry. The males were enrolled in courses of physics and chemistry. The findings lead to numerous suggested strategies and programs for encouraging the participation of females in science education and careers.

Advocating recognition and redistribution in poverty alleviation programs in Ghana : an examination of state and NGO programs and policies

Abstract This thesis argues that poverty alleviation strategies and programs carried out by the government and Non Governmental Organizations in Ghana provide affirmative solutions to poverty. This is because, these intervention strategies have been influenced by conventional discourses on poverty that fail to adequately address non-economic issues of poverty such as powerlessness, marginalization and tmder-representation. The study is carried out in a two-pronged manner; first, it analyses state policies and strategies, particularly the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), on poverty alleviation and compares these to NGO programs, implemented with funds and support from external donor organizations. Specifically, I focus on how NGOs and the governnlent of Ghana negotiate autonomy and financial dependency with their funding donor-partners and how these affect their policies and programs. Findings from this study reveal that while external influences dominate poverty alleviation policies and strategies, NGOs and the government of Ghana exercise varying degrees of agency in navigating these issues. In particular, NGOs have been able to adapt their programs to the changing needs of donor markets, and are also actively engaged in re-orienting poverty back to the political domain through advocacy campaigns. Overall, rural communities in Ghana depend on charitable NGOs for the provision of essential social services, while the Ghanaian government depends on international donor assistance for its development projects.

The effects of postural threat on cognitive strategies used to maintain upright stance

It is well established that postural threat modifies postural control, although little is known regarding the underlying mechanism(s) responsible. It is possible that changes in postural control under conditions of elevated postural threat result from alterations in cognitive strategies. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of elevated postural threat on cognitive strategies and to determine the relationship between postural control, psychological, and cognitive measures. It was hypothesized that elevated postural threat would cause a shift to more conscious control of posture. It was also expected that a relationship between fear of falling and postural control would exist that could be explained by changes in conscious control of posture. Forty-eight healthy young adults stood on a force plate at two different surface heights: ground level (LOW) and 3.2m above ground level (HIGH). Center of pressure (COP) summary measures calculated to quantify postural control were the mean position (AP-COP MP), root mean square (AP-COP RMS) and mean power frequency (AP-COP MPF) in the anteriorposterior direction. Trunk sway measures calculated in the pitch direction were trunk angle and trunk velocity. Psychological measures including perceived balance confidence, perceived fear of falling, perceived anxiety, and perceived stability were self reported. As a physiological indicator of anxiety, electrodermal activity was collected. The cognitive strategies assessed were movement reinvestment and attention focus. A modified state-sp-ecific version of the Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale was used to measure conscious motor processing (CMP) and movement self-consciousness (MSC). An attention focus questionnaire was developed to assess the amount of attention directed to internal and external sources. An effect of postural threat on cognitive strategies was observed as participants reported more conscious control and a greater concern or worry about their posture at the HIGH postural threat condition as well as an increased internal and external focus of attention. In addition changes in postural control, psychological, and physiological measures were found. The participants leaned away from the edge of the platform, the frequency of their postural adjustments increased, and the velocity of their trunk movements increased. Participants felt less confident, more fearful, more anxious, and less stable with an accompanying increase in physiological anxiety. Significant correlations between perceived anxiety, AP-COP MP, and cognitive measures revealed a possible relationship that could be mediated by cognitive measures. It was found that with greater conscious motor processing, more movement self-consciousness, and a greater amount of attention focused externally there was a larger shift of the mean position away from the edge of the platform. This thesis provides evidence that postural threat can influence cognitive strategies causing a shift to more conscious control of movement which is associated with leaning away from the edge of the platform. Shifting the position of the body away from the direction of the postural threat may reflect a cognitive strategy to ensure safety in this situation due to the inability to employ a stepping strategy when standing on an elevated platform.

A case study investigation of the learning needs of the Niagara grape and wine community

The Niagara Grape and Wine Community (NGWC) is an industry that has undergone rapid change and expansion as a result of changes in governmental regulations and consumer preferences. As a result of these changes, the demands of the wine industry workforce have changed to reflect the need to implement new strategies and practices to remain viable and competitive. The influx of people into the community with little or no prior practical experience in grape growing (viticulture) or winemaking (oenology) has created a need for additional training and learning opportunities to meet workforce needs. This case study investigated the learning needs of the members of this community and how these needs are currently being met. The barriers to, and the opportunities for, members acquiring new knowledge and developing skills were also explored. Participants were those involved in all levels of the industry and sectors (viticulture, processing, and retail), and their views on needs and suggestions for programs of study were collected. Through cross analyses of sectors, areas of common and unique interest were identified as well as formats for delivery. A common fundamental component was identified by all sectors - any program must have a significant applied component or demonstration of proficiency and should utilize members as peer instructors, mentors, and collaborators to generate a larger shared collective of knowledge. Through the review of learning organizations, learning communities, communities of practices, and learning networks, the principles for the development of a Grape and Wine Learning Network to meet the learning needs of the NGWC outside of formal institutional or academic programs were developed. The roles and actions of members to make such a network successful are suggested.