The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors of teachers&rsquo / sense of efficacy including gender, teaching field, years of teaching experience, satisfaction with performance, support from colleagues, support from parents, and support from administration, and teaching resources. The present study was conducted in the 2006-2007 academic year. The study included a total of 383 science, mathematics, and classroom teachers from 62 elementary schools of &Ccedil / ankaya district in Ankara. Data were collected through Teachers&rsquo / Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran &amp / Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). In the present study, data were analyzed by utilizing four separate hierarchical regression analyses. Results showed that gender, teaching field, and years of teaching experience variables were not significant predictors for overall teacher efficacy, efficacy in instructional strategies, efficacy in classroom management, and efficacy in student engagement, whereas satisfaction with performance variable made significant contribution to all dependent variables. Parental support and teaching resources predicted only efficacy in student engagement.

Over the last decade, community college researchers and practitioners increasingly have focused on student engagement as a cornerstone of a successful student success agenda. This study investigated community college student engagement using an ex post facto quantitative methodology. This study reports the results of the five special-focus survey items from 2009 CCSSE national administration and data collected from institutional Facebook pages. This study measured student engagement levels based on five constructs from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (Active and Collaborative Learning, Student-Faculty Interaction, Academic Challenge, Student Effort, and Support for Learners), including more than 170,000 survey respondents. Differences in engagement levels were explored in terms of student characteristics including gender, race/ethnicity, developmental status, weekly preparation, commute time, age (traditional/nontraditional), and enrollment status (full-time/part-time). The results of this study revealed the following: •An institutional Facebook page can provide both academic and non-academic information. An institutional Facebook page is a central location that students, parents, fans, and others can go to ask questions about the college, either general or specific. •Students are using social networking tools for academic purposes. •Students who took honors course(s) and students who commuted six hours or more per week were more likely to use social networking tools to communicate about coursework. •Students’ use of social networking tools for academic purposes is associated with an increase in student-level benchmark scores. A proportional relationship exists between use of SNT and engagement scores. In general, students who frequently used SNT for academic purposes achieved higher engagement scores. •However, a corollary is also true: Student Effort scores tend to be lower among students who use SNT for any purpose multiple times per day. / text

This thesis investigates how teachers navigate Common Core State Standards, high-stakes testing, and teacher evaluation while creating their own curriculum to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. As a former teacher, I conducted a practitioner research case study of four successful colleagues in a bilingual Pre-K-8 school in Washington, DC. When given flexibility in curriculum, teachers integrated knowledge from their relationships with students to foster a caring environment that supports learning and created their own systems of accountability by deciding what data matters. Teachers centered student engagement as what drives their curriculum and used a variety of differentiation methods based on their own “toolbox” of instructional strategies. Findings suggest a flexible curriculum model allows teachers to be curriculum makers who actively go beyond the standards to integrate knowledge from their practice and relationships with students to create curriculum that successfully supports language learners.

This thesis investigates how teachers navigate Common Core State Standards, high-stakes testing, and teacher evaluation while creating their own curriculum to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. As a former teacher, I conducted a practitioner research case study of four successful colleagues in a bilingual Pre-K-8 school in Washington, DC. When given flexibility in curriculum, teachers integrated knowledge from their relationships with students to foster a caring environment that supports learning and created their own systems of accountability by deciding what data matters. Teachers centered student engagement as what drives their curriculum and used a variety of differentiation methods based on their own “toolbox” of instructional strategies. Findings suggest a flexible curriculum model allows teachers to be curriculum makers who actively go beyond the standards to integrate knowledge from their practice and relationships with students to create curriculum that successfully supports language learners.

Despite high achievement by many Māori (indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) students there is still a disparity between the achievements of Māori students and Non Māori students in the New Zealand educational context. Given that over 85% of Māori students are currently in mainstream settings rather than Māori medium settings the Government has initiated and supported teacher professional development approaches in efforts to enhance teacher effectiveness for teachers working with Māori in mainstream settings. This investigation looks specifically at the practice of four teachers who have been on the Te Kauhua/Māori in Mainstream Pilot project in a decile1 5 Intermediate school in the South Island of New Zealand. An important aspect of this investigation is that it listens to and includes the voices and opinions of eight students who are in the classes of these teachers. Early on in the Te Kauhua project teachers at the school articulated that it was the lack of engagement from their Māori students that was the problem and they wanted to look at ways in which they could maximise Māori student engagement in the classroom learning contexts. The particular aim of this investigation was to look at specific strategies and practices that teachers used to successfully maximise Māori student engagement in the classroom curriculum. The results highlighted the importance of the quality of the relationship between the teacher and the students, the positive impact of the extra effort that teachers applied to engage their students and the students’ preferences for working in small groups. Underpinning these aspects of practice was the importance that teachers placed on developing their reflective practice and the participation in small learning professional learning groups.

This thesis explores the use of an online robotics course, in the context of Technology Education, for senior secondary school students in an urban New Zealand (NZ) school. The reasons for using an online course are discussed through investigating the need for quality resources to assist schools in providing students with appropriate learning experiences, and knowledge to enable them to make informed choices with respect to technology careers. There is a shortage of students pursuing technology careers and that in turn influences the NZ economy (Baron & McLaren, 2006). The purpose of the study was to examine how an online robotics course can be used for teaching robotics and engaging students in a blended environment. The author planned, implemented, monitored and reviewed an online course in robotics through an action research approach using formative evaluation methods to determine the effectiveness of the individual action research cycles. After reflection at the end of each AR cycle, the online course was modified and updated to improve student engagement. Qualitative methods were used to analyse online discussions, classroom observations and discussions, and one to one interviews with the participants. Research findings identified four themes that influenced student engagement with the online robotics course: access to the online course, the students’ background knowledge and skills, the students’ interaction with the online course and the students’ conation or internal motivation. The research findings are discussed in terms of areas that need to be addressed when using an online course to teach robotics. These areas are the course design, student considerations and course implementation. Course design, or how the course is structured, includes opportunities for students to develop their thinking skills, experiences and activities for learning, and opportunities for conversation and interaction. Course design must also accommodate student considerations. Student considerations focus on the needs of the learners and their readiness to ensure successful engagement in the online course in terms of their background knowledge and skills in electronics and Web 2.0 tools, their conation and their key competencies. Course implementation includes the factors that need to be taken into account in the execution of the online course such as reliable access to the online course, the students’ interactions with the online course, and the learning culture of the school and classroom, and the role of the teacher. The thesis justifies the rational for using an online robotics course and describes how an online robotics course can address and advance student learning outcomes, how online tools can be used for assessment purposes, the aspects of course design that are successful for teaching robotics and online learning experiences that provide positive outcomes for students. Recommendations for teaching practice in terms of school-wide programmes to develop and support students’ digital literacy and key competencies, and teacher professional development in Technology Education and online robotics courses are provided. Suggestions for future research are given in terms of student conation, the development of critical thinking skills through forums and how teachers’ philosophies can be aligned to Technology Education and the intent of the NZ Curriculum.

The changing work environment has caused individuals to revise and change their career decisions. This creates career uncertainty, which has become a widespread problem, particularly for students. When this problem is not addressed, it leads to career indecision, or less optimal choices which could influence career opportunities and quality of life. Career indecision could impact on organisations, resulting in problems such as person–job adjustment, lack of engagement and burnout. Although research on career uncertainty is available internationally, there is limited research on career uncertainty and its antecedents in the South African context. Career uncertainty can have short– and long–term effects on the individual. This study therefore contributes toward the gap in research on the antecedents of career uncertainty. Given that career uncertainty is a problem that individuals are constantly confronted with, it is important that the antecedents of this be investigated. The objectives of this study were to 1) conceptualise the antecedents of career uncertainty according to the literature; 2) determine if socio–demographic characteristics (gender, career guidance, help from parents, help from other individuals and work experience) are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 3) determine if personality characteristics (self–esteem, self–efficacy and neuroticism) are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 4) determine if career decision–making difficulties are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 5) determine if student burnout and student engagement are significant predictors of career uncertainty; and 6) determine if academic performance is a significant predictor of career uncertainty. A non–probability quota sample (N = 782) was used to investigate antecedents of career uncertainty in a sample of university students. Career uncertainty was measured by one item The changing work environment has caused individuals to revise and change their career decisions. This creates career uncertainty, which has become a widespread problem, particularly for students. When this problem is not addressed, it leads to career indecision, or less optimal choices which could influence career opportunities and quality of life. Career indecision could impact on organisations, resulting in problems such as person–job adjustment, lack of engagement and burnout. Although research on career uncertainty is available internationally, there is limited research on career uncertainty and its antecedents in the South African context. Career uncertainty can have short– and long–term effects on the individual. This study therefore contributes toward the gap in research on the antecedents of career uncertainty. Given that career uncertainty is a problem that individuals are constantly confronted with, it is important that the antecedents of this be investigated. The objectives of this study were to 1) conceptualise the antecedents of career uncertainty according to the literature; 2) determine if socio–demographic characteristics (gender, career guidance, help from parents, help from other individuals and work experience) are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 3) determine if personality characteristics (self–esteem, self–efficacy and neuroticism) are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 4) determine if career decision–making difficulties are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 5) determine if student burnout and student engagement are significant predictors of career uncertainty; and 6) determine if academic performance is a significant predictor of career uncertainty. A non–probability quota sample (N = 782) was used to investigate antecedents of career uncertainty in a sample of university students. Career uncertainty was measured by one item consisting of four categories: I am very sure; I know exactly what career I will pursue (n = 228), I am fairly sure what career I will pursue (n = 416), I am not sure at all which career I will pursue (n = 135) and I do not plan to follow a career (n = 3). For the objective of the study, categories one and two were grouped together with participants who were fairly certain which career they would follow, while participants in category three represented participants who were uncertain. Category four was not included as only three participants within that category answered. In total, 644 students were (fairly) certain, while 135 were uncertain. These two groups were enclosed as a dependent variable in the logistic regression. The results of this study showed that work experience influences career uncertainty to some extent. This is supported by previous research. Furthermore, it was found that self–esteem also influences career uncertainty to some degree. However, these two variables were only significant in the first steps of the logistic regression. Furthermore, the results showed that career decision–making difficulties share a significant relationship with career uncertainty. The study also found that significant antecedents of career uncertainty include: a lack of information about the decision–making process; a lack of information about occupations; inconsistent information due to internal conflict; a lack of information about ways of obtaining information; and inconsistent information due to external conflict. In conclusion, exhaustion, cynicism and dedication were also found to be significant antecedents of career uncertainty. Based on these results, this study suggests that student burnout and student engagement influence an individual’s level of career uncertainty. Recommendations were made for practice as well as for future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The changing work environment has caused individuals to revise and change their career decisions. This creates career uncertainty, which has become a widespread problem, particularly for students. When this problem is not addressed, it leads to career indecision, or less optimal choices which could influence career opportunities and quality of life. Career indecision could impact on organisations, resulting in problems such as person–job adjustment, lack of engagement and burnout. Although research on career uncertainty is available internationally, there is limited research on career uncertainty and its antecedents in the South African context. Career uncertainty can have short– and long–term effects on the individual. This study therefore contributes toward the gap in research on the antecedents of career uncertainty. Given that career uncertainty is a problem that individuals are constantly confronted with, it is important that the antecedents of this be investigated. The objectives of this study were to 1) conceptualise the antecedents of career uncertainty according to the literature; 2) determine if socio–demographic characteristics (gender, career guidance, help from parents, help from other individuals and work experience) are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 3) determine if personality characteristics (self–esteem, self–efficacy and neuroticism) are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 4) determine if career decision–making difficulties are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 5) determine if student burnout and student engagement are significant predictors of career uncertainty; and 6) determine if academic performance is a significant predictor of career uncertainty. A non–probability quota sample (N = 782) was used to investigate antecedents of career uncertainty in a sample of university students. Career uncertainty was measured by one item The changing work environment has caused individuals to revise and change their career decisions. This creates career uncertainty, which has become a widespread problem, particularly for students. When this problem is not addressed, it leads to career indecision, or less optimal choices which could influence career opportunities and quality of life. Career indecision could impact on organisations, resulting in problems such as person–job adjustment, lack of engagement and burnout. Although research on career uncertainty is available internationally, there is limited research on career uncertainty and its antecedents in the South African context. Career uncertainty can have short– and long–term effects on the individual. This study therefore contributes toward the gap in research on the antecedents of career uncertainty. Given that career uncertainty is a problem that individuals are constantly confronted with, it is important that the antecedents of this be investigated. The objectives of this study were to 1) conceptualise the antecedents of career uncertainty according to the literature; 2) determine if socio–demographic characteristics (gender, career guidance, help from parents, help from other individuals and work experience) are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 3) determine if personality characteristics (self–esteem, self–efficacy and neuroticism) are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 4) determine if career decision–making difficulties are significant predictors of career uncertainty; 5) determine if student burnout and student engagement are significant predictors of career uncertainty; and 6) determine if academic performance is a significant predictor of career uncertainty. A non–probability quota sample (N = 782) was used to investigate antecedents of career uncertainty in a sample of university students. Career uncertainty was measured by one item consisting of four categories: I am very sure; I know exactly what career I will pursue (n = 228), I am fairly sure what career I will pursue (n = 416), I am not sure at all which career I will pursue (n = 135) and I do not plan to follow a career (n = 3). For the objective of the study, categories one and two were grouped together with participants who were fairly certain which career they would follow, while participants in category three represented participants who were uncertain. Category four was not included as only three participants within that category answered. In total, 644 students were (fairly) certain, while 135 were uncertain. These two groups were enclosed as a dependent variable in the logistic regression. The results of this study showed that work experience influences career uncertainty to some extent. This is supported by previous research. Furthermore, it was found that self–esteem also influences career uncertainty to some degree. However, these two variables were only significant in the first steps of the logistic regression. Furthermore, the results showed that career decision–making difficulties share a significant relationship with career uncertainty. The study also found that significant antecedents of career uncertainty include: a lack of information about the decision–making process; a lack of information about occupations; inconsistent information due to internal conflict; a lack of information about ways of obtaining information; and inconsistent information due to external conflict. In conclusion, exhaustion, cynicism and dedication were also found to be significant antecedents of career uncertainty. Based on these results, this study suggests that student burnout and student engagement influence an individual’s level of career uncertainty. Recommendations were made for practice as well as for future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Student intention to drop out is a concern for higher education institutions as well for their students. Students with the intention to drop out may eventually drop out and contribute towards the already high dropout rates, which are causing economic damage. Students leaving their institution have vast financial consequences for their institution, as institutions obtain grants from the government according to their success rates. Although previous research has been conducted on students’ intention to drop out, it is limited, especially when looking at possible predictors that are specific to the South African context. This study contributes towards the gap in research regarding the possible predictors of student intention to drop out. The objectives of this study were to 1) conceptualise the possible predictors of student intention to drop out according to the literature; 2) determine if self-evaluation traits (self-esteem and self-efficacy) are significant predictors of student intention to drop out; 3) determine if student burnout and student engagement are significant predictors of student intention to drop out; 4) determine if social support (social support from parents and general social support) are significant predictors of student intention to drop out; and 5) determine if career decision-making difficulties are significant predictors of student intention to drop out. A non-probability quota sample (N = 782) was used to investigate possible predictors of career student intention to drop out in a sample of university students. Student intention to drop out was measured by one item consisting of two categories: I have no intention to drop out (n = 501), and I have an intention to drop out (n = 280). These two groups were enclosed as a dependent variable in the logistic regression. The variables included in the final model predicted between 13% (Cox and Snell) and 18% (Nagelkerke) of the variance in intention to drop out. The results of this study suggest that self-esteem had an influence on student intention to drop out. Furthermore, it was found that cynicism and dedication have a significant relationship with student intention to drop out. Lastly, lack of information about ways to obtain information also indicated a significant relationship with student intention to drop out. Thus, it may be concluded that self-esteem, burnout and engagement and lack of information about ways of obtaining information have an influence on students’ intention to drop out. Recommendations were made for practice as well as for future research. / Thesis (MCom (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

This study followed three elementary-school teachers as they engaged in online discussions about inquiry-based mathematics teaching, and wrote and tested inquiry lessons for their own classrooms. In an inquiry lesson, students bring their own knowledge to open-ended problem situations, and build on that knowledge as they try out solutions and share their ideas with others. Evidence from the study suggests that teachers may turn to inquiry as an antidote to the way they learned about mathematics as schoolchildren, and that participating in an online community is a way for teachers to gain new mathematical and pedagogical knowledge and to change their conceptual understanding of inquiry-based teaching. The study results indicate that online professional development can help teachers improve their practice, but that care must be taken to build social ties within the group, and to structure tasks in a way that encourages collaboration and constructive criticism.