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Thesis (M.E.T.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). "January 2008." Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-173). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Letter to the parents also in Chinese. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-139).

Unordered choice models are commonly used in the field of transportation and several other fields to analyze discrete choice behavior. In the past decade, there have been substantial advances in specifying and estimating such models to allow unobserved taste variations and flexible error covariance structures. However, the current estimation methods are still computationally intensive and often break down when spatial dependence structures are introduced (due to the resulting high dimensionality of integration in the likelihood function). But a recently proposed method, the Maximum Approximate Composite Marginal Likelihood (MACML) method, offers an effective approach to estimate such models. The MACML approach combines a composite marginal likelihood (CML) estimation approach with an approximation method to evaluate the multivariate standard normal cumulative distribution (MVNCD) function. The composite likelihood approach replaces the likelihood function with a surrogate likelihood function of substantially lower dimensionality, which is then subsequently evaluated using an analytic approximation method rather than simulation techniques. This combination of the CML with the specific analytic approximation for the MVNCD function is effective because it involves only univariate and bivariate cumulative normal distribution function evaluations, regardless of the dimensionality of the problem. For my dissertation, I have four objectives. The first is to evaluate the performance of the MACML method to estimate unordered response models by undertaking a Monte Carlo simulation exercise. The second is to formulate and estimate a spatial and temporal unordered discrete choice model and apply this model to a land use change context and to the mode choice decision of school children. The third objective is to formulate a random coefficient model with non-normal mixing distributions on model parameters which can be estimated using the MACML approach. Finally, the fourth objective us to propose an improvement to the MACML method by incorporating a second order MVNCD function that is more accurate and evaluate its performance in estimating parameters for a variety of model structures. / text

The purpose of this study is to identify and examine the factors that are affecting Chinese parental decisions to enroll their children in local private non-profit Christian primary schools in Hong Kong. Two research instruments were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data from parents. These include the questionnaire survey and the follow-up telephone interviews. A total of 1404 questionnaires were given out, to three different schools, with a return rate of 82%. A total of 59 parents who returned their questionnaires were interviewed for explanation of their responses. Documentary analyses were conducted to assess whether or not the case schools are in line with the parents' expressed preferences. The study identifies three leading criteria which parents use in the selection of a private primary school. The "academic-centered" aspects and the "child-centered" aspects (Woods, Bagley and Glatter, 1998) have been found to be parents' major concerns and they are closely linked to teacher attitudes which parents value highly. The selection criteria were perceived to be influenced by traditional Chinese cultural values on education and character development. A parent-school interaction pattern has been established in this study. It reflects the concern of parents on the effectiveness of the school in enhancing students' discipline and academic performance through teachers with positive attitudes. Common parental school choice factors are examined and discussed. The study established that parents perceived positive teacher attitudes to be interconnected with student's behavioural and academic performance. It also established that parents who perceived the effectiveness of Chinese cultural values on education also perceived improvements in child's behavioural and academic performance. This study provides school administrators with additional understanding of the interconnecting relations between children's school performance and teacher attitudes. A model of private school choice framework was created to show the interactions among parents, teachers, students and the school management.

Recent research suggests that, besides traditional socio-demographic and built environment attributes, the attitudes and perceptions of parents toward walking and bicycling play a crucial role in deciding their children’s mode choice to school. However, very little is known about the factors that shape these parental attitudes toward their children actively commuting to school. The current study aims to investigate this unexplored avenue of research and identify the influences on parental attitudes toward their children walking and bicycling to school, as part of a larger nationwide effort to make children more physically active and combat rising trends of childhood obesity in the US. Through the use of a multivariate ordered response model (a model structure that allows different attitudes to be correlated), the current study analyses five different parental attitudes toward their children walking and bicycling to school, based on data drawn from the California add-on sample of the 2009 National Household Travel Survey. In particular, the subsample from the Los Angeles – Riverside – Orange County area is used in this study to take advantage of a rich set of micro-accessibility measures that is available for this region. It is found that school accessibility, work patterns, current mode use in the household, and socio-demographic characteristics shape parental attitudes toward children walking and bicycling to school. The study findings provide insights on policies, strategies, and campaigns that may help shift parental attitudes to be more favourable toward their children walking and bicycling to school. / text

The research was stimulated by involvement in leading elements of an Education Management programme. Developing part of the teaching material led to the realisation that while pupils' choice of school has been extensively researched it appeared that subject choice, particularly at A level had not. It also became apparent that ideas and models concerning decision making, extensively adopted within the Consumer Behaviour literature had not been applied in this context. Extensive reviews ofthe literature confirmed this position and indicated that the post sixteen school choice was also under researched and further that it was not possible to apply extant consumer behaviour models directly to the A level or School choice contexts. The research programme consisted of a mixture of qualitative and quantitative techniques. Building on elements of theory, from the literature, exploratory research employing focus groups was used to develop an initial model of adolescent pupil decision making. Early in the exploratory research it was found that the decision for adolescents choosing where to study their A levels was inextricably linked to choice of subjects. Choice of A level subjects was added to the research programme. Based on the exploratory results a quantitative study, using questionnaires, was developed to test the model on both single (choosing a school) and multiple (choosing A level subjects) choice situations. The study investigated differences between single-choice and multiple-choice decision making, an area neglected by consumer research, which provides at least a partial explanation of the process used by the pupils when they choose schools/colleges and A level subjects. Findings identify that although some aspects ofthe choice process are similar, there are important differences between the two types of decision. Evoked set are larger for multiple-choice decisions, and multi-choice decisions are likely to involve more stages in the decision making process than single-choice decisions. The results also identified that the parents' role has changed from 'decider', when their children were younger, to 'influencer', with the adolescent pupils becoming the decision makers. Concomitantly, choice criteria are shown to have evolved with 'discipline' decreasing markedly in importance and subject range increasing. The pre-eminence of personal sources of information is confinued but co-orientation emphasised.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:53:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FlaviaABP_DISSERT.pdf: 1345332 bytes, checksum: d533f1e298a64a1d12f47363e43a64b1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-27 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Esta disserta??o tem como objetivo geral investigar e descrever as metodologias utilizadas pelas escolas de ensino m?dio que contribuem com a escolha do aluno pelo curso de Engenharia de Produ??o da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Foram identificadas as pr?ticas pedag?gicas das escolas que contribuem/auxiliam o aluno do ensino m?dio na escolha da carreira. O objeto de investiga??o foram as escolas de ensino m?dio que mais aprovam no curso de engenharia de Produ??o da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). A abordagem da pesquisa ? qualitativa e quanto aos objetivos a pesquisa ? considerada explorat?ria, pois as informa??es obtidas n?o podem ser quantific?veis e os dados obtidos s?o analisados indutivamente. O m?todo utilizado ? o estudo de caso, pois se trata de um estudo contempor?neo dentro do contexto da vida real. A pesquisa foi realizada com os coordenadores pedag?gicos do ensino m?dio das escolas selecionadas, nos meses de setembro, outubro, novembro e dezembro de 2012. Os dados foram coletados por meio de an?lise documental, entrevista semi-estruturada e a observa??o. Os resultados mostram que as escolas que mais aprovam no curso de Engenharia de Produ??o da UFRN s?o: Instituto Federal de Educa??o, Ci?ncias e Tecnologia-(IFRN); Col?gio Salesiano S?o Jos?; Centro de Educa??o Integrada-CEI (Mirassol); Col?gio Marista de Natal; Col?gio e Curso-(CAP). Os resultados, encontrados na pesquisa, mostram que os motivos que levam a escolha pelo curso de Engenharia de Produ??o conforme os ingressantes 2000-2012 est?o relacionados ? voca??o e ? oferta de mercado de trabalho. Foi poss?vel identificar que 80% dos alunos egressos no curso de Engenharia de Produ??o da UFRN, conclu?ram o ensino m?dio em escolas particulares no turno diurno. Espera-se desta forma contribuir com estudos e pesquisas na ?rea de educa??o em engenharia de produ??o relacionando a educa??o b?sica e a escolha da carreira a fim de reduzir as taxas de evas?o em uma das profiss?es mais importantes para o crescimento sustent?vel do pa?s

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RESUME The times based on one individual's decision about which school to study to be able to choose further continuous and smooth career path has been over. As a result of current global and local social changes everybody should be prepared to the every possible change in career. Nevertheless the first choice of career is still an important milestone and can direct the individual career, but it is not the only key milestone, that determines the individual career once and for ever. People in contemporary world should be able to respond quickly to constant changes, evaluate new situations and be able to make the right decisions. The widespread myth is that success means to raise money as quickly as possible to guarantee the freedom and happiness. But a real success is a contented life, which is a long way over such values as for example certainty that we are doing the work that we like and which fills us with satisfaction. Individual goal is to focus on the abilities and skills so that the decision directs to such a career path where one will be able to optimally exploit one's potential in a future career. In the beginning of a career path a family as a primary socializing agent and the closest partner institution in the life of the pupil should fulfil its role in close cooperation with the school that...