Published also as Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University.

M. Ed. (Educational Psychology) / It is often found that children entering the secondary school phase have not mastered sufficient study habits. This may be one of the reasons why pupils, who appear to have the ability to do well, do not live up to these expectations. It, therefore, seems essential for these children to be orientated as soon as possible, even at a standard five level, towards acquiring study habits. This will lead to their having established study habits which in turn, should help them to face the near demands experienced at secondary school. This study has been undertaken to investigate the study habits of standard five pupils with the aid of a self deviced questionnaire in respect of study habits...

The problem under consideration is to determine the effect of certain environmental conditions upon the process of studying. This study attempts to answer the question, How much effect, positive or negative, will various environmental conditions have upon study?

Includes bibliography. / The aim of this thesis research was to replicate the important work conducted by Noel Entwistle and Paul Ramsden, published in 1983, which sought to establish the relationship between perceived contextual factors and students' approaches to studying. The two instruments that they developed for this purpose, the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) and the Course Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ), were administered to 1194 English-speaking and 590 Afrikaans-speaking students in 12 disciplinary areas at the Cape Technikon. Alpha factor analysis of the 24 summated sub-scales of the two inventories was conducted separately for the two samples. When these were compared with the factor structure obtained in the Lancaster research programme certain differences were evident. Although the two main study orientation, meaning orientation and reproducing orientation, were present in slightly modified forms, there were no empirical associations between these two orientations and the contextual factors as measured by the sub-scales of the CPQ. In order to explore the differences between the factor structures of the Lancaster programme and the two Technikon samples, the conceptual assumptions regarding the first order factor structure of the two instruments were relaxed. Firstly the 103 items of both instruments together were subjected to alpha factor analysis and subsequently the 63 variables of the ASI and the 40 variables of the CPQ were subjected to separate alpha factor analysis. These analyses confirmed the integrity of the majority of the sub-scales of the ASI while calling into question the composition and indeed the conceptual validity of the sub- scale surface approach. The factor analysis of the CPQ variables confirmed the sub-scale groupings, but the analysis of the 103 variables failed to demonstrate any empirical association between the two instruments. The replicative study concludes that the CPQ is of no value in terms of explaining students' approaches to studying. The ASI, however, appears to be a useful instrument which produces conceptually meaningful results for different population samples with respect to the two main study orientations. Areas which warrant investigation for the refinement of the ASI were identified and alternative methodologies to explore perceived contextual factors in conjunction with the ASI are suggested.

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No description available.

Researchers have suggested that knowledge of how to take a test decreases the validity of achievement test scores as measures of content knowledge. Further, teaching students test taking skills generally improves student achievement test scores. However, little research exists regarding the efficacy of commercially prepared materials for formal test-wiseness instruction. Fourth and fifth grade students in 15 elementary schools participated in this study. Students in the Volunteer Selected group received instruction in test taking skills using the Riverside Improving Test Taking Skills materials. Students in the Volunteer Not-Selected group received whatever test taking skill instruction their teachers provided as a result of wanting, but not being selected, to participate in the study. Students in the Control group received what was considered "normal" instruction in test taking skills. A gain score ANOVA of NCE scores from standardized testing was used to determine statistical significance on the Composite Battery and the Reading and Mathematics subtests. When reliable differences were indicated effect sizes were calculated. Formal instruction in test taking skills resulted in significant effects for fourth grade students on the Composite battery and the Mathematics subtest. However, average gains for students in the Volunteer Not-Selected group were as great as for students who received instruction using the Riverside materials. Significant effects for the Reading subtest were indicated only for achievement level. Positive effects were indicated for fifth grade students in the Volunteer Not-Selected group on the Composite and Mathematics subtest. At the fourth grade differential effects were indicated for achievement level, sex, and SES, but not for ethnicity. At the fifth grade achievement level, sex, SES, and ethnicity resulted in differential effects for students in all three groups. In summary, test taking skill instruction appeared beneficial to fourth grade students regardless of whether the instruction was delivered using the Riverside materials or using teacher made or teacher collected materials. At the fifth grade data the results were less clear cut. Further research must be conducted before policies can be established and educators can use with confidence, or not use at all, commercially prepared test taking skill instructional materials.

Literacy is a 21st Century fundamental human right and children who struggle to break the code to literacy continue to be challenged in learning and to experience a poorer quality of life. In spite of a whole body of literature concluding that structured multisensory literacy instruction (SMSLI), which embraces basic linguistic knowledge, is effective in improving reading skills, early educators are either unaware or misinformed about explicit language knowledge they need to know in order to address early literacy in the classroom. When compared to studies on reading, little research on teachers’ knowledge and early literacy instruction has been done. Such research has never been addressed on a national scale. The author decided to undertake this research path following years of immersion in education in Malta and perceived lacunae in early educators’ knowledge. The purpose of this research is to explore early educators’ awareness and knowledge of SMSLI. A mixed methodology approach was employed in order to explore this issue on a national level (questionnaires), as well as investigate professionals’ experiences of the effect of SMSLI training on their professional development (focus groups). Descriptive statistics indicate an incomplete and incorrect body of knowledge. Results highlight marked deficits in basic language constructs knowledge and awareness of SMSLI, and indicate that exposure to training increases the required language constructs to address SMSLI. In theory, the conclusion from this research is that awareness of SMSLI leads to students’ increased reading success. Professionals indicating knowledge in SMSLI evidenced more confidence in knowledge and abilities to teach early reading skills than they actually have. Relevant recommendations for formal training, continued professional development and further research with professionals, parents and pupils’ literacy scores are suggested.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, South Africa. 14 October 2014. / Research investigations indicate that note-taking and note-making are related to academic performance. This study investigated four factors, in a first-year biology course at a South African University, that influence student note-making practices, and determined whether the quality of notes is related to their approach to learning and their academic performance. The factors that were assessed included: the impact of social and cultural capital of first and second generation students on their expectations of the University academic environment; the students’ experience with their construction of notes at school; the level of detail on slides provided by lecturers, the access that students had to slides on the intranet, and the influence of English as a first or second language. The study commenced at the beginning of semester two 2009 and ended after semester one 2011. Student questionnaires, interviews of students and lecturers, assessment of notes made, and test and examination results were interrogated and sample lectures were video-recorded. The study identified that the students’ high school experience in constructing notes provided the platform for these practices when they entered University. Second-generation students had a more accurate expectation of their ownership for their notes and learning in first year, and of the grades that they received compared to the expectations held by first generation students. Additionally data analysis lead to the inference that self-regulated students, who personalised their notes, performed better than the underprepared students, who learnt solely from the lecturers’ slides; but this statement is not a blanket generalisation. Two lecturers from each semester were interviewed before they commenced lecturing, and one each of their lectures was video-recorded for analysis with student notes. Findings indicated that the amount of detail that lecturers provided on presentation slides stemmed from their conception of the students’ role in learning. When skeletal lecture slides (i.e. slides containing only keywords or key points) were presented then students perceived that they needed to take ownership in constructing their notes, whereas when slides appeared to be detailed they saw them as a ‘complete’ set of notes, and reported being less attentive in class. In both cases students hardly noted any information other than that presented on the slides. Students had access to slides on the intranet in the first semester of each year, but not in the second semester. Although students reported that they were more attentive in class when they did not have access to slides on the intranet, there was only a slight difference in the students’ grades between semesters. In the first study cohort (i.e. 2009), first-language students performed better than second-language students, but performance evened out when an intervention, which used writing as a means to promote critical thinking, was provided in 2010 and 2011. The findings presented in this study would be useful to lecturers who wish to understand how students’ use and reconstruct their class notes during the process of learning. The findings could also be of benefit to student support programmes that seek a practical tool (the writing intervention) to deepen the students’ approach to their learning.