The purpose of the study was to develop an effective plan for teacher education in Thailand. Rationale for the study was based upon apparent existing weaknesses in the current program for teacher education in Thailand, with the assumption that a stronger teacher preparation program would produce a stronger educational system as a whole. Emphasis in development of the teacher preparation plan was directed toward making the plan attractive enough to insure consideration by Thai educational authorities.A review of related literature was conducted with emphasis on six- major areas believed to be significant to the construction of an effective teacher preparation program. The six major areas were:1. curricular content in teacher education;2. micro-teaching and laboratory experience in student teacher preparation;change;3. student teaching and student teacher attitude change4. supervision and supervisory roles in student teaching;5. evaluation procedures for student teacher performance; and6. in-service programs in teacher education.Each of the six major areas pertaining to the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs was examined for key concepts to provide direction for adequate change and growth in the area of teacher education in Thailand.Three major components in teacher education emerged from the six major areas examined in the related literature: general education, specialized education and professional education. Utilizing the review of the related literature coupled with observation of practices and experiences of the researcher while studying in the United States, a proposed plan for teacher preparation programs in Thailand was developed with an initial set of recommendations.In the proposed plan, the three major components in teacher education were programmed throughout all four years of undergraduate work with opportunity for further study during the fifth year. Throughout the total five year program, the time distribution of the three major components was proportionately proposed as twenty-eight percent for general education, fifty percent for specialized education, and twenty-two percent for professional education. Specific steps for implementation of the plan were recommended.The proposed plan for teacher preparation programs was designed to provide guidelines for teacher education institutions in Thailand. The proposed plan, if adopted for implementation in Thailand, is expected to lead to a more effective program for teacher preparation.

The purpose of this study was to identify competencies which are perceived as important by Thai adapted physical educators, to determine the differences that exist in the way physical education professors and adapted physical educators judge the level of each competency, and to recommend a set of competencies for adapted physical educators in Thailand. The questionnaire, Competencies for an Adapted Physical Educator in Thailand containing 59 competencies based on 6- point Likert type scales, was used in this study. The fifty-nine competencies were translated from the Competencies for an Adapted Physical Education Specialist, modified by Dempsey (1986) from the 1981 AAHPERD Guidelines for Adapted Physical Education. The meaning equivalence of the competencies was validated by using the Delphi method along with the back translation technique. The computed reliability coefficients of the questionnaire, using the Hoyt-Stunkard's technique was .9577. The study's population consisted of 31 College and university professors who have taught adapted physical education courses to college/university students and 40 adapted physical educators who have conducted physical activities for people with disabilities in schools and institutions for the disabled in Thailand. Data collection was completed in an eight-week period. Means, standard deviations, a t-test and the Bonferroni Method of Multiple Comparisons were used to treat these data. The results showed that 1) the competencies were perceived as extremely important by professors and adapted physical educators in Thailand, 2) the perceptions of professors and physical educators on the competency statements individually and overall were similar since the null hypotheses were not rejected, and 3) the relationship of both groups on the importance of each competency and competency category was high with a Spearman rank correlation of .7842, and .8857 respectively. Based upon the findings of this study, it was recommended that this set of competencies should be used as guidelines for the preparation of adapted physical educators in Thailand. / Graduation date: 1992

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable, instrument for determining the mathematics subject matter knowledge of Thai preservice elementary teachers at eight (8) teachers' colleges in eight (8) provinces in northern Thailand. The focus of the content of interest was the operation of division of rational numbers in the context of an appropriate taxonomy of the cognitive domain categories suggested by Wilson (1971). The Delphi technique, item analysis, and "known group" techniques were utilized in the instrument development phases of the study. Hypotheses were tested to determine whether significant differences existed between colleges and between teachers with different backgrounds. The dependent variable was the mean test score for preservice teachers at eight Thai teachers' colleges. The study included the testing of significance for colleges, background, and whether there was significant interaction between colleges and teachers' backgrounds (liberal arts and science). The pilot instrument consisted of 52 items representing four cognitive levels (computation, comprehension, application, and analysis). Based on an analysis of pilot test data, 10 items were eliminated. The final draft instrument consisted of 42 items and was administered to 272 preservice elementary teachers. When field test data were analyzed and compared to "known group" data, 10 items were found to be outside of the acceptability range for difficulty. Item difficulty was used for selecting items for inclusion in the final instrument to measure the operation of division of rational numbers with Thai college preservice elementary teachers. This step in the research served to reduce the number of test items to 32, which constituted the content for the final instrument. The internal consistency reliability was .81 for the 42-item instrument. Content and construct validity were verified by various procedures. / Graduation date: 1994

This study examined the practice of student teaching and the effects of student teaching upon the development of three secondary Thai language student teachers from Chiangmai Teachers' College in Chiangmai, Thailand from July to September, 1992. The research questions were: What are the methods of teaching which are used during student teaching experience, and what developments or changes occur as a result of student teaching from the point of view of the student teachers? The research methodology was qualitative, utilizing the methodologies of open-ended interviewing of student teachers as the primary mode. Other sources such as observations of student teacher teaching and student teacher journals were used to add depth to the study and to triangulate the findings. Interviews were conducted in two phases. Observations were conducted as the student teachers taught five class sessions. The data were processed using the constant comparative method. A preliminary study of three secondary teachers was conducted to test the interview guides and add direction to the study. The analysis of data resulted in the generation of the following working hypotheses: 1. Formal college training plays a more influential role in student teachers' methods of teaching than the student teachers realize. 2. Student teaching experience affects student teachers' attitude toward teaching. 3. Student teaching experience has a powerful impact on the development of student teachers as teachers and as individuals. / Graduation date: 1994

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of the rural teachers preparation program in specific curriculum components, field experience and training, and preparation. A secondary purpose is to determine the need for these components and a limited evaluation of other delivery systems for rural teaching in eight nonmetropolitan teachers colleges in Northeast Thailand. The questionnaire of the Rural Education Association (REA) developed by Barbara Jean Jones was employed to collect data from a random sampling of 352 teachers college instructors and administrators and randomly selected 352 elementary school teachers and administrators. Analysis of data from 508 respondents, were analyzed by using the descriptive statistic and t-test, revealed that: (a) the REA model components were available and are essential for teachers preparation program at Thai teachers colleges in the Northeast, (b) public relations and educational technology including computer literacy components should be developed to meet the public need, (c) teachers college faculty members should receive special training for preparing students to teach in a rural environment, (d) teachers colleges should provide a teacher training site in the provinces, (e) teaching in a rural and an urban environment are significantly different, and (f) there is a need for a special preservice training for teaching in a rural environment.

The purpose of this study was to determine the current status of the educational media programs in six teachers' colleges in Bangkok by analyzing the educational media programs as they are perceived by teachers, educational media teachers, and administrators with regard to utilization, administration, and personnel. The survey instrument was distributed to the 120 teachers, thirty-seven educational media teachers, and sixty administrators in the six major teachers* colleges in Bangkok. The total number of responses was 185, or 85.25 per cent of the population of teachers, educational media teachers, and administrators. The data were tabulated, and categories of availability and usage of educational media were established. The t test was applied to the data obtained from teachers and administrators to determine if significant differences existed at the 0.05 level with regard to the ranking of qualifications needed by educational media teachers. The findings from this study indicate that the teachers, educational media teachers, and administrators surveyed are basically in agreement regarding the utilization of educational media. Teachers and administrators agree on the qualifications of educational media teachers who serve in the teachers" colleges and in the majority of teachers' colleges the educational media center is a separate entity. Recommendations with regard to the training of educational media teachers and classroom teachers and suggestions for further study of the us. of educational media in other types of institutions of higher learning in Thailand are made.

This study investigated the current status of Thai teacher institutions in regard to environmental problems and proposed an environmental curriculum system for teacher training in Thailand. An interview questionnaire was designed to gather descriptive data about selected Thai teacher institutions, teaching strategies utilized in environmental-related courses, and the employment of ten selected environmental-related problems in three aspects: (1) courses offered at Thai teacher institutions, (2) environmental research conducted by faculty members of Thai teacher institutions, and (3) environmental services provided to the public by faculty members of Thai teacher institutions. Of the seventeen Thai traditional teacher institutions considered, representatives from fifteen (88 percent) were interviewed.