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The author presents a new method of formative evaluation which provides forfeed-back and a way to improve performance in post-secondary teaching. This methoduses a directed group process based on formative evaluative objectives. Based on theDelphi technique and the Group Nominal technique, it appears to produce a higherdegree of satisfaction among its users and is easier to administer. The reliabilityresults were satisfactory for use in post-secondary teaching and in industry. Thisarticle describes the application and the results of this method in post-secondaryteaching.

This article reports on a study of the relation between day-care attendanceprior to kindergarten and difficulties in social adaptation in kindergarten. Thesedifficulties are evaluated by teachers to be of three dimensions:agressivity-hyperactivity, anxiety-social isolation, and social behavior deficit.The results indicate that a higher proportion of kindergarten level girls and boysshowing difficulties related to agressivity-hyperactivity come from day-carefacilities as compared with those who were cared for at home. However, theproportion of children whose behavior problems persisted during the following yearis not related to a child's placement prior to kindergarten.

AbstractThis study examines the beliefs and practices of Kindergarten teachers regarding two key predictors of success in learning to read : metaphonological skills and alphabet knowledge. A questionnaire, to which 508 Franco-Quebec teachers responded, provided 195 responses to an open-ended question related to this theme. Based on an analysis of content, these responses reveal that teachers have a variety of beliefs and practices. All those who supported the importance of letter knowledge and the development of metaphonological skills agree with the importance of developing reading awareness and not with that of systematic teaching. As well, some teachers expressed the need for professional in-service training in this field.

This multiple case study aims to assess the Arabic language-spelling development for nine preschool Arabic language-speaking children schooled in Quebec. To achieve this goal, the children underwent a test of invented spelling through semi-structured individual interviews (N = 9). The written test was repeated four times on different occasions. The results of the study raised three writing features, namely: visuographic, phonological and orthographic concerns. The children adapted the writing process by expressing a capacity to produce the sounds conventionally, to combine the syllables within a word, not to resort to an exclusive treatment of the vowels or consonants and to respect the diagram of page layout conventionally. Their writings sometimes present the pseudo-letters and disorders inter and intra-syllabic.

Keywords: appropriation de l'écrit, arabe langue maternelle, orthographes approchées, enfants arabophones du préscolaire, rencontre individuelle et semi-dirigée, spelling appropriation, Arabic as a mother language, invented spelling, preschool Arabic language-speaking children, apropiación de la escritura, árabe como lengua materna, ortografías próximas, niños arabófonos de prescolar

This article presents the initial results of an exploratory research whose general objective is to validate the predictors of engagement and perseverance, identified by a literature review, for students and professors in innovative programs in first cycle at the Université de Sherbrooke. More precisely, it is question of exploring quantitatively and qualitatively the characteristics of engagement and perseverance of the main actors of the program. Three innovative undergraduate programs at the University of Sherbrooke are examined : the baccalaureate in electrical engineering, the baccalaureate in computer engineering and the pre-doctorate in medicine. This article presents data from students' questionnaires.

Keywords: innovative program, perseverance, engagement, problem-based learning, project-based learning, programme innovant, persévérance, engagement, apprentissage par problèmes, apprentissage par projets, programa innovador, perseverancia, compromiso, aprendizaje por problemas, aprendizaje por proyectos

Abstract This essay discusses the evolution of scientific discourse on the relation between research, teaching, and teachers. The author deals with the following topics: the divergence between research and teaching, the divergence between the teacher's knowledge and that of the researcher, the possibilities for teachers to have contact with research, and teachers' implication in research as demonstrated in several cases. Finally, the author presents an analysis of the implications that are related to the divergence between teaching and research, the pressures to enlarge, open-up research methodology, the level of teachers' participation in research and the bidirectionality needed between the field of teaching and the field of research.

This research consists of an analysis of the motivational content of the texts in six of the reading manuals most commonly used in Quebec by Francophone children in the 2nd and 4th years of elementary school. It was suggested by the tradition of research in human motivation initiated thirty years ago by D.C. McClelland and collaborators. This study catalogs the occurence frequency of the following motivational themes: the need for self-preservation, such as the primary needs and security, and the psycho-social needs, such as affiliation, self-fulfillment and power. The results demonstrate a high occurence of power motivation followed by security motivation, secondary motivations and affiliation. With the exception of one reading manual, the motivation of self-fulfillment occurs the least frequently. The occurence of these themes is less frequent in 4th year than in 2nd year manuals, but the themes are more elaborate, descriptive and repetitive in the former. This discussion provides some explanations for these results and indicates areas for further research.

AbstractAs gambling activities became more accessible, an increasing amount of research established a link between pathological gambling and crime. The observation that a gambler's lifestyle carries him toward involvement in crime became so common that the idea of a gambling-crime cycle became a fixture in past research. This seemingly evident ‘fact' is, however, not given. This article illustrates how individuals are confronted with a series of factors that may modify their gambling careers and their involvement in crime. Based on twenty interviews, the personal trajectories of gamblers are examined in view of various features, which may make them susceptible to criminal involvement. Gambling trajectories are analyzed as careers and particular focus is aimed at revealing the onset, evolution, and, at times, desistance phases for gambling and crime involvement. Factors influencing the overlap between gambling and crime involvement include the presence of family and close friends as both agents of deterrence and suppliers of criminal opportunities, the expected effects of financial and family stress, fear, or, on the contrary, the pre-dispositional behavior of gamblers and, finally, the competency of gamblers who are able to finance and extend their gambling activities over prolonged periods. These observations permit a re-assessment of the gambling-crime cycle by introducing the basic features of a variety of pathological gambling careers that could neutralize, delay, or accelerate the passage to criminal involvement.

Hip hop culture appeared and flourished in Quebec during the 1980's. A variety of ethnic and cultural groups in Montreal have appropriated rap music as a vehicle for expressing the realities of their daily lives, and as such, hip hop has become a central reference point in the construction of identity. In this article we explain how hip hop culture offers a space where youth of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, who are often marginalized from the dominant Québécois culture, can integrate and adapt to their environment. Rather than analyzing hip hop as a form of global contestation and resistance customized to a local setting, we interpret Québécois rap as a strategy for integration whereby young artists work to make their culture more visible in the public sphere and within the framework of media institutions of the larger society.

Keywords: jeunes, culture populaire, hip-hop, intégration, média, youth, popular culture, hip hop, integration, media