The purpose of this study was to examine student section leaders and their leadership practices in collegiate marching band organizations. Through the use of the Student Leadership Practices Inventory (SLPI), the study surveyed members and staff of five collegiate marching bands: band directors, assistant band directors, graduate teaching assistants, student leaders, and student followers (N=447). In addition to the SLPI, a Marching Band Leadership Practices Questionnaire was completed by the marching band directors to gain insight about each marching band organization used in this study and to determine whether the marching bands practiced distributed leadership. The SLPI assessment tool measured five leadership practices to identify exceptional student leaders through a 360-degree feedback survey process: Challenge the Process, Inspire a Shared Vision, Enable Others to Act, Model the Way, and Encourage the Heart. Increased understanding of student leaders and the five leadership practices in marching band could inform the organization's process of selecting leaders. Student follower evaluations indicated a significant difference among the five practices, showing that Enable Others to Act was the least effective practice and Model the Way was the most effective practice for student leaders. Independent Samples t-tests of Student Leader vs. Student Follower SLPI scores showed that student leaders often perceived themselves displaying higher levels of leadership practice than did their student followers. Results indicated a significant difference for student follower characteristics and perceptions of student leaders: gender, music major status, and years of participation in a collegiate marching band. Results from the Marching Band Leadership Practices Questionnaire indicated that the student leaders in all five universities interact together with other leaders in a marching band, which is an important feature of distributed leadership.

While creative thinking is often conceptually associated with performing and visual arts, research has suggested that music education often focuses more so on convergent skills, such as singing or music literacy, than on divergent skills, such as composing and improvising. The primary purpose of this study was to examine elementary general music teachers' (EGMTs) perceptions of creative thinking and its value as part of the elementary general music curriculum. The secondary purpose was to determine how, and to what extent, EGMTs designed and facilitated creative thinking activities for their students. EGMTs (N=283) completed an on-line questionnaire with closed- and open-ended questions. The duration of participants' teaching experience ranged from a few months to 43 years. The participants reported a wide array of additional training including Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze, Music Learning Theory, and Technology in Music Education (TI:ME). Quantitative data analyses consisted of descriptive statistics, including frequency counts, percentages, and descriptions of central tendency. A series of Friedman's tests measured differences between dependent variables; Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to find significant relationships between teacher demographics and creative thinking perceptions and practices. Qualitative data analyses included open-coding of categories generated from participant responses. Results indicated that 94.8% of participants perceived creative thinking as an essential outcome of elementary general music. However, participants rated composition and improvisation as less essential than most other national content skills. A majority of participants, 72.0%, reported that they considered themselves well-trained to facilitate creative thinking activities. However, 71.7% of participants reported difficulties in designing and implementing on-going creative thinking activities for their students, citing lack of time, resources, and physical teaching space as significant challenges. Narratives from open-ended questions indicated that most participants desired more ideas for implementing creative thinking tasks, in the form of training, collaboration with peers, and published materials. This investigation indicated a need for continued discussion among practitioners, researchers and learners as to the role of creative thinking in elementary general music, in order to achieve a shared professional vision that enables creative thinking as a common practice in elementary general music classrooms.

The present study investigated perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs toward individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) of varying weight. The primary aim was to examine the associations between eating disorder symptom level and stigma toward eating disorders, perceptions of acceptability/desirability of AN, and perceptions of severity of AN. The second aim was to investigate the impact of body weight on males’ and females’ perceptions and attitudes toward AN, specifically on their stigma toward eating disorders, perception of the severity of AN, and perception of acceptability or desirability of AN behaviors and characteristics. Two-hundred fifty-seven university students (187 females, 70 males, mean age = 22.5, SD = 6.59) in undergraduate courses participated in the online study, and were randomly assigned to view one of three underweight female figures (extremely thin, moderately thin, and mildly thin). Participants read a vignette describing an individual meeting full diagnostic criteria for anorexia and completed measures assessing stigma toward individuals with AN and eating disorder symptomatology. Regarding the first aim, it was hypothesized that an inverse relationship would emerge between eating disorder pathology in participants and stigmatizing attitudes and beliefs. In support of the hypothesis, findings revealed that increased acceptability of AN and greater perceptions of AN severity were associated with higher levels of eating disorder symptoms. In contrast to the hypothesis, current self-reported eating disorder symptoms were not significantly associated with lower levels of eating disorder stigma. It was also hypothesized that female participants would perceive AN as more positive and acceptable, and as less severe than male participants. The hypothesis was partially supported in that females indicated less stigma toward EDs and reported perceiving AN to be more serious than males. Greater acceptability was not more common among women. In regard to the second aim, there was no significant group differences found in eating disorder stigma, perceived acceptance of AN, and perceived severity of AN according to weight conditions, which was contrary to expectations. Implications of the study are discussed in terms of future research.

Nursing is essentially a practical discipline and as such, clinical practice plays an important part in the nursing curriculum. Clinical education is a vital component in the curricula of pre-registration nursing courses and provides student nurses with the opportunity to combine cognitive, psychomotor, and affective skills. Clinical field placement is an integral element in the overall pre-registration nursing program. Clinical practice enables the student to develop competencies in the application of knowledge, skills, and attitudes to clinical field situations. However, the time allocation for the clinical component of pre-registration nursing courses can be rather limited. It is, therefore, vital that the short but valuable clinical time be utilised effectively and productively.One of the objectives of this study was to develop and validate an instrument, the Clinical Learning Environment Inventory (CLEI), to assess nursing students' perceptions of hospital learning environment during clinical practice. Data were collected from 138 second year nursing students in a major university school of nursing in South Australia. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The study confirmed the reliability and validity of the CLEI for use in the hospital learning environment.A second objective was to investigate associations of the CLEI with outcomes. Students' perceptions of the outcome of their clinical placement were found to be strongly associated with all five scales of the CLEI namely; Individualisation, Innovation, Involvement, Personalisation, and Task Orientation. The quantitative and qualitative findings reinforced each other. A third objective was to determine whether there were any differences in students' perceptions of the actual learning environment provided and that preferred by students. It was found that there were significant differences in ++ / students' perceptions of the actual clinical learning environment and their preferred clinical learning environment. Findings from the study suggested that students preferred a more positive and favourable clinical environment than they perceived as being actually present.

This study investigated the changing role of home economics education in primary schools in contemporary Thai society. Two main questions were set to guide the study : What home economics subject matter should be taught in primary schools in contemporary Thai society? How should it be taught? Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed. A qualitative research approach was used in collecting data from several sources, including published documents relevant to home economics education in Thai primary schools and those relevant to Thai society during the period 1960-2000; observations of Thai primary school Housework classrooms during the 1997-1998 academic year; and interviews with prominent Thai home economists, primary school principals and Housework teachers, and involved parents of primary school children. A quantitative research approach was used to examine the perceptions of home economics education in Thai primary schools of the Housework teachers, and to examine the lifestyles of Thai primary school children. Expectations about the changing role of home economics education in Thai primary schools were investigated. It was concluded that the role of home economics needs to shift from a technical skills orientation to a practical problem solving emphasis. According to this new role, home economics education in Thai primary schools will not only provide for the children's technical skills but also provide an opportunity to develop a group of life skills, namely- critical thinking, decision making, individual/family resource management, and problem solving. Through the acquisition of these life skills children will be better equipped to manage their everyday life in a rapidly changing Thai society. Finally, based on its major conclusions, the study draws implications for future action by several groups of stakeholders (policy makers, curriculum developers, teacher educators, personnel in schools, and professional associations) required to bring about important changes in home economics education in Thai primary schools / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study used the qualitative semi-structured interview method to collect data to discover Solomon Islands parents' educational and career aspirations for their children and their perceptions of formal secondary education in the Solomon Islands with respect to their children's preparation for meeting these aspirations. In carrying out the research, four couples were selected as participants and categorized into two groups according to their educational attainment (well educated and less educated). What was found was that, although parents have educational and career aspirations for their children, not all parents were specific. The findings also suggested that the career aspirations parents have were mainly influenced by economic and social factors rather than internal factors. In relation to parents' perception of the formal secondary education system in terms of preparing students for work, the findings suggested parents have both a positive and low opinion of formal secondary education in the Solomon Islands. There was also a mixed feeling and point to the idea that there are other factors such as teachers and curriculum subjects that impacted on the perceptions of success or vice-versa of the secondary education system. The findings also suggested that while parents appreciate the vocational curriculum and education system as preparing students for work (than secondary education), preference however was given to secondary education first and foremost.

Doctor of Philosophy / This study investigates teachers’ perceptions of risk and risk-taking behaviours in the context of ICT-related educational change. Perceptions and behaviours are examined through teachers’ talk about risk: their individual perceptions of risk-taking, and how perceptions relate to risk perceptions in the wider school culture. When teachers implement new teaching practices and experiment in the classroom they are taking risks. Without the risk-taking, change is not possible. The research presented in this thesis examines teachers’ perceptions of risk in the area of ICT integration – utilizing ICT in the classroom to support student learning effectively. The research was carried out in Australia and the United States. A two-phase, mixed-method strategy was employed in the study. The first phase was primarily questionnaire-based, and captured data from both secondary and primary-level teachers, concerning aspects of teaching-efficacy, computer-efficacy, measures of playfulness & anxiety, and school culture. This phase made it possible to explore some of the relationships between these variables, develop and test instrumentation to distinguish between more and less risk-averse teachers and then select some contrasting teachers for further investigation. Phase two involved observation of these eight teachers’ teaching, several rounds of in-depth interviews, and the gathering of field notes from school visits. The thesis shows that risk-taking needs to be understood as an interaction between personal (teacher) and cultural (school) variables. Findings revealed that a primary area of concern in teachers’ perceptions of risk was risk to student achievement. Teachers who showed more potential to take risks talked about student achievement in terms of intrinsic motivation and engagement, while teachers with less potential to take risks saw achievement in terms of quantifiable results and test scores. Depending on a teacher’s risk-taking habits, perceived risks had more or less impact on the decision to integrate ICT into the classroom. Risk-taking behaviours related to teachers’ perceptions of the teacher role and school expectations of ICT-integration. Teachers’ risk perceptions proved to be related to their school’s cultural type, categorized using a grid-group typology. The two case study schools were found to be hierarchical cultures. In hierarchical cultures, technology is viewed as low-risk, as long as the manner in which it is used is approved by an expert. The findings have significant implications for the introduction of new technologies into school cultures, particularly in relation to the impact of school leadership and trust when schools are introducing ICT-related change initiatives.

This study examines staff perceptions of the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERPs) in three Australian universities. It considers the growing body of literature on the issues impacting on effective and efficacious Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations in organisations including the most recent literature on ERPs in the higher education sector. This literature identifies a number of issues that it is argued, translates from the corporate sector to the higher education sector including a number that require additional focus in this sector. It is proposed in this dissertation that effective and efficacious implementations in Australian universities require particular consideration of organisational influences related to their context and the perceptions of the users of the systems. Case study methodology was used to examine the staff perceptions of the management of ERP implementations in universities. This involved undertaking case studies in three Australian universities in the process of implementing ERP systems. The first phase of the study obtained data through a series of focus groups at one university to explore staff perceptions of the efficacy of the ERP implementation at their university. This data and the relevant literature served as a framework for the development of the research process in the second phase of the study. This phase involved conducting a series of interviews with staff that enabled the researcher to undertake a more detailed exploration of the staff perceptions of influences affecting ERP system implementations at three Australian universities. The research study identifies the influences impacting on the outcomes of these implementations of ERPs in the three Australian universities and forms the basis for the development of guidelines for the effective and efficacious management of ERP implementations in Australian universities. This set of guidelines for the management of implementations of ERPs in Australian universities is an outcome that can have applicability for the higher education sector generally.

This study focused on elementary-aged children’s preferences for and perceptions about narrative and expository text. Preference refers to the children’s choice of reading material for themselves, what they prefer to read. Perception refers to the children’s beliefs about what their same-aged peers would like to read. The current study examined these preferences and perceptions about narrative and expository text through the lens of two distinct frameworks – social constructivism and engaged reading. The current study was a systematic replication and extension of a qualitative study conducted by Chapman, Filipenko, McTavish, and Shapiro (2007). It replicated the original study by conducting it with first grade students, and extended the original study by including fourth grade students. Equal numbers of children in the study were represented at three reading achievement levels (above, on, and below grade level). Two individually administered book preference (Open and Closed) tasks and interviews were administered and analyzed to determine elementary-aged children’s genre preferences and perceptions about narrative and expository text. Qualitative research methods were used to glean an understanding of primary and intermediate students’ preferences and perceptions. The findings suggest that first and fourth grade boys preferred expository text while first and fourth grade girls demonstrated an equal preference for both narrative and expository genres for themselves. At both grade levels, both boys and girls held the perception that boys like expository text and girls like narrative text. There were no differences in terms of preferences or perceptions of both genres among children of different reading achievement levels. There were gender and grade level differences in the number of reasons provided for their book choices with girls providing more reasons than boys and fourth graders providing more reasons than first graders. However, there were not marked differences in the reasons they provided for their choices. Findings are discussed in light of implications for instruction, assessment, and future research.

While our schools across the United States evidently are witnessing an influx of students from diverse backgrounds, the need to address the issue of diversity among public school teachers is critical for inclusive and equitable schools. The purpose of this study was to explore and analyze Texas secondary agricultural education teachers' attitudes toward diversity inclusion in Texas secondary agricultural education programs. Using a web-based questionnaire, the researcher employed a nonproportional stratified random sampling technique, and 232 secondary agricultural education teachers participated in the study. Descriptive statistics were used for reporting the demographic and personal characteristics of respondents. Mean scores were used to assess teachers' perceptions of the benefits of diversity inclusion, perceptions of the barriers of diversity inclusion, and perceptions of proposed solutions to increase diversity inclusion in Texas secondary agricultural education programs. The sample consisted of 170 males and 45 females. The ethnic distribution of the sample was 90.5% White/European American, 6.2% Hispanic/Latino American, 1.9% Native American, 0.9% African American, and 0.5% Asian American. Respondents agreed that secondary agricultural education programs can benefit students of color and students with disabilities. Respondents also agreed that some of the barriers that prevent diversity inclusion in agricultural education include the lack of information about agricultural education, negative parental attitudes about agricultural education, and not being accepted by peers. Respondents indicated that the following is needed for all students to achieve in school: (a) educators, parents, and policymakers must develop strategies to address the different learning styles of all students; (b) agricultural educators should encourage and strive to increase students? of color membership in FFA; (c) teachers should become familiar with students of color represented in their classrooms in order to promote an atmosphere of acceptance and cooperation; and (d) agricultural educators should increase recruitment efforts to promote diversity inclusion must occur. The study also indicated that statistically significant differences in means scores existed based upon certain personal characteristics in regards to the Benefits, Barriers, and Solutions scales.