The purpose of this study was to develop an adequately reliable and valid measure to assess five dominant life values held by adults. Additionally, by using the developed instrument, the study also compared major life values held by Anglo and black subjects. Items for the initial draft of the instrument were drawn from a pool of items obtained from surveying a group of community college students who were asked to list 10 to 20 important life values. Once these values were listed, the students were asked to rank order them in terms of their importance to their life and survival. These rank ordered values were categorized into five areas which formed the basis for the final version of the values scale. The final version of the draft included 50 items grouped into five value areas which were labeled as: moral outlook, family-mate relationships, work values, personal growth, and values related to creative use of leisure time. This instrument was then administered to a group of 723 secondary students whose ages ranged from 17 to 31 years. The data obtained from this sample was used to determine the internal consistency measure of reliability for the total as well as individual sub-scales. The reliability coefficients ranged from a low of .82 to a high of .91, indicating high reliability of the scale. The concurrent validity of the scale was developed by correlating five value sub-scales to the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis (TJTA). The validity coefficients obtained by this procedure indicated a moderately high construct validity of the developed scale. The intercorrelations of five sub-scales also revealed that there was some overlap among these scales; however, low to moderate correlations provided some justification for using them as separate sub-scales of human values. For the purposes of comparing values of subjects from two ethno-cultures, 72 students were randomly selected from each group, and their responses to the value scale were analyzed by a factorial analyses of variance design. The results obtained from a three-factor ANOVA (sex x race x religion) revealed no significant differences in values of Anglo and black subjects in terms of ethnic and religious attributes. However, significant differences were observed in values held by male and female subjects. The greater sex differences occurred in the values related to creative use of leisure time. Male subjects placed significantly higher importance upon leisure time activities than their female counterparts. The significance and implications of the findings were discussed.

Yes / Included in methods commonly used for assessing vocational training are oral assessments (OAs) since, in addition to assessing knowledge to a depth rarely achieved in other forms of testing, they give unique insight into students’ personal attitudes, which are important factors in the workplace. However, OAs require considerable preparation by the assessors, they can be restricted by time and assessor allocation, it is difficult to fully cover the course fairly, and they can put undue stress on the examinees, hence hindering a true expression of their skills and knowledge. OAs can give insight into a student’s personal attitudes, and the purpose here is to find the relationship between OA observed attitudes and those deduced from the computer-aided assessment. For the computer-aided assessments a scheme based on comparing two statements, followed by fuzzy AHP analysis, was used to determine the student’s attitude on such topics as general safety, work area tidiness and cleanliness, care and good use of hand tools and accuracy and testing of equipment. The results from the computer-aided approach were then compared with attitudes on the same topics obtained by oral assessment. For this work the important result was that there were strong correlations between the OA observed attitudes and the computer-aided assessment derived attitudes of the students. It also became clear however that for safety, the attitude of students (and perhaps workers) is more complicated than just having a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ attitude. Social pressure and organisational influence do seem to play a part so influencing or masking the student’s true attitudes. Satisfactory correlations were found between results of students’ attitudes when tested using the OA and computer-aided methods. Further work would need to be done to confirm generalization of substituting OA methods with a computer-aided assessment method.

One purpose of the present study was to validate a modified version of the What is Happening In This Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire and the Test of Science Related Attitude (TOSRA) in both Australia and Indonesia. It was the first classroom environment study that used the two above questionnaires simultaneously in these two countries. The second aim of this study was to find out whether the scores on the WIHIC questionnaire and TOSRA vary with country and with gender. The third and final aim of this study was to evaluate the strength of the associations between students' perceptions of their classroom environment and their attitude to science in both Australia and Indonesia. The sample consisted of 1,161 students (594 students from 18 classes in Indonesia and 567 students from 18 classes in Australia). All the students came from private coeducational schools. The original WIHIC questionnaire had eight scales made up of ten items per scale while the original version of TOSRA had seven scales made up of ten items per scale. Principal components factor analysis followed by varimax rotation resulted in the acceptance of a revised version of the WIHIC comprising 55 items and a revised version of TOSRA comprising 20 items. The a priori factor structure of the revised version of each questionnaire was replicated in both countries, with nearly all items having a factor loading of at least 0.30 on their a priori scale and no other scale. / The use of MANOVA revealed that there were a few differences between Australian and Indonesian students' perceptions of their classroom environments and in their attitudes to science. For example, Australian students had a more positive attitude towards scientific inquiry while Indonesian students had a more positive attitude towards career interest in Science. A comparison between male and female students in the two countries revealed that both genders had almost similar perceptions of their learning environments and attitudes to science. However, female students had a slightly higher score when it came to career interest in science, student cohesiveness and equity. A series of simple correlation and multiple regression analyses revealed reasonably strong and positive associations between each classroom environment scale and the attitude scale. Overall Teacher Support and Involvement were the strongest independent predictors of student attitudes to science in both Indonesia and Australia.

Many interacting factors need to be considered when contemplating the optimum conditions for the creation of a learning environment that is compatible with the aims of tertiary teaching and learning. In the current economic climate, the costs of creating learning environments that foster these aims is also a major consideration. Further, in this era of rapid technological development and change, there are increasing numbers of students of divergent age, experience and ability entering the tertiary sector. Teachers at this level are therefore faced with real problems in providing students with interesting and innovative learning environments that influence and encourage the use of a deep approach to learning and the development of real understanding.This longitudinal research project sought, through the development and introduction of various teaching and learning interventions, to influence nursing students' attitudes towards microbiology and consequently their approaches to learning and achievement. The instruments used in the intervention practices were developed as a result of suggestions by students and staff during the course of this study and were fashioned along the lines of two models of student learning developed by Kember and Gow (1989) and Biggs (1993a). The study also attempted to elucidate the major factors affecting student attitudes towards teaching and learning with multiple media and the relationship between students' attitude, achievement and their learning approach.Significant relationships were established in the study between positive attitudes towards microbiology, higher scores for higher level learning approaches and higher academic grades.The major factors that appeared to influence students' attitudes towards microbiology included: (1) students' interest in microbiology; (2) the relevance students perceived microbiology had to nursing; (3) ++ / students' perceptions of the quality of the microbiology unit and learning materials, (4) the nature of the pastoral care provided; (5) the availability of independent study options; (6) students' perceptions of the degree of difficulty of the unit; (7) the credit point values for the unit and (8) students' perceptions of overload.In this study, freedom of choice of learning materials and the factors interest in, and relevance of microbiology to nursing practice appear to be major forces associated with increased use of deep approaches to learning by the different student groups. Perceptions of a heavy workload, overload of information, lack of pastoral care and perceived inadequate credit point value given to the microbiology units demonstrated little effect in increasing the use of surface learning approaches by students. However, when students' ratings for interest and relevance were low, and these factors were present as a group or individually, they were shown to influence an increase in surface approaches with a corresponding decline in use of deep approaches to learning.Overall, the results derived from this study with regard to learning approach and attitude suggest that if interest in microbiology and the perceived relevance of microbiology to nursing is high, these factors will have a greater positive effect on the use of higher level learning approaches than the variables of overload, inappropriate credit point values and nomenclature problems will have in increasing the use of lower level learning approaches by students.Part of this investigation involved the possible identification of learning strategies that were used more often by students who tended to utilise higher level learning approaches in contrast to students who used lower level approaches. Strategies that evolved from the data collected across the quasi-experimental cohort included (1) ++ / discrimination between specific learning materials that best fitted with students' lifestyles and learning preferences; (2) discrimination between specific learning strategies that better suited different subject areas; (3) interrelating microbiology theory with patients' clinical presentations in the hospitals; (4) using self-assessment, working in groups or with a friend; (5) the use of organised and consistent study habits; (6) the use of mnemonics, note taking, rote learning and continual revision of facts to establish a base knowledge of the subject before linking of material across areas could be made; (7) use of graphs, diagrams and flow charts; and (8) the use of more interactive learning materials such as the CAL.

The major aim of this study was to investigate the use of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) in health science classrooms in Tasmania, Australia. In the past, the QTI has been used in a number of learning areas. However, it has not been used in the learning area of health science.This study involved 1,471 grade 9 and grade 10 health science students and their teachers in 75 classes. The QTI was used to study student and teacher perceptions of health science teacher interpersonal behaviour.Statistical analyses revealed that the QTI is a valid and reliable instrument for use in health science classrooms. Quantitative results from the QTI were supported by qualitative data including comments from the students and a reflective narrative of the experiences of the researcher as a health science teacher.An investigation into the associations between QTI scales and student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes revealed that all scales of the QTI related to student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes in health science classrooms. It is, however, the scales of Leadership and Helping/Friendly which make the greatest positive influence to student attitudinal and cognitive outcomes.Health science students perceived their teachers as displaying high levels of leadership, helping/friendly and understanding behaviour, and low levels of uncertain, dissatisfied and admonishing behaviour. Teachers generally perceived themselves in a more favourable manner than their students did.The students also perceived the less experienced teachers as less dominant and more oppositional compared to teachers with more experience. Female health science students generally perceived their teachers in a more positive way than male students and male students, in general, have better attitudes to health science lessons.

This survey study on students attitudes towards science was conducted in Papua New Guinea. It involved 200 randomly selected grade six students in eight selected community (primary) schools (4 urban and 4 rural) of four provinces. There were six research questions to focus the study. The instruments consisted of 9 Students Background Questions, 9 interview questions, 43 Students Science Attitude Questionnaire Items, and a 20-item cognitive test. The former three sets of instruments were trialled in two schools. The test questions were not trialled as they were trialled previously in several schools within PNG. The 43 Likert-type items were divided into five categories - curiosity, enjoyment, science learning, perceived achievement, and relevance. Each category was assigned 10 items, with the exception of perceived achievement which had three items. About half of the the statements in a category were negatively worded. A student had to put a tick in a box next to a statement according to his or her feelings. The choices were given by the five-point scale - Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Hot Sure (NS), Disagree (D), and Strongly Disagree (SD) along with three laces (smiling, uncertain and frowning) which were added as interest, From the twenty five students in a study school, a group of 6 students (3 males and 3 females) was randomly selected for face to face interview. The responses in the items associated with the five categories (dependent variables) were used to assess various student characteristics (independent variables) of parent and home background (i.e. parent educational levels and language use at home), gender (male and female), biogeographical location (urban and rural), and level of performance in standardized cognitive test (above average, average and below average). Statistical techniques of correlation coefficient, analysis of variance and factor analysis were used in analysing the responses but the results were not clear due insufficient trialling and test of reliability with the limited period in which the data had to be collected. As consequence, chi-square test (contingency tables) was used as alternative statistical test to determine significant differences in responses to the items at 0.05 level. With the exception of perceived achievement, student responses to the items on the categories were generally and satisfactorily positive. The mean levels of attitudes in the categories were not as high as one may expect (Table 5.1). Relatively, few of the items associated with student independent variables showed significant differences. There was generally no significant differences in parent and home backgrounds (i.e. language use and parent educational background). Urban students tended to be more positive than the rural students, but. this not could be generalised due to a small number of items with significant differences. Male students showed more positive attitudes to science than female students, but this was limited to a small number of items. The students with above average scores in the cognitive test showed more positive attitudes to science than those of average and below verage scores. However, the number of items were quite small, and therefore could not be generalised. Points of improvement in the practice of teaching and future research in attitudes to science are recommended. For instance, the present officially prescribed time of 40 minutes per week for science should be changed to 1.5 to 2 hours after further investigation. The reason for this is that it requires some preparation before actual lessons begin (e.g. collecting materials by groups) and the students are generally slow.

It is well documented that students are struggling in developmental and introductory mathematics courses at community colleges across the nation. However, the reasons that these students struggle are not as well known. While numerous researchers have investigated the effects of inquiry-based learning on K-12 students, the research on this topic at the community college level is lacking. For my dissertation work, I have collected attitudinal surveys, observational data, and final exams from eight sections of a developmental mathematics course and nine sections of College Algebra at a large Texas community college. Approximately half of the instructors involved in the study incorporated some level of inquiry-based teaching strategies in their classrooms (referred to in this dissertation as “student-led” sections) while the remaining instructors employed a more direct strategy (referred to as “lecture” sections). Using this data, I investigated the relationships between teaching methods and attitudes, teaching methods and content knowledge, and attitudes and content knowledge. The evidence showed that IBL teaching strategies have a greater effect on students’ attitudes for students enrolled in a developmental mathematics course than those enrolled in College Algebra. IBL teaching strategies had no positive effects on developmental students’ performance on a skills-based final exam, but student-led sections performed just as well as lecture sections. In College Algebra, participants in student-led sections scored significantly higher than lecture sections on two out of five objectives: write the equation of a line in slope-intercept form (p<0.001) and use properties of logarithms to write an expression as a single logarithm (p<0.01). Lecture sections scored significantly higher than student-led sections on one objective: write the equation of an exponential function given two data points (p<0.05). However, the wording of the problems for this objective differed between lecture and student-led sections. Finally, when comparing the eight Basic Math Skills objectives with the 17 attitudinal variables, 1.4% of pairs were significantly correlated on the pre-survey and 15.4% of pairs were significantly correlated on the post-survey. Of the five College Algebra objectives and 17 attitudinal variables, 16.5% of pairs were significantly correlated on the pre-survey and 7.1% of pairs were significantly correlated on the post-survey. / text

This paper focuses on two main areas. Firstly, it aims to investigate to what extent upper secondary EFL students’ response to poetry corresponds with one knowledge requirement set by Skolverket (National Agency for Education) for English 6. Secondly, it aims to give a brief account of student views on specific works of poetry, rather than poetry as a genre. To collect material for this study an investigation of the reception of three poems was conducted in two upper secondary classes, one in a vocational programme and one in an academic programme. The three poems chosen for the purpose were "Time passes by" by Anatol Knotek, "To the Virgins to make much of Time" by Robert Herrick and "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin. The study shows that goal fulfilment does take place through the reading of and response to poetry, to a certain extent. The study also indicates that the students are more inclined to appreciate works of poetry than the notion of poetry as a genre. Finally, the paper suggests that more research be done on the subject, specifically to investigate what could be developed in order for poetry reading to further support learning outcomes. / Uppsatsen inriktar sig på två huvudområden. Dess syfte är dels att undersöka i hur stor utsträckning den respons svenska gymnasieelever ger på dikter svarar mot kunskapskrav uppställda av Skolverket i kursplanen för Engelska 6. Dels syftar den till att kort redogöra för elevers syn på några enskilda dikter, snarare än på dikter som genre. En undersökning har genomförts där elever från två gymnasieklasser, en från ett yrkesinriktat program och en från ett studieinriktat program, fått ge sin respons på tre dikter. De valda dikterna är ”Time passes by” av Anatol Knotek, ”To the Virgins to make much of Time” av Robert Herrick och ”Cat’s in the Cradle” av Harry Chapin. Undersökningen visar att läsning och responsgivning på poesi i viss utsträckning leder till måluppfyllelse. Undersökningen tyder också på att eleverna tenderar att uppskatta enskilda dikter mer än dikter som genre, såsom de föreställer sig denna. Slutligen föreslås ytterligare forskning på ämnet med målet att undersöka hur arbete med dikter kan utvecklas för att leda till ytterligare måluppfyllelse. / engelska som främmande språk, dikter, poesi, måluppfyllelse, läsförståelse

This research focuses on student attitudes toward multilingual education. Although much work has been done on multilingual education pedagogy and policy, almost none has been child-centered. Little consideration has been given to first-hand accounts of children in immersion programs. Through participatory observation, surveys, and focus group discussions with third grade students at a public, French immersion elementary school in the Pacific Northwest, I have found many common threads within student experiences of multilingual education. Specifically, students' fear of failure and peer-to-peer shaming when learning a new language can leave them feeling ambivalent toward French. This is not to say that the student experience is overwhelmingly negative; however, student attitudes seem to fall somewhere between their learned value for multilingualism and their lived experiences. Ultimately, this thesis highlights the importance of student narratives and the ways in which they can inform the development of immersion education programs.

For teachers, being able to provide feedback that learners can act upon is paramount for making learning how to write possible. A questionnaire was sent out to students in Swedish Upper Secondary School. The intent was to identify how students perceive feedback, as well as how they react and interpret the feedback they receive on written texts. The results are then used in a discussion that aims to draw attention to the potential implications that feedback may have on students’ motivation to write. In this study, Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick’s seven principles for feedback serve as a measurement for what constitutes good feedback. The results suggest that when a certain form of feedback is not commonly used by teachers or is used differently by different teachers, then the feedback becomes difficult to interpret for students. The respondents consider themselves regular recipients of feedback but struggle with interpreting feedback when there are variations in teachers’ practices in applying feedback.