The purpose of this study was to analyze outstanding agricultural education teachers' attitudes toward mathematics integration. The researcher also determined the outstanding agricultural teachers' level of mathematics integration into each course currently taught. An investigation into the collaboration efforts being made between the agricultural education and mathematics department was also included. The researcher identified the outstanding teachers' perceived needs related to mathematics integration and provided baseline data as the agricultural education instructors in Virginia increase their integration of mathematics. The researcher utilized an electronic questionnaire completed by 25 outstanding agricultural education teachers and follow-up interviews of the 5 teachers who reported integrating mathematics at the highest level. The agricultural teachers reported having favorable attitudes towards the integration of mathematics into the agricultural education curriculum. The results of the data analysis indicated that there was a negative relationship between age and percentage of mathematics integration. All of the agricultural education teachers thought that their efforts to integrate mathematics have helped their students increase their mathematics achievement levels, but they have no concrete evidence. There were several recommendations for implementation, which included encouraging agricultural education teachers to continue to integrate mathematics and other academic areas. Textbook manufacturers, state agricultural leaders and state agricultural education curriculum specialists need to continue to develop curriculum and other education materials that emphasize academic integration. Recommendations for research that emerged from the study included investigating the attitudes of agricultural teachers toward the integration of other academic areas and the mathematics teachers' attitudes toward mathematics integrated into the agricultural education curriculum. Another researcher could investigate the students' attitudes toward receiving academic credits for enrolling in agricultural education courses. There were several implications that rose from this study. Future research could investigate whether the teachers would increase their rates of mathematic integration if ample materials that integrate mathematics are developed for their use. The research findings related to the percentage of mathematics integration in each course taught give curriculum specialists insight into the courses in which the agricultural education teachers are struggling to integrate mathematics. This researcher also identified that these adopters of mathematics integration into agricultural education fell within the implementation stage of the stages of adoption. / Ph. D.

Because of the external constraints of a tight job market for many faculty and the security of any job in uncertain financial times, faculty members today who become bored or frustrated with their work are more likely to remain in their jobs despite lack of interest, challenge, or opportunity to grow within that job. Their resulting lack of job interest and involvement can have a detrimental effect on students, other faculty, and the institution as a whole. This research examined the problem of professional stagnation and low job involvement among community college faculty members who have been teaching for ten years or more at the same institution. Using Glaser and Strauss' discovery of grounded theory methods of research, individual interviews were conducted with 34 community college faculty members who had been teaching for ten or more years at the same institution. Findings identified factors within faculty members, community college teaching jobs, and the institution that affected the continuing motivation and involvement of faculty members in their work as community college teachers. A theoretical framework was developed which identified two core dimensions of job involvement attitudes and behaviors for community college faculty, the variables and relationships among these which facilitate or impede continuing faculty job involvement over time, and four types of faculty job involvement response patterns. In addition, the theory of faculty adaptation to work role routinization generated by this research focused on a core characteristic of the work of community college teachers -- routinization -- a process that occurs as faculty members remain in their jobs for an extended time and which is central to the type of job attitude and behaviors adopted by faculty in relation to the various areas of their work. / Ed. D.

School boards are interested in school effectiveness and see a correlation between the quality of classroom teachers and school effectiveness. Superintendents, eager to please the school board, seek to show increased school effectiveness year after year. This necessitates dealing with areas which impact on student achievement with perhaps the most critical area being that of teacher effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to identify those factors which assisted marginal high school teachers in improving their classroom performance. Knowing to what or whom these teachers who showed improvement attributed this improvement may assist in modifying existing practices to increase the likelihood that such improvement will occur for a greater number of teachers. A survey was used to initially identify the teachers. A follow-up interview was conducted with fourteen teachers with the analysis of the transcribed interviews focusing on the following questions: 1. Did intervention/assistance efforts influence improvement? In what context were the intervention/ assistance efforts made? Who were the primary actors in the intervention/assistance efforts? What activities were influential in the intervention/assistance efforts? 2. Did external personal factors influence improvement? 3. Are there overarching characteristics, beliefs, and/or motives in the group of teachers who made substantial improvement in teaching performance? 4. What actor(s) provided to the teachers: (a) an awareness of the need for change and (b) support for change? 5. What were the teachers' perceived gains and losses in this improvement effort? Major findings revealed that teachers actively seek their peers' advice and desire to see one another in practice through peer observations. Sharing of ideas is important to teachers; yet, little opportunity exists within the school day for such sharing. Most staff development activities were seen as a waste of time and teachers resented activities which purported to "teach teachers how to teach." The most valuable activities to teachers were those things which they could take back and use in their classroom. As research has indicated, professional growth and development was primarily motivated by the teacher seeing results in the classroom and the resulting increase in teacher efficacy. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to determine special education teachers' perceptions of goals used to teach secondary mildly handicapped students and to identify hindrances to adopting these goals. A questionnaire was developed and attitudes were assessed by collecting data from secondary special education teachers who taught in the areas of learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, and educable mental retardation. A large suburban school district located in the southeastern united states comprised the survey (census) population. Repeated measure analysis of variance tested for significant differences across teaching exceptionalities toward perceived acceptance and implementation of selected goals. Chi-square analyses tested for any relationships between acceptance and implementation of these goals, as well as teacher relationships toward classification of goals. The findings of this study indicated that teachers of secondary mildly handicapped students exhibited very high acceptance for remedial, maintenance and functional goals for special education. Maintenance goals were perceived to be most important to LD teachers while functional ones were important to EMR instructors. Remedial goals were equally accepted by the LD, ED, and EMR sectors. There was a relatively high rate of implementation for remedial goals for all the teaching groups with no difference in the degree of implementation across the three exceptionalities noted. LD teachers implemented remedial and maintenance goals more than functional ones. ED instructors implemented remedial goals most often, while EMR teachers instructed the most in the functional area. In some instances, especially in the functional area, teachers did not implement specific goals which they perceived to be acceptable. Lack of time was the greatest instructional barrier for LD teachers while parent support hindered ED instructors the most. Diploma. requirements were the most formidable instructional hindrance for the EMR sector. Classroom teachers did not always classify instructional goals in the same manner as experts in the field, and this trend was noted more often in the classification of remedial goals. / Ed. D.

This dissertation consists of three empirical essays focused on understanding how informational and behavioral barriers influence human capital investments in developing countries. In particular, I study two key actors in education production – teachers and parents, and how their beliefs shape investments in child human capital with implications for student learning and inequality. Chapter 1 uses a field experiment with teachers in India to investigate the role and malleability of teachers’ beliefs. In many developing countries, teachers often perceive only a weak mapping between their effort and what students learn. I conduct an experimental evaluation of a psychosocial intervention in India that targets teachers’ beliefs about perceived control – self-beliefs about one’s ability to influence outcomes. I study the extent to which this intervention affects teachers’ beliefs, their effort in class, and their students’ academic performance. I devise a novel experimental task to elicit beliefs through revealed preference, about the relationship between their teaching effort and the performance of students in their classroom. I find that the intervention induced a 14% increase in teachers’ beliefs about their ability to increase learning, as measured by the revealed preference task. Treated teachers exert greater effort at the intensive margin, scoring higher on an index of classroom effort. They also spend more time grading student work and provide more detailed feedback to students. Finally, students taught by teachers in the treatment group learn more, scoring 0.09 SD higher in the end-of-year exams. These findings suggest that teacher beliefs can serve as a powerful lever for changing teaching practice and raising learning levels in developing countries. Chapter 2 studies the relationship between parental perceptions about children’s performance and parental investment in children’s human capital, and how this relationship evolves over the course of schooling. Using rich longitudinal data on investments, test scores, and parental assessments, I implement alternative specifications for the parental investment function that allow investment to depend on the entire history of lagged investment and inputs, account for past parental beliefs to circumvent reverse causality, and use household fixed effects to account for fixed characteristics at the household level. I find that compared to children with poor perceived performance, children with better perceived performance are up to 16 percentage points more likely to be enrolled in private as opposed to public schools, and receive up to 40% higher investment in schooling. This relationship intensifies as children progress from primary to secondary school. Results are robust across specifications, with evidence of complementarity between perceived ability and schooling. Within a household, parents’ behavior is reinforcing, with more spent on the child believed to be the better performer. These findings inform our understanding of parental investment response and intra-household allocation of human capital investment decisions. Chapter 3 (co-authored with Daniel Chen, Sultan Mehmood, and Shaheen Naseer) uses a field experiment to evaluate the impact of providing information about teacher value-added to public school teachers in Pakistan. We show that growth mindset training shifts teachers’ beliefs about the malleability of intelligence, and reduces stereotypes against first-generation learners and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In contrast, exposure to narrative or empirical evidence about teacher value-added did not have statistically significant effects. We document patterns of teachers’beliefs in a resource-constrained setting and show that perceived returns to effort are increasing in parental education and past performance of students, indicating that teachers view these as complementary inputs for teaching.

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published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Many teachers lack the confidence and knowledge to transition their classroom science lessons to an outdoor setting. Very few teacher professional development (PD) programs focus on improving teachers' self-efficacy and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) that is needed to enhance their science curriculum with outdoor lessons. This study examined an exception: The Connect2Science workshops, which provided elementary teachers the opportunity to experience nature-based science lessons. My research question for this study is: In what ways does a professional development workshop focused around the Next Generation Science Standards influence teachers': a) self-efficacy in teaching science outdoors and b) science pedagogical content knowledge? Data was collected using a retrospective pre and post survey, a reflection piece on participants’ pedagogical content knowledge and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that participants’ self-efficacy was positively affected by the Connect2Science workshops. As for pedagogical content knowledge, the results give a small insight into how participants viewed and thought about student misconceptions and how the instructional strategies presented in the workshops equipped them to better address science content in an outdoor setting.

Based on these research findings, policy implications for education bureau, school leaders and teachers, and suggestions for further research were addressed. / Textbooks have played an important role in teachers' work. Most of the teachers in mainland China used textbooks adopted by the local district authority, but there has been a huge research gap in empirical study on textbook use in mainland China. This study was guided by three major research questions: How do teachers use textbooks? How do teachers use textbooks in planning and making decisions about classroom teaching? How do different factors influence the use of textbooks? Adopting a qualitative approach of inquiry, this study involved seventeen teachers from three primary schools. Data was generated from participant observation, in-depth interview, and document analysis. / The discussion chapter uses theories of teachers' habitus. Teachers followed a certain set of routines when using textbook, gradually these routines had become a kind of habitus. Habitus became part of school context where primary education was characterized by exam-oriented tradition, trivialization of work, low status of teachers and conservatism. / The research findings suggested that teachers could be grouped into three different categories: dependent-type, adaptive-type and flexible-type. Teachers of different subjects exhibit different levels of dependence on textbooks, with the highest level of dependence among Chinese language teachers who follow closely an instruction routine of recitation. Mathematics teachers came next and then moral education teachers whose flexible teaching style was attributed to the fact that moral education was not an examination subject on a district wide level. Teachers of different age cohorts exhibit different levels of dependence on textbooks. Novice teachers depended on textbooks, while experienced teachers did not fall into a single category of dependence or adaptation. Those Chinese and Mathematics teachers who demonstrated the highest level of flexibility in using textbooks belonged to the intermediate stage between novice teacher and experienced teacher. / Why did teachers use textbooks in this manner? First, examination was a major factor which shaped the pattern of using textbooks. It was a deeply rooted factor because it was internalized as part of teachers' beliefs. Teachers of dependent-type and adaptive-type thought highly of examination, while teachers of flexible-type regarded examination merely as baseline of instruction. The latter had built their teaching styles on what they learned from educational research. School principals played the role of a "gate-keeper" during the process of teacher development and educational research. Another major factor that affected all teachers was the pre-existing condition and emergent behavior of their students. Comparatively speaking, teachers of flexible-type were more responsive to students' needs, and were more concerned about emergent behavior of their students. / 王世偉. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: 1912. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 278-297). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Wang Shiwei.

Wong Chi Wing = 比較不同教學經驗的教師對體育科課程改革之接受程度及關注問題 / 黃智穎. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-94). / Text in English; abstracts and appendices in English and Chinese. / Wong Chi Wing = Bi jiao bu tong jiao xue jing yan de jiao shi dui ti yu ke ke cheng gai ge zhi jie shou cheng du ji guan zhu wen ti / Huang Zhiying. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / List of Figures --- p.viii / List of Tables --- p.ix / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- Introduction --- p.1 / Background of the Study --- p.1 / Purpose of the Study --- p.8 / Objectives of the Study --- p.9 / Definition of Terms --- p.9 / Delimitations --- p.10 / Limitations --- p.10 / Significance of the Study --- p.10 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- Review of Literature --- p.12 / Education Reform and Curriculum Change --- p.12 / The Situation in the World --- p.12 / The Situation in Hong Kong --- p.13 / Professionalization and De-professionalization --- p.16 / "The Concept of Profession, Professional and Professionalization" --- p.16 / The Concept of De-professionalization --- p.17 / Teachers' Attrition --- p.18 / Teachers' Frustration --- p.19 / Professionalization and De-professionalization Tension --- p.20 / The Concept of Professionalization and Deprofessionalization in Teaching --- p.22 / Receptivity to Education Reform --- p.23 / Teacher Professional Development --- p.24 / Occupational Socialization --- p.26 / Experienced VS Beginning Teachers --- p.27 / Beginning Teacher --- p.27 / Experienced Teacher --- p.30 / Comparing Beginning Teacher and Experienced Teacher --- p.31 / Comparing Beginning and Experienced Teacher in Physical Education --- p.33 / Summary --- p.36 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- Method --- p.37 / Participants --- p.37 / Research Design --- p.37 / Instrumentation --- p.38 / Teachers' Receptivity to Change --- p.38 / Interview --- p.39 / Procedures --- p.39 / Questionnaire Administration --- p.39 / Individual Interviews --- p.39 / Statistical Analysis --- p.40 / Questionnaire Data --- p.40 / Interview Data --- p.40 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- Results --- p.41 / Questionnaire Analyses --- p.41 / Demographic characteristic of participants --- p.41 / Mean scores of all participants --- p.42 / Mean scores of beginning and experienced teachers --- p.43 / Interview Analyses --- p.45 / Teachers' receptivity to physical education curriculum change --- p.45 / Teachers' concerns with teaching condition --- p.49 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- Discussion --- p.52 / Teachers' receptivity to change --- p.52 / Beginning and experienced teachers' receptivity to curriculum change --- p.53 / Attitude toward the guidelines --- p.53 / Perceived non-monetary cost-benefit --- p.54 / Perceived practicality of the guidelines --- p.56 / Perceived school support --- p.58 / Issues of concern --- p.60 / Perceived support from others --- p.61 / Behavioral intentions --- p.63 / Teachers' concerns with teaching conditions --- p.63 / Commitment --- p.64 / Cooperation with students --- p.65 / Cooperation with the staff and an ideal staffroom environment --- p.67 / Career support --- p.68 / Routinization and intensification --- p.69 / Tension in work and private life --- p.71 / Competence --- p.72 / Teachers' challenges --- p.73 / Image and effectiveness --- p.75 / Duties and career plan --- p.77 / Power --- p.78 / The status of physical education --- p.78 / Decision making and authority --- p.80 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX --- "Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations" --- p.82 / Summary --- p.82 / Conclusions --- p.82 / Limitations --- p.84 / Recommendations --- p.85 / REFERENCES --- p.87 / APPENDIX A --- p.95 / APPENDIX B --- p.97 / APPENDIX C --- p.99 / APPENDIX D --- p.105 / APPENDIX E --- p.109 / APPENDIX F --- p.111 / APPENDIX G --- p.113 / APPENDIX H --- p.116