Preservice teachers bring to their studies a host of beliefs concerning the nature of mathematics. These mathematical beliefs have been shown to influence teachers’ instructional practices. Research that examines the alignment of beliefs about the nature of mathematics and beliefs about effective instructional practices have left many unanswered questions including, do beliefs concerning the nature of mathematics held by preservice primary-junior mathematics teachers align with beliefs concerning effective mathematics instruction at the beginning of teacher education programs? In this study, the beliefs Ontario preservice primary-junior (grades JK-6) teachers bring to their teacher preparation programs were examined and the alignment of beliefs concerning the nature of mathematics and the teaching and learning of mathematics was explored. Specifically, I investigated the beliefs of preservice teachers who displayed contradictory views on the nature of mathematics and effective instructional practice; preservice teachers who held absolutist beliefs about mathematics but intended to teach using a constructivist approach. A questionnaire was used to identify participants with misaligned beliefs, and interviews, with a focus on manipulative use, were used to further explore the nature of the misalignment. Preservice teachers were found to hold primarily absolutist beliefs about the source, stability and structure of mathematical knowledge and intended to use many constructivist tools and techniques in their teaching of mathematics. Further exploration of how and why these constructivist teaching tools and techniques were intended to be used revealed a more traditional mathematics teaching approach. The findings of this study therefore suggest that preservice teachers’ beliefs at the beginning of their teacher education program were primarily absolutist and traditional in nature and therefore were aligned. The misalignment of beliefs detected by the questionnaire could more appropriately be labelled an apparent misalignment. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-15 14:10:52.103

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Menstruation is a normal physiological process that has been distorted and riddled with negative connotations. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the biological factor, age at menarche, influences the attitudes and beliefs of the experience of menstruation; whether the psychological factor, preparedness, has an impact on the attitudes and beliefs of the experience of menstruation; and whether the socio-cultural factor, population group, affects the attitudes and beliefs of the experience of menstruation. The biopsychosocial model was used to guide this study as it examined the biological, psychological and socio-cultural factors that impact the attitudes and beliefs of the experience of menstruation. In this quantitative study, simple random sampling was used to recruit a sample of 200 female students from the University of the Western Cape, ages 18-21 years. Surveys containing biographic information as well as questions from the Beliefs and Attitudes Towards Menstruation questionnaire (BATM) were administered. The results indicated that there were significant associations between population group and level of secrecy as well as level of preparedness and level of pleasantness, annoyance and disability associated with menstruation. Results also revealed significant differences between normal and late onset of menarche on the level of disability associated with menstruation. Ethical guidelines stipulated by the University of the Western Cape were strictly adhered to. Research focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of the experience of menstruation will contribute to the knowledge base of menstruation in the South African context, as well as informing interventions which focus on educating women about menstruation so as to promote positive attitudes and prevent forms of social control imposed on women because of menstruation.

This thesis identifies and describes some of the main accounts for health and illness that are current in British culture, placing them within broader contexts of psychological, sociological, traditional, religious and moral discourses; within broader explanatory frameworks; and, by way of an analysis of these ecological aspects, seeks to illuminate our understanding of such accounting. A combination of Q and ethnographic methods were used to elucidate a variety of alternative ways that people "make sense" of health and illness. Three main studies were conducted. The first two investigated accounting for health and illness within a broad framework of accounts as "explanations"; as moral judgements and prescriptions; and as defining meaning. The third study focussed on the external/internal explanatory framework, and demonstrated that accounting is far more complex than the Wallston and Wallston (1981) "Health Locus of Control Construct' would suggest. Some accounts stressed "internality", some "externality", some a combination of both, and others viewed this construct as non-salient. These latter included accounts about personal autonomy, and, importantly, the 'medical model" account. In the thesis overall, among the accounts identified were ones based upon notions of : "the wonders of modern medicine"; "stress"; "the cultural critique'; 'a healthy lifestyle", 'tradition"; "individual autonomy", 'Theism'; and "Willpower". These accounts are assumed to operate both within individual subjectivity and popular discourse, offering people a variety of complementary 'texts' with which to weave narratives, drawing upon different 'texts" according to situational and other demands. Thus accounting is portrayed as an active, thoughtful and sometimes contradictory 'storymaking" activity, and people as competent negotiators of reality.

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Current gaps in nursing practice can decrease by the translation, implementation, and dissemination of evidence-based practice (EBP). The purpose of this project was to provide staff nurses with EBP education and mentoring in identifying and addressing nursing practice issues using EBP to manage patient care. The Advancing Research & Clinical Practice through Close Collaboration (ARCC) and the social cognitive theory were used as a framework to guide this project development, which addressed if medical surgical nurses receiving education in EBP practice led to improved use, implementation, and improved best practice outcomes. Seven randomly selected medical surgical nurses from a local community 200-bed hospital were recruited to participate in this project. The participants were placed in a quiet room and asked to complete a pre ARCC EBP Beliefs Scale survey, review newly developed EBP education tool, and complete a post ARCC EBP Beliefs Scale survey. The EBP Beliefs Scale (EBPB) survey was used pre and post EBP educational tool review and consisted of 16 statements addressing nurses' beliefs about EBP knowledge. This survey also addressed the implementation of EBP into nursing practice. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyze the surveys. The results of the survey show a positive correlation between receiving education and mentoring with utilizing EBP in nursing practice. The results of this quality improvement project's social impact will improve collaboration in healthcare organizations and nursing staff to improve the use, translation, and dissemination of EBP projects for patient care improvements and overall improved patient care outcomes.

This qualitative research seeks to identify and understand the beliefs of 10 high school geometry teachers that help resolve apparent inconsistencies between their espoused and enacted beliefs. Data was collected using an initial interview, classroom observations, and a follow-up interview to gather evidence of teacher beliefs based on what they say, do, and intend respectively. Open coding, analytical coding, cluster identification, coding memos, and analytical memos were used to analyze the data and write summaries of the teachers' explanatory beliefs with beliefs as the unit of analysis. It was identified that teachers consistently and inconsistently enact their espoused beliefs, but there are also instances when teachers both consistently and inconsistently enact particular espoused beliefs. This endeavor necessitates a shared understanding of terms, and it was found what it means to "understand" needs to be clarified with a definition and examples from teachers. When teachers appear to not enact their espoused beliefs, explanatory beliefs were pinpointed that resolve the conflict and found the explanatory beliefs exist in at least seven macro clusters. These explanatory beliefs interact with espoused beliefs by overriding, limiting, or preventing the espoused beliefs to resolve the apparent inconsistency in teachers espoused and enacted beliefs. The explanatory beliefs with limiting and overriding interactions were found to coexist for some teachers around a teaching practice as overriding interactions are connected to constraints on the classroom whereas limiting interactions are not. It was also found that belief clusters are nested within clusters of beliefs, and these clusters allow for beliefs to cluster in isolation in different ways. This work also shows empirically that some geometry teacher beliefs are socially constructed due to the presence of common cultural artifacts and influence from mathematics teacher educators. This work has implications and future research directions in the areas of using beliefs as the unit of analysis, mapping teacher's belief systems, considering the social construction of beliefs and role of community, connecting beliefs to specific teaching practices, and educating teachers. / Doctor of Philosophy / This research seeks to understand and interpret the beliefs of 10 high school geometry teachers that resolve apparent inconsistencies between what teachers say they believe and what they do in the classroom. Data was collected using an initial interview, classroom observations, and a follow-up interview to gather evidence of teacher beliefs based on what they say, do, and intend respectively. It was identified that teachers consistently and inconsistently enact their stated beliefs, but there are also instances when teachers both consistently and inconsistently enact their stated beliefs. When teachers appear to inconsistently enact their stated beliefs, it was found that teachers have logical reasons why they do so, and these reasons relate to specific teaching practices. It was also found that teacher beliefs interact with each other in different ways. Teachers' beliefs can limit or prevent the enaction of their other beliefs. In addition, school level constraints can override the enaction of some teacher beliefs. This research shows that some beliefs are held by different teachers from vastly different schools which suggests that some geometry teacher beliefs are held socially. The findings from this research have implications for teacher education.

This thesis contains four chapters presenting theory and empirical evidence for two distinct aspects of human behaviour: social learning and motivated beliefs. I develop a simple theory to revisit the classical social learning models by challenging the assumption of freely available information. My model suggests that when it is costly to acquire information, social learning (herding) is prevalent, and people do not have incentives to acquire private information (e.g. to form their own judgements). Classical information cascade models suggest that although herding is observed, information aggregation is still possible with communication channels (e.g. a survey); however, my model indicates that information aggregation is unattainable because people in the herd do not acquire private information. We then test my model in a laboratory and find that, as predicted, subjects can learn from others successfully. Also, individual heterogeneity exists in: there are herd animals biased against private information, lone wolves who are biased toward it and subjects who behave optimally. In aggregate, there is no overall bias for or against private information. We also document a new cognitive bias involved in processing social information. Individual characteristics, especially the cognitive ability, seems to be a very good indicator of subjects' behaviour. Subjects with higher cognitive scores choose optimal information more frequently and follow information more frequently. Overconfidence can be driven by the consumption motive (e.g. savouring future payoff/self-image) and the instrumental motive (e.g. being optimistic about the outcome of effort for motivation). I develop a simple model incorporating these two motives and suggest that individuals hold a dynamic pattern of overconfidence. Then I conduct an online field experiment with students to test the theory. The experimental findings indicate that students are likely to adopt overconfident beliefs as a commitment device to deal with their self-control problem. However, I do not find evidence for the consumption motive of overconfidence.

The purpose of this study was to examine archival data collected from the administration of the Cultural Awareness and Belief Inventory (CABI) (Webb-Johnson & Carter, 2005) in an urban district located in the southwestern United States. Specifically, the study examined whether differences exist between Pre-K through second grade urban teachers' perceptions and third through fourth grade urban teachers' perceptions of cultural awareness and beliefs as measured by the CABI in one urban district. Of the respondents, 399 Pre-K through second grade teachers' perceptions and 219 third through fourth grade teachers' perceptions of eight factors were measured by the CABI. These factors included: A) Teacher Beliefs, B) School Climate, C) Culturally Responsive Classroom Management, D) Home and Community Support, E) Cultural Awareness, F) Curriculum and Instruction, G) Cultural Sensitivity and H) Teacher Efficacy (Roberts-Walter, 2007). Further, by comparing the perceptions of the Pre-K through second grade teachers and those of the third through fourth grade teachers, this study investigated the differences between the perceptions of the teachers held responsible for their students? test scores and those teachers employed in grades in which students are not given state-mandated tests. The difference between the Pre-K through second grade teachers' perceptions and the third through fourth grade teachers' perceptions were indicated in only one factor of the eight measured by the CABI. A difference in both groups' perceptions was determined in the factor, Cultural Sensitivity. The results indicated that the Pre-K through second grade teachers' were more culturally sensitive than the third through fourth grade teachers.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of undergraduates’ metacognitive beliefs about writing and knowledge, ways that those beliefs may change during the semester, and the relationship of beliefs to their persuasive writing. Scales assessing epistemological and writing beliefs were given to students in lower-division rhetoric and writing courses (N=241). Generally, students experienced significant changes in their beliefs about knowledge, learning, and writing across the semester, as assessed by the Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire (Schommer, 1993) and writing beliefs scales (White & Bruning, 2002). Thus, students at the end of the semester reported beliefs that learning was a slow process and that knowledge was contingent. Although regressions predicting quality of students’ persuasive writing from the belief scales were not significant, qualitative analyses revealed interesting trends in papers from students with different epistemological stances and beliefs about writing, particularly with regard to their use of sources. / text

Recent research examining collective efficacy beliefs has generated a plethora of promising findings about their impact on group functioning. However, questions regarding the nature of collective efficacy beliefs across diverse educational organizations and theoretical constructs are understudied in this area of research. Therefore, the current study examines the relationship between collective efficacy beliefs and building group capacity. Self-reported data were collected from participants involved in a 10-month collaborative effort to enhance their proficiency in giving more effective presentations in order to strengthen their divisions’ capacity to improve educational achievement in schools. This top-down approach to building capacity is common, yet challenging to develop and evaluate, especially for organizations consisting of multiple infrastructures. Research findings using separate simple linear regression analyses suggest that perceived collective efficacy highly predicts group capacity, as it accounted for nearly 76% of the variance in self-reported group capacity. In addition, vicarious experience was shown to highly predict collective efficacy beliefs and group capacity. Likewise, perceived autonomy support strongly predicted group capacity, however did not significantly predict collective efficacy beliefs, which has been implied in the recent literature (Goddard, Hoy & Woolfolk Hoy, 2004; Brinson & Steiner, 2007). These findings provide a foundation for future collective efficacy belief research and capacity building efforts in the nonprofit education sector. / text