published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The aim of this investigation is to determine the influence of pupils' perception on their academic achievement. The literature review indicated that sensation and perception are separate but unitary processes. It was also discovered that academic achievement is influenced by the perception of several factors pertaining both to the pupil himself as well as those responsible for his academic growth. There was conclusive evidence from both the literature and empirical investigation that perception influences academic achievement. Results from the empirical study confirm that pupils with negative perceptions achieve poor academic results and those with positive perceptions achieve good academic results. It has also been found that there is no difference in the overall perceptions of pupils in standards 6,7,8,9 and 10. There was a significant difference in the perceptions of boys and girls, with girls having more positive perceptions than boys. An attempt to change the negative perceptions of pupils to positive perceptions will inevitably result in an improvement in academic achievement. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether any differences in academic achievement existed between full-day and half-day kindergarten students at the end of their kindergarten and first-grade school years. Two public schools considered comparable in size, philosophy, and socioeconomic levels of a large school district in Texas participated in the study. One of the schools provided a full-day kindergarten program; the other school provided a half-day kindergarten program. Kindergarten students from each of the two schools were match-paired according to birthday and sex. The total sample size was fifty students. All students were tested in December, 1985, with the Metropolitan Achievement Test. Preprimer Level, and in May, 1986, the end of the kindergarten year, with the Primer Level of the Metropolitan Achievement Test. The Metropolitan Achievement Test. Primary I Level, was additionally administered to the subjects in April, 1987, at the end of their first-grade school year. During each testing period, the subjects were administered the Reading, Language, and Math subtests of the Metropolitan Achievement Test. The following supplemental data also were gathered on the students: The Metropolitan Readiness Test II scores and the TEAMS test scores. The data obtained from the testing batteries were statistically analyzed using the .05 level of significance to test each hypothesis. In analyzing the data of all of the academic achievement testing batteries, statistical conclusions revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean scores of children (boys or girls) attending the fullday kindergarten program and children attending the half-day kindergarten program in academic achievement at the end of the kindergarten year or at the end of the first-grade year. It is recommended that continued studies be conducted to investigate the academic achievement of students attending full-day and half-day kindergarten programs. It is also recommended that other variables rather than academic achievement be studied to determine their effects on full-day and half-day kindergarten students.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1956 P36 / Master of Science

Over the years, extensive research has been conducted in the field of underachievement. Many solutions to the problem have been put forward, none of these proposals universally addressing the problem. The present research's aim was to address the problem of underachievement ecosystemically. For this pu~ose, through the process of a series of interviews, information was gathered about the underachieving behaviour of a particula~pc"a'nd his interaction with his teachers and his parents in connection with his behaviour. It was found that the underachieving behaviour could be described as part of a larger interactive pattern, characterised by compliant/noncompliant behaviour on the part of the pupil, and involved/non-involved behaviour on the part of the teachers and parents. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of South Africa, 2002.

Thesis (doctorate)--University of South Africa, 2001.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether student achievement and absences are influenced by the home and social factors such as parental education, family make-up, ethnicity, home ownership, retention, free lunch, sex, and grade. The following hypotheses were tested: 1. There was no statistically significant relationship at .05 level between student achievement and each of: grouping, grade, sex, mother's education, father's education, family make-up, ethnicity, free lunch, rehousing, home ownership. 2. There was no statistically significant relationship at the .05 level between student absenteeism and each of: achievement grouping, grade, sex, mother's education, father's education, family make-up, ethnicity, free lunch, rehousing, home ownership. The population consisted of four classes (2, 4th and 2 5th grades) and 40 students randomly drawn from these classes. Twenty males and twenty females were represented, ten whites and thirty minorities out of a population of 75% minorities and 25% white. The instrument used was a schedule constructed to obtain information from school files on each variable as defined. The main results were observed in the correlation matrix where: Achievement was significantly related to grouping, mother's education, father's education, family make-up, free lunch, rehoused, retention, home ownership, hence the null hypotheses for these variables were rejected. Sex and ethnicity were not significantly related to achievement and hence the hull hypotheses for these variables were accepted. Absenteeism were significantly related to achievement, grouping, sex, mother's education, father's education, family make-up, ethnicity, free lunch, rehousing/retention, and home ownership. The null hypotheses were therefore, rejected for these variables. However, the null hypotheses were accepted for absenteeism and grade level, and ethnicity. In a factor analysis of the data achievement and absenteeism were placed in Factor 1 with father's education and mother's education, grouping, free lunch, family make-up, home ownership, and rehousing indicating that all these variables belong to the same family. Hence a change in one result is a change in the others.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

The purpose of the present research was to determine the association of intellectual styles, personality traits, and learning environment with academic achievement and career satisfaction among Chinese adult learners. The two main objectives of the research were 1) to determine the predictive relationships of intellectual styles, personality traits, and learning environment to academic achievement and career satisfaction, and 2) to investigate the mediating effects of intellectual styles in the predictive relationships of learning environment and personality traits to academic achievement and career satisfaction. To achieve the above objectives, two studies were carried out. A pilot study was conducted to test the instruments and explore various relationships. The study was conducted among 304 part-time adult learners taking evening continuing education courses in a Hong Kong institution. Acceptable reliability and validity data were obtained for most of the instruments. Most of the demographic variables were found to be significantly related to intellectual styles and career satisfaction. Personality traits were stronger in predicting career satisfaction than were intellectual styles. It was also found that personality traits had statistically significant predictive power with respect to different types of intellectual styles. The main study was a longitudinal experimental study in which a revised questionnaire, based on the results of the pilot study, was administered to a sample of 459 part-time adult learners in both control and experimental groups in the first (pre-test) and the last (post-test) lessons. A student-centered teaching style, which has been shown to facilitate creativity-generating learning styles, was adopted in the experimental group as an intervention. Data analyses focused on comparing the differences and associations between the afore-mentioned variables in the pre-test and the post-test, the differences between the control group and the experimental group, and the mediating function of styles in the predictive relationships of personality traits and perceived teaching styles to career satisfaction and academic achievement. Follow-up interviews with 15 students who showed greatest changes in intellectual styles provided qualitative data. Results of the present research generally supported the research hypotheses. First, intellectual styles (thinking styles and career personality types) were malleable and were shaped by both personality traits and environmental factors to various degrees. Second, all three types of intellectual styles (particularly Type I styles) were positively associated with higher Type I academic achievement scores and greater career satisfaction. Third, the two style constructs, thinking styles and career personality types, overlapped to some extent, although each possessed its own unique features. Fourth, both thinking styles and career personality types mediated the relationships between personality traits and career satisfaction, and between perceived teaching styles and career satisfaction. In other words, personality traits and perceived teaching styles influenced learners’ career satisfaction, mainly through the influence of learners’ Type I and Type III styles. This is the first research to measure perceived teaching styles and to investigate the intellectual styles of Chinese adult learners. Equally importantly, the present research contributes theoretically to the literature in three ways: 1) by further clarifying controversial issues concerning intellectual styles; 2) by providing empirical support for Biggs’ (1990) 3P model; and 3) by modifying and validating the inventories for further use in relevant research. In addition to enriching the literature and research on styles, the present research has practical implications for educational and vocational purposes. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education