The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an expository advance organizer on the achievement of students in a general chemistry course. The subjects included 181 first year college students enrolled in 12 sections of general chemistry at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, Thailand. The subjects were randomly assigned by section into two treatment and control groups. The treatment groups received an advance organizer or an introductory passage prior to instruction. The control group received no treatment prior to instruction. The equivalence of the control and two treatment groups at the beginning of the study was determined by the application of a teacher-made pretest. No significant differences in chemistry achievement were found among the three groups. Prior to classroom instruction and laboratory instruction, the advance organizer group received expository organizers, and the introductory passage group received introductory passages to read and study. The treatment period covered 21 days of instruction. Upon completion of all study material, a teacher-made achievement posttest covering the material taught during the study was administered to all groups. The posttest was administered again two weeks later as a retention test. Achievement test scores were analyzed by use of a one-way analysis of variance. The results indicated that the advance organizer group performed significantly better than the control and introductory passage groups on the achievement posttest and retention test. Theses findings provided evidence that an expository organizer facilitated learning and retention of general chemistry more than an introductory passage and no treatment. These results supported Ausubel's Advance Organizer Theory in the facilitating effects of advance organizers on student achievement. / Graduation date: 1992

Although a concern for gender equity provided the framework for this research, the results of this study highlighted the fact that the question of equity should be broadened to include concern for the tier of talented women and men who currently choose not to persist in an undergraduate computer science major. This investigation captured the experience of three male and two female first year undergraduate computer science majors (and two instructors) over the course of their first two college terms. Sources of data included interviews, classroom observations, electronic mail journal comments, and casual conversation. Subtle elements of potential gender discrimination were a part of the rich data collected but the students did not mention such factors. Rather, in faithfully portraying the students' perspectives, this research presented the students' candid discussion of the function of more obvious factors in their experiences. Difficulties with concepts of mathematical proof and computer programming were significant factors in the students' experiences. Students not experienced with mathematical proof or computer programming failed to develop an understanding of the basic principles in the respective course. Student difficulties were matched by the struggles of teaching faculty as they looked for input to support improvement in their teaching. Many of the factors identified by the students were found in the general undergraduate experience. All of the students knew little about careers in computer science and were anxious to learn more. The female students wanted their career to involve work they enjoyed. The male students wanted assurances that they could compete and find financial security in their career. The students valued support they found in a variety of forms and were disappointed in the lack of support found in advising sessions. Students struggled with inadequate study skills to meet demanding course expectations. This research identified factors in the culture of undergraduate computer science education that impacted students' decisions to persist, or not persist, in the field. The results indicate changes and provide a basis for the design of interventions aimed at creating an environment that will equitably support all persons in pursuit of an undergraduate computer science degree. / Graduation date: 1996

This research addressed two major questions: (1) whether students in an English 104 class in which synectics was used as an aid to invention would develop the ability to think analogically by using an analogy invented in the synectics process and to think divergently by using the oxymoron invented in the synectics process and (2) whether these students would develop a more positive attitude towards writing.The subjects of the study were two English 104 composition classes with fifty students, including eight case studies. The research was conducted during Winter Quarter 1982-83 at Ball State University.The study followed these steps: (1) a diagnostic theme, (2) questionnaires, (3) three synectics sessions and the resulting essays, accompanied by journal responses and logs, (4) interviews as necessary to complete data, (5) a final theme without a synectics session, accompanied by a journal response and log, and (6) instructor's logs.Analyses of the data led to the following findings:(1) that all of the case studies and the majority of the group used analogical thinking on all of the themes.(2) that although four of the case studies and the majority of the group used divergent thinking on at least one theme, only one of the case studies and a minority of the group used this type of thinking on the final theme.(3) that all of the case studies and the majority of the group evaluated synectics as being helpful.(4) that of the four case studies responding to the questionnaires, two indicated more positive attitudes towards English 104 than they had indicated towards previous writing experiences, as did the majority of the group as a whole.These findings led to the following conclusions:that students learned to think analogically. that few students learned to think divergently. that students developed a more positive attitude towards their writing.

The research presented in this thesis was motivated by the need to improve introductory physics courses. Introductory physics courses are generally the first courses in which students learn to create models to solve complex problems. However, many students taking introductory physics courses fail to acquire a command of the concepts, methods and tools presented in these courses. The reforms proposed by this thesis focus on altering the content of introductory courses rather than content delivery methods as most reforms do. This thesis explores how the performance on a widely used test of conceptual understanding in mechanics compares between students taking a course with updated and modified content and students taking a traditional course. Better performance by traditional students was found to stem from their additional practice on the types of items which appeared on the test. The results of this work brought into question the role of the introductory physics course for non-majors. One aspect of this new role is the teaching of new methods such as computation (the use of a computer to solve numerically, simulate and visualize physical problems). This thesis explores the potential benefits for students who learn computation as part of physics course. After students worked through a suite of computational homework problems, many were able to model a new physical situation with which they had no experience. The failure of some students to model this new situation might have stemmed from their unfavorable attitudes towards learning computation. In this thesis, we present the development of a new tool for characterizing students' attitudes. Preliminary measurements indicated significant differences between successful and unsuccessful students.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study explores the role and meaning of general education in Chinese higher education in the face of ongoing social changes in China, using Fudan University (FU) as a case study. General education has been heatedly discussed and greatly promoted in Chinese higher education since the last decade of the 20th century. Since existing theories and conceptions of general education mainly focus on Western, especially American, higher education, there has been little exploration of the meaning and role of general education in China, which has very different sociopolitical and cultural traditions from those of many Western nations, especially in the context of economic globalization. Therefore, an exploration of the meaning and role of general education in Chinese higher education could help to provide either challenges or supplements to existing theories and conceptions of general education. This study adopted the qualitative case study with FU as the case to explore the research problem. It used three data collection methods – document collection and review, interviews and observation – to gain an in-depth understanding of the development and tasks of general education at FU during periods of social transformation of China from 1905 to 2004, and during the latest reforms to general education at FU, between 2005 and 2012. Data collected from historical documents identified that general education at FU had mainly assumed two persistent tasks during periods of social transformation of China between 1905 and 2004. The first task was to facilitate the transmission of core cultural values, as defined mainly by the leaders of the state in different periods, to help the state to preserve its national identity. The second task was to equip students with knowledge, capacities and values, mainly Western in origin, to facilitate the state’s economic modernization. Further analysis of documentary, interview and observation data also identified continuities in and changes to the sociopolitical/cultural and economic tasks of general education at FU between 2005 and 2012; specifically, that general education still transmitted state-promoted core cultural values and still equipped students with a wider range of knowledge and capacities, but the contents of those values and the nature of those knowledge and capacities had changed due to the further development of China’s market economy and the effects of economic globalization. Based on these findings, this study proposed a concept to understand the meaning and role of general education at FU in the context of ongoing social changes in China. This thesis argues that, at FU, general education can be interpreted as a curricular instrument for nation-building that helps China promote its sociopolitical/cultural and economic tasks by facilitating (a) the inheritance of selected Chinese and non-Chinese cultural values, and (b) the equipment of students with a broader range of knowledge and capacities to cope with China’s changing economy. This study identified that, to facilitate China’s nation building ambitions, general education transmitted to students (a) Chinese and non-Chinese (particularly Western) cultural values, and (b) both traditional cultural values and contemporary cultural values prescribed by different national leaders (and/or scholars) in different historical periods. Further, this study identified two tensions in general education for nation-building: (a) the tension between traditional and contemporary Chinese cultures, and (b) the tension between selected Chinese and non-Chinese cultures. This study shows the ebb and flow of traditional Chinese cultural values in the sociopolitical/cultural task of general education, and how it has been shaped by China’s nation building since the early 20th century under the economic and military challenges of foreign nations. The concept of general education proposed by this study helps to explain the persistence of the economic and the sociopolitical/cultural task of general education at FU during the periods of social changes of China from 1905 to 2012. The study also identified that the economic task of general education mandated the import of elements of Western culture and values and therefore created tension with the Chinese cultural values transmitted in general education’s sociopolitical/cultural task. The concept of general education proposed by this study has implications for existed theories and conceptions of general education (mainly Western in context) which do not show (a) the coexistence of and the tensions between traditional and contemporary national cultures in the tasks of general education, and (b) the coexistence of and tensions between the economic and sociopolitical/cultural tasks of general education. Further research is suggested into the complex relationships among and tensions between different cultures as general education facilitates nation-building. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this research is to understand the journey of developing “global citizenship” among undergraduates at The University of Hong Kong (the “University”) as influenced by internationalization and globalization. The reality of the global village where modern communications and travel networks have overcome geography to enable people with different cultures, values, and ways of life to share resources and virtual spaces needs to be recognized and addressed. Globalization is a double-edged sword, creating new possibilities as it transforms the fabrics of societies even as it destabilizes common social understandings and practices in ways that impede the advancement and betterment of humanity. Struggling with these possibilities and uncertainties, universities face the challenge of developing “global citizens” capable of bringing positive change and increasing social capital across different levels of society in addition to their traditional academic role. Students are now routinely steered towards “global” experiences such as study abroad, travel, service learning, and participation in the global community locally and internationally. These experiences can facilitate the development of global citizenship helping students become culturally sensitive, interculturally competent, and socially conscious; thus understanding the needs of humanity from different value orientations and perspectives. The University has interpreted and embodied the meaning of “global citizenship” as qualities and abilities that serve and improve humanity, and has attempted to develop students who are interculturally competent in the knowledge, skills and behaviour that contribute positively to societal needs. These interpretations are embedded in policy strategies and implementations, curriculum design and pedagogy, and are supported by activities that contribute to learning and making sense of “global citizenship” among students. Narrative inquiry solicits students’ experiences in “global” endeavours and elucidates the way they understand, embody and perform “global citizenship” as a process of becoming “global citizens.” The stories and their subtexts reveal current culture(s) and “identit(ies)” that are complex systems of social, political and personal nature. Four typologies of students emerged from these findings and analyses – the Achievers, Learners, Explorers, and Builders, which reveal the dispositions and characteristics of students’ attitudes, perspectives, affinities and behaviours in relation to “global citizenship.” As globalization challenges our understanding of our identities that are essentially concerned with who we are as individuals and as social beings, this research challenges the traditional understandings of “citizenship” and suggests that its cultural interpretations and enactments are performed individually and co-created socially. This thesis demonstrates the critical importance of mentorship and purposeful design of experience to most effectively enrich the sel(ves) and to facilitate the likelihood of students becoming integrated beings exemplifying global citizenship, amidst the complexities and controversies surrounding globalization. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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