The purpose of this study was to determine the current levels of global knowledge and attitudes of sixth grade elementary school students in Kaohsiung City; to compare the differences of students¡¦ global knowledge and their global attitudes between different personal background; to analyze the relations between students¡¦ global knowledge and their global attitudes, and to explore the forecasting abilities of students¡¦ global knowledge and global attitudes on students¡¦ personal background.
The field of ¡§global knowledge¡¨, as used in this study, consists of four sub-categories that include world history and geography, global systems, global issues, and cross-cultural understanding. The filed of ¡§global attitudes¡¨, as used in this study, consists of five sub-categories that include the area of interdependence, the human rights, international cooperation, acceptance of people from other countries and a desire for peace, instead of war.
The study took into consideration differences in knowledge and attitudes which stemmed from different backgrounds and experiences. The correlations among the knowledge, attitudes, and other variables, i.e., school location, gender, ethnicity, parents¡¦ social economic status, source of information, frequency of going abroad, and tutoring hours for learning English per week were explored.
The researcher compiled questionnaires about global knowledge and global attitudes for the sixth graders in Kaohsiung City. The sample was consisted of 790 students with collected 749 valid questionnaires from public primary schools. The data was analyzed by using the SPSS software, Independent t test, One-way ANOVA, Scheff¡¦s method statistical methods ,Pearson Product-moment Correlation, and Stepwise Regression Analysis.
The empirical results of the above study were synthesized as follows:
(1)The average ratio of correct answers among sixth-graders in the area of
global knowledge was 56.45 %, while performance levels across the four sub-fields varied. The best scores were achieved in global issues; the second highest in cross-cultural understanding, the third in global system, and the lowest scores, in world history and geography.
(2) On a Likert scale of 1 to 5, the average score on the scale measuring global attitudes was fixed at a positive 4.31. The degree of inclination in attitudes toward five dimensions on the global attitude scale differed. The most positive attitude was toward the area of interdependence; the second favored the human rights; the third indicated international cooperation; the forth was acceptance of people from other countries and the final measurement of student attitudes confirmed a desire for peace, instead of war.
(3) Students¡¦ global knowledge and global attitudes were positively correlated.
(4) Variables of parents¡¦ social economic status, tutoring hours for learning English per week and school location proved to be reliable predictors of different levels in the global knowledge possessed by the sixth grade students participating in the study. Students who were high parents¡¦ social economic status had higher scores than those who were low. Students whose tutoring hours were longer for learning English, scored higher than those who have not. School location was near to urban area, also scored higher than that was far from urban area.
(5)Variables of school location, tutoring hours for learning English per week, parents¡¦ social economic status, and gender proved to be reliable predictors of different levels in the global attitudes possessed by the sixth grade students participating in the study. When school location was nearer to urban area, students¡¦ global attitudes were more positive; Students¡¦ tutoring hours for learning English per week were longer, their global attitudes were more positive. Students with higher parents¡¦ social economic status showed more positive attitudes. Female students¡¦ global attitudes were more positive than males.
According to the results of this study, the researcher makes some suggestions
for families, primary schools, the society and the future investigations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0715110-151317 |
| Date | 15 July 2010 |
| Creators | Hsu, I-ling |
| Contributors | Zuway-R, Hong, Ching-Hwa, Tsai, Jen-Chih, Liao |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | Cholon |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0715110-151317 |
| Rights | campus_withheld, Copyright information available at source archive |
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