ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Self-Directed Learning via Contemplative Teaching to Promote Reading Comprehension Ability
Author: Giveh, Fatemeh
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Comprehension,Independent Study,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Positive Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Transformative Learning,Teaching Methods,Foreign Countries,Females,Translation,Teacher Education Programs,Literature,Language Teachers,Language Tests,Pretests Posttests,Language Proficiency,Correlation

The present study tried to investigate one of the options for improving self-directed learning in Iranian EFL learners, i.e., contemplative L2 instruction with a flavor of transformative instruction. Accordingly, it adopted a quasi-experimental design to investigate the influential effects that contemplative teaching would exert on Iranian EFL learners' L2 self-directed learning and reading comprehension abilities. To this end, two groups of Iranian EFL learners were taught on the L2 through either contemplative teaching (Experimental Group) or a traditional method (Control Group). The results of the study indicated that contemplative teaching, accompanied with transformative instruction, would in fact have significant effects on Iranian EFL learners' L2 autonomy, &quot;i.e.,&quot; self-directed L2 learning, and L2 reading comprehension skills. In addition, the analysis of the qualitative indicated that the participants in the Experimental Group held positive attitudes towards contemplative and transformative L2 instruction and believed these instructional strategies would create a supporting and viable classroom atmosphere. The findings of this study would have significant implications for both theory and practice on L2 contemplative teaching, self-directed learning, and reading comprehension.
Teachers&apos; Attitude towards Teaching of Sexuality Education in Federal Government Colleges in Nigeria--Implications for Counselling
Author: Onoyase, Anna
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Attitudes,Sex Education,Foreign Countries,Public Schools,Gender Differences,Teaching Experience,Marital Status,Counselor Role,School Counselors

The study investigated the attitude of teachers towards the teaching of sexuality education in federal government colleges in Nigeria. In order to carry out the investigation, three hypotheses were formulated. An instrument known as &quot;teachers' attitude towards teaching of sexuality education&quot; (TATTOSE), was used to obtain information from the respondents. The instrument had a reliability coefficient of 0.79. It also had language appropriateness, content and facial validity. Four research assistants were used to administer 580 copies of the questionnaire to the respondents. Five hundred and twenty eight copies were retrieved showing 91.03 percent return rate. The data collected from the field were analyzed using t-test statistics. The research found out that there was no significant difference in the attitude of male and female teachers towards the teaching of sexuality education, that there was significant difference in the attitude of less experienced and experienced teachers towards the teaching of sexuality education. Finally, the study also revealed that there was no significant difference in the attitude of married and unmarried teachers towards teaching of sexuality education in Nigeria. One of the recommendations is that a curriculum of sexuality education should be drawn up for secondary schools.
Effect and Snags of Provision of In-Service Education and Training for Teachers in Basic Schools for the Deaf
Author: Issaka, Cecilia Alimatu
Date: 2018-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Faculty Development,Inservice Teacher Education,Deafness,Special Schools,Special Education Teachers,Educational Resources,Foreign Countries,Teacher Competencies,Program Effectiveness,Teacher Attitudes

Regular and effective provision of in-service training for teachers is a necessary practice for the educational development of any country. The provision of effective in-service training and education for special teachers is however bedeviled with many challenges. To appraise the effect and problems of inservice training in Ghana, a survey involving 90 teachers from three schools for the deaf namely: Savelugu, Wa and Gbeogo Schools for the Deaf were sampled in this study. A set of 94 questionnaire and 4 exclusive separate interviews sessions were used to collect data for the study. The data was tallied into frequency tables and percentage distribution tables were generated from MS Excel for further interpretation and discussion. The study revealed that in-service training programmes are few and highly ineffective. There is a general delink between what the special teacher needs and what is provided leading to the little use of knowledge and skills acquired from the training. Lack of material resources, teaching aids, modern equipment and funding opportunities have served as a huge blockage to the provision of effective in-service training and education. In-service training can only be made effective if it is preceded by needs assessment with funding made available for the training of teachers of special schools.
Stress Coping Strategies Used by the Management Staff of Colleges of Education in Nigeria
Author: Yusuf, Musibau Adeoye
Date: 2018-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Coping,Stress Management,Schools of Education,Administrators,Deans,Department Heads,Interpersonal Relationship,Sleep,Planning,Responses,Work Environment

The study examined stress coping strategies used by the management staff of colleges of education in Nigeria. A descriptive research of the survey design was used for the study. The sample of the study consisted of 1500 respondents, comprising 294 principal officers, 294 deans of schools and 910 heads of departments. Purposive stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample. A questionnaire titled Stress Coping Strategies among Management Staff of Colleges of Education Questionnaire (SCSMSCOEQ) was designed for the study. The validity of the instrument was established by giving the instrument to experts in the Department of Educational Management and Test and Measurement, Department of Guidance and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, while the reliability of the instrument was ensured through test-retest method. The reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained for the instrument which was considered high enough for reliability. Data collected were analysed using frequency counts, means, percentages and t-test analysis. The research questions raised were answered descriptively, while the null hypothesis formulated was tested at 0.005 level of significance using t-test analysis. The study revealed that the level of stress among management staff was high during the period understudy. The findings further indicated that, consultative management, maintenance of cordial relationship, sleep well, immediate response to issues and proper planning are the major strategies used by the management staff. The stress coping strategies being used by management staff of Federal Colleges of Education are quite different from those used by the State owned Colleges of Education in Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended that in order to make stress management strategies being used more effective and that there was no significant difference in the stress coping strategies between Federal and State owned Colleges of Education, the working environment should be made conducive by the stakeholders in order to have similar strategies to cope with stress in the colleges of education.
Shared Governance: Determining Faculty Members&apos; Current Level of Participation in Institutional Decision Making in Shaqra University and TVTC
Author: Al-miman, Mansour A.
Date: 2018-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: College Faculty,Governance,Teacher Attitudes,Foreign Countries,Participative Decision Making,College Administration,Job Satisfaction,Organizational Culture,Money Management,Personnel Selection,Teaching Methods,Educational Planning,Teacher Administrator Relationship,Universities

University shared governance refers to the control and administration of higher education institution in which faculty members, administrators, and trustees share equal responsibilities. Currently, shared governance between faculty members and administrators inside academic institutions is still an unending point of concern in the educational realm worldwide including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Thus, this paper wants to determine the level of participation of Shaqra University's (SHU) and Technical and Vocational Training Colleges, (TVTC) Faculty members in institutional decision-making in line with the global shared governance apprehension through the administration of survey questionnaires distributed to both institutions. Of 140 opinion poll dispensed to SHU and TVTC, 128 were reclaimed and had high validity. The respondents were composed of assistant professors, associate professors, professors, assistant lecturers and lecturers. This study, upon checking its stability and coefficient, concludes the following: (1) the level of participation of faculty members of SHU and TVTC in general decision-making including decisions concerning academic training, students/trainees, staff member, program plans, local society, and administrative/finance has significant difference, (2) the factors affecting decision-making also has significant difference due to system regulations, nature of the problem and environmental conditions, (3) the relation of decision-making participation to job satisfaction has no significant difference. This discovery transpires to the recommendation of increasing the faculty's participation in academic and administrative decision-making more than its current level.
Motivational Regulations among At-Risk Students in an after School Activity Program
Author: McBride, Ron E.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: After School Programs,Self Control,At Risk Students,Elementary School Students,Physical Activities,Rural Schools,Gender Differences,Grade 3,Grade 4,Grade 5,Grade 6,Predictor Variables,Minority Group Students,Hispanic American Students,African American Students,Low Income Students

This study examines motivational self-regulations (SR) among at-risk elementary school students participating in the physical activity component of an after school program (ASP) in a rural Southwest U.S. school district. Motivational regulations examined gender differences and were used to predict student performance on an endurance task. One hundred seventy-one participants from the 3rd to 6th grade completed the Self-Regulation Questionnaire and engaged in an endurance run. Repeated measures ANOVA, Pearson correlation and a one-way MANOVA revealed boys and girls endorsed equally the four regulatory categories and while they were not predictive of performance on the endurance run, boys significantly outperformed girls on the task. Results also revealed of a combination of both external and autonomous regulations. Despite indicators of an externally regulated environment, students provided evidence of autonomous regulation.
Analysing an Early Child Care Physical Literacy Program: A National (Australia) Rugby League Initiative
Author: Usher, Wayne T.
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Early Childhood Education,Physical Education,Literacy,Physical Activities,Team Sports,Program Effectiveness,Child Development,Well Being,Learner Engagement,Cognitive Ability,Skill Development

Early childhood (3 - 5 years) is a critical time for establishing healthy behaviours and attending to early areas of development associated around physical literacy (PL), social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) and cognitive skills (CS). Alarmingly, recent international research has identified that many young children do not display acceptable and appropriate PL standards. Given that PL, SEWB and CS are intrinsically linked, and with early childhood centres (ECC) ideally placed to foster the development of these important areas of development, it is reasonable to suggest that there is a need to implement PL programs that also focus on these areas of child development programs that go towards developing children's domains. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of the Munchkin Leagues Program (MLP) in promoting children's early years' development. Employing an interpretive qualitative study design (online and semi structured interviews), data were analysed in an attempt to determine the effectiveness of the MLP. Data were sorted using Creswell's (2008) thematic analysis techniques, whilst Leximancer software was further used to develop concepts and cross validate themes. Theorisation of findings was via adopting a lens of PL to further critically examine the suitability and impact of the MLP. A number of common themes were constructed from the study participants' (adults) recorded commentaries that went to support the research aim. Findings indicate that programs, such as the MLP, have a unique potential to deliver quality learning experiences and meet children's early years development within a PL framework.
Flexible Bayesian Models for Inferences from Coarsened, Group-Level Achievement Data
Author: Lockwood, J. R.
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Bayesian Statistics,Mathematical Models,Statistical Inference,Computation,Academic Achievement,Regression (Statistics),Maximum Likelihood Statistics,Monte Carlo Methods,Young Children,Longitudinal Studies

This article proposes a flexible extension of the Fay--Herriot model for making inferences from coarsened, group-level achievement data, for example, school-level data consisting of numbers of students falling into various ordinal performance categories. The model builds on the heteroskedastic ordered probit (HETOP) framework advocated by Reardon, Shear, Castellano, and Ho by allowing group parameters to be modeled with regressions on group-level covariates, and residuals modeled using the flexible exponential family of distributions recommended by Efron. We demonstrate that the alternative modeling framework, termed the &quot;Fay-Herriot heteroskedastic ordered probit&quot; (FH-HETOP) model, is useful for mitigating some of the challenges with direct maximum likelihood estimators from the HETOP model. We conduct a simulation study to compare the costs and benefits of several methods for using the FH-HETOP model to estimate group parameters and functions of them, including posterior means, constrained Bayes estimators, and the &quot;triple goal&quot; estimators of Shen and Louis. We also provide an application of the FH-HETOP model to math proficiency data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Code for estimating the FH-HETOP model and conducting supporting calculations is provided in a new package for the R environment.
Using Propensity Score Weighting to Reduce Selection Bias in Large-Scale Data Sets
Author: Bishop, Crystal D.
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Probability,Weighted Scores,Statistical Bias,Data Analysis,Early Intervention,Longitudinal Studies,Young Children,Computation,Quasiexperimental Design

Data sets from large-scale longitudinal surveys involving young children and families have become available for secondary analysis by researchers in a variety of fields. Researchers in early intervention have conducted secondary analyses of such data sets to explore relationships between nonmalleable and malleable factors and child outcomes, and to address issues of measurement. Survey data have been used to a lesser extent to examine plausible causal relationships between variables, perhaps due to the increased likelihood of selection bias that results with nonexperimental data. In this article, we use National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study data to demonstrate the use of inverse probability of treatment weighting, a quasi-experimental methodology based on propensity scores that can be used to reduce selection bias and examine plausible causal relationships. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this approach, and implications for its use in early intervention research.
The Motivational Roles of Heads of Department in Learners&apos; Performance and Quality of Schooling in South Africa
Author: Bipath, Keshi
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Department Heads,Academic Achievement,Educational Quality,Foreign Countries,Student Motivation,Instructional Leadership

Background: The Global Competitiveness report shows that the quality of primary education in South Africa ranks 132 out of 144 countries. Statistics released by the Department of Basic Education in South Africa reveal that the average mark for Grade 3 learners in the Annual National Assessment (ANA) was 35% for literacy and 28% for numeracy. Aim: We seek in this article to share the voices of the Foundation Phase heads of departments (HoDs) regarding their motivational roles and responsibilities in learner performance. We also aim to understand their role in tandem with other contributors, as well as all stakeholders in the Department of Basic Education who are responsible for teacher development and curriculum delivery. Setting: Ehlanzeni, Bohlabela, Gert Sibande and Nkangala in Mpumalanga. Methods: A quantitative research approach was used, where questionnaires were distributed to 274 Foundation Phase HoDs in all four districts in Mpumalanga. Results: The findings indicate that HoDs have a moderate perception of their responsibility in motivating learners; moreover, they do not recognise the role of parents as motivators of learners. They seem too busy teaching in their classrooms and lack the time and skill of supervising their subordinates and involving parents in the education tripod. The legislative framework (PAM document), it can be argued, does not allow sufficient time for HoDs to efficiently perform their tasks. Conclusion: Retraining of HoDs to work collaboratively with teachers and parents will enhance the quality of schooling offered in South Africa.
Demographic Variations in Achievement Goal Orienations among Prisoners on Formal and Vocational Training in Uganda
Author: Aheisibwe, Irene
Date: 2018-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Demography,Goal Orientation,Institutionalized Persons,Vocational Education,Correctional Education,Comparative Analysis,Foreign Countries

This study aimed at evaluating why, despite the introduction of free prison education, prisoners in Uganda have lower formal and vocational skills compared to the general population. The study was basically quantitative and a cross sectional survey design was used. The study population comprised eight hundred convicted adult male and female prisoners. Purposive sampling was used. Data were analyzed using descriptive, parametric and non-parametric statistics. The study found statistically non-significant differences in achievement goal orientations across all the demographics. The main conclusions include the need to: deepen prisoners' knowledge on setting various achievement goal orientations to help them in information acquisition and engagement in learning; support goal orientations equally regardless of age, gender, religion and level of education; and achievement goal orientations that allow academic social comparison among learners, which results into richer academic engagement. It is recommended that teachers/ instructors in prison education can use achievement goal orientations to improve prison education programme through measurement and evaluation of learning outcomes, choosing appropriate methods of instruction and instructional materials, and in helping learners to choose achievable and realistic goals. Therefore, achievement goal orientations greatly determine the extent to which education as rehabilitative strategy can be successful.
Using Structured Movement Educational Activities to Teach Mathematics and Language Concepts to Preschoolers
Author: Omidire, Margaret F.
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mathematics Instruction,Language Skills,Movement Education,Physical Activities,Preschool Children,Learning Activities,Foreign Countries,Mathematical Concepts,Preschool Teachers,Department Heads

Background: Physical activity is an important component of everyday life. Strong foundational skills of gross motor coordination are typically developed informally in young learners, providing a strong foundational base for movement skills. Research stipulates that there has been a decline in physical activity amongst preschool learners. Therefore, structured movement activities could potentially play a role in facilitating teaching and assessment in a school setting. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of structured educational activities to teach mathematics and language concepts. Setting: The study setting was a classroom of Grade R learners aged ±6 years old in Gauteng, South Africa. Methods: A qualitative exploratory case study design was used to explore the extent to which structured movement educational assessment activities can support the understanding of mathematics and language concepts. The participants included 20 Grade R learners, one class teacher and one head of department (HOD). The data were generated using observation of participants, analysis of worksheets, visual data and a semi-structured interview. Results: The findings of the study suggest that the integration of structured movement activities with mathematics and language concepts seems to impact positively preschool learners' physical, social and cognitive development. The value of qualitatively assessing preschool learners during active participation seemed to be favourable to understanding concepts or movement skill acquisition. Conclusion: The study concluded that movement experiences can inform preschool learners' understanding of mathematics and language concepts.
Disparate Understandings of the Nature, Purpose and Practices of Reflection in Teacher Education
Author: Robinson, Maureen
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reflection,Teacher Education,Foreign Countries,Teacher Educators,Student Teachers

Background: The concept of reflection is much used in teacher education in many parts of the world, including in South African teacher education policy. However, the notion of reflection is often loosely defined, with differing understandings of its nature, purpose and curriculum implications. Aim: This article explores how teacher educators and student teachers understood and implemented the notion of reflection in their teacher education programmes. Setting: The research took place as a multisite case study at four South African universities offering the Bachelor of Education (Foundation Phase). Methods: Interviews were conducted with 24 senior students and 8 teacher educators. Results: The study revealed disparate views by both teacher educators and student teachers of the nature, purpose and practices of reflective practice and largely tacit understandings of the role of reflection in teacher education. For most interviewees, the emphasis of reflection lay within a technical rational approach of improving teaching rather than a critical approach of locating education within a wider social context. Against the background of the many challenges in South African schooling, we argue that critical reflection is a means to encourage student teachers to become more independent and socially committed teachers. Conclusion: We present a case for the concept and practices of reflection to be more purposefully explored by teacher educators, thereby contributing towards continued agency and transformation in education.