This study describes first and second year university physics students' understanding and reasoning of the concepts, angular speed and angular acceleration. The analysis was based on student responses to various tasks presented to them during one hour long interviews. These responses were characterized from a phenomeno graphic research perspective developed by Marton (1981) and his colleagues at Gothenburg University in Sweden. The findings of the study are described by categories of description and by categories of reasoning. Categories of description characterize; students' conceptualizations of angular speed from different frames of reference, and the ways in which students make comparisons of the angular speeds of two objects. Categories of reasoning characterize the ways in which students were thought to reason about the concepts of angular speed and angular acceleration in several task settings. Interpretation of these findings are discussed with reference to the role a typical introductory physics textbook may have had in shaping the way in which students think about these angular kinematic concepts. Finally, instructional implications and directions for future research are given.

This study describes first and second year university physics students' understanding and reasoning of the concepts, angular speed and angular acceleration. The analysis was based on student responses to various tasks presented to them during one hour long interviews. These responses were characterized from a phenomeno graphic research perspective developed by Marton (1981) and his colleagues at Gothenburg University in Sweden. The findings of the study are described by categories of description and by categories of reasoning. Categories of description characterize; students' conceptualizations of angular speed from different frames of reference, and the ways in which students make comparisons of the angular speeds of two objects. Categories of reasoning characterize the ways in which students were thought to reason about the concepts of angular speed and angular acceleration in several task settings. Interpretation of these findings are discussed with reference to the role a typical introductory physics textbook may have had in shaping the way in which students think about these angular kinematic concepts. Finally, instructional implications and directions for future research are given. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

The professional development of a career counselling intern on a satellite campus at a distance education institution was facilitated with the use of a heutagogic learning strategy. The heutagogic learning process was recorded by reflective writing based on Kolb's experiential learning model. This research is a disquisition of the reflective dataset. The research is an autoethnographic case study in the constructionist paradigm with a creative analysis process. During the research process features about the benefits of heutagogic learning in the professional development of the career counselling intern were critically constructed. The findings of the research are captured in memescapes showing mindset changes and mental transformations on patterns which describe the theory-praxis gap, diversity, wellness, the macro-ethic. The recommendations include the hope that these findings will feed through to inform future career counselling internships in the IOP field. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / MCom (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the differential levels of study habits between upper and lower academic achievers in secondary school in Embu County, Kenya. The study explored the current literature related to the study and carried out an empirical investigation towards this end. The target population for the study comprised all Form 4 secondary school students in all public secondary schools in Embu County. The student study samples were drawn from 50 out of 156 public secondary schools in the County. Students were drawn from both county and district level of secondary schools. Purposive sampling was used to select the uppermost and lowermost academic achivers over a period of two preceding years. Data was collected by using differently marked questionnaires for prio-determined uppermost and lowermost academic achievement groups of respondents. Each questionnaire comprised of four sections: Bio-demographic information, study habits, internal locus of control and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy and locus of control are some of the covert study habits. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics (percentages, means, distribution, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics especially analysis of variance (ANOVA). A pilot study was undertaken to check and enhance on the validity and reliability of the research instruments before commencement of the actual research study. Data was presented in tables, bar and linear graphs. Findings indicated that the upper quartile achievers had higher scores in internal locus of control but not study habits and self-efficacy. Students at lower level of achievement performance reported stronger study habits and self-efficacy compared to their upper performance counterparts. Bio-demographic factors (age, gender, school level, residential status) had very little, if any, influence on students level of study habits, self- efficacy and internal locus of control. The study recommended that stakeholders especially parents, teachers and other significant members of the community should endeavour to help students acquire and develop strong internal locus of control in order to be able to actualize their study habits and self-efficacy to attain higher academic performance and achievement as would be expected of students reporting such levels in study habits and self-efficacy in academic environment. / Educational Psychology / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The professional development of a career counselling intern on a satellite campus at a distance education institution was facilitated with the use of a heutagogic learning strategy. The heutagogic learning process was recorded by reflective writing based on Kolb's experiential learning model. This research is a disquisition of the reflective dataset. The research is an autoethnographic case study in the constructionist paradigm with a creative analysis process. During the research process features about the benefits of heutagogic learning in the professional development of the career counselling intern were critically constructed. The findings of the research are captured in memescapes showing mindset changes and mental transformations on patterns which describe the theory-praxis gap, diversity, wellness, the macro-ethic. The recommendations include the hope that these findings will feed through to inform future career counselling internships in the IOP field. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

成子娟. / 論文(博士)--香港中文大學, 1999. / 參考文獻 (p. 248-263) / 中英文摘要. / Available also through the Internet via Dissertations & theses @ Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Cheng Zijuan. / Lun wen (bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 1999. / Can kao wen xian (p. 248-263) / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the differential levels of study habits between upper and lower academic achievers in secondary school in Embu County, Kenya. The study explored the current literature related to the study and carried out an empirical investigation towards this end. The target population for the study comprised all Form 4 secondary school students in all public secondary schools in Embu County. The student study samples were drawn from 50 out of 156 public secondary schools in the County. Students were drawn from both county and district level of secondary schools. Purposive sampling was used to select the uppermost and lowermost academic achivers over a period of two preceding years. Data was collected by using differently marked questionnaires for prio-determined uppermost and lowermost academic achievement groups of respondents. Each questionnaire comprised of four sections: Bio-demographic information, study habits, internal locus of control and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy and locus of control are some of the covert study habits. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics (percentages, means, distribution, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics especially analysis of variance (ANOVA). A pilot study was undertaken to check and enhance on the validity and reliability of the research instruments before commencement of the actual research study. Data was presented in tables, bar and linear graphs. Findings indicated that the upper quartile achievers had higher scores in internal locus of control but not study habits and self-efficacy. Students at lower level of achievement performance reported stronger study habits and self-efficacy compared to their upper performance counterparts. Bio-demographic factors (age, gender, school level, residential status) had very little, if any, influence on students level of study habits, self- efficacy and internal locus of control. The study recommended that stakeholders especially parents, teachers and other significant members of the community should endeavour to help students acquire and develop strong internal locus of control in order to be able to actualize their study habits and self-efficacy to attain higher academic performance and achievement as would be expected of students reporting such levels in study habits and self-efficacy in academic environment. / Educational Psychology / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Since 1994 South African classrooms have become more culturally diverse. In order to teach effectively in such an environment, teachers need to use strategies which meet the needs of all the students. One way of addressing this challenge is to consider learning styles theory. Teachers need to understand how individual students of all cultures learn, and which specific learning styles are significantly related to academic achievement. In order to investigate this relationship, a study was conducted at an independent multicultural senior school in the North West Province of South Africa. The aim of the research was to gather information on the learning style preferences of the students at the school; the relationship between the students’ academic achievements in English and mathematics and their learning style; and finally, the relationship between the students’ nationality, gender, form and age and their learning styles as well as their academic achievements in English and mathematics. A mixed methods research design was used. Data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire that was completed by a sample of 240 students of different forms, genders and nationalities. This was followed by individual interviews with ten top achieving students. The study found that the predominant learning style amongst the students in the school was individual learning. This particular learning style was also most significantly related to academic achievements in English and mathematics. The study further determined that nationality did not significantly influence students’ learning styles but gender and age did. Female students were found to be more inclined to be individual learners. Younger students were also found to be auditory learners to a greater extent than older students. Regarding the studying of English and mathematics, it was found that female students generally used auditory learning styles whilst male students preferred kinaesthetic learning styles. Lastly, the study found that the average achievements in mathematics deteriorated as the students got older and the worst performing form was the Form 6s. To this end, various suggestions were made as to how learning styles could be considered to improve learning. Recommendations for further study were highlighted along with the limitations of this research. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

郁之虹. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 335-354). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Yu Zhihong.