The thesis provides a socio-historical perspective through which to evaluate the first five years of implementation (2002 to 2006) of social studies within the National Certificate of Educational Achievement [NCEA] in New Zealand secondary schools. The experiences of both lead educators, with responsibilities at a national level, and classroom teachers provide insights into the personal, contextual and institutional factors which have enabled and constrained the implementation process, especially at NCEA level one. The inclusion of social studies as a subject for the new qualifications and assessment system in New Zealand, the NCEA, heralded a significant opportunity for this integrated subject to gain academic status and acquire a unique identity within the senior secondary school curriculum. Paradoxically it set a relatively strongly framed assessment system beside a curriculum that has traditionally been weakly classified and framed (Bernstein, 1971). This paradox has created tensions for teachers who have responded in different ways, from full implementation to a more functional approach. Two groups of teachers were identified in the course of this study. The idealists are passionate advocates for senior social studies and are likely to implement it to all three NCEA levels in their school. The pragmatists, on the other hand, are more likely to offer only level one social studies, typically to their more academically able year 10 (Form 4) students for extension purposes, and also to induct them into the assessment requirements of the NCEA system before they study the traditional social science subjects at levels one, two and three. This pragmatic approach reflects past practices of the pre- NCEA, School Certificate era (1945-2001). It continues to reinforce the low status and unclear identity of senior social studies within the social sciences as well as within an already overcrowded senior school curriculum. At the end of this first five year period of implementation the viability of senior social studies is at a critical juncture, with its on-going success not yet assured.

I den här kvalitativa intervjustudien har vi haft som utgångspunkt att studera pedagogers syfte med förskolans gård, samt att studera vilka yttre och inre faktorer som påverkar pedagogernas möjligheter att skapa den miljö de önskar. Med de yttre och inre villkoren menar vi förutsättningar som finns för pedagoger, så som ekonomi, tid och engagemang. En del förutsättningar är svårare att styra över än andra. Hur kommer det sig?I bakgrunden behandlar vi ämnet utomhuspedagogik ur olika aspekter för att få kunskap om ämnet och varför det har blivit ett växande intresse inom förskolan. För att nå ytterligare kunskap om ämnet har vi valt att intervjua nio förskolepedagoger på tre olika förskolor i södra Sverige. Dessa förskolor består av både kommunal och privat ledning.Resultatet i vår studie visar att samtliga pedagoger är eniga om att förskolans gård är av vikt för barns lärande och att den därför behöver vara rikt utrustad, fördelaktigt med många, små och innehållsrika rum, som stimulerar barns alla sinnen. Det framkommer att pedagogerna anser att deras roll är lika betydelsefull utomhus som inomhus och de benämner sig själva som medforskande pedagoger, alltså att de tillsammans med barnen utforskar omvärlden. Pedagogernas tankar gällande villkoren för att skapa en önskvärd gård skiljer sig åt på de kommunala och privata förskolorna. Varför? / In this qualitative interview study, we have had as a starting point to study teachers' purpose with the preschool yard, as well as study the possible external and internal factors that affect preschool teachers' ability to create the environment they desire. With the external and internal conditions we mean the conditions that exist for preschool teachers, such as finance, time and commitment. Some conditions are more difficult to govern than others. How is that?In the background, we treat the topic outdoor education from different aspects in order to gain knowledge about the subject, and why there has been an increasing interest in preschool. To achieve further knowledge on the topic, we have chosen to interview nine preschool teachers in three different preschool in southern Sweden. These preschools are controlled by both municipal and private managements.The results of our study show that all teachers agree that the preschool yard is important for childrens’ learning and therefore need to be richly equipped, beneficial with many, small and rich rooms, which stimulate children senses. It appears that the teachers’ thinking their role is just as important outdoors as indoors, and they call themselves exploring educators. This because of that they together with the children they explore the outside world. The teachers' thinking about the conditions to create a desirable yard differs between the municipal and private preschools. How come?

The problem of this study was to determine the relationship between experience in open-space and/or traditionally constructed elementary schools and teachers' attitudes toward open education. Statistical analysis of the data used to test the hypotheses resulted in the following findings. 1. Teachers who were currently teaching in traditionally constructed schools had significantly more positive attitudes toward open education than did teachers currently teaching in open-space schools. 2. Teachers who had taught only in traditionally constructed schools had significantly more positive attitudes toward open education than did teachers who had taught only in open-space schools. 3. Teachers who had taught in both open-space and traditionally-constructed schools had significantly more positive attitudes toward open education than did teachers who had taught only in open-space schools. 4. Teachers who had taught only in traditionally constructed schools had significantly more positive attitudes toward open education than did teachers who had taught in both open-space and traditionally-constructed schools. 5. Teachers who had taught ten years or more had significantly more positive attitudes toward open education than did teachers who had taught less than ten years.

The problem is concerned with social attitudes of graduate students toward graduate faculty and graduate faculty toward graduate students in the programs of a large college of education. The purposes are (a) to establish that the attitudes of acceptance of others, trust in people, philosophy of human nature, human values, and moral ethics exist among graduate students and among graduate faculty in a large college of education; (2) to determine the relative degree to which these social attitudes exist (a) among graduate students, (b) among graduate faculty, and (c) between graduate students and graduate faculty.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the effectiveness of computer literacy training workshop efforts in modifying teacher attitudes toward computers. The experimental design includes four computer literacy work shops that were conducted at a major university in Texas. This study has a twofold purpose. The first is to determine if an increase in computer literacy among teachers is associated with changes in their attitudes toward computers. The second is to determine the kinds of computer literacy experiences among teachers that are associated with the greatest degree of attitudinal change.

D.Ed. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The primary purposes of this study were to assess the understanding and attitudes of teachers, to determine the interaction effects of certain variables, and to determine if there is a correlation between understanding of economic concepts and attitude toward economic education. The problem of the study was an assessment of the attitudes toward and understanding of economic concepts held by secondary school teachers in Arkansas who taught economics or economics-related subjects.

Information literacy is widely acknowledged as important for student success in higher education. Information literacy is the ability to sort through a large amount of available information, decide what is useful and believable, and apply it in an effective and ethical way. Faculty members have expectations regarding information literacy for students in the first year of college, while students have information literacy practices that may or may not match those expectations. In my study, I examined the alignment of faculty member information literacy expectations and student information literacy practices, focusing on freshman students and faculty members who teach freshman students in a required general education course at a public university in the northwestern United States. Using an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design, I began my study with qualitative interviews of students and faculty members, used data from the interviews to develop a survey instrument, conducted a pilot study with the survey instrument, and used the survey instrument to administer an online quantitative survey to 106 students and 10 faculty members. The survey consisted of 42 items pertaining to student practices and faculty expectations as identified by student and faculty member interview participants. Survey data showed the percentage of faculty members expecting a practice was generally higher than the percentage of students carrying out that practice. Overall, the study findings revealed a gap between faculty expectations and student practices.

This study explores the relationship between student satisfaction and faculty responsiveness to student concerns. "Action Research" was employed. Data analysis focused on group comparisons.

The purpose of the study was to explore faculty attitudes towards institutional repositories in order to better understand their research habits and preferences. A better understanding of faculty needs and attitudes will enable academic libraries to improve institutional repository services and policies. A phenomenological approach was used to interview fourteen participants and conduct eight observations to determine how tenure-track faculty want to disseminate their research as well as their attitudes towards sharing research data. Interviews were transcribed and coded into emerging themes. Participants reported that they want their research to be read, used, and to have an impact. While almost all faculty see institutional repositories as something that would be useful for increasing the impact and accessibility of their research, they would consider publishers’ rights before depositing work in a repository. Researchers with quantitative data, and researchers in the humanities are more likely to share data than with qualitative or mixed data, which is more open to interpretation and inference. Senior faculty members are more likely than junior faculty members to be concerned about the context of their research data. Junior faculty members’ perception’ of requirements for tenure will inhibit their inclination to publish in open access journals, or share data. The study used a novel approach to provide an understanding of faculty attitudes and the structural functionalism of scholarly communication.