This thesis examines the belief systems of Episcopal priests.

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ espoused instructional beliefs and whether they differed in relation to schools’ socioeconomic status, extent of teachers’ educational background, or extent of teachers’ classroom experience. The study comprised a total of 242 Miami-Dade County public school educators who responded to a thirty-nine question Likert scale, Literacy Instructional Practices Questionnaire. Eighteen schools, three from each of the six regions, were purposively selected based on the socioeconomic status of students. Nine participants were interviewed using semi-standardized interview procedures and open-ended questioning techniques. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) results revealed that teachers’ espoused beliefs concerning the instruction of literacy and forces and influences affecting instruction do not significantly differ depending on schools’ socioeconomic status, extent of teachers’ educational background, or extent of teachers’ classroom experience. The majority of teachers appear to follow a top-down generated direct instruction model. Generally, students are taught as a whole class and ability grouped for specific skill instruction utilizing commercially produced reading and language arts texts. There was no evidence of a relationship between teachers’ espoused beliefs concerning the model of instruction that they practice or teachers’ espoused beliefs concerning research and its application to practice and the three independent variables. Interview data corroborated much of the information garnered through the questionnaire. However, interview participants espoused the belief that research did not influence their selection of instructional practices. Although teachers perceive of themselves as eclectic in their espoused instructional beliefs, they appear to follow a skills based direct instruction pedagogy in practice. Much of what teachers believe constitutes effective practice, few researchers recommend, affirming the findings of Calderhead (1993) and the National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board (U.S. Department of Education, 1998, p. 18) that “educators rarely know research, seek it out, or act in accordance with its results.”

Recent research has suggested possible relationships between neuropsychological functioning and belief in superstitious and paranormal phenomena. The prefrontal cortex is of particular interest in this regard, as executive function and the mechanisms associated with faulty reasoning ability may maintain superstitious and supernatural beliefs. The present study investigated the relationship between executive function and superstitious and paranormal beliefs, in order to examine the extent to which the executive function abilities of individuals who subscribe to such beliefs differs from that of individuals who do not believe in such phenomena. The sample consisted of 43 male and female university students, between the ages of 21 and 28, from various ethnic groups. A non-experimental, cross-sectional, between-subjects, correlational mixed methods design was employed. Quantitative data was collected using a demographic questionnaire, a Modified Paranormal Beliefs Scale, the Neuroticism subscale of the NEO PI-R and an executive function and logical reasoning test battery. Qualitative data was collected by means of interviews. Few significant correlations were found between demographic variables and superstitious and paranormal beliefs, Neuroticism and executive function scores respectively. Relationships between Neuroticism and superstitious and paranormal beliefs were minimal. Both positive and negative correlations were found between superstitious and paranormal beliefs and executive function scores, suggesting that other neuropsychological factors may underlie illogical beliefs. Qualitative data revealed that superstitious and paranormal beliefs were perpetuated because of their links to familial environment and culture and beliefs assisted individuals in managing anxiety about the unknown by instilling a sense of control over the future. These results suggest that other neuropsychological mechanisms, such as emotion, may play a more significant role than executive function in superstitious and paranormal beliefs.

Thesis advisor: Katherine L. McNeill / Reform movements in science education have repeatedly called for more dialogic and student-centered discussions during science lessons. The approach secondary science teachers take towards talk during whole-class discussions continues to be predominantly teacher-centered even when curriculum materials are designed to support a shift in discourse. This dissertation explores what factors may be influencing the approach that both teachers and students take towards whole-class discussions in order to understand why the type of talk that occurs in high school science lessons is not changing. In order to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of this issue, this dissertation made use of mixed methodology. To explore secondary science teachers' beliefs in general, responses to a statewide survey of science teachers (N=185) were analyzed statistically to investigate factors that were related to their efficacy beliefs about whole-class discussions, as well as their beliefs about the effectiveness of dialogic and authoritative approaches to bring about learning in students. Acknowledging that discursive interactions are context dependent, a case study of a high school chemistry teacher and her students (N=45) was also included which examined both the teacher's and her students' beliefs as well as how those beliefs manifested themselves during instruction. Findings suggest that although teachers believe that a dialogic approach to whole-class discussions is more important for student learning than an authoritative approach, lower self-efficacy for engaging in dialogic talk is related to limited opportunities teachers have to learn and recognize alternative strategies that can be used to shift talk during whole-class discussions. Furthermore, school and student characteristics may play a role in teachers' beliefs about the effectiveness of dialogic talk as an approach to learning science. The teachers' role is only one part of the interaction, however. This dissertation also shows that secondary students have beliefs and expectations about whole-class discussions that also influence the type of discourse that can occur. Changing the type of talk that occurs in high school science classes will require not only professional development about talk strategies for teachers, but also a shift in how students frame their role in discussions and the purpose of talk in learning science. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

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The thesis examined McMaster University undergraduates’ beliefs about health and contagion, and their implication for antibacterial soap use. A qualitative methodology was used and 30 participants were interviewed, and the transcripts coded and analysed for emergent themes. Students understand health in terms of having energy, being disease free, and as something to be achieved through healthy lifestyle choices and cleanliness. These beliefs form an explanatory model of health that has several key components used to make health decisions, including using or not using antibacterial soap. The participants see their health as continually threatened by sources of illness. Contagion is one of the principal threats identified and understood as transmitted through the air, or on the surfaces of contaminated people and objects. Two modes of defence were articulated in the interviews. Internal components of defence involve maintaining immune rigour; external components drives activities such as personal hygiene and cleaning to protect against pathogens. Men tend to have a more internally focussed explanatory model of health, while women have a more external focus. This seems to explain why the women in this study were eight times more likely to use antibacterial soap than the men, a finding that was statistically significant (p=.O27). Social values are expressed through the explanatory model, including social boundaries and morality. The model also aligns very well with the biomedical paradigm in that it reduces health to its physical components, provides a mechanistic explanation of the body, and separates mind and body as discrete entities and as an object of control. Biomedicine seems to be broadening into new social domains, such as gender, social boundaries and morality, which are also reflected in students' beliefs about health. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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