Vol 15 no 3 march 2016 by ijlter.org

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching And Educational Research

Vol.15 No.3

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research is an open-access journal which has been established for the disChief Editor Dr. Antonio Silva Sprock, Universidad Central de semination of state-of-the-art knowledge in the Venezuela, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of field of education, learning and teaching. IJLTER welcomes research articles from academics, edEditorial Board ucators, teachers, trainers and other practitionProf. Cecilia Junio Sabio ers on all aspects of education to publish high Prof. Judith Serah K. Achoka quality peer-reviewed papers. Papers for publiProf. Mojeed Kolawole Akinsola Dr Jonathan Glazzard cation in the International Journal of Learning, Dr Marius Costel Esi Teaching and Educational Research are selected Dr Katarzyna Peoples through precise peer-review to ensure quality, Dr Christopher David Thompson originality, appropriateness, significance and Dr Arif Sikander readability. Authors are solicited to contribute Dr Jelena Zascerinska to this journal by submitting articles that illusDr Gabor Kiss trate research results, projects, original surveys Dr Trish Julie Rooney Dr Esteban Vázquez-Cano and case studies that describe significant adDr Barry Chametzky vances in the fields of education, training, eDr Giorgio Poletti learning, etc. Authors are invited to submit paDr Chi Man Tsui pers to this journal through the ONLINE submisDr Alexander Franco sion system. Submissions must be original and Dr Habil Beata Stachowiak should not have been published previously or Dr Afsaneh Sharif be under consideration for publication while Dr Ronel Callaghan Dr Haim Shaked being evaluated by IJLTER. Dr Edith Uzoma Umeh Dr Amel Thafer Alshehry Dr Gail Dianna Caruth Dr Menelaos Emmanouel Sarris Dr Anabelie Villa Valdez Dr Özcan Özyurt Assistant Professor Dr Selma Kara Associate Professor Dr Habila Elisha Zuya

VOLUME 15

NUMBER 3

March 2016

Table of Contents Botswana Early Childhood Educators‟ Perceptions on Factors associated with the Inclusion of Children with Disabilities .............................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Mrs. Simmi Chhabra, Prof. Kabita Bose and Prof. Neerja Chadha Curriculum Development of Environmental Education Based on Local Wisdom at Elementary School ................ 20 Afakhrul Masub Bakhtiar Semi-Quantitative Analysis of how the Preambles in Ordinances are designed: Observing the Change of People’s Motivation towards “Inheritance” after the Great East Japan Earthquake ................................................................... 29 Noriko Kurata, Yuko Kurata and Masakazu Ohashi Brief Multisensory Training Enhances Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition in Both High and Low Performers ............................................................................................................................................................................. 42 Manuela Macedonia and Claudia Repetto EFL Reading Achievement: Impact of Gender and Self-efficacy Beliefs ...................................................................... 54 Hania Al Khamisi, Thuwayba Al Barwani, Abdo Al Mekhlafi and Mohamed Osman The Effect of Cultural and Linguistic Background on the Relationships of Pupils in two Kindergartens in Greece ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 74 Aspasia Markaki, Argyris Kyridis and Zoi Ziontaki Assessment of Adequacy and Availability of Human and Material Resources for the Implementation of the Nigeria New Senior Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum ............................................................................... 102 Benson Adesina Adegoke and Frederick Ebimobowei Mefun Effectiveness of using Microteaching and Thinking style to Develop Teaching Skills in Arab Open University Jordan Branch ..................................................................................................................................................................... 118 Al-Takhyneh Bahjat Why Historical Thinking Skills was not there? .............................................................................................................. 134 Rosy Talin

Citizenship Education in Colleges of Education in Ghana: A Preliminary Study into Social Studies Tutors‟ and Trainees‟ Understanding ................................................................................................................................................... 143 Boadu, Kankam The Effectiveness of Instructional Strategies Employed at Large Class Setting of the Four Selected Universities of Ethiopia ................................................................................................................................................................................ 161 Meshesha Make Jobo Seven Motivating Conceptions of Learning of Tertiary Students ................................................................................ 173 Terry Bowles and John Hattie The Right to Information: Library Services and Disability at Tertiary and University Libraries in Masvingo Urban in Zimbabwe ....................................................................................................................................................................... 191 Tofara Rugara, Shadreck Ndinde and Webster Kadodo Student Attentive State Data Accumulation for Attention Tracker Development..................................................... 204 Chi-Jen Lin Antecedents of Students‘ Self-Regulatory Strength in Technology-Rich School Environments .............................. 218 Thomas Arnesen, Knut-Andreas Christophersen and Eyvind Elstad Using the “ARIADNE” Interest Questionnaire to Assess Cypriot Adolescents‟ Career Interests .......................... 242 Despina Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou and Nikos Drosos Gender and other Determinants of Undergraduate Student Satisfaction in STEM .................................................. 256 Ossama Elhadary

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 1-19, March 2016

Botswana Early Childhood Educators‟ Perceptions on Factors associated with the Inclusion of Children with Disabilities Mrs. Simmi Chhabra M.Sc (Child Development) Tonota College of Education, Tonota, Botswana Prof. Kabita Bose PhD (Education) Department of Primary Education, Faculty of Education, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana Prof. Neerja Chadha PhD in Child Development School of Continuing Education, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, India Abstract. The study examines the perception of Early Childhood Educators‟ (ECEds) on factors associated with the inclusion of children with disabilities in Early Childhood Education (ECE) settings in Botswana. ECEds (128) completed a Support Scale for Preschool Inclusion (SSPI) to air their views regarding the necessary/available factors for the inclusion of Children With Disabilities (CWD) in ECE settings. Findings of the study revealed that factors like principal support, family involvement, appropriate materials, peer acceptance of CWD, knowledge and skills about curriculum adaptation/ implementation, promoting positive interaction among children, positive attitudes of school personnel for inclusion, and a few others were considered necessary by ECDs; believed that most of them were not available in ECE settings; and in-service training, extra time for collaboration and reduced class size were least available. The findings suggested professional development of ECEds along with additional in service training necessary for successful inclusion of young CWD in ECE settings of Botswana. Keywords: Inclusion, Early Childhood Education, Children with disabilities, Inclusive Education, Botswana

Introduction In the last two or three decades, inclusion of Children With Disabilities (CWD) has become a universal social approach that encourages all to build societies that grow and rejoice in everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x;s successes (Booth, Ainscow & Kingston, 2006). This rationale is based on the disability rights movement (Bailey, McWilliam, Buysse & Wesley, 1998) which started in mid-20th century and supported the ethical and philosophical rights of various people with different abilities to participate in the variety of day-to-day tasks. This movement included all children with right to participate in educational settings, together with children without disabilities, which was called as mainstreaming/integration. The terms integration and mainstreaming are identical, indicating to the placement of a CWD into an ordinary school environment (Yuen & Westwood, 2001). The CWD are given some additional support to participate in the classroom activities, but the purpose is to create the situation where children with disabilities have to adjust according to the program (Chhabra, Srivastava & Srivastav, 2010). In the beginning of 1990, the notion of inclusion gained popularity and referred to the rights of CWD who could take part in mainstream educational settings with other children (Guralnick, 2001; Odom & Diamond, 1998). The Salamanca Framework for Action (UNESCO, 1994) adopted at the United Nations Conference on special education emphasizes the urgency of the new emerging trend of inclusive schooling which has brought challenges for education system to adapt itself to the needs of children rather than expecting them to make compromises. Inclusion is about fitting programs to accommodate the individual needs of all children. It suggests that curriculum, instructional practice and resources must be accustomed fairly so that all children, regardless of capability, can successfully be involved in the regular learning programs (Mittler, 1995). The expanding paradigm of inclusion refers to the community, where the entire population of children can have the right to take part in a mainstream educational setting, and be respected as a part of that program as well (Carrington, 2007). The overall goal of inclusion is to prepare CWD for life outside of the school setting (NAEYC/DEC, 1993). Likewise, for preschool age children, inclusive practices should assist the prolific involvement in the community (Odom, 2000). CWD have the right to be a part of mainstream education from the early childhood level and it is the responsibility of the regular schools and Early Childhood Educators (ECEds) to provide this education. Current research supports inclusion of children with various disabilities in the mainstream settings (Odom, Buysee, & Soukakou, 2011). Young CWD exhibited better social skills and academic success when they are participating in inclusive early childhood setting (Koegal, Fredeen, Lang & Koegal, 2011). On the other hand, children without disabilities in ECE settings become more responsive to the needs of others, show more acceptances of differences, may develop friendship with and feel less discomfort around people with disabilities (Peck, Carlson, & Helmstetter, 1992; Odom, Zercher, Li, Marquart, & Sandal, 2006). In addition, it appears that the involvement of

children without disabilities in inclusive settings may positively affect their knowledge and attitudes about disabilities (Diamond & Huang, 2005).

Inclusion of CWD in Botswana According to Abosi (2000), in Botswana, the education of CWD began about 40 years ago and was started by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO). In this country, the inclusion of CWD in mainstream education was believed to include all children irrespective of their capability; to provide them with the same right to be educated; and to be a part of the mainstream educational setting. This commitment of enhancing access and equal right for education has been highlighted in the current policy on inclusive education (Mukhopadhyay, 2014). In position with the global trend of inclusion, an all-encompassing policy document on inclusion of CWD in the education settings has been developed in 2011. The Inclusive Education policy has five goals will be achieved through ten statements of commitment. These goals emphasised the childrens‟ completion of basic education, teachers‟ possession of necessary skills, and provision of resources, informal educational settings, and supportive and harmonious environment in various categories of schools (Republic of Botswana, 2011; Mukhopadhyay, 2013). In Inclusive Education policy, one of the commitment statements specifically caters to children with disabilities (Republic of Botswana, 2011). Children with special needs will be encouraged and supported to attend school and benefit from their attendance. (p. 12) This commitment encourages the school staff to maintain a good inclusive environment for all children and to liaise with children‟s parents regularly (Republic of Botswana, 2011). It is anticipated that after the implementation of this policy, the number of children with different abilities in a classroom will continually increase and therefore, it is imperative to make sure that all educators are prepared with necessary information and services to cater for the developmental and educational requirements of CWD.

Teachers’ Views on Factors Associated with Inclusion in Early Childhood Education (ECE) Settings Previous research studies conducted in other countries have examined factors of inclusion (e.g. teachers‟ knowledge, administrative support, resources, and materials) for the successful inclusion of CWD in Early Childhood Education (ECE) setting. Many researchers have indicated that teachers lack awareness, training, expertise, readiness, capabilities and self-assurance that are required to provide beneficial and suitable instruction to meet the needs of all children in the ECE settings (McLeskey & Waldron, 2002; Paterson, 2007; Sadler, 2005). In Bruns‟ and Mogharreben‟s (2008) study, teachers in Head Start settings reported that they possessed general skills to encourage the learning of

all children but were less confident about their skills to carry out specialised practices associated with special education like implementing Individual Educational Plan (IEP) goals and objectives or supporting children to use alternative forms of communication. Moreover, teacher training is constantly reported by many researchers as one of the most important factors in meeting the individual requirements of all children in an inclusive programme (Mulvihill, Shear, & Vanhorn 2002). Furthermore, many researchers have discovered other factors that were observed by educator as necessary factors for the effective inclusion of young children with disabilities in ECE settings. Results suggested that in-service training, availability of resources (Avramidis, Bayliss, & Burden, 2000), adequate staffing (Kucuker, Acarlar, & Kapci, 2006; McConkey & Bhlirgri, 2003), administrative or principal support (Kucker Acarlar, & Kapci, 2006; Proctor & Nieymar, 2001) and support from professionals (Hammond & Ingalls, 2003) are vital in the implementation of effective inclusion of children with disabilities in the inclusive classroom. Hughes and Valle-Riestra (2007) in their study reported about the desirable (necessary) and feasible (available) factors as perceived by the kindergarten teachers. They reported that many kindergarten educators were not prepared with the expertise and professional skills for the inclusion of CWD in educational settings in inclusive classrooms. They expressed that the necessity for implementing the instructional practice was much more than the available factors for inclusion in the classroom.

Teachers’ Views on Inclusion of CWD in ECE Settings of Botswana In Botswana, research on inclusion of CWD in preschool is scarce. Previous researches in Botswana indicate that educators do not have positive attitudes towards inclusion and are concerned about inadequate equipment, large class size, inadequate training, and lack of resources in the implementation of successful inclusion in school. They also pointed out that educators play a very important role in the inclusion of CWD. However, most of these researches focussed on primary & secondary teachers‟ perceptions and did not include the views of early childhood educators‟ for the inclusion of young CWD in early childhood schools (Brandon 2006; Mangope, Kuyini, & Major, 2012; Mukhopadhyay, 2013). The aim of this research is to find the opinions of Early Childhood Educators (ECEds) regarding the factors that are necessary and available for the implementation of inclusion in the ECE settings of Botswana in order to draw meaningful implications for future practices in ECE settings that are likely to promote successful inclusion of preschool CWD at the field level. The information provided by these ECEds can enlighten the professionals about the factors that are necessary and available for the inclusion of CWD. The findings may assist in determining the types of professional opportunities ECEds may be provided with to benefit from, and to improve the learning experiences of CWD in ECE settings. The authors used the following two research objectives to guide the focus of the study:

1) To examine the early childhood educators‟ perception of the necessary factors for the successful inclusion of CWD 2) To investigate the early childhood educators‟ perception of the factors that are available for the successful inclusion of CWD.

Method Research Design In this study, the positivist research paradigm was utilised. The research design employed for this study was quantitative, using survey methodology to systematically collect data from a sample of Early Childhood Educators (ECEds). The survey methodology allows the researcher to use questionnaire as the main method of attaining information from a particular sample so that inferences can be made about characteristics or perceptions of the actual population (Dillman, 2000). The questionnaires are efficient to distribute when sampling multiple sites in multiple states. This study was conducted in the Republic of Botswana at two selected settings, namely, Gaborone and Francistown area, the largest cities of Botswana, located in the southern and Northern part of the country. The Gaborone region was selected as this is the capital of Botswana and is located at southeast district whereas Francistown is the second largest city and is often described as the “Capital of North”. The other reason for selecting these two regions is that they have highest concentration of varied types of ECE settings (Gaborone and Francistown Day Care Directory, 2011)

Participants The purposive sampling was utilized to select the ECEds from the inclusive ECE settings in the two regions (Gaborone and Francistown). There were 133 ECE settings in that region and from that population, 34 inclusive ECE settings existed and were all selected (27 Gaborone and 7 Francistown). One hundred twenty eight (128) early childhood educators participated in the survey.

Instrument A questionnaire was used to gather data from participants. The first section of the questionnaire was aimed to gather general, educational and professional experience of the participants. This section had included the gender, age, role in the class, educational qualifications, teaching experience, training focusing on CWD, family member with a disability, close friend with a disability, child with a disability in class and total number of children in the class. The second section of the questionnaire, Support Scale for Pre-school Inclusion (SSPI) developed by Küçüker, Sevgi; Acarlar, Funda; Kapci, Emine (2006), contained 34 items and is designed to assess the educators‟ views of factors which are essential and accessible for inclusion of CWD. The educators were supposed to provide their views in each item for two dimensions, i.e, necessary and available, by rating on a four-point Likert-Scale, from 1-4, where 1 stands for Not at all and 4 stands for To a great extent. The participants required

to indicate the necessity for successful inclusion followed by availably of items. The reliability of Cronbach Coefficient Alpha for necessary and available dimension was very high (.96 and .97 respectively). Data Analysis The response of the participants from the questionnaire was first coded and then analysed quantitatively by using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Descriptive analysis and inferential statistical techniques were used to analyse the response from the questionnaires. The analysis included Mean Score, Total Mean Score T-Test and One-Way (ANOVA) test of both the dimensions.

Results One hundred twenty eight (128) early childhood educators‟ (ECEds) completed questionnaires for the study. The majority (93.8%) of the early childhood educators‟ was female and 6.2% was male. Teachers‟ age ranged from 19 years to 50 years. There were 33 teachers (25.8%) in the 19-29 years. The 30-39 years and 40-49 years age groups together consisted of 82 teachers, representing 64.1% of the teachers who responded. The smallest group was the 41-50 years age group that consisted of thirteen teachers, representing 10.1% of teachers who responded. The majority, 88 participants (68.75%) held teacher position whereas 40 respondents (31.25%) were teacher assistant. Approximately 30.5% of the ECEds had certificate in ECE whereas 35.9% reported having Diploma in Primary Education followed by 17.23% having Bachelor degree. The educators had teaching experience ranging from 2 months to 30 years suggesting that almost half of the respondents (47.7%) had upto 5 years of teaching experience followed by 33 respondents who had teaching experience of 6-10 years representing 25.78% of the sample. The majority, 106 respondents (82.8%) had no training while only 22 respondents (17.2%) had some prior training focussing on the education of children with disabilities. The majority, 67.2% respondents had no family member with a disability followed by 32.8% of respondents who had family member with a disability. Almost half of the respondents, 47.7% had either one or two CWD along with other children in the classroom. Approximately half of the respondents (47.7%) indicated total numbers of children including CWD were 21-25, and one fourth of participants (25.0%) reported that they had 26-32 total numbers of children in their classroom (Table 1).

Table 1 Demographic Information of Early Childhood Educators (ECEds) Demographic Characteristics Gender

Frequency Male Female

Percentage 8(6.3) 120(93.8)

Age

19-29 30-39 40-49 Above 50

33(25.8) 42(32.8) 40(31.3) 13(10.2)

Role

Teacher Teacher Assistant

88(68.8) 46(31.3)

Educational Qualifications

Bachelor Diploma Certificate BGCSE CJSS

22(17.2) 46(35.9) 39(30.5) 12(9.4) 9(7.0)

Number of years of Teaching Experience

0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 Above 21

61(47.7) 33(25.8) 15(11.7) 14(10.9) 5(3.9)

Training focussing on the education of Yes CWD No

22(17.2) 106(82.8)

Family member with a disability

Yes No

42(32.8) 86(67.2)

Close friend with a disability

Yes No

35(29.3) 85(70.8)

Child with a disability in a class

Yes No

61(47.7) 67(52.3)

Number of children in a class

6-10 11.15 16-20 21-25 26-30

1(8.0) 3(2.3) 31(24.2) 61(47.7) 32(25.0)

Figures in parenthesis indicate percentages

The findings from the analysis of the survey data provide evidence of the early childhood educatorsâ&#x20AC;&#x; perceptions of the necessary and available inclusion factors. Scores generated from the necessary factors and available factors were used as the dependent variables whereas age, role, educational qualifications, teaching experience, family member with a disability, close friend with a

disability and child with a disability were used as independent variables. Mean, Standard deviation, t-test and one way of analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilised to find out the difference between variables. Post hoc was also done to see the difference in the categories of the significant variables. Early Childhood Educators Perceived Necessary Factors In order to measure the necessary factors for the inclusion of CWD, the Participants (ECEds) rated how necessary the 34 inclusion items/factors were for the involvement of CWD in their early childhood classrooms. The results of the study revealed that all items/factors in necessary dimension had total mean score of above 3, suggesting that ECEds perceived all items to be somewhat necessary for the inclusion of CWD in ECE settings. The participants view the principal‟s support (3.78), family support (3.68), appropriate material (3.68), appropriate materials for CWD (3.68), and peer social acceptance of CWD (3.64%) as the most necessary factors for the inclusion of children with disabilities in their classrooms. They all believe that principal, family support and peer social acceptance is necessary for the inclusion in school. The least necessary factors were opportunities to attend meetings (3.39), written information on needed areas of inclusion (3.39), followed by technological equipment to support education of CWD (3.40). Table 2 displays the most and least necessary factors as perceived by ECEds. Table 2 Most and Least Necessary Factors for Early Childhood Educators Most Necessary factors Mean(SD) Least Necessary Factors Support From School Principals‟ 3.78(0.55) Opportunities to attend meetings, for Children with Disabilities conferences etc. (CWD) Family Involvement of CWD 3.68(0.70) Written Information on needed areas Appropriate materials for CWD 3.68(0.70) Technological equipment to support education of CWD Peer Social Acceptance of CWD 3.64(0.72) Volunteers in Classroom Knowledge and Skill about 3.63(0.69) Extra time for Collaboration with Curriculum adaptation & professionals/families/personnel Implementation Knowledge and Skill about 3.60(0.72) Regular meetings with families & promoting positive interaction specialist about CWD among all children Positive attitude of school 3.59(0.66) Appreciation of other in personnel towards inclusion workplace

Mean(SD) 3.39(0.95)

3.39(0.88) 3.40(0.87) 3.41(0.85) 3.42(0.87)

3.43(0.94)

3.43(0.85)

One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test was used to examine the significance of the perception of early childhood educators on the „needs‟ or „necessary‟ dimension for the inclusion of children with disabilities in ECE settings. One Way ANOVA and t test showed that there are statistically significant differences in the necessary dimension for the participants (ECEds) characterised by their role in the class, educational qualifications, teaching experience, training focusing on CWD, having a close friend with a disability and

having a child with a disability in the classroom. The non-significant factors were respondent‟s gender, age and total number of children in the class (Table 3). Table 3 Means, Standard Deviation, t/F-test of Necessary Factors across Early Childhood Educators Demographic variables N SD t/F Variables Mean Sig (p) Gender t=.630 Male 8(6.3) 3.65 .409 .530 Female 120(93.7) 3.53 .533 Age F= 1.276 19-29 33(25.8) 3.47 .588 .286 30-39 42(32.8) 3.46 .570 40-49 40(31.3) 3.59 .465 Above 50 13(10.2) 3.74 .321 Role t = 9.874 Teacher 88(68.8) 3.63 .434 002** Teacher Assistant46(31.3) 3.32 .644 Educational Qualifications Bachelor 22(17.2) 3.66 .483 F =3.161 .016* Diploma 46(35.9) 3.64 .409 Certificate 39(30.5) 3.49 .563 BGCSE 12(9.4) 3.37 .656 CJSS 9(7.0) 3.06 .577 Teaching Experience on this job

0-5 years 6-10 years 11-15 years 16-20 years Above 21

Training focussing on the education of CWD Yes No Family member with a disability Yes No Close friend with a disability Yes No Child with a disability in a class Yes No Number of children in a class 6-10 11.15 16-20 21-25 26-30

* p<.05 **p<.01

61(47.7) 33(25.8) 15(11.7) 14(10.9) 5(3.9)

3.37 3.59 3.79 3.75 3.71

.60 .491 .271 .241 .410

F =3.405

011*

22(17.2) 106(82.8)

3.82 3.47

.286 .547

t =2.91

.004*

42(32.8) 86(67.2)

3.56 3.52

.530 .528

t = .421

.074

35(27.3) 93(72.7)

3.68 3.48

.408 .556

t = 1.97

.051

61(47.7) 67(52.3)

3.67 3.41

.422 .582

t = 2.82

.005**

1(8.0) 3(2.3) 31(24.2) 61(47.7) 32(25.0)

3.71 3.69 3.58 3.50 3.50

F= .491

.742

.136 .494 .481 .655

Figures in parenthesis indicate percentages

The data presented in Table 3 shows a significant variance of educators‟ views that held a position of teacher and teacher assistant (p< 0.05) on total mean

scores of all of the items in the necessary dimensions. The participants who held a position of teacher had slightly higher mean score (n = 88, M= 3.63) than participants with a role of teacher assistant (n = 40, M = 3.32). Similarly there was a significant influence of education of participants on total mean scores of all of the items in the necessary dimension [F (1, 126) = 3.161, p < .01]. The post hoc test (Table 4) showed that the participants with a junior school certificate had a significantly lower mean score (n=9, M= 3.06) than participants with a bachelors‟ degree (Mean difference =.601, p = .028) and those with diploma (Mean difference = .577, p = .019). Likewise, the teaching experience of participants [F (5, 122) = 3.405, p < .05] also had an effect on the total mean scores of items in the necessary dimensions. Post hoc comparison indicates that participants with 0–5 years of teaching experience differ significantly at p < .05 with participants of 11 -15 years of teaching experience (Mean difference = -.419, p =.038). However, it should be added that all five groups of educators with different years of teaching experience observed the factors as quite necessary for inclusion of CWD (Table 4). Table 4 Post hoc comparison of Necessary score on the basis of highest degree, teaching experience in teaching CWD Variable Highest Degree

Mean difference CJSS

Number of Years of Teaching 0–5 Experience

Bachelor Diploma Certificate BGCSE

-.60086 -.57744 .42658 -.30972

6 – 10 11- 15 years 16 -20 Above 21years

-.21805 -.41963 -.37872 -.33430

Sig (p) . .028. .019* .169. .642 . 278 038* .093 .618

*Indicates a significance at the p<.05 There was significant difference in the necessary dimensions for the participants who had Training focussing on the education of CWD [t (126) = 2.91, p < 0.5] and child with a disability in the class [t (126) = 2.82, p < .05). However there was no significant difference in the total mean scores of the participants‟ age [F (3, 124) = 1.276, p = 0.286), gender [F (1, 126) = 0.396, p = 0.530), family member with a disability [F (1, 126) = 0.421, p = 0.674) and close friend with a disability [F (1, 126) = 1.97, p = .051). The results are depicted in Table 3. This means that participants with role as a teacher and with a qualification of diploma and training focussed on education of CWD perceived the factors more necessary as compared to the participants who are teacher assistant who had only school level of education and no training on the education of CWD. This result shows that for the implementation of inclusion of CWD in ECE settings in Botswana, educators have to be qualified, knowledgeable, experienced and trained to deal specifically with the CWD in the ECE settings. Overall, the ECEds perceived

that all of the inclusion factors were highly necessary for effective inclusion of CWD in ECE settings.

Early Childhood Educators Perceived Available factors The data presented in Table 5 shows participants‟ views about the available factors needed for inclusion of CWD on the SSPI. The early childhood educators rated how available/accessible each of the 34 inclusion factors. It can be observed from the Table 5 that most available items‟ (34 items) mean scores are below 3 indicating that educators perceived availability level of support was less for the inclusion of CWD in ECE settings. The most available support from the educators‟ point of view are as principals‟ support (3.14) followed by the positive attitudes of school personnel towards inclusion and peer social acceptance of CWD (2.98), whereas the reduced class size (2.19), extra time for collaboration with professionals (2.26) and the written information on the needed area of inclusion (2.26) were the least available support factors for inclusion of CWD in the ECE settings (Table 5). The results of the study shows that the total mean score of all the items was 2.65 for the available support dimensions, which ranges between very little available and somewhat available of the inclusion factor. Table 5 Most and Least Available Factors for Early Childhood Educators Most Available factors Mean(SD) Least available Factors Mean(SD) Support From School Principals‟ 3.14(0.82) Reduced class size 2.19(1.22) for Children with Disabilities (CWD) Positive attitude of school personnel 2.98(0.88) Extra time for Collaboration with 2.26(0.99) towards inclusion professionals/families/personnel Peer Social Acceptance of CWD 2.98(0.96) Written information on needed areas2.26(1.10) Family Involvement of CWD 2.90(0.97) In-service training in needed areas of 2.30(1.17) inclusion Positive attitudes of families of Children2.85(0.90) Volunteers in Classroom 2.34(1.13) without disabilities Knowledge and Skill about 2.85(0.92) Training for school Personnel 2.36(1.14) communicating with families fostering positive attitudes Knowledge and skills about 2.84(0.93) Opportunities to attend meetings, 2.41(1.12) Promoting positive interaction among conference etc. all children

One way ANOVA and T-tests (Table 6) displayed no statistically significant variances in the available dimension for most of the participant characteristics including gender, age, teacher role, level of education, teaching practice, training focusing on education of CWD, family member with a disability, close friend with a disability, child with a disability in the class and number of children in class. It shows that the views of all early childhood educators were more or less same when it comes to availability of factors for the inclusion. Overall, the ECEds perceived that most of the inclusion factors were

somewhat available or available very little with mean score over 2.19 for each survey item. Table 6 Means, Standard Deviation, t or F-test of Available Factors across Early Childhood Educators Demographic variables N

t/F

Sig (p)

2.54 2.61

.714 .724

t = .-.275

.784

33(25.8) 42(32.8) 40(31.3) 13(10.2)

2.64 2.61 2.50 2.85

. .850 .709 .710 .430

F= .785

.505

Teacher 88(68.8) Teacher Assistant46(31.3)

2.62 2.59

.678 .825

t = .261

794

Bachelor Diploma Certificate BGCSE CJSS

22(17.2) 46(35.9) 39(30.5) 12(9.4) 9(7.0)

2.43 2.58 2.68 2.54 2.93

.663 .681 .772 .817 .707

F =.920

.655

0-5 years 6-10 years 11-15 years 16-20 years Above 21

61(47.7) 33(25.8) 15(11.7) 14(10.9) 5(3.9)

2.66 2.75 2.46 2.45 1.86

.774 .670 .705 .530 .460

F = 1.67

146

22(17.2) 106(82.8)

2.81 2.57

.618 .736

t = 1.46

.146

42(32.8) 86(67.2)

2.73 2.55

.741 .707

t = 1.38

.170

35(27.3) 93(72.7)

2.68 2.58

.729 .720

t = .751

.478

61(47.7) 67(52.3)

2.61 2.61

.734 .715

t = .027

.979

1(8.0) 3(2.3) 31(24.2) 61(47.7) 32(25.0)

3.71 2.63 2.55 2.66 2.53

F= .790

.534

Variables Gender Male Female

8(6.3) 120(93.7)

Mean

Age 19-29 30-39 40-49 Above 50 Role

Educational Qualifications

Teaching Experience on this job

* p<.05 Figures in parenthesis indicate percentages

1.02 .810 .671 .708

In this study, the comparisons of the necessary factor and available factors for the mean score of all the items were conducted to identify the relationship between the participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x; perceived necessary factors and their perceptions of the degree to which those factors were available to them in their classroom settings. The greatest difference between the total mean score of necessary and available dimensions was 1.26 (reduced class size) and 1.25 (inservice training in the needed areas of inclusion) indicating a higher overall level of perceived inclusion necessity than available support. The smallest difference was 0.61 (positive attitude of school personal towards inclusion) and 0.64 (support from school principal) demonstrating that participants perceived this as the necessary factor as well as available support factor for the inclusion of CWD. The total mean score of all factors/items in the necessary dimension (3.53), and the total mean score of all of the items in the available dimension (2.61). Thus the difference was 0.92, which signifies that the participants observed the less availability of the inclusion factors as compared to necessary ones for involvement of CWDs in classrooms.

Discussion The research study examines the views of ECEds concerning the factors that are necessary and available for the effective inclusion of CWD in the ECE settings in Botswana. The implication from the analysis of survey data from a sample of 128 ECEds related to the necessary and available factors are presented. The two main findings emerge from the analysis: (1) the ECEds identified a large number of necessary factors for successful inclusion of CWD and (2) they perceived that availability of inclusion factors was less as compared to necessary inclusion factors. As per the findings of this study, it is urgent to give more attention to the ECE settings and the inclusion of CWD. The inclusion of young CWD in ECE settings is a relatively new idea to principal, parents and ECDs in Botswana; although education policy of Botswana (Republic of Botswana, 1994; 2001) suggested that as far as possible CWD must be included in the mainstream ECE settings along with the peers without disabilities. The findings from the present study suggests that principalsâ&#x20AC;&#x; support, family support and appropriate material needed for teaching in class are the most necessary factors for the inclusion of CWD in inclusive class as perceived by ECEd. The finding was consistent with Villa and Thousand (2003) and Leatherman (2007) where principal support was observed as important for the inclusion of CWD in school. Researchers reported a significant role of parents/families involvement as a key contributing factor that encourages positive results in teaching young CWD in inclusive ECE program (Anderson & Mike, 2007; Bronfrenbrenner, 1979: Levy, Kim & Olive, 2006). In this study, significant differences were found about the perceptions of necessary factors among educators who had position of teacher than those with

a position of teacher assistant. Similarly significant differences were also found between educators who had diploma qualification than those with school qualifications and with educators who had teaching experience of 11-15 years than those with less teaching experience. These educators must have attended some course on education of CWD and maybe about inclusive practices at their diploma level than those with school qualifications. The findings of this research resonate well with the results of Kucker, Acarlar, and Kapci (2006) study. The ECEds perceived high level of necessary inclusion factors were corroborated in the early childhood inclusion research. Similar findings were observed in the studies by Huges & Viella-Riestra (2007) and Vaughan, Reiss, Rothlein and Hughes (1999) where kindergarten teachers observed the instructional practice as being highly necessary (mean score of 4.96 out of 5) to implement in the inclusive early childhood classroom. Mulvihill, Shearer and Horn (2002) also found the same results where they discover that participants‟ perceptions of inclusion related requirements ranked several items like additional staff, special equipment, more training as highly necessary for the successful inclusion of CWD in child care programs. The study revealed that the most available factors that are perceived by ECEds are support from principal, positive attitudes of school personnel, peer social acceptance and family involvement of CWD. Many researchers (Dagnew, 2013; Ross-hill, 2009; Soodak, Podell, & Lehman, 1998) in their study reported that teachers consider the support of the principal and other school leaders critical for the implementation of inclusion in the schools. Similar finding was evident in the present study as the ECEds believe that principal support is available to them for meeting the educational and social needs of all children in the school. The ECEds in present study identified peer social acceptance of CWD as one of the available factor for the inclusion of young CWD in their inclusive school. The inclusion literature also supports the importance of a positive social climate as part of a constructive classroom environment that supports successful inclusion. David and Kuyinin (2012) in their study mentioned that peer social acceptance of the CWD in the inclusive school is one of the important factor to nurture self-esteem and improved e for CWD. The other available factor recognized by the ECEds was the family involvement of CWD. Many studies have established that family involvement assist children‟s success in inclusive educational settings and improves developmental outcomes for children with and without disabilities (Levy, Kim, & Olive, 2006; Salend, 2006). The least available factors for inclusion of CWD as identified by ECEds were reduced class size, extra collaboration with professional and in-service training in the desired areas of inclusion. Mukhopadhyay (2013) in his study found that primary teachers in Botswana are concerned about the pragmatic factors such as large class size, insufficient training and lack of support that are considered to pose major obstacles to partnership and execution of inclusion at primary schools. Similar trend was observed in Early Childhood education (ECE) centres in the present study. Many researchers (Soodak, Podell, & Lehman, 1998; Korkmaz, 2011) also established that educators should be provided

opportunities to collaborate with personnel as it may compensate their personal insecurities for the successful implementation of inclusion The study revealed that views of all ECEds were same for the availability of inclusion factors as no statistically significant difference was found in most of the participants‟ responses. The findings of study also suggest the nonavailability of inclusion factors for the effective results of including CWD in the inclusive educational settings as perceived by the ECEds. These findings are consistent with the author of Support Scale for Preschool Inclusion (SSPI) measure (Kucker, Acarlar & Kapei, 2006) who similarly established that study participants identified both a high level of inclusion needs and that they perceived that various inclusion factors were needed and most of the factors were unavailable for the inclusion of CWD in classrooms. The ECEds in the present study viewed principal support, family involvement of CWD, and positive attitudes of school personnel as factors that are both necessary and available to them for the successful inclusion of CWD. This might serve as foundation for getting the support and building the professional development expertise of ECEds for meeting the needs of CWD. These factors have in common the focus in creating the good atmosphere where CWD are served as the respected members of classroom and provided the support for optimal social and behavioural development. Further, when the difference between the total mean scores of items of necessary factors (3.53) and available factors (2.61) was compared, reduced class size, in service training of the educators and collaborations with professionals were perceived as the highly necessary and less available factors to the educators. Therefore, it is essential that administrator should motivate the collaboration with educators and professionals for the inclusion of CWD in inclusive ECE settings. Similar findings were observed in Akalin, Demir, Sucuoğlu, Bakkaloğlu, and Iscen, (2014) study where preschool teachers reported class size, in service training and collaboration with professionals as important factors in the successful implementation of inclusion in the preschool. Thus, it may also be implied that the less availability of inclusion factors, reported in the present sample may be linked to the point that inclusion is a new concept that is emerging in Botswana, especially in ECE sector and more emphasis should be given to the availability of inclusion factors by all the stakeholders in the ECE settings.

Conclusion This study aimed to find out the factors/items that are necessary and available for the successful inclusion of CWD in ECE settings of Botswana. The ECEds from the inclusive ECE settings participated in this study. The study confirms that the educators identified the necessary factors; but in reality, the availability of these factors are scarce in the early childhood settings in Botswana. The ECEds were concerned with the non-availability of in service training and collaboration with the professional in implementing successful inclusion in the ECE settings. The additional inclusion factors should be made available to the educators for the implementation of inclusion in ECE settings. The key inclusion factors that are

most needed by the ECEds are professional development to increase their knowledge and skills in teaching CWD in inclusive settings. Therefore, active involvement of all stakeholders (educators, school administration & parents) and positive interaction between the multi educational system especially at micro, meso and macro system (the child with a disability, classroom & level of school support) are important for the successful inclusion of CWD in ECE settings in Botswana The findings of this study have several implications. The present research suggests that ECEds in Botswana perceived non-availability of a number of factors necessary for the inclusion of CWDs. Hence, it is essential that administrators should emphasise more on the provision of materials, resources, support services and conducive learning environment for the CWDs in the inclusive educational settings. The ECEds are very important stake holders, and their training must be emphasised for inclusion CWDs in early childhood settings in Botswana. Therefore, the MoESD and NGOs should take initiative in organising workshops (pre-service and in-service) for ECEds that address the knowledge and development of skills necessary to accommodate the needs of CWD in inclusive ECE settings. The MoESD should devise strategies to incorporate ECE into basic education so that more children especially CWD can have access to ECE. Furthermore, there is need to monitor the policy implementation and effectiveness of ECE programs for all children. This research offers a basis for further investigation to provide successful inclusive ECE services in Botswana. More qualitative researches on the inclusion of CWDs are necessary to draw inferences regarding the factors for inclusion at ECE settings in the Botswana. Like the other studies, this research study also acknowledges some limitations; including the point that sample of the study (ECEds) were selected from the two regions of ECE settings in Botswana. In this study, only one method of data collection, i.e. questionnaire was used. The other methods of data collection such as interviews, focus group, case studies and observation can also be used to obtain information from the school staff in the further studies to obtain the holistic views of educators about the necessary and available factors for the successful implementation of inclusion of CWD in early childhood schools. In addition, findings from the survey data were only representative of the population of teachers and teacher assistant, other key stakeholders such as administrators and parents were not participated in the sample; therefore this study represents the perspectives of the particular educators only. Admitting the weaknesses, this study is unique because it examines the inclusive early childhood schools in Botswana for the first time, an area that is often neglected by the researchers.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 20-28, March 2016

Curriculum Development of Environmental Education Based on Local Wisdom at Elementary School Afakhrul Masub Bakhtiar Arya Setya Nugroho Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Muhammadiyah Gresik Universitas Muhammadiyah Gresik, Jl. Sumatera 101 GKB, Randu Agung, Gresik, Indonesia

Abstract. This research aims to develop environmental education curriculum based on local wisdom. This is a research and development (R&D) using Borg & Gall procedures (2003) namely; 1) preliminary study, 2) planning design development, and 3) try out and revision. The research results of Environment Education curriculum development based on local wisdom showed satisfactory results. Based on input from experts and assessments, the developed curriculum can be distributed to elementary schools in the area UPTD (the District Education Office) Kedamean, Gresik Indonesia. There are five curriculum principles that are raised as the main characteristics of local wisdom. The five points include: 1) the local farming systems; 2) the provision of green open land; 3) water treatment systems; 4) the processed food products which are based locally; 5) the livelihoods of local patterned communities. Keywords: Curriculum, Environmental Education, Local Wisdom.

1. Introduction Environmental damage in Indonesia is getting serious in that the condition has directly threatened human life. The level of any nature damage increases the risk of natural disasters. The cause of the occurrence of natural damage can be caused by two factors, namely the result of natural occurances and consequences of human behavior. Damage to the environment can be defined as the process of deterioration or reduction (deterioration) environment. Environmental detereoration is characterized by a loss of resources of soil, water, air, its extinction of wild flora and fauna, and ecosystems (Pratomo, 2008). Environmental damage gives immediate impact to human life. In 2004, the High Level Threat Panel of the UNITED NATIONS, Challenges and Change, incorporating environmental degradation is one of the top ten threats to humanity. World Risk Report, released by the German Alliance for

Development Works (Alliance), the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 2012 mention that the environmental damage is one of the important factors that determines the height of the low risk of catastrophe in a region. The pollution of many different countries take place, one of them is Chinese. Offered in a journal on Motori by Greenpeace, water conditions of China in some provinces cannot be used as it should be, and it is estimated to occur in rivers of Indonesia. According to Karim (2003) and Supardi (2011), of the human side, environmental problems are caused by the inability to develop a system of social value and life style which are not able to make a living in harmony with the environment. How to build your lifestyle and attitude towards the environment in order to live in harmony with the environment is not an easy job which can be done in a short time. Therefore the educational path is the right means to build communities that are implementing the principles of sustainability and environmental ethics. Educational paths can be reached starting from the preformal level of education until College. To support the principles of sustainability and environmental ethics in education need a system that can regulate education itself. The thing that can be done is by designing curriculum development. Based on the results of a survey conducted by the researcher randomly in 2015, the schools (elementary, junior, and senior high school) in Gresik Indonesia had been identified that the local content subjects of environmental education was not completed by a representative curriculum. Therefore environmental education is taught following the materials from a book only. From an interview with one of the principals, school grounds to use the book as a reference for environmental education of learning because of the limitations in developing the curriculum. The school never received the training of curriculum development. Moreover, local content subjects (including environmental education) curriculum must be developed by the school itself. This is complicated and a common problem associated with different attitude and mindset of human resources. In line with that, the mental revolution into social movements of the era of the reign of Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla becomes very important and urgent to change the attitude and mindset of every citizen of Indonesia in terms of addressing the damage to the natural environment. Mental revolution aligned with the world of education, spearheading the first should be able to initiate social movements. To support a mental revolution that can enter into the world of education needs to be formulated outwardly through the education system i.e. curriculum. To sinergize the problem in the natural environment, Environmental Education curriculum development (PLH) is the right step. This is because the curriculum is seen as the main reference to achieve the goal of the educational process itself. Departing from wisdom and local problem, Environmental Education curriculum development will impact effectively against local problem resolution. By completing the environmental problems at the local level, it will also impact the resolution of environmental issues at the national level even globally. Sullivan in Bezzina (2006) states that environmental crisis is a social issue and not simply something that is natural. Environmental education has a very important role in addressing environmental issues that arise at the moment.

In this case, this study is a development of environmental education curriculum based on local wisdom that would have given the answer in solving environmental problems, including helping change attitudes and mindsets of human resources. Thus, this is also a simple step that implies the realization of changes in behavior and attitudes to enhance the knowledge, skills, and public awareness that will be the values of environment and environmental problems in order to play an active role in the preservation and safety of the environment for the benefit of the present and future generation. Therefore this is the longterm hope for the researchers as the concrete steps leading to a mental revolution in the field of the environment at the level of primary school.

2. Research Method The steps taken in this study are to simplify the ten steps of Borg & Gall (1983) into three steps namely; 1) preliminary study, 2) planning the development of design and 3) test and revision. The research period was from February until August 2015 carried out in SDN 2 Kedamean, Gresik, with the subjects of research were the Group Managers and curriculum developers i.e. principals, teachers, School Committee, and other relevant sources. The site selection of the research was based on input and coordination with the relevant parties including UPTD (Sub District Education Office) of Kedamean. Both are different levels of school achievement and still in a small-scale for area Office of education in the subdistrict of Kedamean. SDN 2 Kedamean is a School of national standards (SSN) which has strategic long term plan to become the school of Adiwiyata, whereas SDN 1 Lampah, is a school in a poor area in Gresik but it is much accomplished. With the differences of their backgrounds of the school, it is expected to give a plausable generalization of the study.

3. Findings and Discussions a. Preliminary Study Based on the results of the initial survey in primary schools, it was found: 1) Environmental Education was used as companion mastery of Natural Sciences; 2) Environmental Education refers to the existing textbooks as the main references. While doing the evaluation of the curriculum of environmental education in elementary school, it was found that: 1) Environmental Education curriculum was made solely as a complement to local curriculum; 2) Environmental Education curriculum does not depart from the school's needs; 3) Environmental Education curriculum copy and paste from other schools; 4) environmental education curriculum was created by the purpose of school achievement of Adiwiyata. Studies on the results of the need assessment of teaching indicate that: 1) environmental education is not important because it is not part of five main subjects; 2) educators are reluctant to assess the environmental education completely. From the analysis of environmental problems, it was obtained that: 1) the availability of clean water sources begin to decrease; 2) the decreases of green open-land since the development of construction and industry so that increasing environmental temperature; 3) therefore, the heat is getting severe; 4) rivers are contaminated by wastes; 5) agriculture as livelihood of the majority of society is not attractive to younger

generation; 6) dropping awareness towards environmental sustainability. Analysis of local wisdom reveals some important points: 1) local farming systems; 2) the provision of green open land; 3 water treatment systems); 4) processed food products made locally; 5) livelihoods of local communities which are already settled.

b. The Plan for Design Development In drawing up the plan development of Environmental Education curriculum, researchers at this stage, perform some activities: 1) socialization; 2) division of tasks. Socialization was carried out by exposing preliminary study results. Socialization is conducted openly in forums include: head of school, School Committee, teachers, and researchers. Socializations are described comprehensively in the need for Environmental Education curriculum development from local wisdom. Mindset change will occur when the socialization run smoothly. In the division of tasks, two teams of the group are formed in that each team is from low-class curriculum and high class. Both teams are accommodated by researchers as an important role in order the contents will be formulated on the design of the curriculum to be sustainable. This is in line with the opinion of Hariani (2011) stating that it needs continuity of content of the curriculum in low grade and high grade in all subjects. Still related to Haryani (2011), Barraza, Laura (2001) also confirms that primary schools have an important role to instill environmental education to students through curriculum system that is measurable, well-planned and sustainable.

c. Try Out and Revision 1) Limited Try Out The limited try out is in SDN 2 Kedamean in which the design of curriculumbased on environmental education of local wisdom already made can be implemented according to the expexted plan. Nevertheless, there are special entries i.e. the necessity of depth understanding against a master class. The classroom teacher who previously regards the design of the curriculum is too high to be applied, but only after satisfactory result, tested. Testing is only done on the midterm low grade and high grade. Low grade is represented by class II and high class is conducted on class V. The two levels of the classes indicate the maximum results in that they are very responsive to learning with curriculumbased on environmental education of local wisdom. At the try out, students are very enthusiastic in learning environmental education activities. The editorial side of the curriculum also is reasonably easy to understand.

2) Revisions Based on the Results of Limited Try Out At this stage the researcher does not do the revisions. Limited try out results from the editorial context are not revised. But from the side of educators (teachers), they need persuasive understanding to give confidence that teachers are optimistic in carrying out Environmental Education of curriculum content. This is in line to change the mindset of teachers in accordance with the vision of a mental revolution. The first and main thing that needs to be done is to change the mindset. The change of mindset will affect the patterns of follow-up activities (Sukmadinata, 1997). Before the design of the curriculum is tested,

teachers are given motivation and understanding about the content of the curriculum in comprehensive environmental education.

3) Extended Try Out Extended try outs are to preserve on two primary school levels, one has high level of primary school, i.e. SDN 2 Kedamean, another one of the primary school level is namely SDN 1 Lampah. The activity starts by giving motivation and understanding about the content of the curriculum in comprehensive environmental education to the teachers of both schools. Once is considered sufficient, the next execution of the try out is extended. In SDN 2 Kedamean and SDN 1 Lampah, Environmental Education of curriculum design based on local wisdom then is tested throughout the class. More extensive try out is carried out in the middle of the first half after UTS (Midterm Test). On Grade I students do field trips on agriculture to local communities. Working on study tours they are to observe the open land around the green environment done on grade II. While in the rest of the class III, they are observing local wisdom related to the preservation of the environment. For class IV, they are doing observation of reservoirs as local wisdom. Work trips to the villages of processing food products which are developed from local raw materials was done by students of class V. In the sixth grade students, the field trips for villages are to know the livelihoods of rural communities that are already settled. By doing field trips and observations directly to the local community, this gives a special attraction for students to have positive values for the students. For the teachers as well, they can reflect the real pictures in which students really need a refreshing lesson in the form of field trips and observations significantly to society.

4) The Revised Design Based on the Extended Try Out From the extended try out results, the revised materials are as follows: 1) the word choices need to be expanded, especially in the formulation of basic competencies so that schools are easily to develop and apply; 2) The language structures in the writing basic competences also need to be revised. Based on the revised materials, the researchers improve the draft of environmental education curriculum based on local wisdom as presented in table 1(the results of the developed curriculum). The development of Environmental Education Curriculum has appropriate stages of development that is Environmental Education Curriculum with local vision which will have global impact. This is in line with the expectations of Apulsari (2013) in the journal of Primary Teacher Education Program of Elementary School at the Faculty of Education, University of Riau, which confirms that environmental education is done at the local level, but can have global impact. This is then a curriculum should be developed by the right team with reference to local knowledge, but still considers the strengths and weaknesses of the previous curriculum. From the editorial context, the experts assess that there should be no change of the content because the formulated standards of competence are already operational and completely represented by local wisdom. This expert opinion is supported by Mulyasa, (2006) who states that local content should be developed from the community itself. Local content should be able to accommodate local culture. Certainly this is not a new thing to raise the local content including Environmental Education as a school subject identifier, however, the developed environmental education curriculum so far is

not the result of the development of local knowledge yet but of copy and paste from other resources which are not the representation of local wisdom (Meilani, 2011). Starting from this, the experts assess the insightful environmental education curriculum of local knowledge is worth to be developed and disseminated in the territory of the District Education Office of Kedamean (UTPD). Tabel 1. The Design of Environmental Education Curriculum Based on Local Wisdom Class I Semester 1 Standard of Competence Basic Competence 1. Knowing the simple agriculture 1.1 Field trips on farm for local communities. of local communities. 1.2 Conducting a simple observation of local agriculture. 2. Farming simply in the school 2.1 Planting local vegetables. environment. 2.2 Caring for locally grown vegetables. Class I Semester 2 Standard of Competence Basic Competence 3. Harvesting vegetables grown 3.1 Harvesting local vegetables. locally. 3.2 Packing the local vegetables simply. 4. Creating a simple exhibition for 4.1 Creating a simple exhibition for the marketing. marketing of local vegetables that have been packaged to parents / class advisors. Class II Semester 1 Standard of Competence Basic Competence 1. Knowing the green open land 1.1 Working on field trips to observe the green in the neighborhood. open land in the neighborhood. 1.2 Conducting simple observations of the green open land (flora and fauna). 2. Opening the green open land in 2.1 Making simply green open land in the the neighborhood. neighborhood. Class II Semester 2 Standard of Competence Basic Competence 3. Maintaining the green open 3.1 Caring for the green open land in the land in the neighborhood. neighborhood. 3.2 Observing green open land in the neighborhood. 4. Documenting green open land 4.1 Documenting photos, video simply of the in the treated neighborhood. green open land in the neighborhood which had been treated. 4.2 Making a simple exhibition at the school on green open land. Class III Semester 1 Standard of Competence Basic Competence 1. Knowing the local knowledge 1.1 Conducting observations of local related to environmental knowledge related to environmental preservation. preservation. 1.2 Documenting local knowledge related to environmental preservation. Class III Semester 2 Standard of Competence Basic Competence 2. Practicing local wisdom related 2.1 Practicing activity that shows local wisdom to environmental preservation. in preserving the environment.

Class IV Semester 1 Standard of Competence 1. Knowing reservoirs as local wisdom.

Class IV Semester 2 Standard of Competence 2. Creating a simple pond in the school environment to preserve the surrounding environment.

Class V Semester 1 Standard of Competence 1. Knowing the processed food products from local raw materials in the neighborhood.

Class V Semester 2 Standard of Competence 2. Making of processed food products from local raw materials. Class VI Semester 1 Standard of Competence 1. Knowing the livelihoods of rural and patterned communities.

Class VI Semester 2 Standard of Competence 2. Membuat proyek sederhana untuk memasarkan swasembada hasil pertanian lokal dengan teknologi.

Basic Competence 1.1 Conducting observations of the reservoirs as local wisdom. 1.2 Documenting observations of reservoirs as local wisdom in the form of a story. Basic Competence 2.1 Making a simple pond in the school environment to preserve the surrounding environment. 2.2 Creating an ecosystem naturally. 2.3 Spreading the fish and the water filter in the pond. Basic Competence 1.1 Doing field trips for villages that elicit processed food products from local raw materials. 1.2 Conducting observations of processed food products from local raw materials in the neighborhood. 1.3 Documenting observations of reservoirs in the form of a story. Basic Competence 2.1 Making of processed food products from local raw materials. 2.2 Marketing of processed food products from local raw materials. Basic Competence 1.1 Doing field trips to villages to get to know the livelihoods of rural and patterned communities. 1.2 Conducting observations of livelihoods of rural and patterned communities. 1.3 Documenting observations livelihoods sideline of rural communities in the form of descriptive stories. Basic Competence 2.1 Membuat evaluasi sederhana pemasaran produk pertanian lokal. 2.2 Membuat proyek sederhana untuk pemasaran produk hasil pertanian lokal dengan teknologi.

The design of Environmental Education Curriculum Based on Local Wisdom as presented in Table 1 can be seen from every level of elementary education outcomes which are as follows: For class one, children will get to know the local agricultural and farming practices, local vegetables to the harvesting and

packaging simply for marketing. The class two is expected to be familiar with green open land and make simple green open land in the neighborhood. For grade three, students are expected to recognize, document, local knowledge and practice related to environmental preservation. While in grade four, students get to know the reservoir and create a simple pond in the neighborhood. In grade five, they are expected to know and make the processing of food products from local raw materials. For grade six, the students are expected to be familiar with the livelihoods of rural pattern of communities and make a simple project to market local self-sufficiency in agricultural products with technology. This study indicates the need of integrating local wisdom and environmental curriculum to attarct studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; concerns so that this can promote people in general to be aware of environmental problems. In line with the opinion of Prigi (2012) the public must be able to preserve nature in a way to know and apply it in life. Likewise Sumarmi (2008) in the journal Science of Education asserts that it is the school responsibility to educate students to love nature. Contextual approach can be used as a way to educate. According to Chen (2008) that environmental education is a very important tool in providing knowledge, positive attitudes towards the environment and to build skills to protect and improve the environment. Referring to the results of curriculum development for Environmental Education above, in terms of basic competency of content that is raised can be done by learning which is really meaningful. This is in line with the opinion of Barlia (2008) who states that learning should be meaningful in which this will consider the importance of learning environment in primary schools. Not only in this level, according to Desa, et al (2012) in the journal of Environmental Awareness and Education: A Key Approach to Solid Waste Management (SWM) -A Case Study of a University in Malaysia, "every program in the university environment must be rooted mainly that the process of caring for the environment will have the greatest impact if it becomes an integral part of the educational mission of the institution. " Ardoin & Sharon (2011) also confirm that the incorporation of environmental education into a program is very important because it will affect the community in decision-making to safeguard the nature. Results of this study certainly suggest that the Environmental Education curriculum based on local wisdom will support the school in educating students to act in harmony with the natural environment. This harmony with nature would give broad or global impacts on the natural environment.

4. Conclusion The research results of curriculum development on Environmental Education based on local wisdom show satisfactory results in which the development already refers to the stage of curriculum development. Based on input from experts and assessment, the developed curriculum can be distributed to elementary schools in the area of UPTD Kedamean (the District Education Office). There are five curriculum contents being raised as the special uniqueness of local wisdom. The five contents include: 1) the local farming systems; 2) the provision of green open land; 3) water treatment systems; 4) processed food products which are based locally; 5) the livelihoods of local

patterned communities. This environmental education curriculum design based on local wisdom will certainly be able to resolve local issues that will impact the global.

References Apulsari, M. (2013). Analisis Kurikulum Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup Pada Sekolah Dasar Riau: Primary Program Studi Pendidikan Guru Sekolah Dasar Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Riau, 2.10-17. Ardoin, M. & Sharon S.M. (2011). Environmental and Sustainability Education in Natural World Heritage Sites: A Literature Review. Retrieved from http://www.galapagos.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Lit-ReviewSustainable-Educ-Ardoin-and-Ryan1.pdf Barraza, L. (2001). Environmental Education In Mexican School: The Primary Level. The Journal of Environmental Eduacation, Vol. 32 No. 3 31-36. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249038548 Borg, W. R, & Meredith D. G. 2003. Educational Research An Introduction. New York: Longman. Barlia, L. (2008). Teori Pembelajaran Lingkungan Hidup di Sekolah Dasar. Subang: Royyan Press. Bezzina, C., Pace, Paul. (2006). School improvement, school effectiveness or scholl development. London: Trentham Books Limited. Chen, J., C, H (2008). Children, Teachers and Nature: An Analysis of An Environmental Education Program. University of Florida. Desa, A., Nor B., Abd K., & Fatimah Y. (2012). Environmental Awareness and Education: A Key Approach to Solid Waste Management (SWM)-A Case Study of a University in Malaysia. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/48169 Hariani. (2011). Pengembangan Konten Isi Kurikulum. Surabaya: Unesa press. Karim, S.A. (2003). Program PKLH Jalur Sekolah: Kajian dari Perspektif Kurikulum dan Hakekat Belajar Mengajar. Jakarta: Depdiknas. Meilani, R. (2011). Persepsi Guru dalam Penerapan Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup di Sekolah Dasar Sekitar Hutan Kawasan Gunung Salak Endah Kabupaten Bogor. Bogor: Institut Pertanian Bogor. Mulyasa. (2006). Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan. Bandung: Rosda. Pratomo, S. (2008). Pendidikan Lingkungan. Bandung: Sonagar Press. Prigi. (2012). Ekosistem Lingkungan Hidup. Surabaya: Ecoton. Sukmadinata, N.S. 1997. Pengembangan Kurikum; Teori dan Praktek. Bandung: Remaja Rosdakarya. Sumarmi. (2008). Sekolah Hijau Sebagai Alternatif Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup Dengan Menggunakan Pendekatan Kontekstual. Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan Jilid 15 Nomor 1 Halaman 19-25. Malang: LPTK (Lembanga Pendidikan dan Tenaga Pendidikan) dan ISPI (Ikatan Sarjana Pendidikan Indonesia). Supardi. (2013). Permasalahan Lingkungan Hidup. Surabaya: Unesa press.

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 29-41, March 2016

Semi-Quantitative Analysis of how the Preambles in Ordinances are designed: Observing the Change of People’s Motivation towards “Inheritance” after the Great East Japan Earthquake Noriko Kurata Tokyo University of Science, Suwa Chino, Nagano, Japan Yuko Kurata Kansai Gaidai University Hirakata, Osaka, Japan Masakazu Ohashi Chuo University Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract. This paper investigated changes in the concept of "inheritance" before and after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). After this disaster, there were new Fundamental Ordinances on Local Autonomy (FOs) enacted in Japan, all of which begin with preambles. This study analyzed the preambles to these new laws by applying a semiquantitative analysis methodology. GEJE was a dreadful natural disaster known to typically occur only once every 1,000 years or so. By analyzing the relationship between people's real experiences of the GEJE and the preambles of the new FOs, which are considered to be supreme laws enforced by the Japanese local governments, the findings showed that the preambles had changed to include an increased frequency of expressions regarding inheritance. This finding can be said to indicate part of a change of awareness to "inheritance", which forms the foundation of Japanese education. Keywords: inheritance; education; local autonomy; ordinance; disaster

1. Introduction 1.1. Purposes and Characteristics of this Paper This paper investigated changes in the concept of “inheritance” before and after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (henceforth, GEJE). After this disaster, there were new Fundamental Ordinances on Local Autonomy (henceforth, FOs) enacted in Japan, all of which begin with preambles. This study analyzed the preambles to these new laws by applying a semi-quantitative analysis methodology. GEJE was a dreadful natural disaster known to typically occur only once every 1,000 years or so (Enomoto, 2011). By analyzing the relationship between people’s real experiences of the GEJE and the preambles of the new FOs, which are considered to be supreme laws enforced by the Japanese local governments, the findings showed that the preambles had changed to include an increased frequency of expressions regarding inheritance (in Japanese, keishō).

1.2. Disaster Damage from the GEJE GEJE is the worst natural disaster to ever have occurred in the whole Eastern region of Japan. The hypocenter of the earthquake was approximately 100,000 km2, reaching 500 km from North to South and 200 km from East to West, between the offshores of Iwate Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture. The moment magnitude was 9.0; after that, more than 9.3 m. At some points in time, it was impossible to measure as it was followed by a gigantic tsunami (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Fire and Disaster Management Agency, 2013). To make matters even worse, the force of these two natural events also caused a tragic accident at the local nuclear plant. The Japanese local governments comprised 47 prefectures with 1,724 municipalities within the prefectures (from April 1, 2011 to the present). (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 2014). According to a report by the national government, 22 of the 47 local governments suffered human casualties and property damages as did 467 municipalities. As of September 1, 2015, the death toll was 19,335; 6,219 were injured; and 2,600 people were still missing. (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Fire and Disaster Management Agency, 2015). By the third day after the disaster, the largest number of evacuees was approximately 470,000. As of August 13, 2015, 53,249 people were still considered evacuees. Again, this disastrous confluence generated the greatest number of evacuees of all the natural disasters that have occurred in Japan in recorded history (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Fire and Disaster Management Agency, 2013).

2. Literature Review on Fundamental Ordinances on Local Autonomy 2.1. Definition According to Mr. Matsushita who proposed FOs for the first time in Japan, they are ordinances to enhance the autonomy of Japanese local governments for policy-making and development (Matsushita, 1996). He further defines them as ©2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

“ordinances emphasizing citizen autonomy to regulate the basic structure for formulating tasks and frameworks agreed to by all affected citizens” (Matsushita, 2002). FOs regulate basic policies arising from local decisionmaking and administrative management in local government and are considered constitutional by local governments that have enacted them (Tsujiyama, 2002a; Kisa, & Osaka, 2003).

2.2. The Significance of the Enactment The FOs assure the autonomy of residents governed by each local government as a step toward decentralization and autonomous management of local communities by citizens for such projects as town design and planning and even municipal merging, which has recently been on the rise (Katsutoshi, 2009: Kurata, & Kurata, 2016). There have been some negative reactions towards the enactment of FOs. Some argue that although administrative organizations have been established so that local citizens would not have to engage in town building through cooperation, such FOs may label some people as second-class citizens if they cannot participate in town planning because of temporal, financial, or physical restrictions (Murata, 2012). Others believe that there is a danger that FOs may cause chaos as all citizens rarely share the same opinion when it comes to town planning, if both the national government and local governments are assumed to be founded upon people’s trust (The Political Affairs Research Committee in Liberal Democratic Party, 2012). Local communities and researchers who agree with the FOs give them high marks as innovative ordinances because they believe that local citizens have the right to participate directly in town planning and to regulate information necessary for developing their own regions in cooperation with local administrations (Matsushita, 2002; Katsutoshi, 2009; Tsujiyama, 2003; Matsushita, 2004).

2.3. The Structure While there is no clear standard concerning the structure of FOs due to their character as enacted by any particular municipality as an optional ordinance (Matsushita, 2004). Tsujiyama (2002b) argues that they should contain at least the following as critical to the structure of a basic ordinance: 1. A preamble; 2. principles for policy objectives and administrative management; 3. civil rights; 4. representative and staff systems; 5. a description of a basic system of management for the local government; 6. granting of collaboration with citizens; 7. collaboration and cooperation between local governments; 8. characteristics as a supreme law; 9. amendments, and 10. by-laws. Matsushita is also in support of this set of requirements (Matsushita, 2004).

2.4. The Process of Creating FOs The original draft of an FO requires active participation of local citizens. For instance, the contents of an FO for Shinjuku Ward were established by six citizens, six MPs, six administrators, and an academic expert with relevant ©2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

knowledge and experience (Hirai, 2015). It took approximately three years to reach the final form. Another example is an FO produced by Sasayama City. According to the research on this municipality action, it took approximately two and a half years. The process included collecting opinions and information from local citizens by way of inviting public comments (three times), questionnaires (once), and open discussions (six times) (Kubota, Hoshino, Kuki, et al., 2010). A study of an FO enactment in Tsukuba City reported that a civil working group consisting of volunteer local citizens worked for 18 months as committee members conducted meetings to create the first draft for submission to the mayor. During this process, they held 38 meetings and 15 workshops for citizens to receive their input on the process (Ueda, 2012). Again, in Mitaka City, it took approximately three years to create an original draft of an FO in collaboration with local citizens (Mitaka City, 2008). All of the processes included multifaceted ways of acquiring public cooperation such as workshops, roundtable discussions, meetings with local citizens and committee members, and soliciting public comments before submitting the first draft to a municipal legislature. After an in-depth discussion by the municipal legislature, it was issued as the local FO.

2.5. Statistical Research on FOs There are two types of statistical research on FOs. One is to look for a pattern by conducting a principal component analysis (PCA) of the contents; it analyzes the whole structure of an FO (Yuasa, 2008). The other is to investigate FOs by conducting text mining of only the preambles (Moteki, 2014). There has also been a study on FOs that identified the fact that local governments where birth rates are low tend to create more comprehensive FOs (Kurata, & Kurata, 2016).

2.6. The Significance of this Study This paper investigated the preambles of FOs, which are established as the supreme law of a local government through stages of many citizensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; participation, using semi-quantitative methods because preambles are typically less structured than the other parts of FOs. Precedent research awaited further studies that would demonstrate the future direction of FOs based upon a chronological analysis of their characteristics (Numata, & Takagi, 2012). One of the characteristics of an FO is that its preamble explains the background of why and the process of how the FO was conceived and developed using simple language rather than complicated legal terms. The background often vividly explains geographical features, local history, primary industries, and local culture of a region. Whereas the contents of articles are similar from one FO to another, preambles tend to be unique to each locality where they will be enacted. The lack of restrictions from legal expressions allows the language to freely express the local color and local citizens. Therefore, it is the preambles that represent the values and characteristics embraced by local citizens. However, ÂŠ2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

there has not been quantitative research on the educational impact of the term “inheritance” as it is used in preambles of FOs, making this research unique to the instant study. Another crucial element of this study is that 1,000-year disasters such as the GEJE are clearly very rare and so remain in people’s memories and personal stories as each person that survives it has had a very special subjective experience. An event of such magnitude changes people in very fundamental ways. From this unique set of special circumstances, the hypothesis developed for this paper is that FOs may contain more expressions about inheritance and culture, because awareness has been raised in the local populations regarding the importance of next generations inheriting local culture in the aftermath of such a major disaster. In order to prove this hypothesis, this study sought to analyze the impact of the GEJE on the preambles in new FOs using semi-quantitative methods. From the results, a discussion is presented on how local people’s unusual experiences of such a sequence of disasters may or may not have affected the design of local ordinances.

3. Data Collection and Analysis 3.1. Data Data for this study were FOs issued during the periods illustrated in Table 1. The research data does not include prefectural FOs or municipal FOs that were not disclosed on their websites. The prefectural FOs were excluded as they are too large to have intimate relationships with the citizens living in them, whereas municipalities function under basic local governments that reflect the opinions of local citizens. Data collection was conducted according to the list of FOs provided by an NPO Public Policy Research Institute (Koukyou Seisaku Kenkyuujyo, 2015).

Table 1: Conditions of FOs used as Data for this Study.

Items Terms Targets Disclosure

Conditions Dates for enactment: between April 1, 2001 and December 1, 2015. Municipal FOs (prefectural FOs are not included) FOs disclosed on municipal websites

Number of FOs 343 341 340

The number of municipalities used in this study was 1,724 as of April 1, 2011.

3.2. Analytical Method First, whether target FOs contained preambles was investigated and then the existing preambles were categorized into two groups according to whether the FO was enacted before or after the GEJE. Secondly, all of the preambles in both groups were analyzed by text mining. Software for quantitatively conducting ©2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

morphological analysis and frequency (Higuchi, 2014) was applied for analysis. Morphological analysis classifies a text according to parts of speech by dividing it into words and phrases. One term and its variations used in the analysis as conditions of the text mining was “inheritance” (in Japanese, keishō). The search included the noun keishō, the verbs, keishō suru, hikitsugu, uketsugu (all of which mean “to inherit”), and tsutaeru (“to pass on, transmit”), and their conjugated forms.

4. Results and Discussion 4.1. Testing the Hypothesis Table 2 lists the target FOs according to whether or not they contained preambles and Table 3 classifies the FOS according to the dates of enactment (before or after the GEJE). Almost all of the FOs contained preambles, an indicator that they are indispensable elements of the FOs. However, there were more FOs issued before the GEJE than after.

Table 2: With or Without Preambles in the Target FOs.

Conditions

Number of FOs

With preambles Without preambles

337 3

Table 3: Categorization of FOs.

Categories

Conditions

Number of FOs

Before GEJE

The date of enforcement is between April 1, 2001 and January 1, 2011

204

After GEJE

The date of enforcement is between April 1, 2011 and December 1, 2015

133

The top 20 of the most frequently used nouns are shown in Table 4 and verbs in Table 5. Frequently used terms indicated in Tables 4 and 5 that are related to inheritance (keishō) and culture (bunka) are displayed with an asterisk. “The number of FOs” is the total number of FOs that included one or more of the search terms. Hence, even if the term(s) was used more than once in a preamble, it was only counted once.

Table 4: Top 20 Most Frequently used Nouns in Preambles.

Before GEJE Rank

Nouns

After GEJE Number of FOs

Nouns

Number of FOs

Shimin (citizen)

498

Shimin (citizen)

302

Jichi (autonomy)

411

Chiiki (region)

237

Chiiki (region)

291

Jichi (autonomy)

218

Kihon (basis)

255

*Bunka (culture)

184

223

Kihon (basis)

159

* Bunka (culture)

Jōrei (ordinance)

217

Chōmin (townspeople)

193

Jōrei (ordinance)

141

Shakai (society)

187

Seitei (enactment)

117

* Rekishi (history)

185

Chōmin (townspeople)

113

10 11

Seitei (enactment) * Senjin (ancestor)

181

*Rekishi (history)

*Senjin (ancestor)

154

111

172

Hatten (development)

108

Jitsugen (realization)

136

Shakai (society)

101

Sekinin (responsibility)

125

Kankyō (environment)

123

Shutai (subject)

122

Jitsugen (realization)

Hatten (development)

121

Sekinin (responsibility)

Rinen (principle)

107

Chihō (locality)

106

Sonchō (respect)

Hitori hitori (each person)

*Dentō (tradition)

Yakuwari (role)

Jidai (era)

* Words used for data analysis.

Table 5: Top 20 Most Frequently used Verbs in the Preambles.

Before GEJE Rank

Verbs

After GEJE Number of FOs 1,822

Verbs Suru (to do)

Number of FOs

Suru (to do)

1,282

Aru (to be)

195

Aru (to be)

181

Naru (to become)

143

Naru (to become)

122

Susumeru (to proceed)

138

Sumu (to reside)

100

Sumu (to reside)

132

Susumeru (to proceed)

Mamoru (to protect)

102

*Kizuku (to build)

Dekiru (to be able to)

102

Motsu (to have)

Megumareru (to be blessed)

Dekiru (to be able to)

* Kizuku (to build)

*Hikitsugu (to inherit)

Kurasu (to live)

*Hagukumu (to nurture)

* Hikitsugu (to inherit)

Megumareru (to be blessed)

Mezasu (to aim for)

Mamoru (to protect)

Motsu (to have)

Kurasu (to live)

Sadameru (to establish)

Mezasu (to aim for)

Yoru (to depend)

* Hagukumu (to nurture)

*Uketsugu (to inherit)

Kangaeru (to think)

*Sodateru (to foster)

Sasaeru (to support)

Ninau (bear)

Sadameru (to establish)

19 20

Ninau (bear) * Uketsugu (to inherit)

*Tsukuru (to make)

*Words used for data analysis.

Expressions relating to “inheritance” and “culture” in the top 50 most frequently used words were analyzed by cross tabulation before and after the GEJE and a chi-squared test was performed. (See Tables 6 and 7.) The results in Table 6 were counted by the combinations of related verbs and nouns. For example, “tsunagaru (to connect)” indicates the number of FOs where any of the ©2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

conjugated forms of “tsunagaru”, “tsunagu”, and “tsunageru” appears. (See the note in Table 6 for which terms were combined.) The frequency of the term “kyoiku (education)” was less than ten (10) in the preambles of the FOs; therefore, it was not statistically analyzed in this study. Concerning expressions relating to “keishō (inheritance),” two verbs, “tsunagaru (to connect)” and “keishōsuru (to inherit),” showed a statistically significant increase. In another two verbs, “hagukumu (to nurture)” and “sōzōsuru (to create)”, no significant differences were found for either one, and the real number of how often they were used decreased. These results indicate that these two verbs have not had any radical change in their usage in the texts of preambles to FOs. The verbs “tsunagaru (to connect)” and “keishōsuru (to inherit)” are active verbs in longitudinal periods of time that include the past, present, and future; whereas the latter two tend to be used only to express time between the present and the future. From the analysis and characteristics of these verbs, it is believed that the preambles that were examined were designed to emphasize “inheritance” regarding the past, present, and future after the GEJE. The research clarified that expressions with timelines only from the present to the future have not changed in frequency of their usage in the text of preambles to FOs. Table 6: Expressions relating to “Inheritance” in the Top 50 Most Frequently used Words in the Preambles Classified by Parts of Speech.

Before GEJE Number of FOs

Number of FOs

Tsunagaru (to connect)

Keishōsuru (to inherit)

Hagukumu (to nurture)

Sōzōsuru (to create)

204

11 (5.4)

136 (66. 7)

126 (61.8)

137 (67.2)

133

23 (17.3)

103 (77.4)

75 (56.4)

89 (66.9)

337

34 (10.1)

239 (70.9)

201 (59.6)

226 (67.1)

11.29**

4.03*

0.76

(%) After GEJE Number of FOs

(%) Total Number of FOs

(%) χ2 value **Significant difference at 1%

*Significant difference at 5%

NOTE: “Tsunagaru” includes conjugated forms of “tsunagaru”, “tsunagu”, and “tsunageru”. “Keishōsuru” includes– “keishō”, “hikitsugu”, “uketsugu”, and “tsutaeru”. “Hagukumu” includes– “hagukumu,” and “sodateru”. “Sōzōsuru” includes– “Sōzō”, “tsukuru”, and “kizuku”.

As in Table 7, the word “dentō (tradition)” showed a statistically significant increase as an expression relating to culture. Others did not show any significant ©2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

differences. Although there was no significant difference, the rate of usage of the term “bunka (culture)” in preambles to FOs before and after the GEJE were 74% and 81%, respectively. For the post-GEJE FOs, it was frequently used in the preambles, an indication that it has become an essential expression in FO discourse. Considering the semantic characteristics of these terms, the chronological background expressed by words such as “rekishi (history)” and “senjin (ancestor)” is in regards to the past, and they do not express events in the present. “Seikatsu (life)” and “sangyō (industry)” were mostly used in relation to present issues, although the adjective forms of these terms were seen to be used to explain the past as well as future matters. Expressions such as “bunka (culture)” and “dentō (tradition)” were found in both past and present tenses, but not the future tense. “Dento” in particular was used to highlight the past as it connects to the present. The analytical results and the semantic characteristics of the words frequently used in the preambles of FOs after the GEJE tend to emphasize the idea of “tradition” to be passed on to inhabitants of the present. Also, the term “bunka (culture)” has become a crucial expression in FO preambles.

Table 7: Expressions Relating to “Culture” in the Top 50 Most Frequently used Words in the Preambles Classified by Parts of Speech. Bunka Number of Dentō Rekishi (culture) FOs (tradition) (history) Before GEJE Number of FOs 204 58 152 137 (%) (28.4) (74.5) (67.2) After GEJE Number of FOs 133 60 108 98 (%) (45.1) (81.2) (73.7) Total Number of FOs 337 118 260 235 (%) (35.0) (77.2) (69.7)

9.13**

1.68

1.33

Number of FOs

Seikatsu (life)

Senjin (ancestor)

Sangyō (industry)

204

44 (21.6)

136 (66.7)

57 (27.9)

133

32 (24.1)

92 (69.2)

36 (27.1)

337

76 (22.6)

228 (67.7)

93 (27.6)

0.16

0.13

0.003

χ2 value

Before GEJE Number of FOs (%) After GEJE Number of FOs (%) Total Number of FOs (%) χ2 value

**Significant difference at 1%

Future-oriented expressions such as “mirai (future)”, “kodomo (children)”, and “jisedai (next generation)” did not make it into the top 20 most frequently used words in the preambles as shown in Table 4. This is in line with other aforementioned results that “hagukumu (to nurture)” and “sōzōsuru (to create)” no significant differences were found. The preambles emphasize a chronological perspective from the past to the present. The results of this paper were in agreement with the aforementioned results and found that such tendencies increased after the GEJE. Changes in words representing changes in people’s perspectives towards society reflect their opinions and beliefs as they evolve. It is these changes that identify what has become important to local citizens after facing the GEJE, which are shown in the analytical results of this study. Thus, the hypothesis of this paper, “FOs may contain more expressions about “inheritance” and “culture” as awareness has been raised in local populations regarding the importance of next generations inheriting local culture in the after math of such a major disaster” has been supported.

4.2 Educational Significance of this Paper A FO with its preamble is a regulation for resident autonomy, designed and enacted through various processes including the participation of local citizens. Workshops are the main way to encourage active participation, providing an opportunity for people to share opinions about regional democracy. This is one of the steps for citizens identifying themselves as local community members to examine in detail the contents of a local ordinance that will regulate development in their region. Hence, these activities can be known as a place for civic education and education for understanding democracy. Furthermore, the preambles in FOs are the outcomes of such civic education. For these reasons, this paper can claim to have researched changes due to new educational awareness among local citizens before and after the GEJE experience by collecting and analyzing the preambles of FOs as outcomes from new experiences of civic education. Spranger (1920) and Dewey (1998) propose that education is based upon the inheritance of culture, which can be thought of as a foundation to the changes of awareness from civic education experienced by people and communities that survived the GEJE. One of the impacts from this massive disaster has been the elevation of awareness towards the importance of their own inherited local traditions and the responsibility to pass on those traditions to future generations. The GEJE caused many people and communities to experience a “historical dislocation (HD),” a termination of the sequence of living history upon which their present lives were based (Numata, & Takagi, 2012). By further interpreting the results of this paper, it is proposed that the existing preambles of the FOs enacted before the GEJE be redesigned to maintain them as supreme laws that reflect the lives of local citizens as they have been altered by this unspeakable set ©2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

of events and to incorporate the historical dislocation of these people in their motivations towards inheriting and educating communities regarding local culture and traditions. Although this paper investigated the change in the frequency of usage of the terms “keishō (inheritance)” and “bunka (culture)” separately, the relationship between them was not explored. Further study could undertake discerning whether the object of “inheriting” is “culture” or not.

References Dewey, J. (1998). Experience and education. Kappa delta Pi. International honor society in education. Indiana: West Lafayete. Enomoto, A. (2011, May 16). [“How do we estimate great disaster which occurs once a thousand years?”] Nikkei Shinbun. Retrieved from http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNZO28461180T10C11A5W02101. Japanese Higuchi, K. (2014). [Quantitative text analysis for social survey]. Kyoto: Nakanishiya Syuppan. Hirai, M. (2015). A study of the basic autonomy ordinances based on the local governance. Jichisouken. 441, 51-68. Chihou Jichi Sougou Kenkyuujyo. Katsutoshi, S. (2009). [A study of existing consciousness and normative characteristic regarding fundamental ordinances on local autonomy]. Matsuyama university readings. Matsuyama University. Japanese. Kisa, S., & Osaka, S. (2003). [The constitution of our city –challenges in Niseko Town-]. Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Hyouronsha. Koukyou Seisaku Kenkyuujyo. (2015, December 16). [A list of fundamental ordinances on local autonomy across Japan]. Retrieved from http://koukyou-seisaku.com/policy3.html. Japanese. Kubota, K., Hoshino, S., Kuki, Y., & Hashimoto, S. (2010). Roles and interactions among stakeholder groups in the legislative process of municipal ordinance - Case of Sasayama basic ordinance for local government-. Journal of rural planning association, 28, 291-296. The Association of Rural Planning. Kurata, N., & Kurata, Y. (2016). Quantitative study on the design of ordinances enacted by local governments in Japan: The composition of fundamental ordinances on local autonomy and analysis of basic regional data. Journal of transformation of human behavior under the influence of infosocionomics society. 1, 5-13. Institute of Policy and Cultural Studies of Chuo University & the Infosocionomics Society. Matsushita, K. (1996). [Autonomy and decentralization in Japan]. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. Japanese. Matsushita, K. (2002). [Why, now, fundamental ordinances on local autonomy is needed]. Chihoujichi shokuin kensyuu, 71, 6-21. Koushokuken. Japanese. Matsushita, K. (2004). [Ordinances to make cooperation society; consideration to fundamental ordinances on local autonomy, citizen participation ordinances, and citizen cooperation support ordinances]. Tokyo: Gyousei. Japanese. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Fire and Disaste r Management Agency. (2013). [A collection of writings on the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake]. Retrieved from http://www.fdma.go.jp/concern/publication/higashinihondaishinsai_kirokus hu/index.html. Japanese.

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. (2014, July 1). [Wide area administration and merging of municipalities; detailed transition table for number of municipalities]. Retrieved from http://www.soumu.go.jp/kouiki/kouiki.html. Japanese. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Fire and Disaster Management Agency. (2015, September 9). [The 152th report about the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake]. Retrieved from http://www.fdma.go.jp/bn/%E3%80%90%E6%B6%88%E9%98%B2%E5%BA% 81%E3%80%91%E6%9D%B1%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%A4%A7%E9%9C %87%E7%81%BD%E8%A2%AB%E5%AE%B3%E5%A0%B1%EF%BC%88%E7% AC%AC152%E5%A0%B1%EF%BC%89.pdf. Japanese. Mitaka City. (2008, July 2). [Progress before enactment of fundamental ordinance on local autonomy]. Retrieved from http://www.city.mitaka.tokyo.jp/c_service/003/003885.html. Japanese. Moteki, Y. (2014). Mission statements in Japanese local governments: Text mining for machizukuri basic ordinances. Journal of urban management and local government research. Nippon Urban Management and Local Government Research Association. Murata, H. (2012, February 13) [Association against fundamental ordinances on local autonomy].Japanese. Retrieved from http://ameblo.jp/risingshiningsun/entry11163325094.html. Japanese. Numata, R. & Takagi, H. (2012). An Ideal Way of Politics, Public Administration, the Local Government at the Time of a Catastrophic Disaster. Toyo Hougaku, 56(1), 259-275. Toyo University. Spranger, E. (1920). Die bedeutung der wissenschaflichen pädagogik f ür das volksleben. In E. Spranger(Ed.). Kultur und Erziebun. (138-58). Leipzig: Quelle and Meyer. The Political Affairs Research Committee in Liberal Democratic Party. (2012). [Wait for a while!! Reconsider to enact fundamental ordinances on local autonomy]. Retrieved from http://www.jimin.jp/policy/pamphlet/pdf/jichikihonjyourei_01.pdf. Japanese. Tsujiyama, Y. (2002a). Matsushita, K., Nishio, M., & Shindou, M. (Eds.). [Iwanami course: Conception of local government-4-structure] Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. Japanese. Tsujiyama, Y. (2002b). [Judicial affairs based on policies are the pillars of local autonomy; consideration to fundamental ordinances on local autonomy]. Asahi culture center local autonomy course booklet. Tokyo: Koujin No Tomo Sha. Japanese. Tsujiyama, Y. (2003). [Why fundamental ordinances on local autonomy is needed?] Tokyo: Koujin No Tomo Sha. Japanese. Ueda, T. (2012). [Fundamental ordinances on local autonomy and citizen learning: Case study of decision over fundamental ordinances on local autonomy in Tsukuba City]. Region and Education, 3, 25-33. Lifelong Learning & Social Education Laboratory, University of Tsukuba. Japanese. Yuasa, H. (2008). Structure and dynamics of organic home rule. Kyusyu international university readings in law. 15, 2, 73-108. Kyusyu International University.

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 42-53, March 2016

Brief Multisensory Training Enhances Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition in Both High and Low Performers Manuela Macedonia Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria Max-Planck Institute for Human and Brain Sciences Leipzig, Germany Claudia Repetto Catholic University of the Sacred Heart Milan, Italy

Abstract. Research in the field of vocabulary acquisition has demonstrated that enriching novel words with sensorimotor information enhances memory outcome compared to reading. However, it has been asserted that enrichment might exceed the cognitive load of low performers and therefore be detrimental to them. Here, in a brief training, thirty-two subjects learned thirty novel items of a foreign language according to three conditions: (1) reading, (2) reading and listening, (3) reading and listening and watching an actress performing a gesture semantically related to the words. Conditions (2) and (3) enriched the baseline (1) with multisensory information. Memory performance was assessed through written tests immediately after learning. Results indicate that both high and low performers benefit from sensorimotor learning. The significant interaction between group and method in one of the tests shows that low performers learn better through enrichment than by only reading the words. Implications for education are discussed. Keywords: vocabulary acquisition, high and low performance, second language learning, enrichment, memory, multisensory training, gesture, cognitive load.

1. Introduction Wittgenstein once wrote “The limits of my language are the limits of my universe” (Wittgenstein & Russell, 1922). In many countries, multilingualism is the key to education and to professional life. However, learning a second © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

language (L2), particularly learning vocabulary is time consuming and takes dedication. Usually, vocabulary acquisition happens incidentally through reading activities (Krashen, 2013) and by repetition of odd bilingual word lists. It has been known for a long time that learning in lists compared to other strategies does not lead to vocabulary size or to general language proficiency (Gu & Johnson, 1996). However, lists are still used (Choo, Lin, & Pandian, 2012) and people with good memory are at an advantage in this task (Papagno & Vallar, 1995). Those who are not put a great effort into learning but achieve poor results. Hence, for obvious reasons, methods that help low performers (LP) to overcome difficulties in memorizing are welcome and necessary in education. Behavioral studies have demonstrated that enriching verbal information with multisensory stimuli enhances retention (Shams & Seitz, 2008). Paivio’s Theory of Dual Encoding paved the way for enrichment. It suggests that verbal and visual information belong to two different systems (Paivio & Csapo, 1969). By engaging both systems while learning, memory is supported because the limited processing capacity of the verbal system can be compensated by the visual (Clark & Paivio, 1991). Alan Baddeley’s Model (1974) proposed working memory as a modular system with different subcomponents including the phonological loop and the visual sketchpad. Together they contribute to memory formation. In their Levels of Processing Framework, Craik and Tulving (1975) claimed that retention of verbal information is dependent on the richness with which it is presented. Engelkamp and Zimmer (1994) also described explicit memory as a multimodal system consisting of sub-systems, i.e. the verbal and other non-verbal systems (visual, sensorimotor, etc.). Hence, according to the above theoretical views, engagement of more subcomponents in the process of learning words has an impact on word retention (Macedonia, 2015). In other words, the view that verbal memory can be enhanced if enriched with visual and sensorimotor components has long been known in memory research. Vocabulary learning still occurs with bilingual lists but also with enrichment. Pictures illustrating the words’ semantics are successfully employed (Bisson et al., 2014). Less known in practice is that gestures accompanying the words also have an impact on memory. This approach is particularly effective compared to reading and reading and listening to words in L2, in the long and short term (for a review, see Macedonia, 2014). In a recent behavioral study by Mayer et al. (2015), gestures were proven to be superior to pictures in supporting memory. In the brain imaging section of the study, the authors found different neural cortices depending on the modality of stimulus processed, i.e. visual or sensorimotor. Thereafter, enrichment engages “more” brain in word learning than unimodal learning such as reading of words from lists. From an evolutionary point of view, it is argued that our brain is optimized for multisensory stimulation because of the multisensory environments in which we grow up and live (Shams et al., 2011). Accordingly, learning words by reading bilingual lists does not exploit the capacities of the brain. Instead, learning in lists deprives learners of modalities that support acquisition.

Considering that LP may fail to acquire an L2 at a proficient level, education needs to make use of strategies that are particularly supportive to them. However, the issue of whether enrichment is a benefit to both high performers (HP) and LP is still discussed. In this regard, it has been proposed that multisensorial information might disadvantage LP because it increases the perceptional and cognitive load, i.e. the amount of mental effort employed to store information (Harp & Mayer, 1998; Mayer, Heiser, & Lonn, 2001). Accordingly, enrichment should not be beneficial to LP. On the other hand, the contrary has also been asserted, i.e. that multisensory learning reduces cognitive load because it breaks up information into the different modalities and makes retention easier (Bagui, 1998; Cherry et al., 2008). In L2 word learning, there are only a few studies addressing this issue. Perlmutter and Myers (1975) found that enrichment by pictures help low performers to memorize words better than only hearing the words. Call and Switzky (1975) achieved similar results in training and testing elderly. Enrichment by means of iconic gestures has been investigated in a study by Macedonia et al. (2010). There, low performers who learned vocabulary items by self-performing iconic gestures took more advantage of enrichment than HP. However, that study documented learning outcome after intense training, i.e. three hours daily for five days. Here, contrarily to other studies, we are interested in the initial phase of learning, i.e. when learners perceive and encode a word in a foreign language for the first few times. Our aim is to discern whether LP at this stage of learning can benefit from enrichment and we hypothesize that LP also benefit from enrichment at the initial phase of learning.

2. Method 2.1. Participants Thirty-two native German-speaking subjects (mean age M = 24.45 ys, SD = 3.15, 20 females, 12 males) took part in the experiment. They were recruited from the database of the University of Graz (Austria) and had no reported history of language, psychiatric or neurological disorders. Participants gave written consent to participate and received 10€ as a compensation. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Graz (Austria). 2.2. Pre-testing Prior to the experiment, we interviewed participants regarding their experience with L2 learning, i.e. their learning habits and the number of languages they had acquired. Also, we administered a Wechsler verbal intelligence test (Tewes, 1998) with verbal paired associations in German, the subjects’ L1. Additionally, participants accomplished a forward and a backward digit span test (Schroeder, Twumasi-Ankrah, Baade, & Marshall, 2012). Both tests assessed the participants’ working memory as predictors of language learning ability.

2.3. Training materials Thirty novel words of Vimmi, an artificial corpus, were created for experimental purposes (Macedonia, Müller, & Friederici, 2011), every word being threesyllabic and conforming to Italian phonotactic rules (Table 1). The words were arbitrarily assigned a translation into German. The German words were controlled for their familiarity according to the Wortschatzportal of the University of Leipzig (http://wortschatz.uni-leipzig.de/). For each word, stimulus material consisted of the written word in Vimmi and its translation into German. Additionally audio files of the words (1s), as well as video clips (4.7s) were recorded with a German female speaker. In the clips, an actress performed a gesture semantically related to the word. The 30 words in Vimmi were randomly subdivided into three blocks and assigned to three different training conditions. In the visual condition (V), participants only read the written words; in the audiovisual test, participants additionally heard the words in L2 (AV); in the sensorimotor condition, besides reading the words and listening to them, participants saw videos of the actress performing an iconic gesture related to the word’s semantics (SM). Cond. 1 Visual (V) Vimmi 1 nelosi 2 gelori 3 miruwe 4 gepesa 5 mebeti 6 atesi 7 lofisu 8 serawo 9 siroba 10 botufe Cond. 2 Audiovisual (AV) 11 suneri 12 wugezi 13 mewima 14 guriwe 15 sigule 16 lifawo 17 bekoni 18 dafipo 19 pirumo 20 giketa Cond. 3: Sensorimotor (SM) 21 magosa 22 uladi 23 dirube 24 ganuma 25 nabita

German Reissverschluss Ohrring Pfeffermühle Besen Becher Treppe Foen Giesskanne Seife Taschentuch

English zip earring pepper mill broom cup stairs hair dryer watering can soap handkerchief

Geige Regal Stempel Faden Tempel Stuhl Kaffee Huegel Erde Blume

violin shelf stamp thread temple chair coffee hill earth flower

Shampoo Pullover Zettel Messer Welle

shampoo pullover sheet of paper knife wave

26 27 28 29 30

mesako midaro raone motila nukile

Telefon Spiegel Fernbedienung Banane Poster

telephone mirror remote control banana poster

Table 1: Vimmi Words used during training, their translation into German for the participants, and into English for the readers.

2.4. Training procedure In a larger experimental setup, our aim was to investigate the first stage of learning, i.e. the encoding of novel words with different modalities and the neural substrate exploiting this function (Macedonia, Repetto, & Ischebeck, under revision). Therefore, we opted having our participants learn in a functional Magnet Resonance (fMRI) scanner. For the present study, we used the behavioral data acquired during the scanning procedure. Lying supine in the scanner, subjects were instructed to memorize as many words as they could in Vimmi and German that were presented to them via headphones (Earplug, NordicNeuroLab AS, Norway) and via a back-projection screen mounted at the participantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feet. Participants could view the contents of the screen over a mirror mounted on top of the head coil. The thirty items were subdivided into three blocks, 10 items for each learning condition. In the scanner, during each trial which lasted approx. 7s, the written word in Vimmi and its translation into German underneath were presented (V). Additionally, in the AV-condition, the audio-file was played. Finally, in the SM-condition, the video of the iconic gesture was shown. Every block of words was shown three times. Within the block, items were randomized giving a total number of 90 repetitions and a training duration of approximately 25 minutes. 2.5. Testing After the training, participants were given a five-minute break in a room adjacent to the scanner. Thereafter, in the same room, they completed the written tests. In the German free recall, participants were instructed to write as many items as they could remember on an empty sheet of paper, only in German, their L1. Similarly, participants were asked to do the same for the free recall in Vimmi. In the paired free recall in German and Vimmi, participants had to write down pairs of words. In the cued recall German, participants were given a randomized list of the 30 Vimmi items and instructed to translate them into German. In the cued recall Vimmi, participants translated the German words into Vimmi. We alternated the order of the translation from one participant to the other. Each test lasted 5 minutes. 2.6. Statistical Analyses For each participant we computed a performance index for each memory task under each experimental condition; it was calculated as the percentage of correctly recalled items over the total number of items. Thereafter, we summarized the individual performance by calculating a global performance index, obtained as the mean value of each participantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performances in all the ÂŠ 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

memory tasks. On this basis, we split the sample in two groups based on the global performance index, by using the Median value (34.7) as the cut-off between groups: those who obtained scores below the cut-off belonged to the LP group, and those who obtained scores above the cut-off belonged to the HP group. Table 2 summarizes the descriptive statistics of the above mentioned indexes. Group LP Task

Free German

Free Vimmi

Paired recall

Cued recall German to Vimmi Cued recall Vimmi to German Global performance

Condition

Mean %

HP SD

Mean %

31.25

19.28

57.50

15.71

42.50

12.38

58.13

15.15

65.00

18.26

74.38

11.53

8.33

9.51

28.13

13.55

10.00

9.03

27.29

17.77

8.96

7.86

37.92

17.76

6.46

7.84

29.58

13.05

11.46

11.67

27.29

18.47

7.50

6.15

38.54

20.26

18.33

15.96

58.13

25.12

19.79

15.37

46.25

27.48

11.04

10.02

55.63

19.35

36.88

23.01

77.50

19.83

34.38

20.65

74.38

17.11

31.25

20.62

75.00

21.29

22.88

8.36

51.04

13.53

Table 2: Memory performance for the HP and LP (descriptive statistics)

In order to test the impact of the different learning conditions on the memory tasks, we conducted Repeated Measures ANOVAs, using each task performance index as a dependent variable, the Learning Condition as within subject factor with three levels (Visual- V; Audiovisual – AV; Sensorimotor – SM), and the Group as between subjects factor with two levels (LP vs HP). Single effects analyses and contrasts were performed when the interaction between the Learning Condition and Group was significant. In order to assess if the pre-test memory assessment (Wechsler paired recall, Digit Forward and Digit Backward) was able to predict the global performance, and thus for the HP vs LP groups, we calculated correlation indexes (Pearson’s r) between the global performance index and each pre-test. Thereafter, we © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

conducted a logistic regression using the Group as dependent variable and the pre-test(s) significantly correlated with the global performance score as predictor(s).

2. Results For the free recall test in German, we found a main effect of the Learning Condition, [F (2.60) = 31.68, p < 0.001, 2= 0.51]. Sensorimotor encoding proved to be significantly superior [F(1.31)= 38.84, p < 0.001] to the other learning conditions. The interaction between Learning Condition and Group was also significant [F(2.60)= 3.29, p = 0.04; 2= 0.1]. Single effects analyses indicated that the HP performed better with SM learning than with the other two modalities [SM vs AV and V F(1.15)= 14.4 p = 0.02]. However, LP, gradually improved their performance if learning was enriched across the conditions [AV vs V: F(1.15)= 5.65 p = 0.03; SM vs AV: F(1.15)= 37.1 p < 0.001]. In the free recall task in Vimmi and in the paired recall task, data underlined that on the whole the Learning Condition did not impact performance, i.e. the main effect was absent for the whole group. However, the learning condition affected performance differently depending on the group [Learning Condition X Group – Free Vimmi: F(2.60)= 3.51, p = 0.04; 2= 0.11; Paired recall: F(2.60)= 6, p = 0.04; 2= 0.17]. In both tasks, only the HP took advantage from the SM learning condition against V and AV conditions [Free Vimmi: SM vs AV and V F(1.15)= 6.63 p = 0.02; Paired recall: SM vs AV and V F(1.15)= 11.8 p < 0.004]. In the cued recall from German to Vimmi, the main effect was not significant, but the interaction between Group and Learning condition was significant [F(2.60)= 3.38, p = 0.04; 2= 0.10]; within subjects comparisons underlined that in the learning conditions AV vs. SM, HP still take a greater advantage from SM enrichment, whereas for LP the contrary is the case F(1.30)= 5.93, p = 0.02; 2= 0.16]. In the cued recall from Vimmi to German, the data underlined that neither the main effect nor the interaction were significant.

Figure 1: Memory performance for the HP and LP (descriptive statistics)

2.1. Pretests and correlations We conducted correlation tests between the scores obtained in the memory pretests and the global performance index. We found a significant correlation with the Wechsler Paired recall test (r=0.63; p<0.001). As a consequence, the binomial logistic regression model including the Wechsler paired recall test as predictor also resulted statistical significance (χ2=7.6; p<0.01). The model could explain 28.0% (Nagelkerke R2) of the variance in Group and correctly classified 65.6% of the cases. The sensitivity and specificity were 75% and 56.3% respectively. Hence, as shown in Table 3, an increase in score in the Wechsler paired recall is likely to be associated with the HP. B

E.S.

Wald

Exp(B)

Paired-word

0.244

0.115

4.484

0.034

1.276

Constant

-12.296

5.902

4.340

0.037

0.000

Table 3: Logistic regression parameters

3. Discussion and Conclusion The above results appear to indicate that three repetitions of 30 novel words lead to poor results in memorization (Figure 1). This applies to both the LP and HP groups. Considering the single tests, free recall in German scored best. It is possible that participants first store the concept. Once it is memorized, retrieving the concept label, the word in L1, is “easy”. Instead, L2, phonematics makes the task more demanding. Hence, results are poorer compared to free recall in L1. © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Consequently, the results of paired recall are also affected because the word in L2 is missing. Cued recall tests showed poor performance altogether and learning conditions did not significantly differ from each other. Hence, these data suggest that three repetitions of 30 novel items do not lead to good retention for the population taking part in the experiment. However, even if general performance was poor, the results show that enrichment of the written words in L2 enhances their memory. In detail, high performers significantly benefit from SM-enrichment in free recall in German, Vimmi and in the paired free recall. Low performers take advantage of SM encoding only in the easiest measure, i.e. the free recall in German. There, we also found a significant interaction between the group and the learning condition. This interaction indicates that both audio-visual enrichment impacts their memory and sensorimotor learning, hence enrichment altogether. Considering this interaction, it stands to reason that enrichment does not burden LPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cognitive load. Instead, enrichment may engage more cognitive resources in word learning and therefore might facilitate retention also for LP, as asserted in a number of scientific papers (Paivio, 2006; Shams & Seitz, 2008; Shams et al., 2011). In the cued-recall test from German to Vimmi, results indicate an inverse trend in the conditions AV and SM for both groups of participants. Whereas HP still take advantage of enrichment, LP benefit from less enriched input. Being cued recall a demanding task, as it creates a bottle neck by the matching of the words, we speculate the two groups of participants might have adopted different cognitive strategies when retrieving the words. In fact, retrieval strategies may vary depending on the task, the capacities of learners and their age (Danielsson et al. 2015; Touron, 2015). The positive correlation between HPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; memory scores in the retention tests and the Wechsler Paired recall test show that HP have a superior working memory (Baddeley, 2003) for lists and strings of letters. This might have to do with their faculty to process phonologically unfamiliar sounds (Kaushanskaya, Yoo, & Van Hecke, 2013) but bilingualism could also contribute to this capacity (Kaushanskaya & Marian, 2009). From a brain perspective, the ability to better learn language has been attributed to several factors including anatomy (Xiang et al., 2012) and differences in brain function (Golestani, 2014). Specifically, a study addressing high performance in multisensory learning of L2 words has found that HP show higher activity in multisensory integration areas of the brain as the angular gyrus (Macedonia et al., 2010). This ability to put the different pieces of sensory information in a more efficient way together (Macedonia et al., 2010; Seghier, 2012) could explain why HP show superior results independent of the method(s) used during learning. Taken together, our results indicate that both HP and LP take advantage of enrichment when learning novel words in L2. In other words, additional information related to a word is basic to its retention (Hulstijn, 2001). Furthermore, considering also the behavioral results in a study by Macedonia et. ÂŠ 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

al. (2010), LP take advantage of sensorimotor enrichment at a lower number of repetitions if the task is not demanding. With a higher number of repetitions, LP can take advantage in more difficult tasks. From an educational point of view, these findings lead to the consideration that HP having a strong working memory, master memorization easily, and take advantage of sensorimotor enrichment. LP compensate for a weak working memory through enrichment. In this context, the Wechsler paired test could help to detect low performance. Accordingly, educationalists could select appropriate activities with enrichment and a high number of repetitions in order to support LP. Hence, multisensory learning could possibly help to restrict the performance gap between HP and LP but would certainly allow LP to achieve better results in L2 education and professional development.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 54-73, March 2016

EFL Reading Achievement: Impact of Gender and Self-efficacy Beliefs Hania Al Khamisi, Thuwayba Al Barwani, Abdo Al Mekhlafi and Mohamed Osman Sultan Qaboos University Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Abstract. Research has shown that reading is highly correlated with students' academic performance in other disciplines. However, students' reading attainment is influenced by many factors. The purpose of this study is two folds: Investigating the gender gap in English as a foreign language (EFL) reading achievement of male and female basic education students in grades four and ten; and also examining the relationship between these students' reading achievement and their reading selfefficacy beliefs. More specifically, it examined the differences in these beliefs in light of gender and grade level and the interaction between the two. The total sample consisted of 636 students, 260 grade four students and 376 grade ten students from basic education schools in the Sultanate of Oman. Two research instruments were used in this study: national reading achievement tests obtained from the Ministry of Education and a reading self-efficacy beliefs scale developed by the researchers. Findings revealed that there were gender gaps in the EFL reading achievement in favor of females in both grades four and ten. Moreover, the findings showed that females in both grades held a superior level of reading self-efficacy beliefs for their EFL reading achievement than males did. Added to that, the findings showed that grade four students reading self-efficacy beliefs for EFL reading achievement was higher than those of grade ten. Finally, the findings showed a strong association between reading self-efficacy beliefs and the reading achievement of students in both grades; students with higher levels of self-efficacy beliefs for EFL reading tended to perform better in their reading achievement tests.

Key words: EFL Reading; Self-efficacy beliefs; Gender gap; Basic Education; Reading achievement.

Introduction Success in school and in later life heavily relies on the individual's ability to read. Reading is an integral part of success in almost all academic areas as well as in obtaining a successful career in the future (Chapman, 2010). Reading is

also the agent by which different affairs are carried out and achieved in almost all work places. Hence, reading is considered as a crucial element for the enhancement of both the social and economic status of different nations (White, 2007). In Oman, educational authorities are exerting huge efforts to develop reading skills of the Omani youth, especially at school level in both the Arabic language and the English language, which is taught as a foreign language (EFL). Despite the educational efforts to promote reading attainments, boys' and girls' reading achievement levels differ significantly in favor of girls causing global concern of different policies (Watson, Kehler, & Martino, 2010). The discrepancies in the attainment of reading of the two genders are referred to in literature as "a gender gap in reading" and it has been described as a "universal problem" (Sadowski, 2010, p. 11). Gender gap in reading has been revealed by many international, national and local surveys and trends. Most of these evaluation trends for reading achievement have reported the advantage of girls over boys in reading attainment. Many psychological, social, biological, affective and cognitive factors are found to impact the reading attainments of boys and girls (Robinson & Lubienski, 2011). Among these factors is the self-efficacy beliefs which are defined as "beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the course of action required to produce given attainment" (Bandura, 1977, p. 3). In educational settings, self-efficacy beliefs are considered as an integral element in determining the achievement of students (Barnes, 2010). They play a vital role in predicting the actions students perform and the amount of motivation and efforts they would display when learning (Pajares, 2002). Thus, self-efficacy beliefs capture the attention of researchers to study them more intensively in relation to learning languages. In Oman, the gender gap in the overall achievement favoring girls is present in different age groups and different content areas at all school levels including university level (Osman, Al-Barwani, Al-Mekhlafi, & Babikir, 2011). For example, at school level, grade eight Omani female students outscore boys' in math and science (International Study Center, 2007). Investigating literacy skills in some developing countries including Oman, Griffin (2000 ) examined the achievement in literacy for grade four Omani students and found that girls surpass boys, and that "the mastery levels favor girls by up to 6%." (p.9). Additionally, the Ministry of Education (MOE) national assessment results, where objective tests were used, showed that girls outscore boys in these assessments (MOE & The World Bank, 2012). In the EFL context in Oman, gender gap is present among Omani students in favor of females. For example, Osman et al. (2011) found that Omani female students surpass their male counterparts in English language achievement at school level, and that the difference between the two is up to 10 points of the main score. Additionally, in the academic year 2008, a national English language test was given by the MOE in Oman to grade ten students. The results revealed an approximately (1.7) point difference in the mean results of the reading part between boys and girls favoring the girls. This difference was found to be significant (Ministry of Education, 2009b). Parallel to grade ten, in the academic year 2009, a national English language test was administered by the MOE to grade four students which showed that there was a significant

difference in the students' performance in reading in favor of girls (Ministry of Education, 2010c).These findings call for a serious investigation of the causes for such gender differences in this language skill. The underachievement of male students in EFL in general and in reading skills in particular would have implications on the balance of the Omani society. It would affect males' enrollment in higher education institutes as well as their ability to meet the needs of the labor market. The high achievement of girls, on the other hand, increases their chances for better education opportunities in higher educational institutes and employment. Hence, there is a need for an investigation into the factors behind such a gender gap in reading (Osman, 2012). Coladarci and Breton (1997) argue that students' reading attainment is not only influenced by their intellectual capacities, but also by non-cognitive abilities like self-efficacy beliefs. Bandura (1977) identifies self-efficacy beliefs to be the judgments people hold about their own abilities to carry out particular actions. Such beliefs have an impact on controlling people's performance and their functions by influencing peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;cognitive, motivational, affective, and decisional processes" (Bandura & Locke, 2003, p. 87). Self-efficacy beliefs decide how people conceive themselves regarding their capability or incapability to perform certain actions, how motivated they are to face the difficulties when doing certain tasks, what their emotional status is and what choices they make at a specific point of time (Bandura, 1977; Bandura & Locke, 2003; Shaw, 2008). In academic contexts, researchers state that self-efficacy beliefs give more consistent indications of the academic achievement of students than any other self-beliefs (Barnes, 2010; Pajares, 2003; Schunk, 2003; Shell, 1995). In the domain of reading, reading self-efficacy beliefs are viewed as the judgment of how effectively an individual can perform in a certain reading task (Wigfield, Guthrie, Tonks, & Perencevich, 2004). Such judgment influences how well the individual can work in similar reading tasks (Ferrara, 2005). Thus, reading self-efficacy is considered as a predictor of reading achievement (Nevill, 2008). McCabe and Margolis (2001) indicate that when students have low selfefficacy beliefs for reading, they are likely to "resist reading or apathetically go through the motions of learning to read" (p.45). On the other hand, self- efficacy is considered as an essential provider to motivate students to work more diligently (Schunk, 2003). Moreover, students with high reading self-efficacy beliefs tend to read more frequently (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997) and henceforth increase their reading fluency and achievement.

Purpose of the study This study aims to examine the reading achievement of male and female students in grades four (end of cycle one) and ten (end of cycle two). It was also to examine the disparity in the levels of efficacy beliefs held in EFL reading achievement by both genders by the end of each cycle. More specifically, the study answered the following questions:

1. Are there any significant differences in reading achievement between Omani male and female students in grade four? 2. Are there any significant differences in reading achievement between Omani male and female students in grade ten? 3. Are there any significant differences in reading self-efficacy beliefs between Omani male and female students in grade four? 4. Are there any significant differences in reading self-efficacy beliefs between Omani male and female students in grade ten? 5. Are there any significant differences between the reading self-efficacy beliefs of Omani male and female students in grades four and ten? 6. Is there a relationship between male and female students' reading self-efficacy beliefs and their reading achievement in each grade level?

Theoretical back ground Self-efficacy Beliefs and Gender In different aspects of life, both genders seem to vary in their general selfefficacy beliefs. In academic contexts, Pajares (2002) looks at self-efficacy for academic achievement of both genders with relation to their self-regulation. He asserts that self-efficacy for the use of self-regulated learning strategies favored females over males; results showed that females utilize strategies like doing homework and setting goals more than males. Pajares (2002) also states that boys tend to report high self-efficacy beliefs for the skills they do not have and higher efficacy beliefs for skills they do possess, whereas girls are reported to be more "modest" about their efficacy beliefs as cited in Winfield, Eccles, & Pintrich (1996). In language arts, studying the relationship between reading self-efficacy, reading enjoyment, and reading achievement of students aged 8 and 12 years old, Smith, Smith, Gilmore, and Jameson (2012) found that girls surpassed boys in reading achievement and reading enjoyment, however, gender disparity in self-efficacy were minimum. This supports the findings of Pajares and Valiante (1999) where girls were found to have more competence in writing than boys. There was, however, no significant difference found in the writing efficacy beliefs of both genders. According to these researchers, this suggests that male and female students use "different metrics" when they respond to efficacy scales (P. 390). With a similar age-group of students to the above studies, Pecjak and Peklaj (2006) investigated the differences in motivational factors of grade three and seven students according to their gender and reading achievements. For the third graders, general self- efficacy, self-efficacy in oral reading, and interest in reading were factor analyzed. Results showed that female students have higher oral reading self-efficacy and interest in reading than males. As for seventh graders, the identified motivational dimensions were four: extrinsic motivation, involvement and immersion in reading, interest and reading in a social context, and self-efficacy. The factor analysis revealed statistical gender differences in all dimensions except efficacy beliefs where the differences were insignificant.

Reading Self-efficacy and Age As individuals grow up, many of their affective elements, including selfefficacy beliefs, undergo many changes. A review of the literature on efficacy beliefs and age yields that self-efficacy beliefs go through developmental changes as individuals grow up (Hiebert, 1984; Paris & Oka, 1986; Schunk, 1991; Shell, 1995). Reviewed literature, however, seems to suggest that young children may lack the ability to assess their self-efficacy beliefs. Weiner (1985) and Stipek (1993) argue that young children may have imprecise views about the causes of their ability and success. In other words, young children may have misconceptions about the causes of their success and the level of their abilities. Therefore, they may relate their success or failure to mistaken causes. Moreover, when they are asked to estimate their efficacy beliefs, young children may over estimate these beliefs. Paris & Oka (1986) and Stipek(1993) indicated that previous studies have also suggested that young children tend to overrate their efficacy beliefs. These researchers, however, indicate that as children grow up, they become capable of giving more accurate judgments about their abilities. The aforementioned insights about general efficacy beliefs and achievement align with the literature's view on reading efficacy beliefs and age. Henk and Melnick (1995), for example, shed light on the relation between reading self-efficacy beliefs and age. They mention that the scale they developed is appropriate for intermediate levels but not for the primary grades because prior to grade four, students cannot attribute their achievement to proper causes (Henk & Melnick, 1995). This corresponds to the findings of Weiner (1985) and Stipek (1993). It could be argued, therefore, that there is sufficient comprehensive literature that suggests that young learners’ lack the ability to precisely report their efficacy beliefs. Shell, Colvin, and Bruning (1995) examine the grade level differences of fourth, seventh and tenth graders and their control-related beliefs with relation to students’ beliefs and writing and reading achievement. To measure the beliefs of the students, the researchers used two subscales: one to measure the task beliefs and the other is to measure the skills beliefs. Results yield that as grade level increases, students' task efficacy beliefs for reading relates more to achievement in reading. Specifically, these beliefs increasingly predict reading comprehension skill as the grade level develops. Self-Efficacy and Reading Achievement Bandura (1993) states that to accomplish certain tasks, people do not merely need knowledge and skills. A good acknowledgement of one's selfefficacy is fundamental. This could possibly explain why learners who may possess similar knowledge and skills differ in their accomplishments in a domain like reading (NokhbehRousta & MirSaeed, 2012). These researchers maintain that the diversity in the level of self-efficacy beliefs held by learners for reading is contributing to making them differ in their usage of their skills and knowledge. Therefore, this explains why learners vary in their reading achievement. Wiltgen (2011) explains that the learners’ high self-efficacy beliefs in reading impacts positively on their efforts to attempt any reading tasks and their

persistence in achieving such tasks. Learners with a high level of confidence in their reading abilities are more likely to engage themselves to learn more and show more effort and determination to face reading challenges (Wiltgen, 2011). In difficult reading tasks, these learners modify their reading strategies and adapt more effective strategies, control their negative emotions like anxiety and stress, assess their reading achievement precisely and negotiate with teachers and peers (Li & Wang, 2010). Henk and Melnick (1995) point out that reading efficacy impacts the process of comprehending what is being read and the overall achievement in this skill. The above conclusions are supported by a comprehensive literature. For instance, NokhbehRousta and MirSaeed (2012) posit that, perceived self-efficacy beliefs held for reading are closely associated with reading performance. Investigating related literature and data analysis from different countries, Smith et al. (2012) conclude that self-efficacy beliefs have a strong potential influence on reading achievement. Al Bereki and Al Mekhlafi (2015) also argue that linguistic performance of female students would most probably be better than male students of the same age. In fact, Shell, Bruning, & Murphy (1989) find that reading self-efficacy beliefs are a strong predictor for the reading achievement of students (as cited in Jones, Varberg, Manger, Eikeland, and Asbjørnsen, 2012). Clark (2012) concludes that early researchers recognize students’ self-efficacy beliefs for reading to be a key element in their reading process, and hence, reading achievement. Because of this, Clark (2012) declares that examining the self-efficacy beliefs students hold towards reading helps educators understand this construct’s influence on students' achievement. For the above reasons, Walker (2003) recommends that teachers assign students with reading activities that they can accomplish. This will result in motivating students to read more, reflecting positively on their overall reading attainment. Self-efficacy beliefs are seen to be a key in developing the learners intrinsic motivation for reading (Pecjak & Peklaj, 2006). Walker (2003) also explains that students with low selfefficacy beliefs for reading utilize a fewer strategies, acknowledging low selfesteem about their reading capability, and hence, they are very likely to stop trying when they face challenging tasks. In contrast, high self-efficacy belief is connected to more reading strategy usage and engagement which results in enhancing reading achievement (Chapman & Tunmer, 2003). A review of self-efficacy beliefs and EFL reading does not reveal a comprehensive literature in non-western settings (Khajavi & Ketabi, 2011). Most of the previous empirical work on self-efficacy beliefs and reading was found in western contexts where English is taught as a first language (Coronado-Aliegro, 2006). There are, however, some elements in literature that pointed to a link between EFL reading and self-efficacy beliefs. For instance, Wong (2005) points out that having a high perception of self-efficacy for reading in a foreign language helps learners face language difficulties and achieve better in reading tests. Li and Wang (2010) assert that readers with high self-efficacy beliefs set goals, arrange their time, and use cognitive strategies like “making inferences, note-taking, elaboration, grouping, deduction, and transferring” (p.153). Thus, a plethora of research supports the significant role of reading efficacy beliefs in enhancing learners’ reading achievement.

METHODOLOGY Research Design and Data Analysis This is a descriptive analytic study. It describes the EFL reading achievement of grades four and ten students and reveals the levels of selfefficacy beliefs that these students hold for their EFL reading achievement. It also analyzes the differences in these beliefs in light of gender and grade levels as well as the interactions between the two. Population and Sample The population of this study was basic education (BE) students in grades four and ten in the Sultanate of Oman in the academic year 2012/2013 from different governorates of the Sultanate. It is worth mentioning that grade four represents the end of cycle one of the BE. Cycle one students (age 6-10) attend mixed-gender schools which are taught by female teachers. Grade ten represents the end of cycle two (age 11-15) of the BE. Students in this grade, however, attend single-gender schools where female students are taught by female teachers and male students are taught by male teachers. The implementation of the study's instruments lasted for almost 6 weeks. It is necessary to mention that the schools involved in the study and the sample underwent some changes due to some circumstances in the schools like the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; absenteeism, the invalid returned questionnaire and other reasons. Hence, there were a total of 260 valid responses representing 125 males and 135 females from cycle one schools and a total of 376 representing 188 males and 188 females from cycle two schools. Thus constituting (87%, and 92%) of the initial samples of grade four and grade ten, respectively. Research Tools Two instruments were used in this study. The first was a set of reading achievement tests for grades four and ten BE. These are national tests in English language administered by the Omani Ministry of Education for both grade four and ten. For the purpose of this study, only the reading section of the test was administered. The reliability coefficient of the reading part of the test was 0.93 for grade four, 0.65 for grade ten (Ministry of Education, 2010c, 2009b). The second instrument was the reading self-efficacy beliefs scale developed by the researchers based on a thorough review of relevant literature. It was used to determine the level of efficacy beliefs for reading held by grade four and ten students. The scale was piloted to a sample of 40 students from the target population. The internal consistency coefficient Cronbach's "alpha", was computed for the scale and found to be (0 .948). The scale was a seven-unit interval with the following unit classifications: (7-6) strong confidence in doing the task, (5-3) moderate confidence, and (2-1) weak confidence in executing the task. The scale also included five sub-scales with the following number of items in each sub-scale: Reading at the Level of Words (6 items), Reading at the Level of Sentences (7 items), Reading at the Level of Texts (8 items), Independent Reading (6 items), and Other Statements (6 items). Hence, the total number of items became 33 in the implemented scale.

Procedures The two instruments were administered to the study sample in four basic education schools. The reading tests were simultaneously administered in the three selected classes in each school (40 minute duration). The tests were then marked by two teachers to ensure the reliability of the grades assigned. The reading self-efficacy scale was administered on the same day as the reading achievement tests. A single code was used for each student. The data gathered via these two instruments were then analyzed using various statistical treatments (e.g. descriptive statistics, t-test, correlations, and linear regression).

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS Question One The first research question investigated gender disparity in the reading achievement of grade four students. To answer this question data was collected via the administered national reading test. Accordingly, comparative analysis was carried out using the independent sample t-test. Table (1) displays a summary of the independent sample t-test results.

Table (1) Mean Differences, Standard Deviations and the T Value of the Reading Achievement Test of Grade Four Students

Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; N **Mean Std. T df Sig. Gender Deviation tailed) Female 135 8.56 3.97 2.76 258 .006* Male 125 7.23 3.79 Note. Std = Standard Deviation, t = T value and df = degree of freedom * The mean difference is significant at .05 level ** Test total mark is 20

(2-

The results shown in Table (1) reveal a significant gender difference in the means of reading achievement of grade four students at 0.05 level of significance. This difference is in favor of females whose mean achievement is (8.56) compared to the maleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mean achievement (7.23). These findings correspond to the results reported by Forsthuber, Horvath, & Motiejunaite (2010) that indicate the outperformance of fourth grade girls over boys in reading achievement in their mother tongue. They also correspond to the findings of Griffin (2000) who points out that grade four Omani females surpass their male counterparts in their literacy skills. In addition, this finding is consistent with a national English language test administered by the Omani Ministry of Education (MOE) in 2009 to grade four students whose results showed a significant gender difference in favor of females (Ministry of Education, 2010c).

Question Two The second research question investigated gender differences in reading achievement of grade ten students. To answer this question data were collected and treated with procedures similar to the ones done for grade four. Table (2) shows the results of the analysis of the independent sample t-test. Table (2) Mean differences, Standard Deviations and the T Value of the Reading Achievement Test of Grade Ten Students

Students’ Std. Sig. (2N **Mean t df Gender Deviation tailed) Female 188 13.28 4.70 4.56 374 .000* Male 188 11.12 4.48 Note. Std = Standard Deviation, t = T value and df = degree of freedom * The mean difference is significant at .05 level ** Test total mark is 24 Similar to the grade four results, Table (2) reveals a significant gender difference in the means of reading achievement of grade ten students with a tvalue of (4.56) and a significant level of .000 (P < .05). This difference is in favor of females whose mean achievement is (13.28) which is almost two degrees higher than that of the males. Similar to grade four, a gender gap in the EFL reading achievement also exists among grade ten students in favor of girls. Three PISA surveys carried out with 15 year old students (similar age to grade ten in Oman), found corresponding results to the findings of this study. Significant differences were found in reading achievement favoring girls within this age group (Forsthuber, Horvath, & Motiejunaite, 2010). In addition, in the academic year 2008, a national English language test was administered by the MOE in Oman to grade ten students showed results indicating approximately (1.7) point difference in the mean results of the reading part between boys and girls favoring the girls: boys’ mean result was (46.79) whereas the girls’ mean was (48.48). This difference was found to be significant (Ministry of Education, 2009b). Consistent with grade four, these results call for more attention to be given to reading in grade ten male students’ classes. Literature has provided many justifications that could explain the outperformance of females over males. For example, Osman, Al Barwani, and Al Mekhlafi, (2015) point out that the instructional environments which include school ambiance, readiness, aspiration, and study habits were found to contribute more substantially to the gender gap in academic performance. Also, Hunsader (2005) argues that males, socially, do not like to be seen caring about reading and that according to the Canadian Council on Learning (2009), boys view reading as a "feminine activity" (p. 5). Therefore, the low achievement of boys in grade four compared to girls could be attributed to their social and psychological views of reading. Such perceptions may negatively influence the achievement of boys. In addition, Robinson and Lubienski (2011) state that girls are found to frequently read more than boys and that they are more attentive in reading

classes. In their demographic information part, grade four students were asked to reveal whether they have English books in their home library and 65.7% of the females reported the availability of English books in their home library whereas only 47.6% of the males indicated having books at home. This shows that females are more exposed to reading materials than males as they have reading materials at home. Hence, the differences in reading achievement could be attributed to the availability of English books at home which may reflect positively on girls’ reading attainments. A third explanation could be linked to the impact of affective factors like motivation and positive attitudes which are found to favor girls (Forsthuber, Horvath, & Motiejunaite, 2010). Therefore, it could be claimed that grade four females have higher motivation and a positive attitude towards reading which resulted in their superior reading achievement compared to grade four male students. According to Osman, Al Barwani, and Al Mekhlafi, (2015), it is evident most prominent gender gap in academic performance appears to be in reading, where female students not only demonstrate higher performance in reading but also enjoy reading more than their males counterparts. In the demographic information section, grade ten females also reported greater access to reading materials. For instance, 92.5% of grade ten females reported having English books at their schools’ Learning Resource Center compared to only 85.3% of the boys. A higher percentage of females reported the availability of English books (57.4%) and computers with internet access (81.4 %) at home compared to boys (36.7%) and (69.1%) respectively. It could be claimed that having such available reading resources contribute to the higher performance of grade ten females students. The impact of affective factors like motivation and attitudes which are found to favor girls could be a third explanation for the underachievement of grade ten males compared to females. These factors are also mentioned by Forsthuber, Horvath, & Motiejunaite (2010) as a possible justification for gender differences in reading. Another important affective factor is self- efficacy beliefs, which may explain the gender gap in reading achievement. This will be examined in the fourth question. Questions Three and Four The third and fourth research questions examined gender differences at the level of the reading self-efficacy beliefs of grades four and ten students respectively. These two questions were answered using the reading self-efficacy beliefs scale. Table (3) displays a summary of the independent sample t-test results of male and female students’ reading self-efficacy beliefs in grades four and ten. Table (3) Mean differences, Standard Deviations and the T Values of the Reading Self-efficacy Beliefs of Male and Female Students in Grades Four & Ten

Four

Grade

Students’ Gender Female Male

**Mean

135 125

4.44 3.56

Std. Deviation 1.34 1.43

Sig. (2tailed)

5.10

258

.000*

Ten

Female 188 4.09 1.39 4.61 374 .000* Male 188 3.39 1.56 Note. Std = Standard Deviation, t = T value and df = degree of freedom * The mean difference is significant at .05 level ** The Reading Self-efficacy Beliefs Scale is a seven-unit Interval Examining the gender differences in grade four self-efficacy beliefs as shown in Table (3), it is clear that the mean of the females’ efficacy beliefs is higher than the males’ by an approximately one unit difference in the means between the two. The means t-value (5.1) indicates a significant gender difference at p< .05. This difference is in favor of females. Thus, indicating that grade four females hold a superior level of efficacy beliefs for EFL reading achievement than males. Additionally, the results also reveal that the means of the efficacy beliefs scores of both genders range from (4.44) points for the females to (3.56) points for the males. On the seven –unit scale used to measure efficacy beliefs, this range corresponds to the moderate category. Hence, grade four students’ efficacy beliefs are at the moderate level. Regardless of the statistical gender difference which favored females, both genders' efficacy beliefs for EFL reading are moderate. In other words, on average, grade four male and female students believe that they could basically perform the EFL reading tasks. The moderate level of self-efficacy may be attributed to the fact that reading self-efficacy beliefs are not incorporated in the EFL reading instruction. Thus, there may be no sufficient attention given to developing grade four self-efficacy beliefs for EFL reading. Another reason that may account for the moderate level of reading self-efficacy beliefs is that teachers and parents may not have solid background information about the sources of these beliefs and their role in enhancing students’ achievement. Hence, they may neglect developing such beliefs within their children. The results of the grade ten analysis displayed in Table (3) demonstrate a significant gender difference in reading self-efficacy beliefs favoring females with a t value of (4.61) an at p < .05 level of significance. This indicates that grade ten females have a higher level of reading self-efficacy beliefs than their male counterparts. The means of the self-efficacy beliefs are (4.09) for females and (3.39) for males. These results fit in the moderate category in the seven –unit scale that was used to measure self-efficacy beliefs. Similar to grade four, the self-efficacy beliefs for EFL reading of both male and female students are at a moderate level irrespective of the statistical gender difference that favored females. Therefore, grade ten male and female students, on average, believe that they could basically perform EFL reading tasks. Similar reasons given for the moderate level of grade four self-efficacy beliefs could explain the moderate level of EFL reading efficacy for grade ten. In the context of teaching English as a first language reading, and examining gender differences in reading self-efficacy beliefs, similar and contradicting results to the findings of these two questions were yielded by studies carried out with similar age group learners to the current study sample. For instance, Pecjak and Peklaj (2006) carried out a study to investigate reading

efficacy beliefs and reading achievement with grades three and seven where gender was one of the variables. Grade three results analysis coincide with the findings of these two research questions; Pecjak and Peklaj (2006) found significant differences in the level of efficacy beliefs in favor of females. With grade seven, however, these researchers found gender differences in reading efficacy beliefs to be insignificant which contradicts the findings of the two questions of our present study. Additionally, another study, which supports the findings of these two research questions, was conducted by Lynch (2002) in Canada where females were reported to score a significantly higher level of reading efficacy beliefs compared to males among eight and nine- year- old learners. However, the study carried out by Smith, Smith, Gilmore, and Jameson (2012) found that the gender differences in reading self-efficacy are minimal among 8 and 12- year old students. Examining explanations for the higher level of reading efficacy beliefs among female students of the current study, the researchers first link it to sources of efficacy beliefs. Wood and Bandura (1989) state that mastery experiences are a vital construct of efficacy beliefs. Barnes (2010) and Usher and Pajares (2008) clarify that success in accomplishing tasks leads to building higher level of efficacy beliefs. The results obtained by analyzing the first and second research questions of this study, indicate that in both grades, four and ten females surpassed males in reading achievement. Another justification could be related to the second construct for efficacy beliefs proposed by Wood and Bandura (1989) which is vicarious experiences. When students observe their peers underperform in a certain task, they are more likely to have less confidence in their abilities (Templin, 2011). As evidenced from the results of the research questions one and two, which show the underachievement of boys in reading tests compared to females, it could be argued that boys may have observed each other underperform in some reading tasks. Another explanation could relate to Pajares (2002) argument that parents and teachers may transfer to the students the notion that the language arts are a feminine field causing girls to show higher self-efficacy beliefs for language learning, in this case reading. Furthermore, Schunk and Meece (2006) maintain that families with more educational resources are more likely to develop their childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efficacy beliefs. In their demographic information, which is one part of the efficacy scale, females reported higher percentages of resources availability than males did. Hence, it could be claimed that compared to males, females have more educational resources that enhance their EFL efficacy beliefs. Questions Five The fifth research question investigated the differences in the level of reading self-efficacy beliefs against gender and grade level (i.e. 5. Are there any significant differences between reading self-efficacy beliefs of male and female students in grades ten and four?). The data collected for this question was analyzed statistically using the independent sample t-test. Table (4) shows a summary of the obtained results of this test.

Table (4) Mean difference, Standard Deviations and the T Value of Reading Self-efficacy Beliefs of Grades Four and Ten Students

Students’ Std. Sig. (2N **Mean t df Grade Deviation tailed) Four 260 4.01 1.45 2.22 634 .027* Ten 376 3.75 1.51 Note. Std = Standard Deviation, t = T value and df = degree of freedom * The mean difference is significant at .05 level ** The Reading Self-efficacy Beliefs Scale is a seven-unit Interval Table (4) shows the mean of the reading self-efficacy beliefs for grade four students at (4.01), whereas the mean of reading efficacy beliefs for grade ten at (3.75). The difference in the means is statistically significant with a t value of (2.22) and a significant level of .027 (p < .05). This difference is in favor of grade four students. Thus, grade four students’ level of self-efficacy for their EFL reading achievement is higher than that of grade ten students. Smith, Smith, Gilmore, and Jameson (2012), Paris and Oka (1986) and Stipek (1993) point out that, in general terms, younger learners show stronger reading efficacy beliefs than older ones. Moreover, they mention that as learners got older, their efficacy beliefs deteriorate over the school years. This deterioration is exhibited more remarkably among adolescents than younger learners (Smith et al., 2012). These arguments coincide with the results of this question. Grade four students reported high efficacy beliefs. The older learners in grade ten, however, report lower level of efficacy beliefs for the EFL reading when compared to grade 4 students’ EFL reading efficacy beliefs. Grade four students’ higher level of efficacy beliefs compared to those of grade ten could be explained by linking these findings to what literature postulates about the sources of efficacy beliefs. To start with, grade ten students have undergone more experiences with EFL tasks than grade four students. It could be argued that throughout these experiences, particularly reading tests and requirements, grade ten students may have encountered many incidents of failure. Therefore, their efficacy beliefs may have declined because of such experiences.

 

Question Six The sixth research question investigated the relationship between reading achievement and students' efficacy beliefs in both grades. Thus, it was treated statistically using Pearson Product- Moment Correlation in a two-fold process as following: Correlation between grade four students' reading self-efficacy beliefs and their reading achievement. Correlation between grade ten students' reading self-efficacy beliefs and their reading achievement. Table (5) depicts the obtained results.

Table (5) Pearson Correlation of Grades Four and Ten Students’ Reading Achievement and Reading Self-efficacy Beliefs

Correlated Pearson Grade N Variables Correlation Reading Four 260 .541 Achievement and Reading SelfTen 376 .518 efficacy Beliefs **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Sig. tailed)

(2-

.000** .000**

The Pearson correlation, reveals that the Pearson r values are (.541 and .518) for grades four and ten respectively. This value is statistically significant at the level of .000 (r < .05) suggesting that there is a positive relationship between reading self-efficacy beliefs and the reading achievement of students in both grades. In other words, students with a higher level of efficacy beliefs tend to achieve better in reading. A significant volume of literature in reading English as a first language (e.g.Henk & Melnick, 1995; Wiltgen, 2011) and EFL settings (e.g.Li & Wang, 2010) has suggested that highly efficacious readers adopt many strategies when dealing with reading tasks. For instance, they set goals, arrange their time, and use cognitive strategies like “making inferences, note-taking, elaboration, grouping, deduction, and transferring” (Li & Wang, 2010, p. 153). Moreover, they show more effort and determination to face reading challenges (Wiltgen, 2011). These strategies enhance students’ attainments in reading. From the above discussion, justifications for the correlation between grade four and ten efficacy beliefs and their reading achievement can be adopted. It could be argued that grade four and ten students' efficacy beliefs for reading achievement seem to help them set and monitor reading goals, use different strategies, and display effort and determination to face reading challenges. To further investigate the impact of reading efficacy beliefs on reading achievement, another statistical analysis was carried out. Controlling the effects of gender, a linear regression analysis was conducted to find out how much variance in students' reading achievement can be explained by their reading selfefficacy beliefs. Examining the influence of self-efficacy beliefs as a predictor of reading achievement, Table (6) illustrates regression between efficacy beliefs and reading achievement as significant with a Beta value of (.54) and t value of (9.79) level at .000 (p < .05). This confirms that efficacy beliefs are predictors of reading achievement when gender is controlled. With the R² valued at (.29), these beliefs predict approximately 29% of the total variance in reading achievement. In other words, regardless of the gender of these students, almost 29% of the difference in reading achievement of grade four students is attributed to their reading selfefficacy beliefs.

Table (6) Grade Four Linear Regression Analysis of Reading Efficacy Beliefs on Reading Achievement

Model Summary Model

R Square

Adjusted R Square

1 .169a .029 .025 2 .541b .292 .287 a. Predictors: (Constant), student gender b. Predictors: (Constant), student gender, self-efficacy beliefs Coefficientsa Unstandardized Coefficients B Std. Error 7.23 .35 1.33 .48 2.02 .61 .05 .43 1.46 .15

Model 1 (Constant) student gender 2 (Constant) student gender self-efficacy beliefs a. Dependent Variable: reading test result

Standardized Coefficients Beta t 20.78 .169 2.76 3.32 .006 .11 .539 9.79

Sig. .000 .006 .001 .915 .000

Carrying out a similar analysis for grade ten students highlighted how much of the difference in the reading achievement of students in grade ten is attributed to self-efficacy. Table (7) shows the Model Summary and Coefficient of the linear regression analysis of this grade. The results in this table indicate that the R² value is (.28). The regression between efficacy beliefs and reading achievement is significant with a Beta value of (.49) and t value of (10.88) leveled at .000 (p < .05). This reveals that efficacy beliefs are predictors for reading achievement when gender is controlled. With the R² valued at (.28), these beliefs predict approximately 28 % of the total variance of the reading achievement. In other words, irrespective of the gender of these students, almost 28% of the difference in reading achievement of grade ten students is attributed to their reading self-efficacy beliefs. Table (7) Grade Ten Linear Regression Analysis of Reading Efficacy Beliefs on Reading Achievement

Model Summary Model

R Square

Adjusted R Square

1 .229a .053 .050 2 .530b .281 .277 a. Predictors: (Constant), student gender b. Predictors: (Constant), student gender, self-efficacy beliefs

Coefficients a Model

Unstandardized Coefficients B Std. Error 11.12 .34 2.16 .47 5.92 .56 1.09 .43 1.53 .14

(Constant) student gender (Constant) student gender 2 self-efficacy beliefs a. Dependent Variable: reading test result 1

Standardized Coefficients T Beta 33.19 .229 4.56 10.57 .115 2.56 .491 10.88

Sig. .000 .000 .000 .011 .000

The results in tables 6 and 7 illustrate that self-efficacy beliefs is a strong indicator of the EFL reading achievement of students in grades ten and four explaining 29 and 28% of the variance in both grades, respectively. These results are in line with previous studies carried out in L1 context. For example, Nevill (2008) finds that (21.5%) of the total difference in the reading achievement of his sample is attributable to the efficacy beliefs held by the learners. This highlights the importance of incorporating these beliefs in EFL reading instruction.

Conclusion The findings revealed gender gaps in EFL reading achievement in favor of girls in both grades four and ten. In congruence with previous research, the findings of this study illustrated that younger learners show stronger reading efficacy beliefs than older ones. The findings indicated that grade four have superior level of self-efficacy beliefs for EFL reading achievement than grade ten students, and consequently grade four demonstrated higher level of reading achievement. Likewise, due to possessing higher level of self-efficacy beliefs for EFL reading achievement, female students demonstrated higher level of reading achievement. This suggests that there is a strong relationship between the level of self-efficacy beliefs and EFL reading achievement. Thus, it can be generally concluded that irrespective of studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; gender and their grade level, there seems to be a causal relationship between self-efficacy beliefs students performance. Accordingly, special attention should be paid to developing studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; levels of self-efficacy in higher grade levels in general, and for all male students in particular.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 74-101, March 2016

The Effect of Cultural and Linguistic Background on the Relationships of Pupils in two Kindergartens in Greece Aspasia Markaki Kindergarten teacher Argyris Kyridis Professor, Department of Early Childhood Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Zoi Ziontaki Ph.D. student, Department of Early Childhood Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract. The purpose of the current paper is to examine the social framework of the kindergarten school environment, as far as the interpersonal relationships of preschool children that derive from diverse cultural environments and backgrounds is concerned. The fundamental aim is to investigate whether and how the cultural and linguistic background interferes in the relationships of kindergarten pupils. Thus, the observation of two different kindergartens in Greece has taken place, in order to identify those characteristics and attitudes that contribute to the healthy relationships between pupils of different backgrounds. The most vital result that was derived from the interviews with the students and teachers is the fact that racist attitudes usually leads to rejection and social isolation of children from cultural minorities, based mainly in racial and linguistic stereotypes that children have towards their peers. Moreover, in the notion of the "other" and especially in the concept of what is regarded as different, students tend to behave with stereotypes, with impressions and images of features of people, which simplify and generalize these characteristics. Keywords: kindergarten; intercultural education

interpersonal

relationships;

interviews;

Introduction It is a common belief that the outbreak of the migrating wave has caused a vast expansion of the diversion of students in the school framework. Before the end of the 1980, a relatively small number of foreign students appeared in schools (Nikolaou, 2011: 29). Hence, the existence of these students did not cause a significant effect on the aims of the Greek educational policy system. In fact, in favor of this small number, the school environment functioned “within an inclusive logic, with the ultimate dominance of the Greek language” (ibid). Nonetheless, between the end of the 1980 and the beginning of the 1990, there was an outburst of the migrating wave, which gradually attributed to a multicultural dimension to the Greek society. Moreover, the development of the agricultural economy in Greece, as well as the collapse of the political system in Albania, are within some of the reasons that created a fertile environment for the severe expansion of the migrating phenomenon (Tsoleridou, 2009: 84). Our survey deals with the issue of the foreign students in the school environment of the kindergarten. The kindergarten is considered to play a significant role in the process of the child’s primary social cognition, since it is the environment in which the child comes in contact with its peers (Athanasiou & Gotovos, 2002; Von Suchodoletz et. al., 2009). Besides, according to the Gestalt theory, a group of peers is not only the sum up of its members, but more importantly, it is a group that differs not only in quantity but also in quality, whilst children tend to be open to the power of group atmospheres, group dynamics and leadership (Lewin, 1938; Lewin & Lippitt, 1938; Lippitt & White, 1943). When it comes to the school environment, what causes interest is the fact that students have randomly been found in the classroom, while they are in an interaction with each other, adopting certain roles and norms of behavior (Bikos, 2011:72). The school environment seems to have many resemblances to the social status, since it gives the opportunity for some students to outstand, having more power and status, while some other students have a lower position. That depends on the ways that the other members evaluate each member and tend to position him/ her into the complexity of the positions that have been created within the school environment (Pellegrini et al. 2007). It is the student that will be able to show the most powerful personality that will be finally in position to guide the group and become a source of interaction and influence (Bikos, 1990: 12). In this framework, it becomes apparent that we are dealing with certain notions of sociometry, that mainly enlighten the various types of behaviors and patterns that tend to develop in the classroom and determine who will be the leader, which members would be ignored, which members are more likely to be liked and which members may be in jeopardy of violence, physical or emotional. In any case, the most vital criterion in this case is the students’ attitude towards the various norms and patterns of behaviors in the classroom. What is of great significance is the fact that the children that are more likely to be socially rejected are those with a foreign cultural and linguistic environment (Tsioumis, 2003; Bikos, 2011; Milonas & Manesis, 2002). © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

According to several surveys, the approach that is considered to be more appropriate to deal with the various issues that arise is that of the intercultural education, since it helps the teachers to deal with an environment that is multicultural and not homogenous (Vamvakidou, Kyridis & Dinas: 2002). In parallel, intercultural education offers the type of education that can readjust the existing social and financial inequalities (Kyridis, 1996). This approach also serves the compensatory nature of early childhood education, which role is to create equality on “opportunities of results", compensating for any deficiencies and possible inequities that may occur within the classroom, before the child enters the primary school (ibid). According to F. Wardle (2011), teachers should be characterized by certain qualities, such as cognition, respect and sensitivity towards anything that is different, while the knowledge of another language is also required. In our case, the kindergarten teacher should also be aware of the innovative teaching methods that could plausibly escort his/ her effort in the framework of the intercultural education (Mpakas, Pantazis & Sakellaropoulou, 2014). On the contrary, despite the necessity for the existence of the above qualities, the vast majority of the surveys in this area indicate that most of the teachers do not feel secure of adequate enough to deal with the problems that arise in the multicultural classroom (Georgogiannis, 2004; Georgogiannis & Mpomparidou, 2006; Magos, 2014; Mpoutskou, 2011; Mpakas, Pantazis & Sakellariou, 2014). Teachers encounter difficulties that arise not only due to the language barrier, but from the different culture of the immigrant pupils, combined with practical issues, such as the large number of students in classrooms (Georgiadis & Zisimos, 2012, Triandafyllidou & Gropas, 2007). Kindergarten teachers are called to deal with children of the dominant Greek language majority, as well as of the linguistic minority, for which the minority language is a key element in the process-making of their cultural identity (Pantazis & Sakellaropoulou, 2002; Spinthourakis, 2007) Initially, the immigrants come from Albania, followed by Romans, Pollands, and Egyptians. The fact is that the vast majority of immigrants towards Greece come from Albania, mainly due to the development of the rural economy of Greece at that time, the collapse of the political system in Albania, the easy access to the “neighbouring” country and the relatively small cultural difference compared to Greece (Triandafyllidou & Kokkali, 2010). In this framework, the Greek educational system had to alter its aims, goals and methods, in order to come in agreement with the needs and necessities of the migrating students (Christodoulou, 2009: 288). Until the 1983, the institution of the “welcoming classes” and the private classrooms have prevailed (Tzortzopoulou & Kotzamani, 2008: 29), which mainly regarded students that did not had any knowledge of the Greek language and students that had a partial knowledge respectively (Tsoleridou, 2009: 99). Since 1985, the establishment of the intercultural schools has taken place, which comes in agreement with the principles of the intercultural education. This mainly means that schools adapt to the © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

educational, social, cultural and cognitive necessities of the foreign students (Tzortzopoulou & Kotzamani, 2008: 32; Trouki, 2012). Nowadays, the above institutions are still valid, while, according to the law 3386/05, the minimum attendance of the under-aged foreign students is considered to be compulsory. The significant factor in the inclusion of these students is the procedure within the Greek society has gradually been linear to the principles of the differentiation, and more importantly to the respect of anything that is diverse to the norm of the educational system.

The notion of differentiation in kindergarten As mentioned above, since 1980, there has been created a multicultural and multilingual reality in our country, with the sudden and large influx of expatriate-'repatriated ' and immigrants who lived in former E. P. D, the Balkans and Asia. Among those who are called as the repatriated, a large part is the Pontiac Greeks from the former Soviet Union. A significant number of students with Pontiac origin attends Greek school and displays difficulties in language but also in socializing, because it is likely that the Greek language is not used at home (Τsioumis, 2003). The Greeks of Northern Epirus are also considered as “Returnees”. About 80.000 expatriates settled in our country in the period between 1991 and 1995 and their children attended Greek kindergarten facing particular linguistic problems, since in this case the Greek language may not be used at home. Another minority that contributes to the “colorful” character of the Greek kindergarten is the Muslim minority in Thrace, which is to be found in various urban, semi-urban and rural areas of our country. Children of Muslims who attend Greek kindergarten experience early educational exclusion, while the number of children attending kindergarten is quite limited, either due to reduced interest of parents towards education, either due to low economic and educational background of parents, either because of strong stereotypes on the part of the rest of the school community towards these children, but also because of the very limited knowledge of the Greek language, with which the Muslim children come into contact for the very first time in the kindergarten class. (Τsioumis, 2003). The majority of these children that attend Greek kindergarten, were born in our country or have spent a part of their lives in this, have, however, started their studies in preschool age without any knowledge of Greek (Τsioumis, 2003). A characteristic ethnic group that is often led outside the kindergarten is the Roma children, which seem to have a different cultural and social background, whilst the teachers’, parents’ and children’s attitude towards them is a fundamental reason for their “leakage” (Triandafullidou, 2011). The "leakage" of students in the transition from primary to secondary education is evident. Many researches have shown that the performance of foreign students differs from that of indigenous, with the first being in a risk group for school exclusion and failure, due to the complex factors that interact with each other, such as the low social and economic environment for themselves and their families, the different cultural capital, as well as the lack of knowledge of the Greek language © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

(Athanasopoulos, 2003, from Tressou & Mitakidou, 2003; Bikos, 2011; Kompiadou & Lenakakis, 2014; Kyridis, 1996). Having to cope with the lack of linguistic communicative competence, social inclusion, prejudices and stereotypes regarding their origin, quickly create a negative relationship with school (Sakellaropoulou, 2007). Ignorance of the language of the host country but also the negligible value of their mother language in the school environment, may be responsible for many of the problems these students face, both as far as school and their emotional state is concerned (Nikolaou, 2011:53). Moreover, due to the linguistic and communicative difficulty, certain stereotypic characteristics are often attributed to the bilingual pupils, such as â&#x20AC;&#x153;philistine" and "less capable in literature" (Geraris, 2011). Within the school, a stereotype against a foreign student, an over-generalization of characteristics in the light of social representation of the "foreign" may lead him to social exclusion and school failure, owing to the fact that the expectations for his behavior due to the existing stereotype, the low incentives offered and the minimum positive feedback received leads to the phenomenon of "self-fulfilling prophecy" (Gkasdogka, 2013: 7, Hernandez & Fernandez 2005). Both teachers and the headmasters of schools should not have lower expectations of students coming from different cultural contents (Zachos & Matziouri, 2015). As a prejudice we could define the attitude of the individual to a social class of people that predisposes him to think or act towards it with a positive or negative attitude (Bikos, 2007), through the activation of positive or negative emotions. According to a popular definition of Allport (Allport, 1954: 9), "Prejudice is an antipathy based on a faulty and inflexible generalization. It may be felt or expressed. It may be directed toward a group or a whole or toward an individual because he is a group member "(Baumeister & Finkel, 2010). When negative feelings toward a social group are translated into respective practices, then we can talk about social discrimination -class, racial, cultural ... - (Tsioumis, 2003: 58). Prejudices, positive or negative, are born and are affected by the conditions of competition between the groups, ie where the "victory" or the superiority of any group requires the "defeat" or the deprivation of some privileges of the other, as well as the distance in the social status of people involved and the different social identities that have been configured (Doise, 2009: 32-37, Abrams, 2010). Although many surveys and studies have been conducted regarding the national bias of children, there are still disagreements among researchers on key issues such as the age that this appears and is developed, its relationship with the psychological mechanisms and procedures, its impact on language and social skills of children etc. (Nesdale, 1999). According to Skourtou, in the process of approaching the school experiences of bilingual students, we can say that "good" students are the bilinguals that develop both of their languages, while "bad" students are the bilinguals, which denied or has not been given the opportunity to do so (Skourtou, 1999). In fact, in case the childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s language is devalued at school, then it is plausible that the child will reject it (Kourti- Kazouli, 1999), given the fact that we are ÂŠ 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

referring to a homogenous linguistic school environment. It is often the case that the minority family itself rejects the language of origin, which coincides with negative characteristics, and sees the other language as a ' lifeline ', in order to improve the poor conditions and the low life quality of its members. (Ogbu & Simons,1998). However, this does not enhance the self-image of the child, since the language in which he/she grew up and developed his ties with his family, is now rejected and forbidden. In fact, immigrant children that enter for the first time the pre-school education have been identified as being in a stage of "grieving" and loss of the life they had left behind in their country of origin (Giugni, 2007). Moreover, according to Meisel, if you approach the school bilingual students ' experiences, then we can say that "good" student becomes the bilingual that develops both of the two languages, while a "bad" student becomes the bilingual who denied or has not been given the opportunity to do so (Meisel, 2004). In any case, although the friendly relations between children of different nationalities reduce the homogeneity of the group, such friendships are rare in preschool age (Aboud, Mendelson, & Purdy, 2003). Moreover, the way the kindergarten children judges and handles relations with children of different nationality, seems to be influenced by the school environment, for example, whether the class is culturally homogeneous or not (McGothlin & Killen, 2010).

The purpose and hypotheses of the research The purpose of the current research is to explore the interpersonal relationships among children with different backgrounds in two kindergartens in the city of Greece, and in particular to explore how the factor of cultural diversity of the pupils affects the interpersonal relationships, taking into account the parameter of the socio-economic background of the child, in comparison with the broader social and cultural background of the classroom. As indicated above, there have been several researches in Greece that highlight the unfavorable position of foreign children into the social fabric of the classroom of the school in general and of the kindergarten in particular, as well as the stereotypic attitudes of children towards foreign classmates. One of the prominent reasons that this phenomenon occurs is, initially, the influence of the family environment and family concepts in relation to various cultural minorities, specified by the cultural, social and economic status of parents themselves, causing positive or negative evaluation of the foreign classmates. The main questions of this research regard the ways that form the relationships with the foreign children, whilst the main question that arises is how the overall culture of the order affects the relationship of foreign children with their classmates. The assumptions of this investigation, in reference to the above questions are as follows:

• Foreign children who attend kindergarten in Greece face social exclusion or are in a disadvantaged position with regard to relations with their peers • Foreign children who attend kindergarten in Greece face more unfavorable conditions in a class where the overall socio-economic level is high, compared to a classroom where the overall socio-economic level is low.

Research design Forwarding to the methodological part, the current survey was contacted in a big city of Greece. The first kindergarten was evaluated as “good”, regarding the social and financial status of its students, as well as the state of the buildings and the general materials. The methodological approach regarded an observation of each kindergarten for 3 days. Throughout the observation, certain data were recorded, on the premises of the kindergarten, the program that is followed and the practices of the teachers in the classroom, with respect to the general administration in various difficulties and problems, as well as the population of the children, in terms of number, gender, their relations with the rest of their classmates, the cliques and the sub-groups that are formed within the classroom and the socio-economic situation of their families. In order to collect information in connection with the friendship preferences and the detection of the phenomenon of exclusion derived from the friendly relations of specific children, certain socio-metric techniques were followed, where every child answered the above questions: • Who is your best friend? • How do you prefer to play during the school break? • With whom would you rather not play on the school break? • How do you prefer to work in the classroom? • With whom do you prefer not to join in the classroom? The children's responses were recorded and analyzed in graphs and socio-metric diagrams, each of which was separately commented.

The participants The sample is consisted of 34 kindergarten students of two different kindergartens, 20 and 14 respectively. The basic criterions were the existence of foreign students, as well as the social and financial background of the pupils themselves and the prevailing background of each kindergarten. Children and the general composition and dynamics of each class in the two schools vary widely but also appear to have some similarities. The first kindergarten class is composed of 20 children, 16 toddlers and 4 preschoolers, 14 girls and 6 boys, 18 children from Greece, one from Russia and one from Albania. The kindergarten B consists of 14 children, 9 boys and 5 girls. Among these children are three boys who are from another country, one is Roma from Albania, one from Syria and one from Romania, and another child is from Bulgaria, adopted by Greek parents. In both classes no child has any mental or learning deficiencies diagnosed. Also, in both classes, children do not speak the Greek language efficiently. In kindergarten class A © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

Martin, from Russia, does not speak Greek very well, while there in kindergarten B, there are Janis from Syria and Mario from Romania, who are also bilingual and do not speak Greek very well.

The results On the one hand, the first kindergarten is better equipped and has a generally more pleasant school environment, in terms of aesthetics. For instance, the external walls are painted with children’s paintings on the theme of “flowers and nature”. Apart from this, the shared space is also the main children's play area and has a large variety and quantity of material for the creative occupation of children. These four different “corners”, that of the ' Salon ', that of ' practice ', that of ' shop ' and the ' theatrical ' corner, are all appropriate and fully equipped for symbolic game. The "theatrical corner" featuring fabrics, carnival outfits and various disguises and accessories, and other corners are equipped in accordance with their character: physician’s robe, medical tools, plastic fruits and other products, such as hairdryers and brushes. The important aspect is the fact that this kindergarten is not only equipped in terms of materials, but it is also characterized by a general spirit of cooperation and coordination between the children and the two teachers. Both of the kindergarten teachers deal with the emotional education of children. The cooperation of the kindergarten teachers takes place on a daily basis. In case for some reason the two kindergarten teachers are not able to discuss, they always fill a daily diary which informs about the activities that took place during the breakfast hours. They also decide together on the project and the issues to be dealt with in the class, and how to administrate the various issues that arise along the way. As far as the foreign students is concerned, there occurs an attempt to enhance the feeling of friendship with the assistance of frequent activities for friendship, for example creating a song about friendship. In the classroom there is a child, Martin, who comes from Russia, and does not speak Greek whatsoever, since he came to Greece a few months ago. Martin encounters a difficulty in joining in the companionship of his classmates, and the kindergarten teachers operate in the following way: They say "good morning" in Russian as well, while in the “writing” corner, in addition to Greek, there is also the Russian alphabet. Occasionally, they ask him different words in his language, and several times they write words in Russian and stick them on the wall. For example, the period before Christmas, they had written wishes in Greek and in Russian. They have also made a separate lesson regarding Russia, presenting photos from the Internet. Forwarding to the social relationships between the children, they seem to interact properly with each other. Nonetheless, there are certain discriminations in their companionships, as well as in their choices regarding whom to hang out with. The class consists of two large groups, with very different characteristics among themselves, by an even smaller company and by three children, each of which for different reasons do not belong to any company, nor are related to each other. The © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

two groups are very different from each other, and “rotate” each around two girls who are considered to be the most popular. In the first group, the "key" girl is Marilia, a girl whose friendship is desired by almost of all the girls of the class, and only two boys who prefer to interact with each other rather than with the other boys. In another central group of kids that are related to each other in the classroom, the company revolves around Maritina, whose companionship is chosen by almost all boys and a girl, who all together play intensely kinetic games at the school break. The third company consists of three girls who do not prefer nor are preferred by the two above groups. Moreover, there are three boys that do not fit into any company. These are a girl from Greece, a girl from Albania and a boy from Russia. The girl from Greece, Olympia, is not preferred by any child, since she seems to have a disruptive behavior. A characteristic incident is the fact that Marilia once organized a party and prepared invitations for all the children, except for Olympia. As described by the two teachers, she seems to be isolated and prefers to play on her own, she sometimes do not leave the classroom during the school break, while she rarely participates during the collective activities, even though her knowledge of Greek is satisfactory. She is considered to be rather shy and introvert, compared to the rest of the children, that are shown as talkative and more active. A rather prejudiced attitude is also shown towards Martin, although the students do not exactly know how to justify their negative feelings. The majority of children base their feelings on Martin’s background and on the fact that he does not speak Greek, while he sometimes tends to translate everything he hears in Russian. Nevertheless, he participates in many ways in the life of the class and understands well enough Greek, while he has antiquated communication and kinetic skills. A pattern that also follows the case of Martin, as well as the above case of Marilia, is their rejection when it comes to birthdays and other festive treats. It is therefore evident that the requirement of adaptation to the norms of the new social environment, as well as the rejection of the "old" and "foreign" models and features for the more efficient integration in the host country may lead to feelings of "self-alienation" and "self-contempt "(Kyridis & Leontari, 1995; Dusi, Steinbach & Gonzales Falcon, 2014). Forwarding to the second kindergarten, certain differences can be detected regarding the outdoor space and its aesthetic appearance, since it was not at first designed to be a kindergarten. On the contrary, the first kindergarten was created in order to work as a kindergarten, so it meets the respective specifications, while the second kindergarten has several shortcomings regarding the planned features of the building site. A key difference of the space that differentiates the experiences of children in the classroom, is the lack of computer and audiovisual media in the kindergarten class B, as well as the frequent and extensive use of computer and audiovisual media in class a, allowing them to search for songs, pictures, information, words. Ultimately, we would say that the kindergarten A responds to a greater extend in all respects to the specifications set for the preschool areas by international organizations © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

compared to kindergarten B. In terms of space, kindergarten A gives diverse, complex and qualitative opportunities for children to exercise their imagination, their curiosity, their need for movement, for social contacts and for contact with nature. It is a place created for children but also created by children, since children interfere with the layout and decoration. Nonetheless, kindergarten b limits the activity of children in many areas, such as the kinetic sector and the contact with nature. According to a relevant survey (Nalbantoglou, Kyridis & Tsioumis, 2015), kindergarten teachers believe that children are motivated through these activities because they contribute to their social, cognitive, emotional and moral development. “The majority of those teachers argues that children are encouraged via these activities as they later affect their social development (60,7%, Ν=17) (e.g. children learn to cooperate, accept differences, participate, share, reject, socialize etc.), cognitive development (21,4%, Ν=6) (development of critical thinking, experimentation, creation.), moral development (10,7%, Ν=3) (e.g. responsibility, respect etc.) and emotional development (7,1%, Ν=2) (awareness, expression)” (ibid:185). The main difference between the two classes is that in kindergarten A social exclusion seems to be more apparent, since there certain “cliques” have been created “cliques”, that compete with each other, while in kindergarten B such behaviors do not occur. The main reason for this, as mentioned above in the descriptions of schools, is that school A consists of two large groups of children who do not like each other. In parallel, children make negative comments about one another, and have a "common line" for what other kids around like or do not like. They have a common view and affect each other regarding their choices and feelings. A typical example is the words of a child who wondered why he was asked about which classmates he likes: "Why do you ask the same? Everyone will tell you that they do not like Olympia or Martin". In kindergarten class B the situation is quite different. The only criterion that seems to apply in the choices of children with whom to hang out during breaks or in the classroom is sex. Boys make friendship with boys, and girls with girls. There is no issue of social exclusion, since any child is not constantly isolated nor is there a systematic exclusionary conduct by a clique against a particular “child- goal”. In fact, there are no "cliques" in the sense of the restricted group, as there are in kindergarten A. The criteria used by the children of this school, when expressing their dislike for a classmate, have nothing to do with the fact that he/she may be from another country. This is the biggest difference among the two kindergartens. In fact, in kindergarten class B, all the girls have expressed strong dissatisfaction against Mario from Romania and Kostas who is Roma from Albania. They usually justify their opposition on Mario’s habit to chase them, in order to kiss them on the mouth, whilst Kostas has disturbing habits, such as scratching his nose. The kindergarten teacher confirmed those facts, indicating that "they get very upset; they do not even want to see them!”. The boys also showed resentment towards children from other countries, but they once again © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

do not mention at all the fact of the language or ethnicity. Specifically, several boys mentioned that they do not want to play with Marios, since "he does not play nicely." The kindergarten teacher justified her view, saying that "he is very kinetic, and do little tricks against the other children. He may hurt them, push them or grab their game, while looking at the same time rather innocent, smiling as if nothing had happened ... And the other children get confused with this behavior and get a bit more suspicious towards himâ&#x20AC;?. As presented in the bibliography, for children of preschool and primary-school age, a very important criterion is the criterion of physical violence, aggression and the disruptive behavior, such as obstruction of the lesson course (Lanvelotta & Vaughn, 1989). Another frequent reason for rejection can be both antisocial behaviors, while many complaints are caused by reactions of anxiety, since children tend to avoid any social interaction, in the fear of rejection (Bikos, 2007 Nesdale & Dalton, 2011). In contrast, children with high social status are prone to express their desire to make friends with another child, as they have no feelings of insecurity that may prevent them from doing so. That actually means that the children that feel confident in their interpersonal relationships, tend to feel the same emotional security among other issues and challenges of the everyday school life as well (Gainsley, 2013). An essential criterion for accepting a person in the community, is the behavior according to the social norms that apply in this context (Bikos, 2007), while equally important factors that contribute to the rejection of the individual are the entrenched prejudices against him/her by the rest of the team, as well as the existence of hierarchical relationships between the team members (Mikami, Lerner & Lun, 2010). Another example is the case of Athena, in the kindergarten class B, for whom various complaints have been expressed, indicating that she scratches, pokes and bites them. This behavior and other similar behaviors seem to be fraud upon by the children of both kindergartens. Besides, the non-verbal communication is performed and interpreted, in a large part, unconsciously, spontaneously and in a split second, providing a wide source of information about the communicative situations involving the individual, implying that the participants are fully aware of the socially defined symbolic value of messages they receive and emit (Ambady & Rosenthal, 1998. Although a key factor in communication is the use of language, children are particularly susceptible to the interpretation of non-verbal messages, due to the fact that their language development is not yet fully completed, and are thus expressed within a deficient discourse (Agbagbla, 2012). Hence, children of four and five years old tend to create friendships with children that have the same interests with them, spending enough time together at school, in common activities, while older children make greater effort to commit in a friendship, playing more complicated games and for a greater extend of time (Manaster & Jobe, 2012). On the whole, the two schools differ particularly in their external area, which is the feature that makes them have a "good" and "bad" ÂŠ 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

reputation, depending on their equipment, affecting decisively the quality of the regulated and free activities. The kindergarten teachers of both kindergartens use techniques that aim to the integration of children, but these methods have certain differences. In kindergarten A, the teachers use intercultural training techniques, while in kindergarten B they place great importance on consultation with parents and how they may affect or not affect their children in the way they think about their classmates. Children in both schools also differ not only in composition, but also in the way they treat their classmates. As mentioned above, in kindergarten A, there are closed groups, from which several peers are excluded, experiencing rejection. Their rejection is based not only on the behavior and character of the child but also on the linguistic and ethnic identity. Children in kindergarten A appear to negatively evaluate the different nationality of a classmate and his inability to clearly speak the Greek language. This has major consequences in the pupilsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; psychological state, since children that are rejected by their peers, tend to be subjected to feelings of alienation, participate less in the class activities and are usually more prone to abandon school (Buhs, Ladd & Herald, 2006).

Kindergarten A: Graphs of children's answers

Graph 2a: With whom children prefer to spend time

The above graph represents the popularity rates of each child within the context of the classroom. It is observed that the largest percentage is cumulated by two girls, chosen from six different children, each one characterized as "their best girlfriendsâ&#x20AC;?. These two girls are very different from each other and their relationship is not very close. Indeed, one does not rank the other on preferences for spending time in the classroom. One girl, Marilia, was chosen only by girls, while the other girl, Maritina was chosen mostly by boys. According to the teacher, the first is a "Princess", since she likes to paint, and plays symbolic games, such as the ' home ' or ' the Salon ', wearing various outfits available for the theatrical game, along with the other girls, while the second is more "tomboy" and plays mainly kinetic games with boys, such as football at almost every school break. Both of the girls are very energetic within the classroom and have a very developed, dynamic speech, whilst they take initiatives.

Graph 3: With whom children would rather not spend time during the school break

The graph above depicts the preferences of children regarding with whom they would rather hang out during the school recession. As it seems, the greater preference is gathered by Philip, chosen by 5 children. Philip was selected from across the company of Maritina, i.e. from Socrates, Titus, Anna Maria and Maritina.

Graph 4: With whom children would rather not spend time during the school break

The above graph presents which children are less desirable during the school breaks. The answers respond to the question "Children with whom you don't like to hang out at the break”. We observe that Olympia and Martin are by far the less desirable “companionship”. Among the 19 children, 8 do not want to associate with Olympia and 7 do not want to be friends with Martin. The answers and explanations given are related both to the character of the children, as well as to other elements of their identity, such as language and nationality. This finding agrees with the findings of previous surveys conducted in the Greek area, which also confirmed that children with certain cultural characteristics in relation to the dominant culture of the school team are ranked in unfavorable categories of popularity (Bikos, 2011: 213), while international surveys suggest that the children of immigrants are often subjected to bullying from their peers due to cultural, linguistic and religious differences (Cocker et. all, 2009, BRYCS, 2015). With regard to Olympia, the children focused on that she is a rather steep and aggressive girl, which often beats the other children, tugging their blouses, pushing them, grabbing their toys and pushing them to include her in their games. The other children do not accept her behavior and exclude her from the groups. Also, during the symbolic games, they hardly interact with her. She usually imposes her presence © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

or complains, in order to achieve what she wants. Martin also collects negative comments from the other children, for two main reasons. Two children reported that Martin teases them. According to the kindergarten teacher, "Martin is highly kinetic and can become careless, and fall on a child as he is running. Especially with the boys, he may be playing a bit "hard", i.e. he can cause damage, physically and verballyâ&#x20AC;?. Nonetheless, the other children focus on the fact that Martin does not speak well Greek, and that he speaks Russian and has a different nationality. It is obvious that his nationality interferes in the ways his behavior is evaluated as well. According to Steele & Aronson a common sociological phenomenon is the "threat of stereotypes" (stereotype threat), in which a person is at risk of developing a personal characteristic that is considered as a negative stereotype of the group to which he belongs (Steele & Aronson, 1995) Below the sociogram of the kindergarten is represented, which depicts the positive and negative relationships. It should be noted that in the first sociogram, which analyzes the acceptance of children, less darts of acceptance are assembled by Liza, Martin and Olympia, something which is confirmed in the second sociogram of the negative relations between children, where Martin and Olympia collect the majority of the darts.

Sociogram of the 1st kindergarten: Positive relations

Sociogram of the 1st kindergarten: Negative relations

Kindergarten B: Graphs of children’s answers

Graph 5: The children’s best friend of the 2nd kindergarten

The above graph depicts the friendships of children in the class, namely, who is everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best friend and which children in the classroom are more popular. We observe that there is not a large diversion between the numbers. According to the graph, girls are the most popular in the class. This is easily explained by the fact that 4 girls of this class chose each other as their best friend, and seem to have each other pretty close. According to the relative research, children at the age of 3 years old show strong preference for friendly relations for children of the same sex (Powlishta et. al., 1993) and present powerful and observable differences in the ways of the game among themselves (Bandura & Bussey, 1999). Specifically, the boys seem to prefer the competitive games, in groups with expanded number of people, they are more aggressive, active, and independent in their play than adults, while girls prefer smaller groups, emphasize discussion, collaboration, and the relationships between them, and often reach adults during their own game (Maccoby, 2002). In addition, it seems that the boys compare the situation and circumstances of the group belonging to those of other groups (Yee & Brown, 1992), prefer members more "popular", in relation to members more "marginal" within the classroom (Nesdade et.al. 2005) and, in addition, form a part of the picture of themselves and of their self-esteem depending on their position within the group (Bennet & Sani, 2008).

Graph 6: With whom children prefer to spend time with during school breaks (2nd kindergarten)

The above graph depicts with whom children of kindergarten b prefer to hang out during the breaks, which reveals the personal preferences of each child. This graph is no different compared to the previous one. The ÂŠ 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

highest "score" is collected by Jason, who was chosen by 4 kids. Jason often participates in the games and organizes the rest of the class or determines a place to play all together. Moreover, Giannis is quite popular, coming from Syria. He speaks Greek very well, though he speaks much better compared to the beginning of the year. During breaks and free activities, at least for the period of observation, he was very talkative and energetic. Below the sociogram of the second kindergarten is presented, depicting the positive and negative relationships. In the first sociogram, it seems that all girls have two-way darts, except for Athena, who is being evaluated negatively because of her aggressive behavior. Among the boys, only Costas has no darts toward him, as well as George who rarely comes at school. In the second sociogram, describing the negative relations between children, it is observed that the majority of the darts are referring to Costas and Marios, given the fact that they have been selected by all of the girls, due to some habits that make them disruptive. Marios, in particular, has a relatively abrupt behavior, which sometimes makes him annoying. In general, the relationships of young children are changing constantly as long as both their personality and identity, as well as their relationships with their peers is in a continuous development and evolution, and therefore are subjected to alteration (Parker, et. al., 2006).

Sociogram of the 2nd kindergarten: Positive relations

Sociogram of the 2nd kindergarten: Negative relations

Discussion According to the observation of the two kindergartens and the analysis of the children’s interviews, certain conclusions can be arisen. Especially the comparison between them allows us to identify those qualities and characteristics that may lead to the popularity of a certain pupil and the opposite. One of our first hypothesis has been confirmed, that the less popular children in each class are both children who were not born in Greece and who do not have Greek as their native language, whether they can speak Greek adequately or not. This finding comes in agreement with the findings of previous surveys conducted in Greece, which also confirmed that children with certain cultural particularities, in relation to the dominant culture of the school group, fall into “bad” categories regarding to their popularity (Bikos, 2011:213). Regarding the concept of racial identity and racial differences, children form an initial view as early as about 4 years old, which can remain stable up to the preadolescent years (Parker et. al. 2011). Children of 4 years old have developed a form of "racial consciousness", thus placing themselves in a group, and excluding the other groups (Stergiou, 2006: 61). Various surveys have shown that the separation of groups in “other” and “us” is associated with some value-judgment features. Specifically, once students have diversified group belonging and "out" groups, tend to be positive towards their own group and negative towards the other groups, as an augmentation mechanism of self-esteem (Athanasopoulos, 2003, from Tressou & Mitakidou, 2003). According to a relevant survey, white four year olds generally have a more positive image of the other white children than of children with different skin color (Vandenbroeck, 2004). The various "groups" are therefore determined according to the social value-configured system. Moreover, our second hypothesis was that foreign children who attend kindergarten in Greece face social exclusion or are in a disadvantaged position. It became apparent that racist attitudes © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

presented in the first kindergarten, and thus rejection and social isolation of children from cultural minorities, are based mainly on racial and linguistic stereotypes that children have towards their peers. Although this phenomenon has been observed in both schools, it was much more intense in kindergarten a, rather than in kindergarten b, since in kindergarten the rejection of children from their peers was evident, as well as accompanied with racist connotations, while in kindergarten b racist attitudes from the peer group was not present. According to previous surveys, in classes where these children are a very small minority, such as in the first kindergarten class, the likelihood of social isolation of these children was much higher compared to classes where these children constituted a greater proportion (Bikos, 2011:213). It is established that in the topic of dealing with the "other" and especially with the different, people tend to behave with stereotypes, with impressions and images of features of people, which simplify and generalize these characteristics (Bikos: 2007). In the framework of the stereotypic thought, children simplify information that have a certain social content, addressing the people around them not individually, but as members of a class, which is defined by specific characteristics (Blum, 2004). Usually, there occurs a very simplified image that emphasizes and exaggerates defamatory characteristics. This kind of perspective is acquired at a very young age, unfortunately before the child acquires any knowledge for this specific social group (Bikos, 2007). Kindergarten children, despite the popular belief that they are at that age" uncontaminated" by stereotypes and social perceptions, seem, however, to be very well informed in respect of racial hierarchy and prejudices of adults, through their own experiences and by observing various behaviors that surround them (Siraj-Blatchford, 2012:25). In our case, beyond national stereotypes in the kindergarten, a key role was the fact that Martin, one of the two children who received the rejection and the negative comments from his classmates, was bilingual and spoke in the class both Russian and Greek. Perceptions that linguistic community preserves regarding a language or a language variety affect the reactions towards the speakers of that language and triggers certain social and cultural stereotypes (Kompiadou & Lenakakis, 2014:283). The way of dealing with a person's language is directly and permanently connected to the way we all behave towards this person, as well as with the image that this person forms in this regard (Tsokalidou, 2007). In Martinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s case, the other children react strongly towards the native language of Martin, and consider that he allegedly speaks "English", generalizing and simplifying the particular culture of their classmate, but also showing that they do not accept it. A few times some kids justified their negative attitude towards their classmate, indicating that "he is Russian and speaks English" ... This behavior of the entire class seems to affect Martin on the sense of selfefficacy. According to the theory of performance, it is possible to depend our success or failure on internal and external causes (Slavin, 2007:403). ÂŠ 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

Martin himself has often placed his failure in the classroom activities, saying that “I am dumb, I don't know Greek and do not understand". It seems, moreover, that the dynamics of the class has created a “prophecy” of stereotypic perception that can cause a similar behavior, which in turn validates a belief or a perception (Hogg & Vaughan, 1998:331). These stereotypic perceptions prevent children from participating not only in the formal structure of the classroom, but more importantly in the informal structure. In this framework, it becomes evident that it is vital for pre-school children to create friendly relations, in order to develop certain social skills in the future (Newcomb & Bukowski, 1984). In the same class, there was also a girl from Albania, Lisa that was isolated from any kind of relationship in the classroom. Lisa's parents are both from Albania and do not speak Greek as good as their daughter does. Her father works as a builder and is seasonally unemployed, and her mother is at home. They are the only parents in the classroom that have no stable job and have a manual work. Lisa can speak Greek, but she has to deal with the socio-economic and cultural gap between her and all the rest of her classmates. It is the cultural lag, whose meaning is twofold, involving material but also spiritual factors. It is gap that refers to the material living conditions of children and their families, but also regards the cultural goods, as well as the intellectual and expressive infrastructure (Kyridis, 1996:191). In fact, culturally deprived children lack of certain skills and experiences, with which the children of the middle class are already familiar (Riessman, 1963). This deficiency leads to their cultural difference from the rest, but at the same time is perceived as a disadvantage. Some of the characteristics of such children, which are attributed to Lisa, are the lower quality of the expressive and verbal ability, in relation to other children in the class, poor self-image, the minimum of social skills and the cultural differences, compared to the other children in the class (Larson & Oslon, 1965). It is these children who, according to Zacharenakis, have "very little energy, too little information for themselves and for their environment, very little curiosity, very few successes, very little money and clothes, very few games and very little reading, very little luck (Zacharenakis, 1985: 70). The democratization of education is presented as a process where the progress and performance of students will be determined only by their abilities and by "nothing else": "What is meant by" nothing else" is expressed by relevant definitions as "working classes", "surrounding", "social situation", "geographical origin" etc. The above can be identified as the factors most detrimental to the democratization of school (Milonas, 2004: 113). From a sociological perspective, the issue of equal opportunities and social mobility is complicated, because it creates the false impression that the educational choices can exempt the student from the "curse" of low social class. This is what is described as the "myth of the great equalizer" as the vision that school will eliminate social inequality (Katsikas & Kavadias, 2000: 26-27). According to this myth, the school may offer equal learning © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

opportunities, because even when choosing their students through the evaluation, this is done in a spirit of equality and fairness. According to Apple “there is no doubt that schools do provide institution to promote economic and cultural reproduction. However, the way in which this occurs is complex. Theories that seek for the relationship between education and the outside society fail to include essential aspects of this complexity” (Apple, 1982: 1). Bourdieu, on the other hand, sees a more regulatory aspect of this reproductive function and summarizes the process of the connection between school performance and family background as follows: "The culture of the elite is so close to that of the school, so that children from lower middle class and working class can acquire only with great effort what is given to children of the cultured classes: style, preferences, spirit” (Bourdieu, 1974: 39). According to the theory of cultural capital, the difference in school performance of students is due to the fact that the school culture is much closer to the habitus, ie the linguistic, cultural and social practices of the middle and upper social strata. Essentially the cultural capital could be defined as a set of features and capabilities, which cultivate not only knowledge, but also ways of expression and social practice (Milonas, 1996: 211). As Bourdieu indicates: “The school requires from all to perform in the same way. This includes mainly linguistic and cultural capacity and the relationship between family and culture, a relationship that can be produced only when the family transmits the dominant ideology” (Bourdieu, 1973: 80). Of course, the acquisition of this cultural heritage requires the right environment and accordingly the ability of the student to internalize all those standards and norms that will contribute to the better integration in the school norm (Dumais, 2002: 44). The educational system has an important role in maintaining the status quo: «... That (education) is actually one of the most effective means to perpetuate the existing social affairs, since they both provide a clear justification for the social inequalities, as well as the acknowledgment of the cultural heritage, that is perceived as a social gift and thus is treated as "natural” (Bourdieu, 1974: 32). The social relations of children with each other and the reasons that children include or exclude a classmate in their social circle can witness the cause of various phenomena in the classroom, such as that of marginalization. It is very important that the teacher be aware of the mechanisms by which the team operates, in order to have a more complete picture not only of the whole class, but also the specificity of each student or trouble that each student presents, so that he/she can confront and intervene better and more effectively (Bikos, 2007). For instance, teacher can organize the classroom into working groups, so as to prevent the formation of divert subgroups against children who have little or no social contacts, and contribute to the cultivation of empathy and students' learning and solving skills problems (Australian Primary School Mental Health Initiative, 2013). Through organized activities of kindergartens, such as "the hour of cycle" and the storytelling, children can learn to listen to each other, share ideas and materials, to be © 2016 The authors and IJLTER. ORG. All rights reserved.

involved in various situations in game, help one another, to observe the skills of their classmates, and all of the above through the encouragement and contribution of teachers, in order to achieve the desirable possible positive interaction between children (Bovey & Strain, 2003). Beyond the educational dimension, parents can assist in the establishment of friendly relations of their children but also to the overall positive interactions among students of a class. The positive safe bond of children with their parents seems to enhance the positive relationship with their peers (Schneider, Tardif & Atkinson, 2001). Moreover, parents sometimes use a number of strategies to enhance their children's social relations, to encourage integration of their child in various situations, eg children's parties, and its involvement in various "social networks", ie playing with children of the neighborhood, and other methods such as the involvement in the game and in conflict resolution, etc. (Yu, Ostrosky & Fowler, 2011). The social relations of children with each other, and the reasons that children tend to include or exclude a classmate in their social circle can witness the cause of various phenomena in the classroom, such as that of marginalization. It is very essential that the teacher be aware of the mechanisms by which each group of students functions, to have a more complete vision not only of the whole class, but also of the specificity of each student or the difficulties that each students may have, in order to confront and intervene better and more effectively (ibid). According to Teresa Vasconcelos (2007 in Cordona et al., 2013: 45), the kindergarten is a fundamental territory, where children can be fully socially and ethically educated (Nichols, 2007: 120-121).

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 102-117, March 2016

Assessment of Adequacy and Availability of Human and Material Resources for the Implementation of the Nigeria New Senior Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum Benson Adesina Adegoke Institute of Education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria Frederick Ebimobowei Mefun Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council

Abstract In this study the authors examined the level of adequacy and availability of human and material resources for the implementation of the Nigeria newly introduced Mathematics Curriculum. The study was based on the premise that successful implementation of the curriculum depends on availability and adequacy of human and material resources. This is because if well qualified mathematics teachers and instructional materials are not available, no matter how well structured and intentioned the new mathematics curriculum may be, its successful implementation may not be achieved. The sample consisted of 110 senior secondary school mathematics teachers. They were randomly selected from Abakaliki and Ebonyi local Government Areas, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. One reliable and valid instrument titled “Mathematics Teachers Questionnaire” was used. Results show that there are not enough of qualified mathematics teachers in the schools. A sizeable numbers of the teachers sampled did not read mathematics and some of those who read mathematics did not have requisite teaching qualification. Majority of the teachers did not belong to either of the science and mathematics teacher professional bodies in Nigeria such as Science Teachers Association of Nigeria and Mathematical Association of Nigeria. Many schools do not have instructional facilities and equipment. The author recommends that teachers should be encouraged to become members of professional bodies and teachers without professional qualification advised to do professional courses in education. Keywords: Human resources, Material resources, Mathematics Curriculum, Mathematics Teacher

Mathematics,

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Introduction Prior to the advent of the Christian Missionaries and subsequent introduction of Western-style of education to Sub-Saharan Africa, each ethnic group in Africa used elaborate counting systems. For example, among the Yoruba people of Southwest, Nigeria, cowry shells, stones, sticks and other concrete objects as well folklores and market days were used for counting in economic and social activities. To preserve this counting system, the Yoruba people taught their young ones though in informal ways. According to Taiwo (1968) “The Yoruba have developed a system of counting and have used a variety of human experience to promote practice and dexterity in enumeration. The Yoruba child is introduced early in life to counting by means of concrete objects, counting rhymes, folklore, plays, and games at home and on the field”p.10 Other ethnic groups such as the Hausa, Igbo, Fulani and Ijaw had similar activities for their counting system and parents used various informal ways to teach their young ones. Formal education was introduced in Nigeria at about 1842. Since then teaching of subjects that borders on numeracy and computation such as arithmetic, algebra and geometry has been part and parcel of the school’s curriculum. At a time in the history of Mathematics teaching in Nigeria schools both at the primary and post-primary school levels, each of arithmetic, algebra and geometry was taught as a separate subject and each had different periods on the school timetable. However, at present, these branches of Mathematics have been fused into a single subject called Mathematics on the schools’ timetable. The teaching of Mathematics in Nigeria and indeed in most countries in the sub-Saharan Africa has gone through several stages of development. Indeed, several reforms had taken place in mathematics teaching and learning, in the Sub-Saharan Africa. There have been series of seminars, conferences; and several projects had been undertaken all in an effort to improve teaching and learning of mathematics. A typical example of such projects was the African Mathematics Project (AMP) which took place in Entebbe, Uganda in 1962. A major outcome of the African Mathematics Project (AMP) was the pilot study of teaching and learning of Modern Mathematics in Nigeria schools. The Pilot study was domiciled in Lagos under the Directorship of Professor Grace Alele Williams in 1964 (Awofala, 2012). In Nigeria, the first home-based and indigenous-initiated reform in Mathematics education was in 1969. According to Awofala (2012), this was when the then Federal Military Government of Nigeria charged the newly established the Nigerian Educational Research Council (NERC) with the responsibility of formulating the National Policy on Education

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(NPE); and promoting the work of modernization of school curricula in various subjects (including Mathematics) at primary, post primary and post secondary school levels. Specifically in the area of Mathematics education, the NERC organized conferences, and workshops to familiarise primary and post primary school teachers with the content and teaching techniques for the implementation of modern Mathematics programme. As part of its mandate the NERC set up a national task force in 1976 to examine the suitability or otherwise of the modern Mathematics curriculum which was in use. This was apparently in response to criticisms against the teaching and learning of Modern Mathematics in Nigeria schools. According to Awofala (2012), although the report of the Lagos pilot study on modern Mathematics conducted, in the Western state of Nigeria, between 1964 and 1968 indicated a huge success of the curriculum, it could not be said for other states in Nigeria especially in the Eastern and the Northern parts of Nigeria. Major criticisms against modern Mathematics included acute shortage of qualified modern Mathematics teachers and lack of adequate textbooks. Eventually in 1977 the teaching and learning of modern Mathematics in Nigeria primary and post primary schools was abolished. Arising from the conferences, seminars and workshops, the NERC developed another Mathematics curriculum for use in primary schools. In 1977, the National Council on Education (NCE) approved and adopted the primary school syllabus and curriculum. However, the official implementation of the primary school Mathematics curriculum did not take effect until 1979. As part of the effort of Nigeria to improve the quality of teaching and learning of school subjects, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) was established by Decree 58 (now Act) of 1988. The NERDC was formed from four major parastatals of the Federal Government of Nigeria viz: Nigerian Educational Research Council (NERC), the Comparative Education Study and Adaptation Center (CESAC), the Nigeria Book Development Council (NBDC) and Nigerian Language Development Center (NLDC). The major function of NERDC is to conduct, promote and coordinate educational research and development programmes at all levels of education in Nigeria. In the reforms in the Mathematics education that had taken place in Nigeria, the efforts of the Comparative Education Study and Adaptation Center (CESAC) of the University of Lagos should be noted. The CESAC was established at the University of Lagos in 1967 through the Ford Foundation grant. In 1976, the CESAC held series of conferences and workshops with the aim of developing a new syllabus for secondary school Mathematics. The National Council of Education (NCE) directed the CESAC to split secondary school Mathematics into two viz: Junior

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Secondary school syllabus and senior secondary school syllabus respectively. This was to be in line with the 6-3-3-4 system of education as contained in the Nigeria National Policy of Education of the Federal Government of Nigeria. In 1978 the NCE finally approved and adopted the secondary school syllabus and curriculum developed by the NERC. However, the official implementation of junior school Mathematics curriculum took effect in 1982, while that of senior secondary school was in 1985. In 2007, the NERDC revised the old Mathematics curriculum with the intention of producing a crop of well educated Nigerians who will be adequately equipped to function effectively in the present world of globalization. The decision for the revision of the curriculum was dictated by the desire of Federal Government of Nigeria to (a) attain the goal number two of the Millennium Development Goals (that is achieving the universal basic education by 2015), (b) attain the targets of the National Economic and Development Strategies (NEEDS) and (c) produce better informed Information and Communication Technology (ICT) compliant citizens of high ethical and educational standards. The revised curriculum called the “New Senior Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum” was approved by NCE in December, 2007 but its implementation started in 2011. The unique features of the content areas of this new curriculum according to NERDC, (2012) are that; 1. The new senior secondary school Mathematics curriculum has been infused with modern topics which are relevant to the global world and meet up the challenges of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Obsolete techniques in the old curriculum such as the use of slide rules have been dropped, while the logarithm table as calculating aid is de-emphasized with the hope of totally replacing it with scientific calculators and other calculating devices and computer-assisted instructional materials like semiprogrammable calculators. 2. The revised senior secondary school Mathematics curriculum includes some topics in logic, calculus (differential and integral equations); matrices, modular arithmetic and mapping, which in the old curriculum were restricted to Further/Additional Mathematics. These topics are believed to have capacity to enhance the competence of students in the various vocations they will pursue at tertiary level. The new curriculum accommodates the needs of students in the commercial and technical subject areas by including such content areas as annuities, amortization and sinking funds. 3. The new curriculum reflects continuity with those used in Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and Colleges of

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Science and Technology. In general, the curriculum aims at linking the knowledge of Mathematics to the industry. Hence, applications of Mathematics to health, finance, population, capital market and commercial activities are included in the curriculum. 4. Although both the old and the new revised Mathematics curricula are thematic, in the revised curriculum the themes have been rearranged into four instead of the six themes in the old curriculum. In the new curriculum, plane geometry, trigonometry, and mensuration have been merged to form Geometry; and Probability is now contained in Statistics. The new four themes are, number and numeration, algebraic process, geometry and statistics. 5. In the revised curriculum structure, Teachers Activities have been separated from studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; activities while evaluation guide has been provided for the teachers. Teacher and student activities are also separated from materials. Hints are also provided for teachers in each case. 6. There are many revised content areas infused in the new curriculum to address the defects and inadequacies of the old curriculum. These are summarized in themes. The NERDC (2012) also stated in specific terms the general objectives of the new senior secondary school Mathematics Curriculum. These include: 1. To achieve the National and Global reforms such as National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS) in 2009, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), September, 2000 and Education for All (EFA) in the year 2009. Note: The MDG goal two aims at meeting the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; This implies that the new mathematics curriculum aims at improving the knowledge base of learners so that they can transfer such knowledge to solve problems and even generate some wealth. 2. To ensure smooth transition from secondary level to tertiary level of the Mathematics curriculum. This curriculum has bridged the transition gap between Senior Secondary School Mathematics and Tertiary Mathematics curriculum. Note: New topics such as differential and integral equations, matrices and determinants were introduced into the new Mathematics curriculum that will help candidates pass Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination easily and gain admission into tertiary institutions. Moreover, efforts were made to remove the dichotomy between the old senior secondary Mathematics curriculum and the Mathematics curriculum of commercial, technical and vocational schools.

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Note: Prior to the new Mathematics curriculum, there were discrepancies in the Mathematics curricula of commercial, technical and vocational schools. The new Mathematics curriculum has taken care of such discrepancies. Presently commercial, technical and vocational schools use the same curriculum. 3. To correct some deficiencies in the contents of the old curriculum e, g. the infusion of logic reasoning to aid the teaching of theorems and their proofs. Note: Logical reasoning which aids the teaching of mathematical theorems and proofs was not in the old curriculum. 4. To help the development of entrepreneurship skills in the learners. The new curriculum requires that learners should link their knowledge of Mathematics to industry. Hence contents are linked to practical problems of health, finance, population, industry and capital markets. Note: The new mathematics curriculum emphasized that students should be taught the practical application of Mathematics to real life situation so as to enhance their entrepreneurial skills e. g. With Matrices and Determinants, learners can easily determine the prices of goods and commodity in the market. According to NERDC (2012), (2013) and Mefun (2015) the success or otherwise of the new mathematics curriculum depends on (a) the quality and quantity of teachers (b) availability of functional textbooks (c) availability and effective use of facilities and instructional materials (d) teachers assessment practices and (d) proper supervision and monitoring by the agencies (Federal and State Ministries of Education [FMoE/SMoE], Local and Zonal Inspectorate of Education [LIE/ZIE], NERDC, and School Principals) which have been mandated by the state to see to the maintenance of standard and quality of teaching and learning in schools. Past studies such as Ajibola (2008), Yara and Otieno (2010), Obioma (2013) and Ogunyinka, Okeke and Adedoyin (2015) identified lack of qualified teachers as a major challenge facing the effective implementation of the new senior secondary curriculum. According to Ogunyinka Okeke and Adedoyin (2015): Many teachers in Nigeria have not measured up to the minimum international standard. This is because a large number of untrained and half-baked personnel are still retained in the system, leading to a scenario in which career in teaching is not yet professionalized. Many unqualified teachers are still in the employment of some States. Teaching Service Boards, while most higher education lecturers are yet to undergo training in education (p.118) Ajibola (2008) noted that as a result of lack of qualified teachers, some teachers are made to teach subjects that are quite unrelated to their area of specialization. For example, there are instances where teachers who read

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chemistry at the University level are made to teach mathematics. More important is the fact that graduates without teaching qualification are employed to teach mathematics at the senior secondary school level (Yara & Otieno, 2010). Though such teachers may have competency in subject matter, but their ability to impart knowledge to students may be questionable because of their lack of training in pedagogy. The issue of inadequacy of trained and qualified mathematics teachers is not peculiar to Nigeria. Research (such as Yara & Otieno, 2010; Mbugua, 2011) showed that in Kenya, there was also inadequacy of trained and qualified mathematics teacher. The study of Yara and Otieno (2010) even showed that some teachers after a few years in teaching left for greener pastures in other professions. Specifically, in her study, Anugwo (2011) examined the relationship between availability of expert teachers and implementation of secondary school curriculum in Nigeria. Results showed that a significant relationship existed between availability of subject teachers and the implementation of skill-based secondary school curriculum. Anugwo (2011) concluded that that there was a link between quality and quantity of teachers and successful implementation of curriculum in Nigerian schools. No doubt, Mathematics teachers are involved in the implementation of the new mathematics curriculum in line with the stated objectives. Research such as Azuka, Jekayinfa, Durojaiye, and Sylvester (2013) has however, shown that, some teachers may face some difficulties in the teaching of some of the new topics introduced in the new curriculum. Examples of such category of teachers include those who did not have prerequisite degree in mathematics and mathematics related subjects at the tertiary level of education. As a result of this their competency in the subject matter maybe somewhat questionable. Among such topics include logical reasoning, geometric construction, financial Mathematics, integral and differential calculus and their applications, bearing and modular arithmetic. According to Azuka et al (2013) the difficulty level of these topics is between 60% and 85%. To ameliorate this, the NERDC has suggested that mathematics teacher should endeavour to participate in inservice professional development programmes such as workshops, seminars and conferences and also belong to professional associations such as the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria and Mathematics Association of Nigeria. The extent to which teachers participate in these programmes was also examined in this study. In comparison with the biological and physical sciences, Mathematics instruction has suffered in the past from a notable lack of special physical facilities and special instructional devices for giving meaning to various concepts and relations, providing motivation for the students, and increasing the effectiveness of the instruction. This is due in part to a lack

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of imagination and aggressiveness on the part of mathematics teachers, but it is due also to the fact that until rather recent years not much experimental work had been done in Mathematics with new media or with non traditional methods of instruction. Traditionally, the equipment available to the Mathematics teacher has been limited pretty much to the textbook and the chalkboard, with perhaps a few models for use in solid geometry and some rulers and protractors for liner and angular measurement and some supplementary textbooks and workbooks. These teaching aids are far from negligible, as anyone who has tried to teach Mathematic in a room without a chalkboard can attest, but with a chalkboard alone it is often hard even for a good teacher to accomplish all that he envisions. According to Yara and Otieno (2010) the teaching and learning of mathematics in secondary school become more interesting with the use of mathematics kit. With determination and zeal for students’ success and mastery of mathematics, schools can readily purchase mathematics kit. The kit usually contains instruments such as inclinator for measuring angles of depression and elevation; circle theorem kit for determining the constant of a circle and several mathematics geometrical models. All these are multisensory teaching and learning aids. The use of multisensory aids, when well coordinated with the other classroom learning activities, can serve a double purpose, namely, to stimulate interest and provide a most effective means of clarifying many mathematical concepts and relations through the experience of associating them directly with physical things. Thus it serves as a highly important avenue for organic learning, as well as for motivation. Such practice is often referred to as “laboratory work in Mathematics” such as are done in Physics, Biology or Chemistry classes. It is true that the idea of the Mathematics laboratory has not yet received the same general acceptance as the science laboratory has, but this may well be because Mathematics teachers have not themselves recognized and insisted upon its importance as the science teachers have. Actually, most Mathematics teachers have been too passive in this respect. Teachers of Science, Art, Music, Home Economics, and other subjects do not hesitate to ask for space and equipment for this type of work, and they get it. But most mathematics teachers do not even ask for it, though to do so would be both reasonable and proper. It appears that the issue of inadequacy of teaching learning materials may not be peculiar to Nigeria as research in other climes such as in Kenya (for example, Bulimo, Odebero & Musasia 2010) and Uganda (for example, Mbugua, 2011) revealed similar trends. According to Mbugua (2011) there are insufficient mathematics text books in secondary schools. Schools have poor chalk boards which affects teaching and learning

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of mathematics. Three dimension models or aids for teaching and learning mathematics are lacking, those that are available are of poor quality, and also teachers do not use them effectively well. The chalk board is in two dimension and drawing a three dimension on it may distort learners thinking; for example angles that are 90o of cuboids appear different on the chalk board (p.114) The conclusions one can draw from literature is that there appears to be positive relationship between availability of school facilities and successful implementation of school curriculum. That is without the availability of functional infrastructure and instructional materials in schools, the skill-based curriculum no matter how well it was drafted will not be effectively implemented. To give direction to this study, two research questions were answered. These were: 1. What is the profile of the senior secondary school mathematics teachers with regards to their gender, academic qualification, and years of teaching experience, number of seminars/workshops attended and membership of professional associations? 2. To what extent are facilities and instructional materials available for the successful implementation of the new mathematics curriculum? Methods Participants All public senior secondary school Mathematics Teachers in senior secondary school classes two and three (SSS 2 and SSS 3) in Ebonyi and Abakaliki Local Government Areas, Ebonyi State, Nigeria, was the target population. However, only one hundred and ten senior secondary schools Mathematics Teachers selected from the sampled senior secondary schools participated in the study. The ages of the sampled teachers ranged between 25 and 56 years. Seventy-one percent of them were men, while 29% were women. Materials One instrument was used. This was a questionnaire titled “Mathematics Teachers Questionnaire (MTQ)”. It has two sections. Section A and Section B. Section A elicited information about teacher’ gender, qualification, number of years of teaching experience, number of seminars/workshops attended in the last five years and what type of professional association the teacher belongs. Section B sought information about availability and adequacy of equipment and instructional facilities for the teaching and learning of mathematics (See Appendix 1) Procedures

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The second author Mefun Frederick with the assistance of two of his colleagues at NERDC Office (Ebonyi State Office) administered the MTQ to teachers in Ebonyi and Abakaliki Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. In each school sampled, the Mathematics Teachers cooperated very well and the return rate of the questionnaire was about 100%. Data Analysis Data gathered were analysed using frequency counts and percentages. Results The results are hereby presented in the order in which the research questions have been stated. Research Question One: What is the profile of the senior secondary school mathematics teachers with regards to their gender, academic qualification, and years of teaching experience, number of seminars/workshops attended and membership of professional associations? a. In terms of gender, the ratio was lopsided in favour of men. Out of the 110 teachers sampled, 77 (71%) were men while 33 (29%) were women. Figure 1 gives the graphical picture of the profile of the teachers

Profile of the Teachers in terms of Gender Men

Women

30% 70%

Figure 1: Profile of Mathematics Teacher by Gender b. In terms of qualification, table 1 gives the graphic picture Table 1: Profile of Mathematics Teachers by Qualification Qualification Number 1. B.Sc. Education/B.Ed. Mathematics 28 (25.5) 2. B.Sc. Mathematics with PGDE 15 (13.6) 3. B.Sc. Mathematics without PGDE 26 (23.6) 4. Others 41(37.3)

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In terms of qualification, table 1 shows that only 43 (39.1%) of the sampled teachers had the prerequisite qualification to teach mathematics at the senior secondary school level. This number included the 28 who had B.Sc./Education and B.Ed. Education in Mathematics as well as 15 teachers who had B.Sc. Mathematics with Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE). The table shows although 26 of the teachers sampled read mathematics at the University level, they do not have requisite teaching qualification to teach mathematics. Moreover, 41 of the teachers sampled did not even read mathematics not to talk of having requisite qualification to teach mathematics c. In terms of teaching experience Table 2 gives the graphic representation of the profile of the teachers. Table 2: Profile of the Teachers in terms of Years of Experience Teacher Year of Experience Number 1. 01 – 05 Years 34 (30.9) 2. 06 – 10 Years 43 (39.1) 3. 11 Years and above 33 (30.0) In terms of teaching experience about 31% of the sampled teachers had experience of over ten years while 69% are still relative young in the teaching profession. When the average number of years of teaching experience of the sampled teachers was noted, it was found out that it was 7.9 years with standard deviation of 5.3. This means that majority of the teachers were relatively young in the teaching profession d. In term of number of seminars/ works attended that the sampled teachers had attended. It was observed that only 36 (32.7%) of the sampled teachers had attended one seminar or the other in the last five years while 74 (67.3%) of the teachers had not attended any seminar in the last five years. e. Membership of Mathematical Association of Nigeria (MAN) /Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) Analysis of results show that only 34 (30.9%) of the sampled teachers were members of Mathematical Association while 76 (69.1%) were not. It was also found out that only 18 (16.4%) of the teachers were members of Science Teachers Association of Nigeria, while 92 (83.6%) were not. Research Question Two: To what extent are facilities and instructional materials available for the successful implementation of the new mathematics curriculum? To answer this question, the responses of the sampled teachers were subjected to frequency counts and percentages. Analysis revealed the following.

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Table 3: Availability of Facilities and Instructional Materials Facilities/Instructional Materials Available Not Available 1. Mathematics Laboratory 26 (23.6) 84 (76.4) 2. Math Charts 79 (71.8) 31 (28.2) 3. Math Models 31 (28.2) 79 (71.8) 4. ICT 74 (67.3) 36 (32.7) 5. Math Periodicals in Library 102 (92.7) 8 (7.3) 6. Textbook for Teachers 95 (86.4) 15 (13.6) 7. Math Kit 6 (5.5) 104 (94.5) Note* Number in parenthesis represents percentages. Discussion and Recommendations Results have shown that in terms of quantity of qualified teachers needed for the successful implementation of the new mathematics curriculum, though government is doing its best, not much has been achieved. This is because out of the 110 teachers that were sampled, only 40% had the requisite qualification to teach at the senior secondary school level. This is grossly inadequate if one considers the number of secondary school students that these teachers are supposed to cater for. This view was raised by about 92% of the teachers that were sampled. Earlier researchers in mathematics education (such as Ajibola, 2014; Anugwo, 2011) had raised similar fears about gross inadequacy of teachers in the school system. For example in his study, Ajibola (2008) identified lack of qualified teachers as a major challenge facing the effective implementation of the new senior secondary curriculum. The results of this study therefore corroborate the findings of Ajibola (2008) that there are not enough of qualified mathematics teachers for the implementation of new mathematics curriculum. The results of this study is also in line with that of Anugwo (2011) who concluded that quality and quantity of teachers in Nigerian secondary schools tended to significantly affect the implementation of curriculum in Nigerian schools, especially at the junior and senior secondary level. The importance of membership in professional associations such as Mathematical Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN), the results of this study clearly show that very few teachers belong to these associations. In Nigeria, the MAN and the STAN are the two prominent associations promoting Science and Mathematics Education in Nigeria by developing curriculum materials and teaching resources. Even the STAN has a mathematics section that caters specifically for mathematics education. These professional bodies organize seminars and workshops for their members and use such forum to help members update their knowledge both in the subject matter content and pedagogy. That teachers are not joining these professional bodies can be attributed to lack of enthusiasm on the part of the teachers

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themselves and probably lack of encouragement on the part of executives of these professional bodies. The results of the study also show that some of the teachers sampled did not have requisite qualification to teach mathematics. More important is the fact that though some teachers read mathematics at the University level, they did not have teaching qualification. Such teachers should be encouraged to enroll for professional courses in education such as postgraduate diploma in education. On the issue of instructional facilities and equipment, the results of this study showed that majority of the schools sampled did not have mathematics laboratory and Mathematics Kit. This result is in line with that of Bulimo, Odebero and Musasia (2010) and Mbugua (2011) who also found that there was inadequate number of teaching learning resources in Kenya. Despite the importance of such instructional facilities and equipment, it is quite disheartening that schools do not have functional mathematics laboratory and mathematics kit. It is important at this juncture to state that a mathematics laboratory may not necessarily mean having a room or a building specifically assigned to mathematics as been done for Physics and Chemistry. Though if such a room or building is available the better. However, a mathematics laboratory can be any place where practical activities in mathematics can take place. There are many theorems and concepts that some mathematics teachers may find difficult to explain, but with practical demonstrations using simple and inexpensive materials, the reality of such theorems and concepts will definitely become obvious to the students. It is generally believed that mathematics is an abstract subject. Mathematics teachers, therefore, must make use of readily available resources in their immediate environnment to simplify and put meaning into these abstract concepts. These teaching resources can be in the form of charts, three dimensional objects (real or improvised) and plane shapes. The results of this study show that some schools have these charts and some schools do not have them. Schools that do not have the real charts and models should be encouraged to improvise such materials. The NERDC (2012) has emphasized the need for teachers to make use of mathematical kits to explain concepts in geometry. Where such kits are not available, NERDC (2012) has encouraged teachers to improvise by cutting of papers, cards, charts and mathematical boards. It is important to emphasise that there are educational resource centers established by Federal and state governments in various parts of Nigeria. Apart from all these, most Universities have well-established and equipped resource centers where mathematics teachers can borrow some of these materials. Some of the educational resources that can be found and borrowed from these centers include supplementary books, journals

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and periodicals. Mathematics teachers should be encouraged to visit such educational resources centers.

References Ajibola, M. A. (2008). Innovations and Curriculum Development for Basic Education in Nigeria: Policy, Priority and Challenges of Practice and Implementation. Research Journal of International studies, 8, 51 - 58 Anugwo, M. (2011). Revising the Curriculum for the New Secondary School Mathematics Teacher. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 18, pp. 277 – 282 Awofala, A. O. A. (2012). An Analysis of the New 9-year Basic Education Mathematics Curriculum in Nigeria. Acta Didactica Napocensia, 5 (1), pp. 17- 26 Azuka, B. F., Jakeyinfa, O., Durojaye, D. and Sylvester, O. (2013). Difficulty Level of Topics in the New Senior Secondary school Mathematics Curriculum as Perceived by Mathematics Teachers. Journal of Education and Practice, 4 (17), pp. 23 - 30 Bulimo, W. A., Odebero, S. O., & Musasia, M. M. (2010). Equity in Access to Secondary Schools by Type of Primary Schools Attended in Kakamega South District. In Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA); Kenya Chapter. 1(1) 97-10 Mbugua, Z. K. (2011). Adequacy and he extent to which teaching and learning resources for Mathematics are available and used for achievement in the subject in secondary school n Kenya. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 1 (3), pp. 112 – 115 Mefun F. E (2015). Evaluation of the implementation of the new senior secondary school mathematics curriculum in Ondo state, Nigeria. Unpublished doctoral proposal, Institute of Education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (2012). Teachers’ Guide for the New Senior Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum. A World Bank Supported Science and Technology Education Post-Basic (SIEP-B) Project. Yaba, Lagos Nigeria: NERDC Printing Press. Obioma, G. O. (2013). Overview and Philosophy of the new senior Secondary Education Curriculum Structure, Implementation strategies and Opportunities. A paper presented at the 4-day Capacity Building Workshop for Principals and Teachers on the New Curriculum organized by the Ebonyi State Secondary Education Board, Abakaliki, 4th – 7th November. Ogunyinka, E. K., Okeke T. I., Adedoyin, R. C. (2015). Teacher Education and Development in Nigeria: An Analysis of Reforms, Challenges

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and Prospects. Education Journal. Vol. 4, No. 3, 2015,pp. 111-122. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20150403.14 Taiwo, C. O. (1968), Yoruba Mathematics, M.Sc. Dissertation, Institute of Education, London University. Yara, P. O. & Otieno, K. O. (2010). Teaching/Learning Resources and Academic Performance in Mathematics in Secondary Schools in Bondo District of Kenya. Asian Social Science, 6 (12), pp. 126 – 132

Attachment 1 INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN Mathematics Teachers’ Questionnaire (MTQ) This questionnaire has been developed to elicit information on teacher variables like age, academic qualification, and professional qualification. Please, kindly give your honest information on every item. All information will be treated with utmost confidentiality. Instruction: Please respond to all questions/items Section A 1. Name of School…………………………………………………………. 2. L. G. A …………………………………………………………………… 3. School Location Urban…….. Rural ………… 4. Sex: Male……… Female………. 5. Age (As at July 1, 2015) 6. How many students are in your class? ……….. No of Boys ….. No of Girls…… 7. Academic Qualification Tick as appropriate (√) i. B.Ed./B.Sc.Edu Mathematics ( ) ii. B.Sc. Mathematics with PGDE ( ) iii. B. Sc. Mathematics without PGDE ( ) iv. Others ( ) Please Specify …………………………….. 8. How long have you been teaching mathematics? ………….. 9. In the last five years how many seminars/workshops have you attended?............... 10. Are you a member of Mathematical Teachers Association? Yes ( ) No ( ) 11. Are you a member of Science Teachers Association of Nigeria? Yes ( ) No ( )

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Part One: Availability and Adequacy of Equipment and Facilities Instruction: Indicate the availability or otherwise of the following equipment and facilities for mathematics teaching in your school. Place a tick in the appropriate column applicable to your school. S/N ITEMS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6

7 8

10 11. 12. 13.

Not Available

Available

Number Available

Mathematics laboratory Mathematical set Mathematical Charts Mathematical Models ICT equipment Library books and Periodicals on Mathematics Teachers’ reference books on Mathematics New senior secondary school Mathematics curriculum Recommended Mathematics textbooks for teachers’ use Students’ work book / assignment notes Scheme of work for Mathematics Diaries for Mathematics Mathematics Kit 1. List three (3) problems you encounter in the implementation of the new senior secondary school Mathematics curriculum …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… 2. Suggest Three (3) ways of improving upon the implementation of the New Senior Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum to make it Achieve its desired goals …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 118-133, March 2016

Effectiveness of using Microteaching and Thinking style to Develop Teaching Skills in Arab Open University - Jordan Branch Al-Takhyneh Bahjat Arab Open University –Jordan Branch Amman –Jordan

Abstract. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of using Microteaching style and Thinking to Develop Teaching Skills in Arab Open University - Jordan Branch. The participants were 100 of Arab Open University students _Jordan Branch who enrolled in the elementary teaching program, categorized into five groups based on the measurement of the used style of thinking, the researcher developed teaching skills measurement scale and verified its validity, both pre and post teaching skills were measured, also the micro teaching method was used to practice the students on teaching skills, the results were of this study showed that: - There is statistically significance (α ≤ 0.05) between the average scores in pre and post teaching skills in favor of post teaching skills in general and in the synthetic, analytic , realistic, and pragmatic thinking style levels , while there is no is statistically significance (α ≤ 0.05) between the average scores of pre and post teaching skills in idealistic thinking style level . - There is no is statistically significance difference (α ≤ 0.05) between the post average scores in teaching skills due to the used style of thinking. The researcher recommended using the microteaching method with Arab Open University students. Keywords: microteaching; thinking style; teaching skills; mathematics.

Introduction The role of mathematics is magnifying in the current time as a result of the scientific and technological developments, which requires the preparation of teachers in a way that develop thinking and help our children to contribute to the development and technology. And in this context, the growing interest in the training of teachers on modern strategies in teaching methods and evaluation in all subjects, especially mathematics comes. Mathematics privileged a special position in the general education curriculum, it derives that from its usage in many scientific and technological disciplines, which is considered the backbone of other sciences, and therefore teachers need to be pre-service training to ensure their mastery of basic skills in teaching. © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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One Of the pre-service teachers preparation systems is integrated system, which allows the training of pre-service teachers, and it represented by the content of practical education courses which are taught in the colleges of education, and the content of these materials such as planning, implementation and evaluation skills, which can be trained by the students during their study, study of (alnashef and Winter, 2007), confirms the need to use micro teaching and increase the number of assigned classes for micro teaching. Microteaching, a teacher training technique currently practiced worldwide, provides teachers an opportunity to perk up their teaching skills by improving the various simple tasks called teaching skills, and it represents a microcosm of the lesson or part of its parts, or a skill of its skills, under controlled conditions, and offers a limited number of educated or trained teachers, a micro teaching is divided into different types which they are: early training on the micro teaching, and training while teaching service, continuous micro teaching, final micro teaching, oriented micro teaching, free micro teaching, general micro teaching, and private micro teaching. And it is offered as mini-stages which they are: teaching, guidance and direction, viewing, preparation for the lesson, teaching, dialogue and discussion, re-teaching, evaluation, and the transition to integrated teaching (Ambili, 2013). Micro teaching has many skills including: preparation skills, skills to choose teaching materials, distribution and organization skills, presentation skills the thrill of connectivity, annotation skills, enhancement skills, and skills of questions and answers, taking into account individual differences, the skills of movement, and the skills to use teaching techniques, and skills of training and Calendar. Microteaching (Jezebel and Jane, 1997), is a multi-faceted complex process, the students represent several roles during in the microteaching workshop, including commander of the debate classroom, and an expert of the educational community, librarian ,an instructor to students and the planner of the lessons, the responsible of classroom and the school system and, of course, the students mastery of these roles cast them a continuous consequences so the student should focus on classroom lessons planning and choose the appropriate way to the situation of education and the education individualization. The microteaching is based on an education analysis process to a set of skills and to apply them, which leads to the departure of teacher in skill learning from using trial and error method, and leads to the acquisition of the required skill to become part of the training behaviors. Micro teaching has a set of features represented in that it is a real education gives an opportunity for everyone to practice teaching and depends in its training for students on teaching skills in accordance to the mastery teaching in addition to being specified learning situation in according to the steps and procedures which makes the trainer more satisfied, and provides an opportunities for immediate promotion and trains students on basic teaching skills such as : taking into account individual differences, to raise motivation, the goals showing, teaching methods and strategies, assessment strategies, feedback (Arab Open University, 2007).

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Micro Teaching is passing a series of mini-stages: • Identify the required skill by watching it. • discuss the skill dimensions and the detailed steps with the supervisor. • Prepare a short lesson, which focuses on the use of this skill. • Practice in front of a number of students. • The students observe the trainer performance through video recording. • discuss the trainer in his performance. • allows the trainer to review the preparation of the lesson again in the light of feedback. • repeated this process until the student mastered the required skill. Styles of thinking: the thinking is defined as the studied investigation of the experience in order to achieve a purpose, this purpose may be an understanding or decision or planning or problem solving. And there are several styles of thinking (Alneaimat, 2006), (Harrison & Bramson, 2002): 1. synthetic thinking: is the individual's ability to communicate to construct and install a new ideas, different and original than practiced by others, and look at some of the views that may allow better prepared and equipped solutions and to link between views that seem contradictory in addition to the mastery of clarity and innovative and possession of skills that reach for it. 2. Idealistic Thinking: It means the individual's ability to configure different views towards things and the tendency to future-oriented and think about the goals in addition to the interest of the individual with its needs on the one hand, and what is useful to other family members and a tendency toward compassion for others and listen to discussions with people and problems and lack of demand for open conflict controversies. 3. Pragmatic Thinking: It means the individual's ability to verify what is right or wrong for personal experience undergone by, and granted freedom and experimentation to find new ways of doing things with the help of raw materials available to him, in addition to take problems gradually and interest in working and procedural aspects. 4. Analytic Thinking: means the learner's ability to cope with problems carefully and methodically and attention to details and planning carefully before making a decision in addition to the maximum amount of information collection and has the ability to contribute to the clarification of things so he could get to rational conclusions through facts that are known. 5. Realistic Thinking: It means the learner's ability to rely on observation and experimentation through the facts perceived by, and this kind includes enjoy of direct and real discussions of current issues and the learner prefers the scientific aspects which related to the realism aspects. Pre-service teacher: the pre-service teacher's means enrolled students in both the fourth level in social studies and math sections of the Faculty of Education of Sana'a University and who is qualified to be teachers at the secondary level Teaching Skills: teaching skill defined as the ability of (zaytoun,2001) performance of a particular work / activity related to the planning of teaching, implementation and evaluation, and this can be analyzed to a set of cognitive, motor, and social behaviors and then can be evaluated in light of the standards of accuracy to do, speed of completion, and the ability to adapt to the

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changing teaching positions, with the help of the organized observation method, and then can be improved through training programs

Types of teaching skills: Planning skills: include content analysis and organization of its sequence, and analyzing the characteristics of learners, and to identify instructional goals, and determine the teaching procedures, and the choice of teaching aids, determine the previous requirements, and determine the calendar and homework methods. Implementation skills: include classroom management skills, incentive initialization, use of teaching aids, the implementation of practical presentations, excitability of motivation, and take into account individual differences, and the acquisition of the attention, and the use of asking questions, boosters and summary, the use of suitable teaching strategies such as: (discovery, inquiry, Cooperative learning, programmed education, and individual education... etc). Evaluation skills: include the preparation of tests and its correction and analysis, diagnosis and treatment of learning errors, monitoring grades and interpretation, and the preparation of school evaluation cards, and the preparation of oral questions

Previous studies: A study was conducted by (Khalil, 1990) on the use of microteaching in development of the general teaching skills of preserve-teachers, study sample consisted of students teachers in Faculty of Education, Assiut, results of the study showed that the microteaching program is better than the traditional process of education in the development of teaching skills. Another study was conducted by (Mahjoub,1992) to develop the skill of question Of the science pre-service teachers using microteaching via visual registration, study sample consisted of fourth-year students at the Faculty of Education in Sohaj, divided into three groups , the first experimental group which studied the skill of question theoretically and practice using the microteaching via visual registration, while the second experimental group studied the skill of questioning only from a theoretical side, whereas the control group was not exposed to any of the training workers. The study results revealed superiority of the first experimental group students on each experimental second and control groups in the skill of the question, and the superiority of the second experimental group on the control group students skill of question. (Ali, 1994) studied the effectiveness of using microteaching style on training of the third-year students of the agricultural department, Faculty of Education IN Almena. The sample was divided into two groups, experimental one which trained on the use of microteaching style and the other was a control group which trained using the lecture method and practical presentation, study results showed superiority of microteaching style on lecture and practical presentation style in the development of teaching skills. (Mohammed,1995) investigated the development of some of teaching skills of the teachers student in the Arabic language department by using microteaching method , study sample consisted of students teachers of Arabic Language department in the Faculty of Education, King Saud University, the results of the study showed the superiority of the experimental group that used microteaching style on the students of the control group in the development of question skills ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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and the use of teaching aids, and classroom management skill, and did not show differences in each of the boot skill, and skill of lesson ending. (Nassar,1999) discussed the effectiveness of using video tube as a media in the microteaching to prepare teachers to use the skill of probe question, a sample of Balqa University students in Jordan, study results showed the superiority of sample that used the video as a means of media in microteaching and skill of probe question in Education . (Hindi, 2000) conducted a study to investigate the effectiveness of using a proposed training program using microteaching method in the development of teaching skills of Agricultural Sciences teachers, Faculty of Education, Bani Suef, study results showed the effectiveness of the proposed training program using the method of micro teaching in the development of general teaching skills (Maria, 2008) made a study on the predicted perspectives of teachers about the microteaching, the study sample formed of 74 teachers, the study explored the perspectives of teachers about planning cycle, education, reflections, and review of lessons, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a questionnaire feedback and a written reports about microteaching lessons, the results of the study showed significant improvement in the experience of teachers to teach, and to link theory and practice, and cooperation and reflections, and alternative points of cooperation and learning in groups. (Stockers, 2008) investigated the effectiveness of video curriculum to develop the reflections of students / teachers and their perspectives and methods of teaching in the mathematics teaching methods course in the university, videotapes were used in the study and data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, the study showed that the use of video curriculum is a powerful approach to the development of educational situations for mathematics teachers. (Mohammed, 2005) prepared a paper which discusses an important issue, it tried to answer the following question: Why is the contribution of teachers in the development of teaching methods in the classroom is slight? Results of the study showed that teachers did not improve their skills during the education, and education projects are stumbling during Application stage. This paper added different issues related to the development of mathematics teachers and their teaching methods. Another study was conducted by (Youngju & Jihyun,2014) to identify how preservice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration (SETI) can be improved during the coursework intervention, and which of the course factors (instructional media development skills, knowledge on technology, and lesson planning practice) has the highest impact on the SETI. This research also attempted to explore a more inclusive path of the direct and indirect influences between SETI and other non-course variables (computer use, teachers' attitude towards computers (TAC), changes in TAC). 136 undergraduate students at a teacher education university in Korea participated in the study. Our data analyses illustrated significant increase of prospective teachers' SETI after their completion of education technology course resulting mostly from lesson planning practice. The hierarchical multiple regression revealed that the preservice teachers with higher positive attitudes toward computers and greater ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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ability for lesson planning showed higher increase in their levels of SETI. The path analysis indicated that these two factors influenced the SETI directly, rather than indirectly. Lesson planning practice did not affect pre-service teachers' attitudinal growth. Implications on effectiveness of the lesson planning and attitudinal factors on SETI, and suggestions for teacher education course design are discussed. (Sadiq &Ahmed, 2013) made a study aimed at investigating the views of sixtyone female teacher trainees from the English Language Education Program in the Faculty of Education in the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) regarding the microteaching component offered in two courses of English language teaching methods. A combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques was employed for the purpose of gathering the data. Mainly, a questionnaire and a focus group interview were used as the main tools for data collection. Overall analysis of the findings indicated that prospective teachers described a variety of benefits they gained from microteaching experiences. From the previous studies, we note that there are many studies indicated to the effectiveness of microteaching method in the development of teaching skills and its adequacies, such as the Studies of (Khalil,1990), (Mahjoub,1992), (Ali,1994), (Mohammed,1995), (Nassar,1999), (Hindi,2000) , ( Sadiq &Ahmed, 2013), and (Youngju &Jihyun, 2014). also It is noted that the using of microteaching method through videos is effective in the development of methods and strategies of teachers education as indicated in ( stockers,2008) study, (Mohammed ,2005) study explained that the most important education issues for teachers is the development of motivation, and the improvement of teaching method, (Maria, 2008) study which discussed the development of teachers reflections about the microteaching, and to link between theory and practice and improve instructional practices of teachers. This study differs from previous studies since that it discussed the impact of the use of microteaching style on a sample of Arab Open University students, Jordan branch, where this university is characterized by the use of open education, as well as to study the effect of the style of thinking as a variable in the development of teaching skills. The current study is similar to previous studies in the use of microteaching method in the education of students in education colleges and training of pre-service teachers. Problem of the study: The problem of study is determined by trying to answer the following questions: Study Questions: the study answered the following questions: 1. What is the effectiveness of using microteaching method to improve the teaching skills of the Faculty of Education students at the Arab Open University? 2. Is the ability of students in the College of Education at the Arab Open University in teaching skills varies depending on the style of thinking? Importance of study: microteaching has a significance role in education, where this method is a real education provides a direct experiments and trains students on education strategies and regulate education within a clear steps and provides an instant feedback until the mastering of the needed skills achieved, also it is considered a mastering education in terms of the need to master the skill. ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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mastering of necessary teaching skills by students is necessary to initiate the practicing of the profession of education, and it avoids the teacher from confusion and random and keeps him away from trial and error method, also raises the teacher's self-confidence of its ability to educate and develop friendly positive attitudes towards education. The importance of the current study comes from the importance of practical education courses which they are taught in the Arab Open University, as a researcher is one of the academic stuff in the in the Faculty of Education in the Arab Open University, teachers, and seeks to apply the best methods that develop students' ability to different teaching skills

Terms of study: Microteaching: a method for training and preparing of pre-service teachers on the skills of teaching, such as planning, implementation, and evaluation skills, which is a reduced education according to the number of students, the lesson time, the required task that should be accomplished and skill of teaching to be training, and provide feedback in order to master the skill, microteaching passes through the following stages: 1) Planning stage: • Identify the skill of teaching that the students to be trained on it. • Analyze the skill into its components. • The student recognizes live written or pictorial examples of the required skill. • The student will prepare a plan for that skill 2) Implementation stage: the student taught the required skills with a lesson on video recording 3) Evaluation stage: providing a feedback, and displaying the microteaching lesson to the trainer for analysis and criticism. styles of thinking: a set of methods and intellectual strategies that the individual used to handle the available information about himself or about his environment and so about what is facing problems and it measured by the mark that the student gets in the test of thinking in its five dimensions which prepared by Harrison and Bramson and their colleagues, and these dimensions are: synthetic, ideal, pragmatic, analytical, and realistic. Teaching Skills: defined as the ability to perform a particular activity related to the planning of teaching, implementation and evaluation, and this work is able to be analyzed for a set of cognitive, motor, and social behaviors and then be evaluated in light of the standards of accuracy to do, and the speed of completion, and the ability to adapt to the changing teaching positions, using organized observation method, and then can be improved through training programs, and it is measured by the mark obtained by the student on the evaluation card prepared by the researcher Study limitations: Results of the study was limited to the following: - Students of the Faculty of Education at the Arab Open University for the academic year 2011/2012 who enrolled for the first semester. - Training of students on teaching skills (initialization incentive, the objectives display, a review of the previous requirements, ask questions, teaching strategies (cooperative learning, inquiry, discovery, problem solving,

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brainstorming), to raise motivation, taking into account individual differences, structural evaluation, and the final evaluation. - Results of the study are determined by Validity and reliability of the used tools. Subjects of study: the sample of the study was formed from the enrolled students in practical education course ED441 in the first semester of the academic year 2011/2012 of the Arab Open University, Jordan branch. 100 students were classified into five categories according to the style of thinking and following table illustrates this: Table (1) Classifications of sample members according to thinking style.

Style of thinking Number

synthetic

idealistic

pragmatic

analytical

realistic

Tools of the study: The training program in microteaching: a training program in microteaching was prepared for some basic skills, by accessing some of the world training programs related to the training of teachers, and teachers training programs in mathematics. This program included a focus on the following skills: taking into account individual differences, to raise motivation, showing of goals, teaching methods and strategies, evaluation strategies, feedback. Microteaching passes through the following steps: (1) Supply the teachers with theoretical information about the skill to be gained in terms of its principles, psychological and educational concepts that underpin, methods of its performance and conditions of use, and these includes analyzing of the skill to its behavioral steps, and submit them to study it in details. (2) Present a practical model for skill use in a micro educational situation, and record comments by using the visual recording. (3) Assign the trainer teacher to plan for an educational situation includes teaching of skill basis on the previous two steps. (4) The trainer teacher's implementation of the plan drawn up in the form of microteaching lesson with visible recording of the lesson (video). (5) Evaluation of microteaching lesson by self-assessment from the part of the trainer, as well as from the part of the supervisor and colleagues who viewed the lesson, by remodeling the recorded lesson directly after teaching, and this is called stage of feedback. (6) Re-planning and implementation and self and external assessment, so that the trainer performed the required skill in the desired level. (7) Using the same microteaching method for training on more complex and interconnected skills, so that it can give the trainers the necessary teaching skills to improve their mission performance in the teaching that achieves the desired objectives. Tool validity was checked by viewing on a group of arbitrators of specialists and experts in the field of mathematics teaching, and made observations were taken into account. Style of thinking measurement: Bramson and Harrison scale (Harrison & Bramson; 2002) was used, the scale of the 18 position of everyday situations ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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made up, by 5 phrases for each position, every position expresses the mode of five thinking styles: synthetic, ideal, pragmatic, analytical, and realistic, and the measure is designed to determine the prevailing style and a favorite of individuals. Arabization of scale was made by (Habib, 2004) and applied to the Egyptian environment and reach of the validity of scale through: construction validity, the default configuration, factorial validity, and conjugate validity, and the scale applied on the Jordanian Environment (Alenaimat, 2006) were the validity of the scale was verified submitting it to the group the arbitrators. Student evaluation in teaching skills model: a model was prepared for student evaluation of basic teaching skills, which they are planning, implementation, and evaluation, the model includes the following skills: Planning skill: includes the skills of objectives formulation, identification, objectives diversity, and coverage, and to identify ways and strategies and methods of evaluation, and analysis of content, and determination of the previous requirements. Implementation skill: includes incentive initialization and raise motivation, display goals, suspense students to learn, and the used strategies in terms of suitability for the position of educational learning, and diversity of strategies, and display activities and exercises which they are suitable for everyone, and display in sequential and coherent way, ask a convergent and divergent questions in an appropriate manner, and summarizes the most important ideas using diagrams, giving classroom assignments and home works, as well as for the use of feedback. Evaluation skill: includes the use of pre-assessment skills, formative, and final, as well as diversity in evaluation methods, and follow-up of students in solving homework. The tool was presented to a group of arbitrators of university professors in Jordan, and supervisors, and made some comments were taken into account and the tool was modified in the light of the observations. The study methodology: the quasi-experimental curriculum was used, and one group (pre measuring - processing- post measuring). Statistical design: the statistical methodology of the research was based on the following calculations: Extract averages, standard deviations, and t-test for one set, in addition to the use of the accompanying analysis of variance (ANCOVA). The study procedures: The present study went through the following steps: • access to educational literature and research in the field of teacher training strategies before the service, and different styles of thinking, and a tool to measure the style of thinking and tools to measure teaching skills. • The training program set up in the microteaching: identify its objectives, its scope, the necessary skills to students and training them to verify the veracity of the program by submitting it to a group of arbitrators in the field of practical education in the Arab Open University. • Prepare a measurement scale of teaching skills, and make sure of its validity and reliability. • Choose a sample study of open Faculty of Education, the League of Arab students. • Apply Harrison Bramson scale to classify students into five categories according to the style of thinking. © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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• Apply a pre scale of teaching skills on the study groups, and teaching by using the microteaching method, and then apply the post scale on study groups. • Use descriptive and analytical statistics to reach the results of the study.

Results of the study and discussion: The study answered the following questions: 1) What is the effectiveness of using microteaching method to improve the teaching skills of the Arab Open University students of the education college? 2. Is there a difference in teaching skills between the students of faculty of education in Arab Open University depending on the style of thinking? To answer the first question: What is the effectiveness of using microteaching method to improve the teaching skills of the Arab Open University students of the education college? The mean, standard deviations, and t-test were used to examine the differences between both pre and post study groups and each style of thinking, as shown in the following table: Table (2) T-test results that examine the difference between the pre and post means of the students in teaching skills

group

number

The mean 83.5

Std.dev

t-Calculated

Significance level 0.000

Pre-teaching 100 18.5 5.19 skills post-teaching 100 95.5 15.1 skills  Significance at level (α≤0.05) It is noted from the previous table, that there is a statistically significant differences (α≤ 0.05) between the means scores of students in both pre and post teaching skills as the value of t calculated is (5.19) and in favor of post skills due to used method of teaching (microteaching). Table (3) T-test results that examine the difference between the pre and post means of the students having a synthetic thinking style in teaching skills

group

number

The mean 76.3

Std.dev

t-Calculated

Significance level 0.004

Pre-teaching 18 18.9 3.07 skills post-teaching 18 93.2 13.7 skills  Significance at level (α≤0.05) It is noted from the previous table, that there is a statistically significant difference (α≤ 0.05) between the means scores of students having a synthetic thinking style in both pre and post teaching skills as the value of t calculated is (3.07) and in favor of post skills due to used method of teaching (microteaching).

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Table (4) T-test results that examine the difference between the pre and post means of the students having an ideal thinking style in teaching skills

group

number

The mean 89.0

Std.dev

t-Calculated

Significance level 0.161

Pre-teaching 16 19.5 1.44 skills post-teaching 16 98.4 17.6 skills  Significance at level (α≤0.05) It is noted from the previous table, that there is no statistically significant difference (α≤ 0.05) between the means scores of students having an ideal thinking style in both pre and post teaching skills as the value of t calculated is (1.44). Table (5) T-test results that examine the difference between the pre and post means of the students having a pragmatic thinking style in teaching skills

group

number

The mean 79.6

Std.dev

t-Calculated

Significance level 0.046

Pre-teaching 22 19.8 2.06 skills post-teaching 22 89.9 12.4 skills  Significance at level (α≤0.05) It is noted from the previous table, that there is a statistically significant difference (α≤ 0.05) between the means scores of students having a pragmatic thinking style in both pre and post teaching skills as the value of t calculated is (2.06) and in favor of post skills due to used method of teaching (microteaching). Table (6) T-test results that examine the difference between the pre and post means of the students having an analytical thinking style in teaching skills

group

number

The mean 85.7

Std.dev

t-Calculated

Significance level 0.018

Pre-teaching 20 16.3 2.46 skills post-teaching 20 98.5 16.6 skills  Significance at level (α≤0.05) It is noted from the previous table, that there is a statistically significant difference (α≤ 0.05) between the means scores of students having an analytical thinking style in pre and post-teaching skills as the value of t calculated is (2.46) and in favor of post skills due to used method of teaching (microteaching).

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Table (7) T-test results that examine the difference between the pre and post means of the students having a realistic thinking style in teaching skills

group

number

The mean 85.2

Std.dev

t-Calculated

Significance level 0.01

Pre-teaching 24 17.4 2.7 skills post-teaching 24 97.8 14.9 skills  Significance at level (α≤0.05) It is noted from the previous table, that there is a statistically significant difference (α≤ 0.05) between the means scores of students having a realistic thinking style in pre and post-teaching skills as the value of t calculated is (2.7) and in favor of post skills due to used method of teaching (microteaching). Summary of the first result: there is a statistically significant difference (α≤ 0.05) between the mean scores of students in both pre and post teaching skills in favor of a post teaching skills in general and especially in each of synthetic, pragmatic, analytical and realistic thinking style due to the used method of Teaching (microteaching), while there was no statistically significant difference (α≤ 0.05) between the mean scores of students having an ideal thinking style in both pre and post teaching skills. This explains the importance of microteaching method, as this method also pointed to that educational literature and develop the students ability to learn teaching skills of planning, implementation and evaluation, and provides a practical application carried out by the students themselves and provide them with immediate feedback, a real education provides real experiences directly, It is a mastery education in terms of the need to master the skill. This result is consistent with the results of some studies (Khalil, 1990), (Mahjoub, 1992), (Ali, 1994), (Mohammed, 1995), (Nassar, 1999), (Hindi, 2000), which shows the importance of using microteaching style in the Arab Open University in the development of educational skills. As for the students with an ideal thinking style, the results did not indicate to a difference between the student average scores in both pre and post due to the used method of microteaching, this can be explained by the fact that the students with an ideal thinking are always thinking in achieving of goals and attention to the needs of the individual, and what is beneficial to other members and tilt about respect for others and enjoy discussions with people and their problems. To answer the second question: Is there a difference in teaching skills between the students of faculty of education in Arab Open University depending on the style of thinking? The mean, standard deviations, and Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to examine the differences between the means scores of students in teaching skills according to the style of thinking, as shown in the following table:

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Table (8) Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) results for significance differences between the means of thinking styles groups in teaching skills

Source of Sum of df Mean squares F Sig variation squares Covariance variable(pre18.5 1 132.4 0.59 0.446 teaching skills) group 1353.5 4 338.4 1.5 0.21 error 21264.9 94 226.2 total 22636.9 99  Significance at level (α≤0.05) We note from the previous table that there are no statistically significant differences at the level of (α≤ 0.05) between the means scores of students in post teaching skills due to the used style of thinking. Summary of the second result: there are no statistically significant differences at the level of (α≤ 0.05) between the means scores of students in post teaching skills due to the used style of thinking. The explanation of this result is that regardless of the style of thinking the students can master the teaching skills, all levels of thinking styles are similar in the ability to improve the teaching skills, and there is no study according to the knowledge of researcher opposed to this result. This result is consistent with the result of (Funmi &Leslie, 2009) study which emphasis on the use of on-campus microteaching to facilitate simultaneously pre service teachers’ performance of effective teaching skills and their capability to reflect meaningfully on their emergent teaching actions. In making a case for greater focus on the implementation of microteaching in pre service teacher preparation. Microteaching (Ambili, 3013) provides teachers an opportunity to perk up their teaching skills , with the proven success among the novice and seniors, microteaching helps to promote real-time teaching experiences. The core skills of microteaching such as presentation and reinforcement skills help the novice teachers to learn the art of teaching at ease and to the maximum extent. Teaching skills can be improved by using microteaching as indicated in the study of (Youngju & Jihyun, 2014) which emphasized the using of microteaching in various fields of education.

Recommendations: The researcher recommends the following: - Using microteaching method for students in the colleges of education in the process of education materials, and the training of students to teaching skills through this method, regardless of the method used to think. - Use other methods to develop the student's ability in different teaching skills.

References: Alenaimat, R. (2006). Styles of Thinking of Mutah University Students and its Relationship to Sex and Field of Study and Achievement. Unpublished MA Thesis, Mu'tah University, Jordan. Ali, F. (1994). Extent of Effectiveness of Using Microteaching Method on the Training of the Third Year Students of Agricultural Division, Faculty of Education on some © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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teaching skills and its impact on their performance in the education process, Journal of research in Education and Psychology, College of Education and queens, July,1-23. Alnashef, S.; winter, P. (2007). Effectiveness of Microteaching in the Development of Governmental Education College Students for Teachers in the Sultanate of Oman. Studies, 34(1), 122-129. Ambili, R. (2013).Microteaching, an Efficient Technique for Learning Effective Teaching, journal of research in medical sciences, 18(2): 158–163. Arab Open University. (2007). Practical Education (1), the Deanship of the Faculty of Educational Studies, Arab Open University. Funmi A.; Leslie I. (2009). Implementing on-campus Microteaching to Elicit Pre service Teachers’ Reflection on Teaching Actions: Fresh Perspective on an Established Practice, Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1), 27 – 34. Jezebel, l.; Jane, D. (1997). Educational Supervision of Teachers, Translation: Mohammad Eid Dirani, a review of Omar Sheikh, the University of Jordan, mainstay of scientific research, Amman. Habib, M. (2004). Thinking Test Methods. Instruction booklet, 2nd Floor, Arab renaissance, Cairo library. Harrison, A.; Bramson, R. (2002). The Art of Thinking. Berkley Books, New York. Hindi, M. (2000). Effectiveness of a Proposed Training Program Using Microteaching Method in the Development of Some of the Teaching Skills of Teachers in Agricultural Science Junior, Journal of Science Education, 4(3), 41-76. Khalil, O. (1990). Use Mini Teaching in the Development of Some of the General Teaching Skills of Preserve-teachers, Journal of the College of Education in Assiut,6(1), 46-76. Mahjoub, A. (1992). Development of Question Skill for Pre-service Science Teachers Using Microteaching Visual Register, Journal of Education, College of Education in Sohag, 7(2), 51-89. Maria, L.F (2008). Developing Knowledge of Teaching Mathematics through Cooperation and Inquiry, Mathematics Teacher, 101(7), 203-215. Mohammed, R.F. (2005). What Hinders Change in Classroom Lessons? Lessons from the Field and Future Direction in Pakistan, Journals of In_ Services Education, 32(3), 375-385. Mohammed, Z. (1995). Development of Teaching Skills of the Arabic Language Students by Using the Micro-method of Teaching, research in the Journal of Education and Psychology, College of Education and queens, 4(8), 49-70. Nassar, T. (1991). Effectiveness of Using Videotapes as a Mean of Media to Prepare Teachers on Using the Skill of Using Probe Questions in Jordan, Journal of the College of Education in Zigzag, 31, 99-121. Sadiq, A.; Ahmed, I. (2013). Student Teachers‟ Microteaching Experiences in a Pre service English Teacher Education Program, Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(5), 1043-1051. Stockers, S.L. (2008). Using a Video- Based Curriculum to Develop a Relative Stance in Prospective Mathematics Teachers, Journal of Mathematics Teacher, 11(5), 373394. Youngju,l.; Jihyun, l. (2014). Enhancing Pre Service Teachers' Self-efficacy Beliefs for Technology Integration through Lesson Planning Practice, Computers, and Education, 73, 121-128. Zaytoun, H. (2001). Teaching skills (see the implementation of teaching). Cairo, the world of books.

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No.

Appendix Assessment form of student / teacher in teaching skills Assessment of class lesson Name: ............... Grade: .......................... Course:....................... Date: ............ school: ........................ subject: .............................. Evaluation skill Very high high medium Planning Formulation of lesson objectives in an appropriate behavioral and linguistic manner.

Diversity of objectives and coverage.

Determination of previous requirements. Distribution of time.

4567-

Content analysis into: skills, concepts, generalizations and solving problems. Determination of the appropriate tools and strategies. Identifying evaluation methods. Implementation:

to provide an appropriate initialization

Showing goals in an interesting way

10-

Review of the necessary requirements of the new learning. To raise motivation and the thrill of the students by asking provocative questions to think about the topic. Appropriation of learning tool for the educational situation.

11-

12-

1314-

Appropriation of educational strategy for the educational situation. Diversity in teaching methods according to the educational situation.

15-

Classroom management in an effectively, freely and democratically way.

16-

View of activities and various exercises.

17-

Taking into account individual differences among students.

low

Very low

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18-

Linking of scientific knowledge with life situations.

19-

Display the subject in a way that other substances appear.

20-

Logical sequence in presentation. Organization of environment.

21-

the

content classroom

22-

Full use of the time (time investment).

23-

Give a clear instruction before moving from one part to another in the course of teaching.

24-

Organization of student's answers and follow-up. Evaluation:

2526-

use the pre evaluation and identify learning difficulties Use of structural evaluation.

27-

Use the final evaluation.

28-

Diversity in evaluation methods.

29-

Give a classroom assignments and homework.

30-

Provide feedback.

Total The upper limit = 150, Minimum = 30 The mark of 100 = (total score ÷ 150) × 100 = Additional notes: 1......................................................................................... 2......................................................................................... 3......................................................................................... 4.........................................................................................

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 134-142, March 2016

Why Historical Thinking Skills was not there? Rosy Talin Faculty of Psychology and Education University Malaysia Sabah Sabah, Malaysia

Abstract. This qualitative study was done to understand the reasons for the absent of historical thinking skills (HTS) from the teaching of history in the classroom. The participants were four experience history teachers teaching in four secondary schools. Interviews and observations were carried out to collect the data needed. The findings showed these teachers incorporated two of the skills; understanding chronology and exploring the evidence. These skills are known as the lower level of HTS. The higher level of HTS; interpretation, imagination and rationalization, were superficially found in the teaching of two of the participants. The reasons for the absent of the higher level of HTS as identified from the data were the excessive used of the textbook, the focus of the teaching was to prepare students for examination and teachers’ unawareness of HTS. Teachers need to be exposed with the concept of HTS to enable HTS to be incorporated in the teaching of history in the classroom. Keywords: Historical thinking skills; students thinking skills; history teaching

Background The Malay Language subject was all the while the only compulsory subject to be passed in the Malaysian Certificate of Education examination, a government examination seated by upper secondary schools students in their final year. However in 2013 the government decided to include History subject as another compulsory subject to be passed in the examination. Since then the history teaching has been discussed and improved. One of the improvements taken was to emphasize more on nurturing students’ thinking skills because history has been seen as a subject that could stimulate students’ thinking as it deals with events in the past. In fact, the initiative to encourage thinking among the students was already stated clearly in the history curriculum since 2003 but it did not show the way thinking should be integrated in the teaching of history in the classroom. The curriculum listed two types of thinking; the Historical Thinking Skills (HTS) and the Creative and Critical Thinking Skill (CCTS). The latest improvement showed an additional of another thinking skill that is the Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS). Although it seems there are three different thinking skills to be incorporated in the teaching and learning of history, the © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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objective is unison; to encourage students to use their thinking skills to understand the historical facts in relation to today’s and future’s events. When students have acquired the ability to think historically, they able to understand the meaning of the past actions and events, and able to relate, explain and predict the present and future activities (Miki, Kojiri and Seta, 2015; Lovorn, 2014). Reaching such ability requires students to gone through the process of CCTS and HOTS. This article sees these three terms as interrelated and complimented each other.

Literature review Yeager and Foster (2001) see HTS as “a powerful tool for understanding history” (p. 13), therefore, it is a vital intellectual skill (Bain, 2000) that needs to be incorporated into the teaching. In general, HTS is a form of cognitive process. To acquire HTS, students need to think critically and creatively to “increase the probability of a desirable outcome” (Fahim & Masouleh, 2012). Paul (1994) identified two types of critical thinking. First, the weak sense of critical thinking which means the students have learned the skills but have not applied them in real situation. Second, the strong sense of critical thinking where students not only have learned the skills but also incorporated those skills in their life’s activities. Students with strong sense of critical thinking acquired both HTS and HOTS. The history curriculum listed five skills of HTS, understand chronology, explore historical evidence, interpret the evidence, imagine, and rationalize historical events. Understanding chronology is developed as students learn about the chronology of the past events inclusive of the date, the place, and the people involved in the events. This knowledge helps students to understand the historical facts. Exploring historical evidence engages students in the work of historians. Students evaluate primary and secondary sources to confirm and to get greater understanding of why events in the past transpired in certain ways (Hogue, 2000). Having known the evidence, students are encouraged to interpret the events based on the evidence they have investigated. In this activity, students identify similarities and differences and other perspectives to assist them in comparing or contrasting the events of the past. To give students more understanding of certain historical events, imagination is required. Students put themselves in the events being studied to release empathy towards the people at the time of the events. It encourages students to appreciate what they are having now. Finally, rationalizing the historical facts means giving thoughtful reasoning whether to accept or to reject any possibilities of the recurrence of the events in the present or future. Students who think historically are able to explore the complex and abstract ideas in history, to analyze how people use time, space, change and continuity (Centre for Curriculum Development, 2003). The incorporation of HTS in the teaching and learning of history in the classroom nurture students to link, rearrange and develop previous information with new information and to determine “what to believe, what to do, create a new idea, a new object, or an artistic expression, make a prediction and solve a

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non-routine problem” (Lopez and Whittington, 2001). Students with these abilities indicate they have acquired HOTS. HTS is not a generic skill. It has to be learned and practiced. Since HTS is emphasized in the curriculum, teachers need to incorporate HTS in their teaching. However, in my previous articles I have shown that the teaching of history is still very much traditional in approach (Rosy, 2013, 2014, 2015). This approach did not allow the incorporation of any thinking in the teaching. Therefore, this study presents factors contributing to the absent of HTS in the history teaching and learning.

Methodology The purpose of this study is to identify factors of the absent of HTS in the history classroom. To meet the purpose, the qualitative approach was chosen as the appropriate approach because the data necessary for this study lied with the history teachers in the classroom. Therefore, classroom observation was the primary strategy for data collection and followed by interview with each of the participating teacher to understand the meaning of his/her activities during the observed teaching and learning process. These two forms of data collection were also meant to triangulate the data as to improve the data validity. Several conditions were determined to select the participants of this study. Those were the purpose of the research, the resources available and the questions being asked (Patton, 1990); informative and information rich (Tellis, 1997); small in number because this study was not seeking statistical significance, and purposeful (Tuckett, 2004). Besides those conditions, there was another additional condition to select the participant for this study. The participants must be trained history teachers with at least five years of teaching history experience. It was believed teachers with this amount of teaching experience were expert in the subject-content and rich with information. The number of participants was not pre-determined as the data saturation (Ritchie and Lewis, 2003) determine the ending of the data collection process. Finally, there were four experienced history teachers from four different secondary schools involved in providing the data for this study. The data collection procedure started with a brief familiarization interview with the teacher. The purpose of this interview was to get to know the teachers, to explain the purpose and procedures of the study, to get the teacher’s consent to be the participant of this study and to set a date for the classroom observation. With the participants’ consent, in all of the observation sessions a video was set up at the back of the class to capture the teaching and learning process. The recording was meant to back up the researcher’s field notes and for double checking during the data analysis. After each observation session the participants were interviewed to understand the meaning behind their activities and action during the observation. The data were analysed simultaneously. After each observation and interview session, the field note was studied and the interview was transcribed, © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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read, and coded. All categories found in the first data collection process were brought to the participant in the second round of data collection process for verification. This technique was called as member checking and it was done to ensure the validity of the data collected (Merriam, 2001). Once the data for the first participant was saturated, the next participant will be studied. The process is repeated until all the data is saturated. The data collection process ended when there was no more new data coming out from further observation and interview of the other participants. The data for this study were saturated after four participants were observed and interviewed. The data altogether inclusive of ten field note observations and thirty four interview transcriptions.

The Finding Data collected from the observations of the teaching of history showed four interesting findings. Firstly, two out of the five skills of HTS had been discovered incorporated in the teaching of history, though the way those skills were incorporated were at the surface level. The two skills were understanding chronology and explore historical evidence. The data showed teachers emphasised on understanding the chronology of the historical events. Students were required to understand and memorize the events based on the chronology. To convince the chronology was correct; students were encouraged to explore the textbook to find the evidence. These skills were done regularly in the teaching of history. Warren (2007) agreed the teaching of the events chronology was important and teachers were right in emphasizing it. However, this was the lower level of the HTS. Consequently, students were not exposed on relating the historical events or facts with the present and future events. They were encouraged to memorize the past events in isolation from the present and future events. Clearly, it does not eliciting students’ HOTS. The second finding was each of the participating teachers in this study delivered the content of the topic according to the textbook. The textbook was heavily referred by both teachers and students to get the evidence and points, to give comprehensive explanation, or to ask and to answer the questions. This finding was not come as a surprise as other findings has also found that in the teaching of history the textbook was the popular reference to be used (Karaagac & Threlfall, 2001). The interviews data showed such practice was triggered by the participating teachers’ intention to prepare students for the year-end examination. It gave them a peace of mind because they have completed the syllabus within the given time frame, thus, their students were well prepared for the year end examination. “This is for the examination purpose. They can master the content and pass the examination especially the SPM (Malaysian certificate of Education). This is to fulfil our educational system” (T1S1, int. 3:190-192) “The syllabus requires the use of the textbook in the teaching. It helps students to understand the points.” (T4S4, int 1:10-11) © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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“The textbook teaches how to do the right explanation. It also contains pictures, answers‟ model, website address, and exercises with answers attached. Everything. Complete.” (T4S4, int 2, 18-22) Another important discovery on the heavily usage of the textbook was to ensure students have better achievement in the examination. The achievement was very important as it normally used to measure teachers’ performance. “If the students did not understand the topics according to the textbook, I scared they might not be able to answer the examination. The effect will get back to the teacher.” (T3S3, int 1:106-108) The third finding was, none of the participating teachers realized that they had begun to inculcate HTS, though, it was the lower skills and at a very surface level. When asked whether they have heard or known HTS, their answers either they never heard of it, or it was another teaching strategy. Without a proper understanding of HTS it was impossible for teachers to incorporate the skills in their teaching. “No, I don‟t have any idea of what it is.” (T1S1, int.1:90) “ah….never heard of it. There was no exposure about it. I think it might be an approach to teach history easier (T3S3, int. 2:84,86) Effort to incorporate the higher level of HTS was noticed in two of the teachers’ teaching practice. This was the fourth important finding in this study. These teachers were observed trying to connect the historical facts with examples from students’ lives. Relating the historical facts with examples in students’ life was a way to encourage a higher level of HTS (Warren, 2007). The effort was noticed from the questions these teachers asked during the teaching. “Do you know what „tajau‟( a big Chinese vase) was for in the olden years?” (T3S3, Obs. 2) “Mount Kinabalu…it was believed the spirit of the dead will go and stay on the top of the mountain. Do you think it has some resemblance with the Jahiliah beliefs?” (T4S4, Obs. 3) These questions required students to interpret, to imagine and to rationalise the possible answers because the answers could not be found in the textbook. However, in this particular sessions, these teachers did not probing further the students’ thinking. Instead, they provided the answer and showed the relationship between the facts with the students’ life. As such the students’ higher level of HTS was not elicited. This is the fourth finding where teachers were unable to stimulate students’ thinking because the questioning strategy was inappropriate. © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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The main reason for the missing of probing question was again because of these participating teachers’ unaware of the HTS. They did not realize that they were actually trying to incorporate the higher skills of HTS when relating the historical events with the contemporary examples. For them it was meant to inculcate the patriotic and good values, other important components that need to be inculcated in the teaching of history. Such unawareness had made these teachers relate the historical facts with the events in the students’ lives spontaneously and occasionally in the classroom. “I try to inculcate value. If I get the chance I just inculcate the value. No need to wait until the teaching is done.” (T4S4, int. 3:17-18)

Discussion Based on the finding presented above, the excessive used of the textbook left no rooms to refer to other reference books which might stimulate discussion. Wholly relying on the textbook hinders the incorporation of HTS in the teaching. Drake and Brown (2003) whom has suggested the use of three documents in the teaching of history argued using a single document will not equip students to think historically. Depending on one single text would not enable students to interpret, imagine and rationalize the facts. The absence of sensitivity to the events happening around us had ended up with the teaching merely based on the facts alone. This has limited teachers’ ability to stimulate students to make interpretation, imagination and to rationalize the facts (Hunt, 2000). Stimulation of students’ thinking can be done through appropriate questioning strategy which has been proven able to elicit students’ thinking (Yang Yang, 2015). Another suggestion to incorporate thinking in the teaching is to adopt the inquiry teaching strategy where students are encouraged to learn history through searching for the information, understand the information and applying the information in their situation (Baron, 2013). These teachers unawareness of the HTS in their teaching was due to the lack of exposure on HTS incorporation in the teaching. Teachers’ shortage of knowledge of HTS has influenced teachers’ readiness to teach the skills (Zahara and Nik Azleena, 2007; Warren, 2007; Vieira, Tenreiro-Vieira, & Martin, 2011). Though it was said that two of the HTS were in the teaching of these teachers but it was done unintentionally, therefore, it was superficially carried out. As such, it was not a surprise to found only the low level of HTS in the teaching of history. According to Choy and Cheah (2009) teachers’ lack of understanding of the requirement needed to inculcate thinking among students had made teachers to think that they have encouraged students’ thinking. However, the teachers were only emphasizing on students’ comprehension of the topic being taught.

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Due to this, very little effort had been made to inculcate the higher skills of HTS; to interpret, to imagine and to rationalize. This finding was in line with Pattiz (2004) suggestion that in the classroom the teaching of how to think critically was overlooked. As we are living in a different environment today, therefore school children should be equipped with thinking skills that enable them to compete in the job market. They need to be prepared as problem solver, thoughtful decision maker, and independent thinkers as there are the qualities being looked by employers today (Noor, 2008). To inculcate the higher level of HTS, a well-planned teaching is required. HTS is not something that springs automatically from someone’s psychological development. Teachers have to be trained (Wineburg, 1999; Doreen, 2004; Warren, 2007) and equipped with the relevant knowledge and skills then only they could carefully plan the process of incorporating the skills so it happens simultaneously with the teaching of the historical facts. The higher level of HTS could be incorporated in the teaching by asking question using the higher level of Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) taxonomy, using more than one reference book to see the variety of points presented (Drake and Brown, 2003), and increase teacher’s sensitivity to see how events happening around could be related to the historical events and how historical events had influenced the present and possibly future events. Students’ thinking should be elicited to encourage their HOTS (Preus, 2012).

Conclusion The initiative to incorporate HTS in the teaching of history was not fully successful. There was only the low level of HTS noticeable in the teaching of these participating teachers’ teaching. It was hampered by these teachers concern to well-prepared their students for the year end examination. Though effort to incorporate the higher HTS was there but due to teachers’ unawareness of HTS and lack of exposure on its incorporation in the teaching had hindered the effort. Research is needed to find solutions to help teachers incorporating HTS in their history classroom teaching. It should start with study that focuses on how teacher training institutions can prepare themselves to produce teacher trainees that innovative enough to teach thinking in the classroom. For thinking skills to be well incorporated in the teaching and learning of history, relevant parties should work hand in hand to prepare and equip these teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills. Besides, more study should be given in teaching and learning environment that gives trust to the students to lead their own study. Such environment will give room for an effective inculcation of HTS in the teaching and learning process.

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References Anderson, L. & Krathwohl, D. (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. Bain, R. B. (2000) Into the Breach: Using Research and Theory to Shape History Instruction. In Stearns, P. N., Seixas, P. and Wineburg, S. (eds) Knowing Teaching and Learning History: National and International Perspectives. New York: New York Press. Baron, C. (2013) Using inquiry-based instruction to encourage teachers’ historical thinking at historic sites. Teaching and Teacher Education, 35. 157- 169. Choy, S. C., & Cheah, P. K. (2009). Teacher Perceptions of Critical Thinking Among Students and Its Influence on Higher Education. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 20(2). 198-206. Curriculum Development Centre (2003) History Curriculum, Form 4. Ministry of Education. Dorren Tan, (2004) Singapore Teachers’ Characterictic og Historical Interpretations and Enquiry: Enhancing Pedadogy and Pupil’s historical Understanding”. International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research. 4(2). Drake, F & Brown, S. D (2003) A Systematic Approach to Improve Students’ Historical Thinking. The History Teacher. 36(4) Fahim, M. & Masouleh, N. S., (2012) Critical Thinking in Higher Education: A Pedagogical Look. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 2 (7). 13701375. Karaagac, M. K. & Threlfall, J. (2004) The Tension Between Teacher Beliefs and Teacher Practice: The Impact of the Work Setting. Proceedings of the 28th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematic Education. 3. 137-144. Lopez, J. & Whittington, M. S., (2001) Higher Order Thinking in a College Course: A Case Study. NACTA Journal. Lovorn, M. (2014). Deepening Historical Themes in the Elementary School: Four Developmentally Appropriate Ways to Engage Young Students in Historical Thinking and Historiography.Childhood Education. 370-374 Merriam, S.B. (2001) Qualitative Research and Case Study Application in Education. San Francisco: Josey-Bass Miki, Y., Kojiri, T. & Seta, K. (2015) “If Thinking” Support System for Training Historical Thinking. Procedia Computer Science 60. Pg 1542 – 1551. Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Noor, A. M. (2008). Teaching Thinking Skills–Redesigning Classroom Practices. Brunei: Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Pattiz, A. E. (2004) The Idea of History Teaching: Using Collingwood’s Idea of History to Promote Critical Thinking in the High School History Classroom. The History Teacher. 37(2). Patton, M.Q. (1990) Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. Newbury Park, CA; Sage Publication. Paul, R. (1994). Teaching critical thinking in the strong sense. In S. K. Wlaters (Ed), ReThinking Reason: New Perspectives in Critical Thinking. Albany: SUNY Press. Preus, B. (2012) Authentic Instruction for 21 century Learning: Higher Order Thinking in an Inclusive School. American Secondary Education. 40 (3) Ritchie, J. & Lewis, J. (2003) Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Sciences Students and Researchers. London: Sage Publication. Rosy Talin (2015) Historical Thinking Skills–The Forgotten Skills? In International Journal of Learning and Teaching 7 (1), 15-23 © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Rosy Talin (2014) The Teaching Of History In Secondary Schools. In International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research.Vol. 2, Issue 3. 72-78 Rosy Talin (2013) Students’ preferences in learning history. In Global Advanced Research Journal of Arts and Humanities (GARJAH) Vol. 2(2). 014-019. Tellis, W. (1997) Application of a case study Methodology. The Qualitative Report (Online serial), 3(3). Http://www.nova.edu.ssss/QR/QR3-3/tellis2.html. Tuckett, A. (2004) Qualitative Research Sampling: The Very Real Complexities. Nurse Researcher. 12(1). 47-61. Vieira, R., Tenreiro-Vieira, C., & Martins, I. (2011). Critical thinking: conceptual clarification and its importance in science education. Science Education International, 22(1). 43–54. Warren, W. J. (2007) Closing the Distance Between Authentic History Pedagogy and Everyday Classroom Practice. The History Teacher. 40 (2). Wineburg, S. (2000) Making Historical Sense. In Stearns, P. N. Seixas, P. and Winebury S. (eds). Knowing Teaching and Learning History: National and International Perspectives. 307-325. Yang Yang (2016) Lessons learnt from contextualising a UK teaching thinking program in a conventional Chinese classroom. Thinking Skills and Creativity 19. 198–209. Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Yeager, E.A., & Foster, S. J. (2001) The Role of Empathy in the Development of Historical Understanding. In Davis Jr, O.L., Yeager, E. A., Foster, S. J. (eds) Historical Empathy and Perspective Taking in the Social Studies. USA: Rowman & Little Field. Zahara Aziz & Nik Azleena Nik Ismail. (2007) Kajian Tinjauan Kesediaan Guru-guru Sejarah Menerapkan Kemahiran Pemikiran Sejarah kepada Para Pelajar. Jurnal Pendidikan. 32. 119-137.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 143-160, March 2016

Citizenship Education in Colleges of Education in Ghana: A Preliminary Study into Social Studies Tutors‟ and Trainees‟ Understanding Boadu, Kankam Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education University of Cape Coast Cape Coast, Ghana E-mail: kankam21265@gmail.com kankam.boadu@ucc.edu.gh Tel: +233(0)244708348 Abstract. The study examined the perceived views of tutors and student trainees of Social Studies within the Colleges of Education within the context of Ghana with regard to the meaning and teaching methods that are most appropriate to teach citizenship education. The research drew upon social capital, ecological, and cognitive psychological theories to generate the conceptual framework for analysing the quantitative and qualitative data. The views of 36 tutors of social studies from eight colleges of education were surveyed through the multi-stage sampling technique, and eight respondents were interviewed to further understand the groups‟ perception of citizenship education. The major findings were: (i) tutors generally agreed on the components of citizenship education, (ii) tutors generally agreed on the characteristics of a good citizen. (iii) There was general agreement between the tutors and trainees that various classroom activities were important in the teaching of citizenship education and were being taught effectively. There were some differences between the groups on certain specific teaching methods and the effectiveness of the teaching of those activities. It was recommended that a policy be put in place for social studies teachers to have a regular in-service training on current issues in citizenship education. And that citizenship education should be introduced as a programme on its own in schools, colleges and universities and examined externally. Keywords: Citizenship education; Colleges of education; Tutors; Student trainees

Introduction The social studies programme, which focuses on citizenship education, was introduced in Ghana‟s education system as one of the measures to address the problems of the preference for “white-color” jobs and negative attitudes toward agriculture and manual work. It was to help inculcate the spirit of patriotism among the youth. Many researchers have pointed out that the social studies programme would enable students to acquire specific knowledge, skills © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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and values which make them think critically and eager to contribute towards the survival of their nations (Kankam & Kendie, 2004; Aggarwal, 2001). Pryor, Ghartey, Kutor and Kankam (2005) made a similar claim in stating that the systematic pursuit of knowledge in social studies is an essential ingredient for the improvement of human relationships within both the social and physical environment. Hence, the relevance and social utility of social studies as part of the school programme in Ghana cannot be underestimated. Based on the widely held rationale on the important place of social studies in a democratic development, it became one of the core subjects at the Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) in Ghana with the implementation of the 1987 Education Reforms. This was an attempt to introduce the youth to democratic citizenship while they were in school (Kankam, 2012). Topics such as “leadership style”, “rights and responsibilities of the child”, “attitudes and responsibilities for nation building as well as human rights” are incorporated in the social studies syllabuses in the JSS and SSS levels for the purposes of citizenship education. With the ushering in of the 2007 education reform, emphasis is currently laid on citizenship topics at the basic education level, starting from class four to class six (Kankam, 2012). This is intended to help children appreciate basic concepts and values that underlie a democratic political community as well as inculcate citizenship and a sense of national pride in them (Anamuah-Mensah, 2008). The social studies programme, as a field of study, and with its main focus on citizenship education, was introduced into the curriculum of colleges of education in Ghana as far back as the 1940s (Kankam, 2004; Kankam,2012). The teaching of social studies during this period was experimented in the Presbyterian Training College (Akropong), Wesley College (Kumasi) and Achimota Training College (Accra). This experiment, according to AgyemangFokuo (1994) was, however, not allowed to blossom due to both teachers‟ and students‟ negative perception and attitudes toward the social studies programme because it was not examinable. Education is a unique tool for bringing about change and development in economic growth. Despite the provision made for the teaching of democratic citizenship in Ghanaian schools and colleges, it is widely acclaimed that very little attention is given to citizenship education by social studies teachers, especially those in the junior high and senior high schools where the subject is core. It is the teacher trainees who graduate from the colleges of education who are likely teach at the Basic Schools. Both teacher trainees‟ and tutors‟ perceptions on citizenship education during learning and teaching at college are likely to affect their teaching at basic levels. Some Ghanaians are of the opinion that the upsurge of moral decadence among the youth of Ghana which the newspapers (Daily Graphic, 16th November 2008, The Ghanaian Times, 7th June 2009) also gave prominence to this same idea, could be explained that citizenship education is either “untaught” or “under taught” in the schools/colleges.

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The 1987 Education Reform Review Committee which was born as a result of the experimentation of some of the recommendations of the 1972 Dzobo Committee has an influence in the stabilization of social studies in Ghana. The Review Committee Report of 1987 made the recommendations that the Ghana education system be run 6-3-3 meaning a six-year primary school education, a three-year junior secondary school education and a three-year senior secondary school education at the pre-tertiary level. The recommendation was implemented in 1987, which led to all middle schools being turned into junior secondary schools. With this new reform in education, social studies which was introduced in 1948 (Tamakloe,1991) was re-introduced in the teacher training colleges in 1988 as one of the elective subjects to train students to teach social studies at the junior secondary schools. The 1987 Education Reform Programme aimed at changing the content of education at the basic level and to ensure its relevance to individual and societal needs (GES, 1987). Based on this, the New Education Reform Programme has brought in its trail social studies to be taught at the primary and junior high levels of education in Ghana. The introduction of social studies in the Ghana education system necessitated the training of more teachers to have sound basis in the content for the courses. Consequently, by the year 1990, the then Teacher Training Colleges in Ghana embarked on teaching of social studies after a new programme of instruction had been designed. The aims and objectives of the teacher training college social studies syllabus are to help the teacher trainees to be equipped with both content and pedagogy to handle confidently the new social studies programme at the basic level of education. Hence, the goal in teaching social studies in the Teacher Training Colleges should be to help students to acquire knowledge and to effect a change in their attitudes and values in their society and the environment. It is also to equip them with the skills to teach for changes in the values and attitudes of pupils (GES, 2002: 1). It is clear that social studies tutors and teacher trainees require sound background knowledge of citizenship education. However, how they perceive the knowledge acquired will influence their mode of delivery. This study is based on an assumption that little emphasis has been placed on the centrality of tutors‟ and their trainees‟ perception to their task (Mellor, 2003). The development of such perception takes place in a social and political climate that is constantly changing. This constant flux of climate provides a background that underpins this research. Of special importance in the political climate are the different dimensions of the term “citizenship”. Citizenship is a term that has many meanings within the broader society. This has become evident as the Ghanaian society is struggled with different political ideologies and agonized over issues concerning socialism and capitalism. Tutors need to address societal concerns about the perceived deficit in trainees‟ citizenship education knowledge. Even when educators accept that trainees lack knowledge in government structures (Martin, 2008), there is little agreement about the types of knowledge that are most appropriate for young adolescents. There is also increasing awareness that knowledge is not the only requirement of young adolescents (Ochoa-Becker, 2007). Attitudes and skills are equally essential in the development of informed and active citizens.

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Given the developmental and pedagogical issues raised so far, it is clear that citizenship education cannot be delineated from the social realities of the world in which teachers generally operate. It is argued that the knowledge on citizenship document and teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x; commitment to their teaching are essential in citizenship education (Dilworth, 2004). Understanding the perception of social studies tutors and trainees on citizenship education is likely to show the kind of commitment teachers have towards the programme. If the social studies programme is to succeed and for the innovation in the reform to gain the desired impact, the people for whom the programme is intended (teacher trainees) as well as the implementers (tutors) must be able to perceive clearly what the programme is all about. When this is achieved, the implementers would be in a better position to embrace the programme fully. In order to achieve this, a positive attitude must be developed towards the programme by both teachers and students to make the programme succeed (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). These notwithstanding, no concrete attempts have been made to explore how tutors and teacher trainees perceive the social studies programme in terms of citizenship education in the colleges of education in Ghana. The current research questions were as follows: i. ii.

What perception do teacher trainees and tutors have on citizenship education? How do tutors and teacher trainees perceive the characteristics on a good Ghanaian citizen?

Perceptions on Citizenship Education by Teachers A number of empirical studies have been conducted on citizenship education across countries, including United States, England, Israel and Hong Kong, and have employed different methodological techniques, basically on how teachers perceive the introduction of citizenship education in schools and colleges. Anderson, Pederson, Smith and Sullivon (1997) sought to explore the way social studies teachers conceptualized citizenship education and the models with which they are associated. The finding of research showed that educators were not interested in some aspects of citizenship programmes. Rather, they expressed interest in a set of elements belonging to various citizenship models. In the national sample, teachers held elements of four perspectives: critical thinking, legalism, cultural pluralism and assimilation. A qualitative study to explore how English secondary schools are approaching the introduction of citizenship education was conducted by Leighton (2004) in England. His findings revealed that not all English schools had yet implemented the introduction of citizenship education, and generally most of the teachers in these schools had no previous training in the field of citizenship education, which was reflected in their evaluation of the importance of the subject. Teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x; attitudes toward social studies varied greatly; those working in schools that had a long tradition of teaching social science subjects expressed more confidence and support for the implementation of civics, while others perceived this as a threat to their own subject because they lacked

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confidence in delivering this new subject without training and previous experience in relative subjects. A study by Leung and Print (2002) was conducted in Hong Kong. Its main thrust was to explore teachers‟ perception of nationalistic education and the possible differentiation between pro-China school teachers and non-proChina school teachers. The study was guided by a framework that considered nationalistic education in Asian countries broken down into five types: cosmopolitan nationalism, civic nationalism, cultural nationalism, anti-colonial nationalism and totalitarian nationalism. The study found strong teacher support for cosmopolitan (91.3%), civic (89.8%) and cultural (90.4%) nationalism, while anti-colonial nationalism was moderate (69%), and very low for totalitarian nationalism (6.3%). In addition, it showed strong correlations between the first three models (.644) and (.420). These results are compatible with the pluralistic nature of Hong Kong society. Nevertheless, it would be argued that the theoretical framework in this study shows some kind of replication and overlapping between different models of nationalistic education. On the examination of citizenship education of the secondary schools in England, Whiteley (2015) concluded that citizenship education had an impact on efficacy, political participation and political knowledge. He added that students‟ perception of the amount of citizenship education were associated with increased civic and political engagement. A study was also done in Israeli context by Ichilov (2003) that sought to find out the differences between civics teachers‟ qualifications, perceptions on citizenship education, and on school climate in different school systems in Israel. The researcher analyzed the data collected for the IEA study of civic education in 28 countries. The results, nevertheless, did not show great differences between teachers‟ professional qualifications in the different schools. Generally, teachers appeared highly qualified in their area of teaching. Moreover, there was no particular difference in terms of perception of their school environment and classroom activities. They demonstrated their support for “open” classrooms and encouragement of student participation and contribution to the learning process. However, great differences emerged regarding perception of citizenship education and political issues between teachers in Arab schools and their counterparts in Hebrew schools. Arab teachers showed little support for patriotism and national symbols. Again, they attached less importance to issues related to conduct of army, immigration, global anti-Semitism and Zionist historical narratives. In the other hand, teachers in Hebrew schools, both religious and public, showed greater support in the opposite direction. As regards their perception of the ability of students to make decisions about school life and to express their opinions about political issues without teacher supervision, teachers in both Arab and religious Hebrew schools were more conservative than their colleagues in public state schools. From all these findings, Ichilov expressed concern about the applicability of having national civics curriculum that aimed to contribute to shaping a uniform national identity, with these considerable differences among teachers in Arab and Hebrew schools.

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In the European context, Arnot, Araujo, Deliyanni-Kouimtzis, Ivinson, and Tome (2000), conducted a comparative qualitative study in four countries: Greece, Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The focus of the study was to assess the possible effect on national-cultural traditions on teachers‟ values on citizenship, gender relation, and the goals of education. Participants were a selective sample of student teachers (14 Greek, 40 British, 9 Spanish, and 10 Portuguese). The main finding of this study was that there were great differences in the focus of citizenship in the different contexts due to the political agenda of the state and the political experience of its people. For example, the discourse of critical citizenship appeared much clearer in countries that had experienced dictatorship and totalitarian regimes, while in stable democratic nations, like the United Kingdom, student teachers seemed more skeptical than critical. The authors related these two distinct cultural, political and historical experiences among nations, as well as to differentiated execution of civic curriculum. The relevance of teachers‟ theories of action is noted in a study by Dunkin and Welch (1996) that stresses four case studies of teacher knowledge in citizenship education. Through interviews, using stimulated recall, the researchers investigated key ideas of pedagogical knowledge, emphasizing the teachers‟ pedagogical background and their knowledge of teaching and learning strategies. The study by Dunkin and Welch (1996) suggests a set of anticipated propositions with relevant segments for teachers of citizenship education. They reported that: When experienced teachers are asked to teach material with which they are unfamiliar, they are asked to implement new syllabuses involving content with which they are unfamiliar; they tend to interpret the syllabus as being more prescriptive than they are intended to be. Thirdly, when teachers lack confidence in their knowledge of subject matter, they tend to adopt teacher-centred methods (Dunkin & Welch, 1996). All these findings have obvious implications for professional development courses in citizenship education (Ahmad, 2006). Research suggests that perception and beliefs about subject matter influence teacher selection of content and pedagogy. Dinkelman and Hoge (2004) for example, noted that when teachers are prepared on topics such as citizenship, government, and politics, they are better equipped with confidence to teach. In their study, Torney-Purta, Richardson, Barber (2005) explored how teachers‟ knowledge and teachers beliefs relay to students „civic knowledge and they found that having confidence about a topic may be related to the ability to convey information to students. They commented again that increasing the extent of teachers‟ preparation in civic related subject matter could be a viable strategy to improve civic knowledge.

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Oulton et al. (2004) investigated teachers‟ readiness to use controversial issues in the context of citizenship in the classroom. The research included focus groups and questionnaires which were applied to a sample of 205 teachers. The researchers found that many teachers were unprepared and felt constrained in their ability to handle controversial issues concerning citizenship in the classroom. In a study conducted by Doppen, Feinberg, Lucas, Bohan, and Ogawa (2011) on the social studies pre service teachers‟ knowledge and perceptions of the U.S. naturalization test, it was found that the pre service teachers had a limited conceptions on citizenship education issues. The authors discussed the implication of the results and suggested ways to broaden citizenship education in the development teacher preparation programmes. If, as the literature suggests, perception about a subject matter in teaching is a concern of teachers in their pedagogy about and for citizenship education, then research that has as its aim at the exploration of how tutors and teacher trainees perceive citizenship education in the colleges of education has critical implications for education and development.

Students’ perceptions of citizenship education A study conducted by Ozbek and Kokssalan (2015) on the evaluation of the pre-service teachers‟ opinions on the objectives of citizenship education revealed among others that the objectives should be applicable rather than theoretical. It was also recommended in the study that democracy education in the curriculum should be given more serious place in planning the curriculum. The perceptions of young people on citizenship were also considered in the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) study (Torney-Purta et al., 2001), which provided a framework for the English IEA study (Kerr et al., 2002) and the DfES commissioned longitudinal study (Kerr et al., 2004; Cleaver et al., 2005). These surveys gathered data through questionnaires and concentrate on elements of citizenship knowledge such as political and legal processes and institutions, voting, including voting intentions, and political representation and legal rights. For example they suggested a decline in levels of awareness of political processes and institutions, a low level of trust in the European Union and little intention of engaging in future political activity (Cleaver et al., 2005). An ESRC-funded questionnaire survey in one LEA likewise reported low levels of political knowledge, interest, trust and efficacy among young people, but the authors note that the findings do not confirm a lack of engagement with the wider social world (Halpern, et al., 2002; Morris et al., 2003). However, these findings were challenged by a Home Office survey (Farmer & Trikha, 2005), that found wide variations in levels of political engagement among young people. Farmer and Trikha (2005) analysed the results from a sample of nearly 1,700 young people and concluded that levels of trust in institutions such as the police broadly match that of the adult population. Although a significant minority of young people (41 per cent) was dismissive of politicians, the vast majority (81

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per cent) wanted involvement in decision-making. This study found that young people played an active role in their communities, with half engaging in civic activity. Young people from minority ethnic groups were particularly likely to make contributions within their homes, families and communities, the highest rates of participation in civic activities being recorded by black Caribbean and mixed race respondents. This confirms evidence from the DfES study, which found that students from perceptible subgroups inclined to have more positive views about volunteering (Cleaver, et al., 2005). Intellectual questions can only be supported when there are supporting confirmation and often sophisticated understanding that young people do have of their roles in the world and their relationships to society, local, national and global. Osler and Starkey (2003) and Hudson (2005) confirmed young people‟s readiness to involve in dogmatic matters at all stages from the national to the international world. In Botswana, Adeyemi, Boikhutso and Moffat (2003) explored the level with which the intentions of citizenship education have been understood. The authors drew on interviews and observations of thirty –two social studies teachers from eighteen junior schools. The majority of the teachers felt that the objective of working to produce good citizens had been minimally or satisfactorily achieved. About half of the social studies teachers thought they had undergone sufficient training on the concepts involved in citizenship education but they highlighted the challenges of irrelevant instructional materials, job dissatisfaction and large class size. In mixed-methods study, Martin and Ohiodo (2007) researched into attitudes about citizenship by considering 333 eighth grades and 362 eleventh grades from five rural school districts in a Southwestern state. They also conducted 54 interviews. It came out from the study that helping people was alleged to be the most essential part of good citizenship, with obeying rules and laws being the next. In England, Keating and Janmeat (2016) from their citizenship education longitudinal study found that school activities can have impact on the youth, not just in the short term but also in the medium –team. Martin (2008) conducted a comparative study on teacher education students‟ views on citizenship education in Denmark. Seventy-seven teacher trainees comprising 28 men and 49 women were interviewed on citizenship education. It was found that some participants disregarded citizenship education and considered the necessity to pay attention on only the subject matter; the majority explained how citizenship preparation and mastery of content were in agreement with the national aims of their organizations. In Ghana, Kwenin (2010) conducted a quantitative research on secondary school students‟ perceptions on citizenship education in the Ashanti region. The study revealed that majority of the students‟ demonstrated positive perception about citizenship education. The major problem they faced with the learning of citizenship education was inadequate teaching /learning resources for better illustrations.

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Research explicitly exploring the perception of teacher trainees and tutors in the colleges of education in Ghana has thus far been rare and isolated in literature. What seems to exist is foreign discourse on citizenship education. There is the need to add to the literature the perceptions and commitment of both trainees and trainers on citizenship education in the colleges of education in Ghana. At least, the controversies surrounding citizenship education in the literature set the researcher into examining the ways in which tutors and teacher trainees perceive the conceptual and methodological issues to strengthen the fragile democracy of Ghana. The research drew upon contemporary psychological and sociological theories, namely Bronfenbrenner‟s (1988) ecological approach to studying development and cognition formation. The cognitive strategy model has also been used to understand civic participation by university students (Martin, 2008). Martin explored 39 elementary versus 36 middle and secondary education students „perceptions through a case study methodology at a Southern University. This research has four contextual elements, namely tutors, teacher trainees, citizenship education and national development. It suggests that tutors and teacher trainees‟ perceptions are influenced by the relationships of knowledge, skills, and values of citizenship education through formal and informal instructions. The framework in this research is unique in that it is based on actual experience with the development of teachers who are shaping and will continue to shape educational practice in the field of citizenship education.

Samples for the research The study is a survey and in order to give the sample a national representation, attempts were made through appropriate sampling procedures to ensure that teacher trainees and tutors from different colleges of education in Ghana were captured. To achieve this, colleges of education in Ghana were clustered into three ecological zones such as Southern zone, comprising: the Western Region, the Central Region, the Greater Accra Region and the Volta Region; Middle zone, made up of Ashanti Region, Eastern Region and Brong- Ahafo Region; and Northern zone consisting of Northern Region, Upper West Region, and Upper East Region. Through simple random sampling (lottery approach), one region was selected from each of the three zones. Thus, the Ashanti, Central and Northern Regions were selected for the study. In selecting the teacher trainees and tutors for the study, multi-stage stratified random procedure was used to ensure that the sex –types (mixed and single-sex) of colleges in each region were captured. For each region, two mixed colleges and a single sex college were randomly selected. This was to ensure that the views of all categories of students were represented. In the case of the Northern zone, however, only two mixed colleges were selected to participate because there was no single sex college. This resulted in the selection of eight colleges. After selecting the regions and the sex-type colleges, the colleges were further stratified into years of establishment, where the oldest and the newest colleges of education were purposively selected. This was to make provision for

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both the new and old colleges‟ views to be captured. In all, 255 out of 332 questionnaires were returned by the trainees given the return rate of 77%. On the part of the tutors, the return rate was 94.44%. The data collection was done November, 2010 to January, 2011. The data collection took seven weeks to complete.

Results and discussions Tutors and teacher trainees’ perceptions of citizenship education This section looks at the perceptions of both tutors and teacher trainees in eight sampled colleges of education in Ghana. This is to help identify in broad terms and in percentages the knowledge both tutors and teacher trainees have on citizenship education for the purposes of comparisons and policy making. Information obtained is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Tutors’ and teacher trainees’ perceptions of citizenship education Statement

Tutors

Citizenship education means…

Teacher-trainees

YES N

YES

NO %

Developing ideas, beliefs, desirable behaviour and attitude of students

100

231

90.6

9.4

Providing students with sufficient knowledge and understanding of national history and politics

100

242 94.9

5.1

Inculcating certain basic skills and tools in solving societal problems

100

247

3.1

Providing the knowledge of the institution, its principles, values, history and application of contemporary life

246

7.2

2.8

Preparing equal the young for their roles and responsibilities

100

212

83.1

16.9

Making conscious attempt to 34 provide knowledge respect for political institutions

100

190

74.5

25.5

100

153

Making the conscious effort to offer young generation moral, social and intellectual knowledge about cultural heritage

100

226

Developing skills of 34 participation in both private and political spheres

100

231

88.8

90.6

11.4

9.4

Table 1 shows that all the tutors in the sampled colleges of education had 100% agreement in the items that described citizenship education. However, for the teacher trainees, there were differences in their perceptions. For instance, on the statement developing ideas, desirable behaviour and attitude of students, while 231(90.6%) agreed with the statement, 24(9.4%) did not agree on the statement. Again, while 242(94.9%) admitted that providing students with sufficient knowledge and understanding of national history and politics, 13(5.1%). What is more interesting is that, the teacher trainees seemed to disagree more on the statement “citizenship education is making conscious attempt to provide and respect political institutions.” On this statement, 65(25.5%) disagreed with the statement. The tutors who responded 100% probably understood how citizenship education has enhanced political institutions over the years. Afari-Gyan (2002) argued that peoples‟ knowledge in citizenship education promotes their rights and responsibilities in their dealings with political institutions. Some of the teacher trainees perhaps have not come to realise the role citizenship education plays in political institutions (Arnot,et al, 2010; Groth, 2006). One would have taught that with the tutors‟ 100% knowledge in the concept, all the teacher trainees would have also come to that level. Nevertheless, it is one thing teaching it and another thing learning it based upon ones perception and commitment. Arthur (2003) argues in a study by Leenders ,Veugelers and De Kat (2007) that the teacher in education is a role model though, students are not obliged to heed to this model. The teacher trainees 246(97.2%) and 247(96.9%) respectively came close to the perception of tutors‟ on the statements „providing knowledge on the constitution, its principles, values, history and application to contemporary life‟ and „inculcating essential skills and tools in solving problems of society‟. These might be attributed to the perceptions they have on these statements based on what they have learned and the importance they attach to them. The findings confirm most of the studies done on citizenship education (Arnot, et. al, 2010; Martin, 2008; Groth, 2006; Torney-Purta & Barber, 2004). In a study done by Arnot, et. al (2010) in Ghana and Kenya, it was revealed that learners knew the importance of citizenship education as helping them to acquire knowledge, values and skills, to integrate well in society and to solve their political challenges.

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Differences in perceptions between tutors and teacher trainees of citizenship education As one of the ways for addressing the objectives, it was hypothesized that: There is no significant difference between teacher trainees‟ and tutors‟ perceptions of Citizenship Education. To test this hypothesis, the Mann-Whitney U Test, a non-parametric alternative to the t-test for independent samples was used for the analysis. The test was run at an alpha level of 0.05 to determine teacher trainees‟ and tutors‟ score on their perceptions of citizenship education. The results of the test showed a significant difference between teacher trainees and tutors perceptions on citizenship education. This suggests that teacher trainees and tutors differ significantly in their perception on citizenship education with tutors group scoring higher (see Table 2 for data).

Table 2: Mann- Whitney U Test for teacher trainees’ and tutors’ score on the perception of Citizenship Education Category

Mean Rank

Sum Ranks

Teacher trainees

255

136..80

34884.00

of U

p-value .000

2244.00 Tutors

206.50

7021.00

From Table 2, it can be concluded that there is a statistically significant difference between teacher trainees and tutors groups recorded at the 0.05 level of significance as far as perception on Citizenship Education is concerned (U = 2244.000, z=-5.11, p <0.05).The test result with specific reference to the mean ranks, revealed that the tutors group (MR = 206.50) had a higher perception on CE than the teacher trainees (MR =136.80). Therefore, we rejected the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a significant difference between the teacher trainees‟ and tutors‟ perceptions on citizenship education. This may be attributed to the fact that tutors have gained more perception through their training during the university days as well as teaching and might have read extensively on the topic. For it is said that as one teaches he/she learns better at the same (Tamakloe, Atta & Amadehe 1996). It means that tutors are more familiar with citizenship issues from the school community, wider community, co-curricular activities and common curriculum; hence, they will have greater knowledge in citizenship education because of their wide exposure. The argument is that once the tutors have gained higher perceptions on citizenship education, it is most likely that they will translate it into their teaching to enhance human resource development. Similarly, it is likely that the tutors might have taught their teacher trainees with the knowledge they have acquired. It can even happen that the teacher trainees might have gotten access to additional information through the internet since technology is advancing.

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Difference in teacher trainees‟ and tutors‟ perception on a good Ghanaian Again, in order to evaluate the hypothesis that there is no significant difference in the samples drawn from teacher trainees‟ and tutors‟ population about the perception on a good Ghanaian citizen, the Mann-Whitney U tests was employed. The test result showed a statistically significant difference between teacher trainees‟ and tutors perception a good Ghanaian citizen, U=3117.000, z=2.68, p< 0.05(see Table 3 for data).

Table 3: Mann-Whitney test on teacher trainees’ and tutors’ scores on perceptions on good Ghanaian citizen. Identity

Mean Rank

Teacher trainees

255

140.22

3117.00

180.82

p-value

3117.000

0.007

6148.00

Tutors P< 0.05(Significant difference) From Table 3, it is noted that there is a significant difference between teacher trainees (MR=255) and tutors (MR=34) treatment groups with respect to who a good Ghanaian citizen should be (U =3117.000, z=-2.68, p=0.007). The test result with specific reference to the mean ranks, revealed that the tutors group (MR = 180.82) had a higher knowledge in perception on good Ghanaian citizen than the teacher trainees (MR =140.22). That is, teacher trainees and tutors significantly differed in their perceptions on the characteristics of a good Ghanaian citizen. It can be further concluded that the teacher trainee‟s elicited significant lower perception on the characteristics of a good Ghanaian citizen than the tutor group. Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected and it was concluded that there is a significant difference in the perception of teacher trainees and tutors on the characteristics of a good Ghanaian citizen. This shows that the tutors have a highly positive perception on which a good Ghanaian citizen should be than the teacher trainees. This could be attributed to the fact that tutors have more knowledge and perception on a good Ghanaian and rather impart this to teacher trainees. The Heads of Department and interviewed also agreed with views of the respondents as the following comments by some of them suggest: …a good citizen is any person who observes the rules and regulations of the country As well as thinking of the development and advancement of the country [ HoDM 4}. … a good citizen performs the responsibility as member of a country, pays taxes, Protects property, votes and helps the police to do investigations [TTF2]

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Tutors are supposed to be skillful and knowledgeable in their field of study so that they can impart unto the students they teach. One‟s perception is directly linked with skills and knowledge (Kankam, 2004). This explains why in a study conducted by Leighton (2004) regarding the introduction of citizenship education in England, teachers were found to have positive perception on citizenship education due to their background knowledge and skills in social studies. What can be gathered in this study is that the finding supports empirical studies conducted by Ichilov (2003) and Leung and Print (2002), which established that teachers had positive perception on citizenship education in Israel and Hong Kong respectively.

Ecological zones of colleges in relation to knowledge and perception Attempt was made to investigate whether differences existed in the participants‟ perceptions on citizenship education and characteristics of a good citizen by the ecological zones (Northern, Middle and Southern). To investigate the difference, Kruskal-Wallis Test was conducted. The results of the analysis showed that there is no statistically significant difference between participants‟ knowledge and perception in relation to the ecological zones of the colleges of education. For perception on citizenship education, H (2) =1.25, P>0.05, and perception H (2) =1.28, P>0.05. As regards their ecological zones, teacher trainees do not differ in terms of perceptions of citizenship education and characteristics of a good citizen (see Table 3 for data).

Table 4: Mean ranks for perceptions on citizenship education and characteristics of good citizen by teacher trainees in the ecological zones North

Middle

Central

Citizenship education

122.19

126.59

133.96

No.

Perception

129.09

121.76

133.83

No.

The similarity in perceptions on citizenship education and good citizen among the teacher trainees in the three ecological zones could be explained diversely. It might imply that all the teacher trainees had been taught by tutors who graduated from universities with the same or similar pedagogy, content and learning experience and that zones where colleges were located did not matter. Another possibility is that, the same syllabus was being used in all the colleges of education in Ghana and all colleges were adhering to it. One can also

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adduce that the teacher trainees did not reside in ecology zones permanently and that during holidays, trainees met with their counterparts in the other zones and compared notes. A similar Kruskal-Wallis Test was calculated to investigate the ecological zones‟ effect on tutors‟ knowledge and perception. For perception on citizenship education, H (2) =0.00, P<0.05 and perception on good citizen, H (2) =.69, P>.05. In terms of their ecological zones, the tutors also do not differ in terms of both perceptions on citizenship education and characteristics of good citizen (See Table 5 for data). Table 5: Mean ranks for perceptions on citizenship education and characteristics of a good citizen by tutors in the ecological zones

North

Middle

Central

Citizenship education

17.50

17.0

17.50

No.

Good citizen

20.70

17.00

16.90

No.

Table 5 shows that all the tutors from the three ecological zones generally agreed on the perception on the meaning of citizenship education. This suggested that where colleges of education were located did not have any influence on tutors‟ perception on citizenship education. This might be linked to the fact that the tutors probably, graduated from the same universities and were therefore taken through similar content and pedagogy. Again where tutors in their colleges followed the same syllabus in their teaching, it was most likely that their knowledge in citizenship education would not differ as being found in the present study. The finding of this study supports Ichilov‟s (2003) study in Israeli context on the knowledge of teachers from different geographical locations of schools. Her results did not show any difference in the knowledge of the teachers. On the perception of good citizen, tutors from the northern zones seemed to have a higher positive perception on who a Ghanaian is. For instance, while tutors from the northern zones had a mean rank of 20.70, those from the middle and central respectively had mean ranks of 17.00 and 16.90. This is quite interesting, the universities tutors are trained to teach in teacher training colleges in Ghana are located between the middle and central zones. One would have thought the location of such universities would have influenced the perception of tutors who have proximate advantages to the universities.

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Conclusions From the findings of the study, it can be concluded that both tutors and teacher trainees have understanding and substantial agreement on what is meant by citizenship education. Again it has been found that tutors and teacher trainees have considerable agreement about who a good Ghanaian citizen is. The study has revealed that where colleges did not seem to influence teacher trainees‟ responses to the survey questions. But for tutors, location has an influence on their perceptions. Both teacher trainees and tutors are in agreement that abiding by the rules and regulations, showing loyalty towards college authority, respecting the views of both teachers and colleagues as well as protecting the environment, are some of the ways through which citizenship education is practised in the colleges of education.

Policy implications recommended The following recommendations are made: 1. It is recommended that a policy be put in place for social studies teachers to have a regular in-service training on current issues in citizenship education. This will enable teachers to sustain the knowledge they have obtained. 2. It should be emphasized that the learning of citizenship virtues is a collective effort involving educators, administrators, teachers, curriculum planners, students and other stakeholders 3. An emphasis of the importance of citizenship education, for both tutors and teacher trainees should be considered in designing the social studies programmes and other related programmes such as geography and history. If one accepts the assumption that what one is interested in greatly affects the quality of his learning, then it follows that both tutors‟ and trainees‟ views must be incorporated in designing the social studies programme.

References Adeyemi, M.B., Boikhutso, K., & Moffat, P. (2003). Teaching and learning of citizenship education at the junior secondary level in Botswana. Pastoral Care, 35-40. Aggarwal, J.C. (2001). Teaching of social studies. A practical approach. New Delhi: Vikas Agyemang-Fokuo, A. (1994). Social studies teaching: Issues and problems. Accra: Ghana Universities Press. Ahmad, I. (2006). Teaching government in social studies: Political scientists‟ contributions to citizenship education. The Social Studies, 97(1), 8-15. Afari-Gyan, K. (2002). Introduction to constitutional rule in Ghana. Accra: Sedco Publishing. Anamuah-Mensah, J. (2008). The role of the teacher education in the new educational reform. A paper presented at the maiden nationalchristian teacher‟s conference, July 5, Legon, Accra. Anderson, A.P., Pederson, P., Smith, E., & Sullivan, J. (1997). Divergent perspectives on citizenship education: A q-study and survey of social studies teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 34(2), 333-364. Arnot, M. (2003). Citizenship, briefing paper for UNESCO gender equality: EFA Global Monitoring Report. Paris: UNESCO.

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Arnot, M., Casely-Hayford, L., Wainaina, P.K., Chege, F., & Dovie, D.A. (2007). Youth citizenship, national unity and poverty alleviation: East and West African approachesto the education of a new generation. Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes & Poverty, 26, 1-56. Arnot, M., Araujo, H., Deliyanni-Kouimtzis, K., Ivinson, G., & Tome, A. (2000). Challenging democracy: International perspectives on gender, education and citizenship. London: Routledge Falmer. Arthur, J. (2002). Editorial: Professional value commitments. British Journal of Educational Studies, 51(4), 317-319. Bronfenbrenner, U.,(1988). Interesting system in human development. In C. Bloger, C. Caspi, G. Downey & M. Moorehouse (Eds.), Persons in context: Developmental processes (pp. 25-49). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Cleaver, E., Ireland, E., Kerr, D., & Lopes, J. (2005). Citizenship education in longittdinal study: Second cross-sectional survey 2004. Listening to young people: Citizenship education in England, DfES Research Report 626, London: DfES Dilworth, D.D. (2004). Multicultural citizenship education: case studies from social studies classrooms. Theory and Research in social education. 32(2), 153-186. Dinkelman, T., & Hoge, J. (2004 November). Civics teacher education: The troubed intersection of content knowledge and pedagogy. Paper presented to the College and University Faculty Assembly at the annual meeting of the National Council for the Social Studies, Bathmore, MD Doppen, F.H., Misco, T., & Patterson, N. (2008). The state of K-12 social studies instruction in Ohio.Social Studies Research and Practice, 3(3). Retrieved from http://socrstrp.org/issues/showissue.cfm?VollD=3&IssueID=9 Doppen, F.H, Feinberg, J.R., O‟Mahony, C., Lucas, A.G., Bohan, C.H., Lipscomb, G., & Ogawa, M. (2011). Social studies preservice teachers‟citizenship knowledge and perceptions of the U.S.naturalization test. Action in Teacher Education, 33, 81-93. Farmer, C., & Trikha, S. (2005). 2003 Home office citizenship survey: top-level findings from the children’s and young people’s survey. London: Home and DfES. Fishbein, M., Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief attitude, theory and research. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Addison Wesley. Ghana Education Service (GES) (2007). The social studies syllabus for JSS. Accra: Curriculum Research and Development Division. Ghana Education Service (GES) (2002). The social studies syllabus for JSS. Accra: Curriculum Research and Development Division. Groth, J. L. (2006). Adolescents’ perceptions of citizenship and democracy in Ghana. Unpublished PhD dissertation presented to the College of Education. University of Kentucky. Ichilov, O. (2003). Teaching civics in divided societies, the case of Israel, International Studies in Sociology of Education, 13(3), 219-243. Hudson, A. (2005). Citizenship education and students' identities: a school-based action research project, In: A. Osler (Ed) Teachers, Human rights and diversity: educating citizens in multicultural societies (Stoke-on-Trent, Trentham), 115-132. Kankam, B. (2004). Tutors perception on the social studies subject in teacher training colleges in Ghana. Journal of Education and Teaching, 1(3), 73-83. Kankam, B., & Kendie, S.B. (2004). Ghanaian teacher trainees‟ perception of the official social studies curriculum and the resources available for its implementation. GEMTAJ, 6, 43-53. Kankam, B. (2012). Issues in citizenship education in Ghana: What adolescents need to know? African Journal of Educational Studies 2(2) 1-30

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Kankam, B., & Kwenin, I.A. (2009). Achieving citizenship education in schools: Refocusing social studies education in Ghana. Ontario Journal of Africa Educational Research. 2, 1-18. Kankam, B., (2012). Citizenship education in colleges of education Ghana. An exploratory study of the perception of student teachers and tutors of social studies. Unpublished PhD Thesis. University of Cape Coast. Kerr, D. (2002). Citizenship education: An International comparison across sixteen countries. The International Journal of Social Education: Citizenship Education, 17(1), 1-15. Keating, A., & Janmeat, J.G.,(2016). Education through citizenship at school: Do school activities have a lasting impact on youth poitical engagement? Parliamentary Affair 69(20) 409-429 Kwenin, I. (2010). Secondary schools teachers’ perception on citizenship education. Unpublished Master‟s Thesis. University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast. Leenders, H., Veugelers, W., & De Kat, E. (2007). Teachers‟ views on citizenship education in secondary eduction in the Netherlands. Cambridge Journal of Education, 38(2), 155-170. Leighton, R. (2004). The nature of citizenship education provision: An initial study. TheCurriculum Journal, 15(2), 167-181. Leung, Y., & Print, M. (2002). Nationalistic education as the focus for civics and citizenship education: the case of Hong Kong. Asia Pacific Education Review, 3(2), 197-209. Martin, L.A. (2008). Elementary and secondary teacher education studeents‟ perspectives on citizenship education. Action in Teacher Education, 30(3), 56-63. Martin, L.A., & Chiodo, J.J. (2007). Good citizenship: What students in rural schools have to say about it? Theory and Research in Social Education, 35(1), 112-127. Mellor, S,(2003). What can history contribute to the development of citizenship curriculum? In Unicorn. Vol. 22: 1 March Ochoa-Becker, A. (2007). Democratic education for social studies: An issue centered education making curriculum. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Osler, A., & Starkey, H. (2003). Learning for cosmopolitan citizenship: theoretical debates and young people‟s experiences, Educational Review,55(3),243-254 Oulton, C., Day, V., Dillon, J., & Grace, M. (2004). Controversial issues- teacters‟ attitudes and practices in the context of citizenship education. Oxford Review of Education, 30(4), 490-507. Ozbek, R.,& Koksalan, B. (2015).The evaluation of the pre-service teachers‟ opinions on the objectives of citizenship education. Electronic Journal of Social Sciences 55,220-230 Pryor, J., Ghartey Ampiah, J., Kutor, N., & Kankam, B. (2005). Student councils in Ghana and the formation of the liberal democratic citizen. In C. Szymanski & K. Mutual (Eds.). Forefronts in research. Information Age. Torney-Purta, J.,Richardson, W.,& Barber, C. (2005). Teachers educational confidence in relation to students‟ civic knowledge countries. International Journal of Citizenship and Teacher Education. 1(1), 32-57 Whiteley, P. (2014) „Does Citizenship EducationWork? Evidence from A Decade of Citizenship Education in Secondary Schools in England‟, Parliamentary Affairs, 67

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 161-172, March 2016

The Effectiveness of Instructional Strategies Employed at Large Class Setting of the Four Selected Universities of Ethiopia Meshesha Make Jobo Assistant Professor of English Language and Indigenous Studies, College of Social Sciences and Humanities Wolaita Sodo University E-mail: mesheshamake46@gmail.com Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia

Abstract. This study was intended to investigate the effectiveness of instructional strategies employed in Large Class Setting (LCS) of the four selected Universities of Ethiopia (FSUE). It investigates the major instructional strategies currently used in LCS, examines their effectiveness and proposes effective ones that are suitable for the context of LCS at FSUE. The subjects used for this study were 700 university students who were selected using simple random sampling (lottery method) from four selected Ethiopian universities and 12 university teachers who were selected using stratified random sampling. The researcher used descriptive survey research design to conduct this study. The two approaches of data analysis (quantitative and qualitative) were used for the analysis of pertinent data that were collected through questionnaire, face-to-face interview and observation. The result indicated that teachers of FSUE use lecturing as the predominant instructional strategy for running teaching at LCS without giving any credit to students‟ learning preferences which is considered ineffective. There are different factors responsible for the use of such ineffective instructional strategy: clear gap in teachers‟ pedagogical skills, clear gap in making professional teachers to teach in LCS and mismatch of students‟ population and the infrastructure needed for running teaching-learning process in LCS. Based on these findings, therefore, pertinent pedagogical training that promote teaching at LCS and the fulfillment of infrastructure that accommodate students‟ population in LCS are recommended for concerned management bodies of FSUE. Keywords: Large class size; instructional strategies; higher learning institutions

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1. Introduction Large class size is a reality in higher learning institutions of developing countries (Esia-Donkoh and Antwi, 2015). UNESCO (2006) presents many reasons for the question why higher learning institutions of developing countries are characterized by large class size. As they argue, first, it is because of lack of political motivation that gives attention to the provision of adequate number of teachers and classrooms which incorporate a large number of students. Second, higher education and access to it are considered as key elements in national development in those countries. Third, there are less economic resources available to fund higher education institutions adequately. These arguments, directly or indirectly, touches the real scenario of large class size in the four selected universities of Ethiopia. In a commonly perceived and long-standing conventional wisdom of students, teachers and parents, large class size at higher learning institutions is totally an impairment to the quality of the learning environment (without having any significant advantage to learners or to their teachers). With similar contention, some scholars (Aagard et al, 2010; Ehrenberg et al, 2001; Adrian, 2010; Cooper and Robinson, 2000 and Mulryan Kyne, 2010) state that large class setting at higher learning institutions highly affects students' performance and achievement. The rationale most of these scholars provide to their argument is that large class setting at higher learning institutions invites teachers to use monotonous traditional lecturing method which hinders personal interactions between students and their teachers (Spiller, 2014), hampers students' engagement in learning (that induces students' passivity), obstructs individualized instruction, reduces the opportunity of providing feedback to each student and decreases monitoring of each student's behavior and learning opportunities; hence they advocate small class size. However, scholars like Kerr (2011); Exeter (2010); Biggs (1999); and BoultonLewis (1998) argue that simply reducing the number of students in a class cannot be a guarantee to improve the quality of learning environment. A lecture presented to twenty students will probably not be much different from a lecture presented to one hundred students. Rather, what makes teaching fruitful at higher learning institutions is the way how it has been presented to the students (i.e. instructional strategies). UNESCO (2006) strengthens the same idea arguing that there is a loosened relationship between class size and students' learning. As to them (Ibid), â&#x20AC;&#x153;students in large classes can learn just as the same as those in small onesâ&#x20AC;?. This implies that the matter is not the size of the class, but the effectiveness of the teaching strategies the teacher employs in his/her actual classroom (Davis, 2009; Mclver, Fitzsimmons and Flanagan, 2016). As to many scholars (For example, Wehrli and Nyquist, 2003; Lowman, 1995), there are large number of instructional strategies that have been used by teachers in diverse learning environments. Among them, the appropriateness of a given instructional strategy that a teacher uses, in a certain learning environment, is determined based on class size, maturity level of students, styles

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of learning students use, and the nature of a course a teacher covers in a given period of time (Aburahma, 2015, Carpenter, 2006). As to the knowledge of the researcher, the effectiveness of instructional strategies at large class setting is the least researched aspect of higher learning institutions in Ethiopia in general and the four selected Ethiopian universities in particular. Even, the researcher hasn't found any study that has been carried out on the issue at the proposed level of education vis-Ă -vis teachers' continuous complaint on their students' achievement at large class setting. Thus, the current study was planned to explore the effectiveness of instructional strategies that the teachers of the four selected Ethiopian universities frequently use at large class setting and to propose workable solutions for the identified problems.

2. Research Methodology 2.1 The Study Design The researcher used descriptive survey research design for the current study. The assumption is that it is suitable to assess and disclose the effectiveness of instructional strategies that university teachers employ at their actual large classroom setting in four selected universities of Ethiopia. Pertinent data were collected from the sample of students and teachers using three tools of data collection: observation, questionnaire and interview. Then the researcher used mixed method of data analysis (both qualitative and quantitative) for analysis and interpretation of the data collected. 2.2 The Research Setting The study was conducted in four selected Ethiopian universities: Wolaita Sodo, Arba Minch, Hawassa and Dilla. These universities train students in different disciplinary areas having more than 35 departments each. All (four) of the universities are situated in Southern Nation, Nationalities and Peoplesâ&#x20AC;&#x; Regional Government of Ethiopia. 2.3 Subject of the Study The study used students and their teachers of the four selected Ethiopian universities as its population. More specifically, the population of this study is the teachers and their students who are running their teaching-learning process under large class setting of the four selected Ethiopian universities. 2.4 Sampling Technique Stratified random sampling technique was used to draw sample of teachers from different academic backgrounds, sex, experience and area of specialization to respond interview. Sample of students were drawn by using simple random sampling technique (lottery method) to fill the questionnaire and purposive sampling method was used to select sections with large class setting for observation. The researcher used the aforementioned sampling techniques to collect pertinent data from students and teachers. Questionnaire data was

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collected from 700 students, observation data was collected from 42 sessions and interview data was collected from 12 teachers. 2.5 Tools of Data Collection The researcher used three tools of data collection for the current study: observation, questionnaire and interview. Using these tools, pertinent data were collected from the sample of population. 2.6 Data Analysis Mixed (both quantitative and qualitative) approach of data analysis was used for the current study. The researcher quantitatively analyzed the data collected through close-ended parts of the questionnaire. He used descriptive statistics (frequency counting and percentage) for interpretation of the quantitative data. The data via the open-ended parts of the questionnaire, interview and classroom observation were analyzed in a qualitative approach. Then, the discussion was made by integrating both quantitative and qualitative data.

3. Results and Discussion 3.1 Instructional Strategies Currently Practiced at Large Class Setting of the Four Selected Universities of Ethiopia Table 1. Questionnaire responses of the students on the instructional strategies currently practiced at large class setting of the four selected universities of Ethiopia No

Items

In average, how many students are learning with you in your class? Do you believe that such the class size you are learning is large? In average, which one of the following instructional strategies do your instructors most commonly use for teaching you in such large class setting?

<50 f %

>50 f %

0 0

700 100

Yes f %

No f %

650 92.9

50 7.1

L f %

D f %

560 80

30 4.3

* In the table, L=lecturing D=demonstration

QA f %

GW f %

PW f %

B f %

RP f %

PS f %

33 4.7

26 3.7

28 4

6 0.9

12 1.7

5 0.7

QA=questioning and answering GW=group work PW=pair work B=brainstorming RP=role play PS=problem solving

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Students were asked to show how many students were learning in their specific classroom. 700(100%) of them reported that it was more than 50 which is the upper maximum of most of Ethiopian higher learning institutions. Out of these 700 (100%), 650 (92.9%) indicated their belief that their classroom is large. Underlining similar idea, one of the interviewed teachers reported that he teaches four sections each having more than 60 students. As he revealed, each of the classes he teaches is large in size. “It is not the mere count of students in each of my teaching classrooms that worries me; rather the mismatch between the resources that we have and such great number of students assigned to each classroom. I can say it is losing rather than gaining,” the teacher argued. Another interviewed teacher also indicated similar argument but he reported that he teaches more than 80 students in each of his Communicative English classrooms. The classroom observation also indicated the same reality almost in all of its sessions. One of the interviewed teachers indicated his argument that a large class size is considered as an advantage when we run it using effective instructional strategies. “It is the clear setting through which students learn a lot from each other and share their diversified background,” said the teacher. As confirmation to this idea, another interviewed teacher presented an argument that “A large class size is not a gain or a loss in a mere sense of saying; rather it is judged based on the instructional strategies that we use for running it”. However, it was observed in the classroom observation sessions that majority of teachers failed to contextualize their instructional strategies to their class size. For example, most of the teachers in the observation sessions frequently lecture their days‟ lessons rather than setting students into different types of groups and helping them to learn through engagement. When asked the reason why most of the teachers do not contextualize their instructional strategies to their class size, one of the interviewed teachers stated that teachers consider lecturing as the predominant instructional strategy that fits the teaching of large class size (which is also reported by 560(80%) of students in their questionnaire). However, according Fosnot (1998), lecturing is not the predominant instructional strategy for the teaching of large class size. Even scholars like Carpenter (2006) magnify the disadvantages of using lecturing as an instructional strategy in large class setting. On the other hand, Kerr (2011) argues that instructional strategies like demonstration, questioning and answering, group work, pair work, brainstorming, role play and problem solving are effective instructional strategies to be used in large class setting. However, students‟ questionnaire result indicated that these strategies are very rarely used in their classrooms (as 4.3% of students responded demonstration, 4.7% questioning and answering, 3.7% group work, 4% pair work, 0.9% brainstorming, 1.7% role play and 0.7% problem solving respectively). Similar was observed in almost all observation sessions. Teachers‟ interview also confirmed that they use lecturing as „the most suitable instructional strategy of teaching‟ in their large class setting.

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Teachers present different reasons for why they rely on lecturing for teaching at large class setting. One of the interviewed teachers presents his reason saying, “Lecturing, as I believe is the predominant instructional strategy for managing teaching in large class setting. I always use lecturing with the assumption that other instructional strategies do not work well in large class setting because large population of students in class and their diversified learning to be addressed”. Many of the interviewed teachers have similar belief that they consistently use lecturing as a salient instructional strategy for teaching in large class setting. One of the interviewed teachers remarked that he knows the disadvantages of relying on lecturing for running teaching in large class setting. However, he uses it because of mismatch of students‟ population in large class and the resources available for using other instructional strategies. From the above discussion, one can generalize a conclusion that lecturing is the predominant instructional strategy that has been practiced in large class setting of four selected universities of Ethiopia. Almost in all of these four selected Ethiopian Universities, teachers ignore effective instructional strategies of teaching in large class setting: demonstration, questioning and answering, group work, pair work, brainstorming, role play and problem solving with their assumption that they can‟t handle them in large class setting due to mismatch between students‟ population and the resources available for using other strategies.

3.2 The Effectiveness of Instructional Strategies Currently Practiced at Large Class Setting of the Four Selected Universities of Ethiopia Table 2. Questionnaire responses of the students on the effectiveness of instructional strategies currently practiced at large class setting of the four selected universities of Ethiopia No

Items

From different types of instructional strategies to be used in large class setting, which one do you think is the most effective for your learning needs in your class setting? In average, do most of your instructors; participate you frequently in different academic tasks during instructional process? In average, do your instructors give you chance for asking them questions during their instructional process?

Yes f %

No f %

80 11.4

620 88.6

52 7.4

648 92.6

L f %

D f %

QA f %

GW f %

PW f %

B f %

RP f %

PS f %

112 16

398 56.9

423 60.4

568 81.1

538 76.9

340 48.6

320 45.7

357 51

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In average, do your instructors frequently ask you questions during their instructional process? In average, do your instructors frequently answer each of your questions during their instructional process? Do you believe that the instructional strategies your instructors most commonly use at your large class setting satisfy your learning needs?

76 10.9

624 89.1

39 5.6

641 94.4

46 6.6

654 93.4

* In the table L=lecturing D=demonstration QA=question and answering GW=group work PW=pair work B=brainstorming RP=role play PS=problem solving As clearly indicated in the above table (Table 2, item 1), 81.1% of the students responded that group work is the most effective instructional strategy for their learning needs in large class setting. Next to group work, 76.9% of students responded that pair work is another effective instructional strategy for their learning needs in large class setting. Sequentially, 60.4%, 56.9%, 51%, 48.6% and 45.7% of students responded that questioning and answering, demonstration, problem solving, brainstorming and role play as effective instructional strategies for their learning needs in their large class setting respectively. Even though teachers of those four selected universities of Ethiopia use lecturing as a predominant strategy of teaching in large class setting (as indicated above), only 16% of students responded that it is an effective instructional strategy that satisfies their learning needs. Thus there is a clear gap between students‟ choice of instructional strategies for their learning needs and teachers‟ actual use in large class settings of those selected four Ethiopian universities. In terms of the most and least valuable instructional strategies that satisfy the learning needs of students, students‟ questionnaire result indicated that group work is the most effective and lecturing is the least effective. In line with this, 93.4% of students (see table 2, item 6) replied that the instructional strategies that their instructors most commonly use (lecturing) doesn‟t satisfy their learning needs. As the students revealed in the qualitative items of the questionnaire, such the instructional strategy (lecturing) doesn‟t give students any opportunity to fully engage in learning activities of their education. As one of the students remarked in the open-ended parts of the questionnaire, each of their teachers tells them what he/she has prepared for the class via lecturing and leaves the class; without giving any credit to their learning preferences. As proof to lack of students‟ engagement in overall academic activities in large class setting, 88.6% of students responded that their teachers do not make them participate in different academic tasks during instructional process. Again, 92.6 % of the students responded that their instructors do not give them chance for asking them questions during their instructional process. Furthermore, 89.1% of the students replied that their teachers do not ask them questions during the

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teaching-learning process and 94.4% of the students responded they do not get answers from their teachers for their questions. The continuous classroom observation sessions proved similar reality responded by the students even though there is a paradoxical element in the responses of teachers‟ interview. Thus teachers‟ interview results indicated that teachers fully engage students in the overall learning process during their instructional processes. However, the actual classroom observation proved the true scenario of what is happening in the classroom. From the above discussion, we can infer a conclusion that there is a clear gap between students‟ choice of instructional strategies for their learning needs and teachers‟ actual use in large class settings of the four selected universities of Ethiopia. Thus teachers in those universities use lecturing as the prominent instructional strategy of teaching at large class setting without giving any credit to students‟ learning preferences. As the result, the instructional strategies currently practiced at large class settings of the four selected universities of Ethiopia are considered ineffective. 3.3 Factors Impeding the Use of Effective Instructional Strategies at Large Class Setting of the Four Selected Universities of Ethiopia

Table 3. Questionnaire responses of the students on the factors impeding the use of effective instructional strategies at large class setting of the four selected universities of Ethiopia No

1 2 3 4 5 6

Possible factors impeding the use of effective instructional strategies at large class setting of the four selected universities of Ethiopia Gaps in teachers‟ pedagogical skills for handling the instruction of such large class setting. Immobility of chairs in classrooms to group students for cooperative learning. Lack of machines to duplicate handouts for each of students. Shortage of ready-made textbooks to handle instructional process easier. Students‟ negative attitude towards learning at large class setting. Gaps in teacher-training for handling instructional strategies of large class setting.

Yes f % 678 96.9 438 62.6 467 66.7 688 98.3 54 7.7 553 79

No f % 22 3.1 262 37.4 233 33.3 12 1.7 646 92.3 147 21

As indicated in the above table (Table 3), there are different factors that impede the use of effective instructional strategies at large class setting of the four selected universities of Ethiopia. One of these factors is gaps in teacher‟s pedagogical skills for handling the instruction of such large class setting (as responded by 96.9% of students, see item 1 in the above table). With the observation sessions, the teachers frequently observed having difficulties to use different instructional strategies in their large class setting. Almost in all observed sessions, teachers were dependent on lecturing. As a confirmation of

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this, one of the interviewed teachers stated “I always use lecturing as I believe it is a prominent strategy of teaching in large class setting”. Another interviewed teacher presented similar idea as argument for his frequent use of lecturing as a suitable method of teaching and ignores other methods (demonstration, questioning and answering, group work, pair work…) saying, “they are incompatible for running teaching process in large class setting”. Students relate the pedagogical skills‟ gap of their teachers for handling the instruction of large class setting with teachers training (as reported by 79% of the students, see Table 3, item 7). Similarly, almost in all of the observation sessions, teachers were observed struggling to use effective instructional strategies (demonstration, questioning and answering, group work, pair work, brainstorming, role play and problem solving) for running their teaching process in large class setting; but they were not successful. This clearly indicates that teachers have pedagogical skills‟ gap for handling instruction at large class setting. Confirming this idea, one of the interviewed teachers, states, “I am not confident that I have the adequate pedagogical skills to run instruction in large class setting. I believe that this problem streams from gaps in teacher-training for handling instructional strategies of large class setting”. Teachers‟ interview result also indicated that there are some materials-related factors that impede the use of effective instructional strategies in large class setting at the four selected universities of Ethiopia. For instance, one of the interviewed teachers indicated that her large class suffers a lot with material constraints. As to her, the university she teaches is typically characterized by a large class size vis-à-vis severe constraint of materials: lack of machines to duplicate handouts for students, shortage and immobility of chairs, shortage of textbooks and references. Another interviewed teacher also worries a lot for the provision of poor infrastructure by his university for effectively running of instruction at large class setting. Students questionnaire result (see Table 3, items 2-5) and the researcher‟s observation sessions proved that the classrooms of those selected universities of Ethiopia are largely populated but poor in infrastructure. Regardless of teachers‟ pedagogical skills‟ gap and shortage of materials for running instruction at large class setting, students at the four selected universities of Ethiopia have no negative attitude towards learning at large class setting (see Table 3, item 6). As observed in majority of the observation sessions, students were eager to ask questions, role play the activities, run classroom activities in group and like to have their learning difficulties solved by their teachers. However, the reverse was observed in almost all of the observation sessions; i.e. teachers simply run instructions using lecturing as a sole method of teaching at large class setting. When asked the reason why he does not engage each student in different academic activities of the classroom, one of the interviewed teachers responded “It is too challenging to me to engage each student in this highly populated classroom to do every academic activity. I just lecture the lessons that I believe important and order my students to read it by themselves. I have no choice rather than lecturing as you see this large number of students in my classroom which is very difficult to manage”.

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Based on the above discussion, we can draw a conclusion that there are different factors that impede the use of effective instructional strategies at large class setting of the four selected universities of Ethiopia. The first one is Ethiopian university teachers have clear gap in pedagogical skills for handling instruction at large class setting. The second is lack of teachers‟ training for using effective instructional strategies for handling teaching at large class setting. Thirdly, there is mismatch between students‟ population in the classroom and infrastructure needed for running teaching-learning process in those classrooms.

4. Conclusions and Recommendations 4.1 Conclusions  Teachers of selected four universities of Ethiopia use lecturing as the predominant instructional strategy for running teaching at large class setting. They ignore other effective instructional strategies of teaching in large class setting (demonstration, questioning and answering, group work, pair work, brainstorming, role play and problem solving) with their assumption that they can‟t handle them in large class setting due to mismatch between students‟ population and the resources available for using other strategies.  There is a clear gap between students‟ choice of instructional strategies for their learning needs and teachers‟ actual use in large class settings of the selected four universities of Ethiopia. Thus teachers in these four selected Ethiopian universities use lecturing as the only instructional strategy of teaching at large class setting without giving any credit to students‟ learning preferences. As the result, the instructional strategies currently practiced at large class settings of those four selected universities of Ethiopia are considered ineffective.  There are different factors that impede the use of effective instructional strategies at large class setting of the selected four universities of Ethiopia. The first one is the teachers of these selected four universities have clear gap in pedagogical skills for handling instruction at large class setting. The second is lack of teachers‟ training for using effective instructional strategies for handling teaching at large class setting. Thirdly, there is mismatch between students‟ population in the classroom and infrastructure needed for running teaching-learning process in those classrooms. 4.2 Recommendations The researcher forwards the following remedies as recommendations to the current situations of instructional strategies of large class setting at four selected universities of Ethiopia.  Pertinent pedagogical training that promotes teaching at LCS should be given to teachers who are teaching in those four selected universities of Ethiopia.

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 The concerned management bodies of the four selected universities of Ethiopia and Federal Ministry of Education (MoE) should fulfill infrastructure to avoid the mismatch between students‟ population in those classrooms and infrastructure needed for running teachinglearning process effectively.

References Aagard, H., Bowen,K., and Olesova, L. 2010. “Hot seat: Opening the Backchannel in Large Lectures.” Educause Quarterly, 33: 3. Aburahma, M.H. (2015). Do not Lose Your Students in Large Lectures: A Five-Step Paper-Based Model to Foster Students‟ Participation. Pharmacy. vol. 3: 89-100. Adrian, L. M. (2010). Active learning in large classes: Can small interventions produce greater results than are statistically predictable? Active learning in large classes. The Journal of General Education, 59(4), 223-237. Arias, J., & Walker, D. (2004). Additional evidence on the relationship between class size and student performance. Journal of Economic Education, 4(3), 311-329. Biggs, J. (1999). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. What the student does. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Botha, L.; Fourie, N. & Geyser, H. (2005). Teaching, Learning and assessment in large classes: a reality of educational change. Education as Change,9 (1), 60-79. Carpenter, J. M. 2006. Effective Teaching Methods for Large Classes, Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences Education, Vol. 24, No. 2:13-23. Cooper, J. L., & Robinson, P. (2000). The argument for making large classes seem small. In J. MacGregor, J. L. Cooper, K. A. Smith, & P. Robinson (Eds.), Strategies for energizing large classes: From small groups to learning communities(pp. 5-16). New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 81. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Davis, S. (2009). Strategies of Coping with Effective Teaching and Learning in Large Classes in Secondary Schools in Kampala District. Royal University Mengo Campus. Esia-Donkoh, K. and Antwi, T. (2015). Instructional, Psychological and Social Effects of Large Classes on Students of the Department of Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. European Journal of Resaerch and Reflection in Educational Sciences. Vol. 3(3): 63-78. Fosnot, C. (1998). Enquiring teachers, enquiring learners.New York: Teachers College Press. Jungic, V, Kent, D.& Menz, P. (2006). Teaching large classes: Three instructors, One experience. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 1, 115. Kennedy, P., & Siegfried, J. (1997). Class size and achievement in introductory economics: Evidence from the TUCE III data. Economics of Education Review, 16(4), 385-394. Kerr, A. (2011). Teaching and learning in large classes at Ontario Universities: An Exploratory study. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. Knapper, C. (1987). Large classes and learning. In M. G. Weimer (Ed.), Teaching large classes well, (pp. 5-15). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc., Publishers. Lowman, Joseph. 1995. Mastering the Techniques of Teaching, 2 nd edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Mclver, D., Fitzsimmons, S. and Flanagan, D. (2016). Instructional Design as Knowledge Management: A Knowledge-in-Practice Approach to Choosing Instructional Methods. Journal of Management Education. vol. 40(1): 47-75.

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Schanzenbach, D.W. (2014). Does Class Size Matter? Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved on 21/02/2015 from http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/ does-class-size-matter. Spiller, D. (2014). Maximizing Learning in Large Groups: The Lecturer Context. The University of Waikato Press. Toth, L., &Montagna, L. (2002). Class size and achievement in higher education: A summary of current research. College Student Journal, 36(2), 253-261). UNESCO. (2006). Practical Tips for Teaching Large Classes: A Teacher‟s Guide. Bangkok, UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education. Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge University Press. Wehrli, G. and Nyquist, J.G. (2003). Creating an Educational Curriculum for Learners at Any Level. AABB Conference. Yoder, J. & Hochevar, C. (2005). Encouraging active learning can improve students‟ performance on examinations. Teaching of Psychology, 32(2), 91-95.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 173-190, March 2016

Seven Motivating Conceptions of Learning of Tertiary Students Terry Bowles and John Hattie Melbourne Graduate School of Education University of Melbourne

Abstract. Of the various ways of defining learning, few use students‟ own terms as the foundation for the definition of factors. Based on data derived from student‟s descriptions of concepts of learning a questionnaire was developed. Responses from 252 tertiary students were used to evaluate and validate the conceptions of learning. Exploratory and confirmatory analysis showed that the seven concepts of Interest, Performance, Effort, Understanding, Ease, Natural Ability, and Preoccupation were acceptable as were levels of reliability. The consistency of the factors was tested over the duration of a semester with no significant differences between times 1 and 2 and no significant gender differences. The implications for further development and application are discussed as is the similarity of the seven factors with previous explanations of learning.

Keyword: metacognitive skills; conceptions of learning; motivation to learn; characteristics of learning; approaches to learning; prompts to learning. Correspondence to: Terry Bowles PhD FAPS Melbourne Graduate School of Education The University of Melbourne VIC 3010 Australia tbowles@unimelb.edu.au

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Introduction There have been three main approaches to describing how students conceive learning, and this paper explores a fourth. First, there are approaches that describe the conceptual steps students pass through to achieve learning – for example Piaget‟s (1977) developmental stage approach or Von Glaserfeld‟s (1995) research on stages of learning. The second approach focuses on tasks in the process required to scaffold learning (Simon‟s et al.; 2010). Third, there are hybrid approaches based on elements of the two previous approaches, for example, Harel and Koichi (2010, p. 118) argued that “learning is a continuum of disequilibrium–equilibrium phases manifested by (a) intellectual and psychological needs that instigate or result from these phases and (b) ways of understanding or ways of thinking that are utilized and newly constructed during these phases”. This results in a constant framing and reframing of what is learned and how to behave with such knowledge towards socialization into ways of behaving in institutions such as schools. In this research we consider a fourth approach, developed by asking students to elaborate on their conceptions of learning. The aim of this research is to investigate a new way of conceiving learning based on adult responses to learning in both academic and other activities. Understanding students conceptions of learning is important as they provide a means of understanding how students conceive of learning and how these concepts might be carefully applied to teaching in contexts (Lonka & Lindblom-Ylanne 1996; Richardson 1999) and importantly to develop a set of factors to use in dialogue with students about personal learning experiences, within a range of context (Richardson 1999; Lin, Tsai, & Liang, 2012; Vermunt & Vanrijswijk 1988; Vermunt & Vermetten 2004). Recognizing and referring to student‟s Concepts of Learning (CoLs) may assist teachers to understand the implicit learning theories in the formal class context and informally (Lonka & Lindblom-Ylanne 1996; Vermunt & Vanrijswijk 1988; Vermunt & Vermetten 2004). The problem addressed in this research was whether CoLs associated with active learning experiences of young adults systematically form constructs in line with previous work of Bowles (2004) in developing the CoLs. Much of this type of research into learning began with Marton and Säljö (1976) on learning as surface or deep, each applying a different strategy. Biggs (1985) expanded the definition to include a third style of “achieving” and argued that each could be subdivided into strategies and motives, leading to six categories of approaches: Surface Motives, Deep Motives and Achieving Motives, and Surface Strategies, Deep Strategies and Achieving Strategies. These methods are based on various strategies when learning whereas other researchers have employed styles which are more related to beliefs about what people do when they learn. For example, Armstrong identified 54 styles such as reflective-impulsive, splitters-lumpers, serialists-holist, and spatial-verbal (see also Zhang & Sternberg, 2006). These styles have been criticized in reference to their efficacy, lack of consistency in measurement and multiple definitions of the styles (Cuthbert, 2005; Reynolds, 1997). Further, most of these styles were not reflective of the ways students conceive of learning. Other ways of describing student learning refer to types of student thinking, and includes models such as DeBono‟s (1986) lateral and parallel thinking tools, and Ennis‟ (1987) taxonomy of thinking dispositions, and various abilities exemplified by Gardner (1999) multiple intelligences. These models have support in the literature, but they are scholastically focused and primarily relevant for adolescent learners. In this research the focus is on adult learners referring to concepts of learning relevant © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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to a broad range of activities and contexts including but not focused exclusively on scholastic learning, in their own terms. Learning is not a general phenomenon but is a construct dependent on experience, context, domain, motivations, and socially and culturally established conventions usually associated with school learning – a view, to varying degrees shared by others (Confrey, 1990; Purdie & Hattie, 2002; Reynolds, 1997; Sadler-Smith, 2001; Säljö, 1987). The complexity of the explanation of learning is shown in Ainley (1993) clustering of students‟ scores on Bigg‟s Surface, Deep and Achieving motives and strategies which identified six clusters of how students engaged with learning; which were labelled Detached, Committed, Hopeful, Engaged, Disengaged, and Keen-todo-well. Similarly, Entwistle and McCune (2013) investigated tertiary students‟ approaches to learning integrating learning processes, motivational factors and metacognitive factors. Entwistle and McCune found that the first cluster of students related to a disposition to understand. Other clusters related to a deep approach to learning and varied on factors such as organized effort and monitoring. The factors defining the constructs above are very school-based, however learning can be conceived of differently outside school environments and these are becoming more important for general learning (Vernon 2014) and engagement from the perspective of the individual (Bowles, 2004; Vermunt, & Vermetten, 2004). Importantly, as the contexts of learning change, through the transition from adolescent to adult, the complexities of the school learning give way to a new set of situations. The ways learning is conceived in workplaces and self-directed contexts (Wong, Yong, & Gerber, 2001), recreational contexts (González-Haro, CallejaGonzález, & Escanero, 2010) and different social settings (Johnson & Johnson, 2002) may vary considerably and be accompanied by a high degree of experimentation. The CoLs in this research were originally developed by asking adults how they thought learning occurred when people were competent in a range of activities and contexts (Bowles, 2004). Given this systematic method of development it is expected that the CoLs will be relatively independent of the previous scholastically focused factors. Previous research has defined CoLs as thoughts, understandings, knowledge and experiences, arising from the social and personal contexts determining the experience of learning, from the point of view of the participant (Billett, 2009; Olsson, 2011; Richardson, 1999). While there is no theory of CoLs research has shown that a student‟s CoLs (e.g. understanding) is predicted by epistemological beliefs (e.g. fixed ability) and, in turn predicts specific approaches to learning (surface approaches; Zhu , Valcke, & Schellens, 2008). There is considerable diversity in the combinations in which such learning occurs. For example, Bowles (2004) asked respondents how individual‟s that were observed to be proficient in nine different talents gained and maintained their competence. The structured interviews resulted in a range of responses which were systematically summarized into the seven CoLs of adults: Effort, Understanding, Interest, Natural Ability, Performance, Pre-occupation, and Ease. In Bowles (2004) research a constructivist approach was used to establish adults‟ CoLs. Constructivism has become a common theoretical frame to explain how people learn (Semerci, & Batdi, 2015) and lends itself to the development of research questions less constrained by extant theories and more privileging of the construction of the idea construed by the respondent (Johnson, & Onwuegbuzie, 2004) through interactions, observations and reflection on real life experiences © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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associated with learning and how learning occurs (Brooks & Brooks, 1993; Butler, Miller, Lee, & Pierce, 2001; Jaleel, & Verghis, 2015). The seven CoLs have association with previous research in which Interest means learning by focusing on enjoyment, interest, and liking the subject and process. Interest is dependent on the interaction with the activity (Chen, Darst, & Pangrazi, 1999: Krapp, Hidi, & Renniger, 1992). Understanding means thinking, reflecting and seeking knowledge. Reflective learning for understanding is an important feature of effective teaching and learning (Diaz-Lefebvre, 2004). Ease is learning comfortably, suitably and calmly. It has become a major means of imagining learning and is associated with flow, to facilitate engagement and optimizing effort across a range of contexts and media (Davis & Lang, 2012). In essence Ease reflects accessibility and efficiency in an unaroused, paced state of learning (Stevens, Anderson, O‟Dwyer & Williams, 2012). Natural Ability is defined as believing in and having natural ability. Performance means focusing on the process effectively by training, performing and exercising skills. Usually, performance is associated with the outcome of the learning process whereas Concepts of Learning Questionnaire (CLQ) situates performance at the micro skill level as well as associating it with the longer term outcome, mastery, and goals(Lam, et. al., 2012;). Performance goals are strong predictors of academic achievement (Richardson, Abraham, & Bond, 2012). Pre-occupation means having a love for it, having to have it and approaching with a thirst. It is little researched but it is a powerful factor for both proficient athletes and people who need an intense focus to learn. An overly engaged response and extreme commitment is usually associated with extreme performance. Effort means approaching with motivation, persistence, and commitment and is very commonly examined in the literature and is a strong predictor of grades (Richardson, Abraham, & Bond). Each CoL described above is conceptually independent of other Cols and are relatively independent of factors from existing explanations of learning (see Table 1). The seven Cols share little similarity with Saljo‟s five factors (1979) of increase of knowledge, memorizing, acquisition of facts or procedures, abstraction of meaning, and an interpretative process aimed at understanding reality. They are also dissimilar to Marton, Dall‟Alba, and Beaty six CoLs (1993) and the models of Purdie and Hattie (2002) and Lee, Johanson, and Tsai (20080. It is because of this independence from previous research that more research into CoLs is warranted. The one common factor across the five models was understanding. Previous research involving CoLs showed a small but statistically significant gender differences with females higher on natural ability and males higher than females claiming to acquire and maintain their proficiency via understanding and performance (Bowles, 2004). This is consistent with previous research showing no significant or relatively small differences in magnitude by gender (Dey, Shruti, Kaundinya, & Sinha, (015). Finally, there has been little investigation of the influence of non-cognitive factors in tertiary settings, such as CoLs and motivational factors (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2008) but such factors have been proposed as salient (Bowles, Hattie, Dinham, Scull & Clinton, 2014; Sautelle, Bowles, Hattie, Arifin, 2015; Kennedy, 2013). What has been shown is that many factors such as personality, , learning approaches, self-regulation, and preferred modality do not predict gains in GPA directly, whereas

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Table 1. List of factors of five Conceptions of Learning.

Bowles (2004) Interest Performance Effort Ease Natural Ability Preoccupation Understanding

Säljö (1979)

An Interpretative Process Aimed at Understanding Reality Memorizing Knowledge

Marton, Dall‟Alba, and Beaty (1993)

Purdie and Hattie (2002)

Lee, Johanson, & Tsai, (2008)

Understanding

(Using and) Understanding

Understanding

Memorizing And Reproducing Increase of Knowledge

Remembering

Memorizing

Acquisition of Facts or Procedures Abstraction of Meaning

Increasing One's Knowledge Acquiring Information

Applying Information Changing as a Person Seeing Something in a Different Way

Using (and Understanding) Personal Change

Applying Seeing In A New Way

Duty A Process Not Bound by Time or Place Social Competence. Calculating And Practicing Tests

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motivation, a deep learning approach, and (younger) age have been correlated with GPA (Cassidy, 2004; 2012) and learning approaches and personality have been shown to be influential in longitudinal studies (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2008). Many of these factors interact and form complex interplays over time (Ning, & Downing, 2010). So, the evidence about the benefits of factors such as CoLs is mixed and deserves further consideration. This research aims to provide some evidence of the utility of CoLs to learning for adults learners. The problem under investigation in this research was whether CoLs associated with adult learning experiences form constructs, suggesting an alternative pattern of CoLs. This is tested first by operationalizing terms used by students to describe their observation of learning across a range of activities. The second aim is to establish whether the structure of the questionnaire can be validated. The specific research questions relevant to this study are: 1. Do the previously defined CoLs (Bowles, 2004) form a pattern seven factors when responses form adults are analyzed? 2. Is the factor structure of the CoLs replicated and validated by a confirmatory factor analysis using a cross-validated sample? 3. How stable are these CoLs over time and do they change even though there is no teaching related to their application? 4. Are there gender differences reflected in the scores?

Method Participants A convenience sample of 236 tertiary students (mean age: 22.90; SD = 6.77) participated in this research. Of these 152 were female with a mean age of 22.47 (SD = 6.94) and 84 were males with a mean age of 23.47 (SD = 6.13). The respondents were students studying either Arts or Sciences in the second and third year of their degrees, at a metropolitan, English speaking university in Australia. Questionnaire The 56 items describing the CoLs were derived from the items associated with the seven factors that were previously defined (Appendix 1; Bowles, 2004). Each item was rated in regard to the stem, “Please think of a time when you have had to actively learn a new skill. How frequently did you…? The list of 56 items were then listed to be rated against a Likert-type scale: (1) = „Never‟, (2) „Almost Never‟, (3) „Infrequently‟, (4) „Sometimes‟, (5) „Frequently‟, (6) Almost Always, to (7) = „Always‟. Examples of the items are, „Show interest‟, „Take the opportunity‟, „Practice‟. Procedure The students were invited to participate in the research on the first week (t1) of the semester and the twelfth week of the semester (t2). The response rate for returning data from t1 to t2 was 52.72%. An exploratory maximum likelihood with oblique rotation (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham, 2006; Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007) was used to © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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investigate the factor structure using the time 1 data (t1). Items contributing to each factor were then specified into a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate and further refine the structure of the factors (with AMOS 6) using time 2 data (t2). The application and procedure for CFA has been described previously (e.g., Arbuckle, 2003; Byrne, 1998; 2001; Joreskog & Sorborm, 1993). The goodness of fit of the proposed models were evaluated in line with the recommendations of previous researchers (Byrne, 2001; Marsh, Balla, & Hau, 1996; Hooper, Coughlan, & Mullen, 2008). A range of fit-indices were chosen to assess the overall fit of the proposed models, including the ratio of chi-square to degrees of freedom ( 2/df < 2.0 indicating a good fit (Hooper, Coughlan, & Mullen, 2008), the goodness-of-fit index (GFI), the adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI), the comparative fit index (CFI), and the Tucker and Lewis index (TLI) were selected to comprehensively evaluate the fit of the model (Tanaka, 1987; Tucker & Lewis, 1973). For GFI, AGFI, CFI and TLI, acceptable levels of fit are above 0.90 (Marsh, Balla & McDonald, 1988). For root mean square error approximation (RMSEA), evidence of good fit is shown by values less than 0.05 with values of 0.05 to 0.08 indicating a moderate fit (Browne & Cudeck, 1993).

Results The best fitting exploratory factor model that made most sense was a sevenfactor solution which also corresponded to the factors expected from the analysis. The seven factors explained 61% of the total variance and each item loaded on its expected factor (Table 2). An aim was to have three items per factor so items that were closest in, or repeated word meaning were deleted (Items 23, 7, 14, and 52). A confirmatory factor analysis was then performed on the data from the second time period and this led to very good fit. The CFA fitted the data well relatively (2 (185, N = 253) = 380.91, p = .001), 2 /df = 1.93, GFI = .873, AGFI = .829; CFI = .920, TLI = .902; RMSEA = .066 indicating a relatively good model fit. The coefficients of the CLQ are shown in Figure 1. Table 2: Items and Loading on Factors of the CLQ Questionnaire.

Item Interest 22 Enjoy doing it. 15 Like doing it. 1 Show interest. Understanding 32 Reflect on it. 25 Think about it. 39 Gain knowledge. Ease 23 Stay relaxed. 51 Stay calm. 30 Stay comfortable. 37 Do what suits me. Natural Ability 7 Show natural ability.

Factor 4 5

.993 .811 .504

-.072 .027 .071

.015 .006 .078

-.041 .055 .045

.040 -.061 .053

.894 .630 .392

-.027 .074 -.086

.076 -.012 .038 .048

-.049 .056 -.001 .026

.032

-.039

-.026 -.009 .162

.072 -.018 -.092

-.047 .035 .136

.99 .70 .52

.022 -.006 .015

.025 -.035 .098

-.049 .140 -.116

-.037 .031 .365

.55 .72 .49

.862 .819 .626 .254

.012 -.057 .090 .106

.009 .121 -.000 -.180

-.013 -.015 -.121 .159

-.006 -.052 .179 .035

.68 .70 .63 .22

.019

.892

.037

-.121

-.107

.76

180

14 Show I am born with it. 35 Show a natural disposition. 21 Show talent. 42 Show ability. 5 Performance 54 Exercise the skill. 12 Perform the skill. 5 Train. 6 Preoccupation 55 Become compulsive. 41 Having to have it. 34 Having to love it. 7 Effort 45 Stay committed. 38 Show persistence. 52 Show determination. 31 Stay motivated. Correlations between the factors

-.030 .021

-.008 .000

.010 .047

.809 .783

-.058 -.051

.062 .126

.-004 -.004

.65 .70

.068 .001

.089 .033

-.032 -.037

.629 .605

.074 .127

.015 .010

.062 .157

.59 .65

.055 .030 .067

.070 -.014 .083

.103 .156 -.066

.008 .222 .038

.721 .541 .429

.131 -.061 .228

.083 .075 .105

.65 .50 .52

.023 -.032 .215

.138 -.025 .064

-.017 -.019 -.058

.059 .006 .117

.090 .117 -.071

.527 .515 .506

-.077 .270 .054

.44 .37 .56

.042 -.005 .119 .171

-.023 .056 .036 .159

.004 .068 .016 .151

-.005 .011 .072 .063

-.065 -.024 -.067 .016

.065 .067 .015 -.068

.761 .707 .600 .557

66 .61 .64 .64

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Interest .26** .31** .14* .19** .33** .19** 2 Understanding .39** .43** .15* .26** .43** .24** 3 Ease .35** .23** .39** .19** .20** .05 4 Natural Ability .51** .30** .35** .41** .29** .19** 5 Performance .54** .51** .20** .53** .54** .21** 6 Preoccupation .37** .43** .09 .41** .45** .55** 7 Effort .51** .56** .24** .41** .62** .57** 8 Average of Conceptions .74** .70 .48** .72** .78* .70** Note: Below the diagonal is t1, above is t2; significance level ** = .001, * =.05. Underlined are test-retest correlations

7 .27** .31** .19** .20** .35** .23** .37** .79**

The estimates of internal consistency reliability (coefficient alpha) for the t2 final measures are all sufficiently high to provide confidence in using total scores from these scales: Interest was .86, Understanding .74, Ease .76, Natural Ability .83, Performance .79, Preoccupation .67, and Effort .81 and the Average of Conceptions was .92 (Table 2), whereas the test retest reliability ranged from .26 to .55. Table 3 shows the factor means from t1 and t2. A MANOVA was used to investigate the likelihood of group differences in a 7 (approach by time t1/t2, within) and 2 (gender, between) analysis. The multivariate between subjects tests for gender and time (t1/t2; one semester) were not significant and the interaction was not significant. Hence, only main effects are shown in Table 3. There was strong consistency (little difference) in the CoLs over time and Cohenâ&#x20AC;&#x;s d also indicating the absence of change.

8 .33** .38** .25** .32** .36** .38** .39** .49**

181

.36 1

Enjoy

.89

.49 1

.83

.61 1

Interest

.75

.33 1

Reflect

.89

1.25 1

Think

.69

.57 1

Know

.54

.83 1

Calm

.77

.83 1

Comfort

.78

.40 1

Suits

.34

X10

1.19 1

Relax

.85

X11

.58 1

Natural

.79

X12

55 1

Talent

.55

X13

.37 1

Ability

.84

1.45 Interest .69

1.12

.55

Understanding

.74

.24

.85

.59 .55

Ease

.63 .52

.50

.99

.50

X14

.41 1

Exercise

.77

.61

X15

.44 1

Perform

.76

Performance

X16

.81 1

Train

.70

X17

1.65 1

Compel

.55

.52

X18

1.38 1

Have it

.58

Preoccupation

X19

1.01 1

Love it

.76

X20

.42 1

Commit

.77

X21

.40 1

Persist

.74

X22

.44 1

Motivate

.74

.21

.65

.39 .26

.31 .45 .51 .39 .61 Effort

Figure 1: Path Diagram of the Items Contributing to the CLQ Factors. Table 3: Means, and Standard Deviations for Conceptions of Learning Compared at 2 Time Points and With the Average of Conceptions of Learning.

Time 1

Time 2 F

Interest Performance Effort Understanding Ease Natural Ability Preoccupation Average of Conceptions

Mean 5.53 5.31 5.26 5.07 4.89 4.71 4.14

SD 1.00 .89 .90 .97 .89 .97 1.11

Mean 5.473 5.36 5.35 5.16 4.83 4.64 4.16

SD 1.10 .89 .88 .99 .92 1.03 1.13

.32 .73 1.76 1.65 .01 .32 .11

.57 .39 .19 .20 .92 .57 .74

.002 .003 .008 .008 .001 .002 .001

.06 -.06 -.10 -.09 .04 .07 -.02

4.99

.68

5.01

.73

.22

.66

.001

-.02

.66

.47

.26

Natural Ability

182

Note: 1 Indicates the statistics for the between time 1 and time 2 comparison (df = 1, 217). N = 136 females and n = 75 males.

Discussion The findings of the analyses showed that the expected seven factors emerged with high face validity, high internal reliability and stability over time as there were no differences between mean between the two time periods and no differences between the genders. The terms in each factor were derived from the previous research (Bowles, 2004) and used to develop the factors that defined the seven CoLs. The terms and factors provide a broad array of CoLs which conforms to Olson‟s (2003) and Hattie‟s (2012) view that adult learners bring to the learning process their own ways of making meaning which is different to the previous conceptualizations based on adolescent research. The factors form a new, alternate approach to considering the CoLs of adult and contribute to the debate by broadening the definition of learning. The CoLs are important as they represent personal learning experiences including but exclusive to formal learning settings (Bowles, 2004; Richardson 1999). The CoLs indicate the learner‟s frame of reference (Lin, Tsai, & Liang, 2012) within a context that reflects the implicit learning theory/ies held by the learner (Lonka & Lindblom-Ylanne 1996; Vermunt & Vanrijswijk 1988; Vermunt & Vermetten 2004) and affirm the original set of seven concepts derived from the constructivist approach explaining how people learn from their own experience (Semerci, & Batdi, 2015). The statistical analysis also showed that there was no significant difference between t1 and t2 means indicating no change in the frequency of use of the concepts when learning. The test-retest correlations ranged from .26 to .55 and showed that while valid the factors were influenced by transient error (Fleeson, 2001; Schmitt, 1996; Sijtsma, 2009) in which the timeframe or changes within the test retest period and state based nature of the construct renders them less consistent over time. The plausibility of this explanation rests with the nature of learning, how we go about doing it and how we conceive of doing it. The absence of changes from t1 to t2 suggests that there is relative stability in the ways adult learners conceive of their learning. It is most possible that concepts of learning are used and re-applied consistently as self-guides from a relatively early age and that without direct intervention students will continue to apply the same concepts about the way they learn. Gently challenging these perceptions and practicing alternatives ways of thinking about learning is likely to be beneficial. The statistical analysis also showed that the CoLs had a high internal consistency (validity) with Cronbach alphas ranging from .74 to .82 with an average of all concepts being .92. Despite the statistical reliability, the consistency or variability of the factor scores over time is likely to be advantageous as it is indicates an absence of rigidity and a flexible approach to learning contexts. Over time effortful learning usually becomes easier, an interest may become a preoccupation and move the learner into a high level of mastery, similarly the focus on micro skills such as, learning a golf swing or plucking a musical instrument may © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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give way to automaticity with practice and result in entirely different ways of thinking about further learning. This means that as learning occurs so will the processes that scaffold that learning change and our understanding of them, after reflection. Providing a broad array of concepts of learning and prompting experimentation with the concepts and their application could enhance self-directed learning. The CoLs could be useful in facilitating reflection, exploration and adjustment to implicit learning theories to refine how students conceive learning within contexts and between contexts. CoLs have many combinations and may be applied sequentially and/or concurrently, and bringing to consciousness how adult learners think about their learning in various situations can be an important beginning to enhancing their learning, engagement and outcomes. For learning to occur a number of factors need to be applied individually or concurrently (Hattie, 2009), however the student has control over only some of these pertinent factors. Given that most students receive a similar learning experiences (classes/groups), those who achieve best make the best choices to apply the most appropriate CoLs when required to demonstrate proficiency (Bowles, 2004). By applying appropriate conceptions more frequently, more effectively, and with greater potential diversity, in response to the demand characteristics of the learning task, optimal learning is more likely to occur. Broadening of the repertoire of CoLs may allow students to facilitate more self-directed learning (Hattie, 2009). Together, the seven factors form an array of CoLs fit for application in a range of contexts and applications related to three principles of learning. The first general principle of learning issuggested by Harel and Koichiâ&#x20AC;&#x;s (2010). They associate understanding and natural ability with the principle of thinking and understanding. The second principle of intellectual needs for learning new knowledge may be related most to the conceptions of interest and pre-occupation. Finally, repeated reasoning and internalization are most likely associated with ease, performance, and effort. Despite this similarity only one of the seven factors, understanding, is consistently found in the four models from Table 1. This illustrates the relative independence of the factors in this model. The independence of the seven factors in comparison with previously published models is most likely the result of the systematic method used to derive the factors of the CoL. In the previous research (Bowles, 2004, 2008) the seven factors emerged from an open coding and systematic reduction of terms freely expressed by respondents. This means that the language and terms used were noted in the language of the respondents and the resulting factors retained these common speech terms. The application of the factors is mainly in identifying which concepts a respondent may score high and which low and coaching them about how to interpret and use the information to advantage. Comparison of high and low scores from a single respondent may be used to expand a repertoire of ways of approaching learning. Discussion with a respondent about a new learning experience may consider which concept provides the best approach to imagine learning within that learning context (Richardson 1999; Lin, Tsai, & Liang, 2012; Vermunt & Vanrijswijk 1988; Vermunt & Vermetten 2004). Profiles that are inappropriately, consistently low or high will require ÂŠ 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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validation and further work on how to imagine capabilities, task difficulty and how to imagine learning occurring to benefit the learner. At the most general level, the relevance of the COLs to adult learners and those who teach them is to take account of the rank of the CoLs, which was: Interest, Performance, Effort, Understanding, Ease, Natural Ability and Preoccupation. The two most important contributions this research makes is identifying the seven CoLs for adult learners and thereby advancing the definition of CoLs for young adults learning through work and self-directed activities (Wong, Yong, & Gerber, 2001), tertiary study, social settings (Johnson & Johnson, 2002), and recreational pursuits (GonzĂĄlez-Haro, Calleja-GonzĂĄlez, & Escanero, 2010). This research broadens the definition of CoLs and adds to the debate about the constructs used to conceptualize learning. Further clarifying research will be necessary to establish the utility of these constructs against factors defined in the previous models, such as those listed in Table 2. The second important contribution is in the utility and accessibility of the factors as tools within various learning contexts. The seven factors make the process of learning more inclusive of activities that are associated with learning within and outside formal learning. In tertiary study these terms may be used to explore and develop the range of ways that students and teachers can engage in learning and discuss their engagement. Further, raising awareness of, and future research into the utility and impact of CoLs from the perspective of teachers and students is important and how such perspectives relate with and may change in reference to current and future technologies and advances in neuroscience (Peterson, Rayner & Armstrong, 2009). There are a number of caveats to this research. First, it was self-report and this has inherent limitations associated with self-knowledge, integrity and bias. Despite these limitations self-report is appropriate given that the aim was to gain a perspective into how adult students report CoLs. These conceptions should not be confused with the actual strategies students use (such as Biggs LPI, 1985). Further, the research was completed on tertiary students within an educational setting and may not generalize to primary and high school or to adults in non-educational settings.

Conclusion The implications and applications of the findings deserve further exploration to establish the utility of and links between the conceptions. Does understanding come through effort or through interest or both? Why is the correlation of effort with other conceptions higher at time 1 than at time 2 when effort would usually be associated with a strong finish at the end of the semester? Is there a model of learning that may be derived from the seven concepts and are they specific to subjects as suggested by the previous talent research? Should CoLs be incorporated into teaching plans or profiles of scores be provided to students to encourage broadening of use of conceptions of learning? Future research into the utility of the approaches and the selective use of approaches within specific contexts would provide evidence that context bound and selective application facilitates learning and possibly learning outcomes. Comparing the factors to outcomes, such as grades and ÂŠ 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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other work and recreational performance indicators will further demonstrates the utility of the measure. Validating the measure and the profile with other measures learning and learning outcomes would build confidence in the fidelity and validity of the constructs. While transition error is a likely explanation for the low to moderate test-retest coefficients further measurement of the error accounted for in test-retest score is required. The CLQ may also provide information when screening students at entry to programs to moderate their beliefs, attitudes and observations. Investigating the precursors of CoLs such as values and perceptions of self (Lietz & Matthews, 2010; Matthews, Lietz, & Darmawan, 2007) would also assist in expanding understanding of the development and utility of such concepts. Finally, as learning is both a general phenomenon and specific activity, tasks, contexts and mood associated research with the CLQ could be completed to establish when and which CLQ factors are worth applying and in which situations (Confrey, 1990; Purdie & Hattie; 2002; SĂ¤ljĂś, 1987).

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Appendix 1. Terms Most Frequently Contributing to the Seven Categories Explaining Learning.

Categories Explaining Learning Interest

Understanding

Ease

Natural Ability

Performance

Pre-occupation

Effort

Being interested

Understanding

Comes easily

Natural ability

Training

Pre-occupied

Practice

Involvement

Experience

Opportunity

Born with it

Performance

Passion

Do it

Like it

Learning

Content

Talent

Skill development Need

Effort

Enjoy it

Reflection

Relaxed

Creative

Achievement

Drive

Study

Listening

Thinking

Comfortable

Natural disposition Competitive

Love it

Motivation

Curiosity

Knowledge

Suits them

Ability

Challenge

Have to have it

Persistence

Open minded

Awareness

As they are

Aptitude

Competence

Really focused

Committed

Participate

Imagination

Calm

Inherit skills

Exercise it

Compulsion

Determination

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 191-203, March 2016

The Right to Information: Library Services and Disability at Tertiary and University Libraries in Masvingo Urban in Zimbabwe Tofara Rugara, Shadreck Ndinde and Webster Kadodo Great Zimbabwe University Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Abstract. This article argues that accessibility to, and of information in institutions of learning is as much a right as is education to all human beings. The premise for this deductive declarative observation is based on the understanding that information is a facility that enhances learning without which we can hardly talk of education. Many countries in the world, Zimbabwe included, ratified and signed protocols on equal access to education for all their citizens. For that reason, Zimbabwe formulated regulatory policies on inclusive education as a way of discouraging discrimination in education and society at large. In short, the implied value of inclusivity is equal access to education in spite of mental, physical challenges or otherwise. These researchers argue that equal access to education is much more than having the various categories of learners in one class, one group or same institutions or signing protocols but includes all the support services that should act as equalization facilities. This research, therefore, examined to what extent tertiary and university libraries in Masvingo urban fulfill this mandate. Keywords: Inclusivity; human rights; information; library; disability.

1. Introduction The absence of disabled people in development discourse has been seen as evidence of discrimination in society (Yokoyani, 2001). As reaction, equity and equality in education have become major components of the „rights discourse‟ in modern day society (Samkange, 2013). These have become catch-phrases epitomizing various countries‟ commitment to their peoples‟ rights to education irrespective of their physical and/or mental states. This led to the adoption of UNESCO‟s Salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education advocating for the inclusion of learners with disabilities in mainstream groups (Chireshe, 2013; Samkange, 2013; UNESCO, 1994). By inclusion, we mean “children with special educational needs…attend

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mainstream schools they would have [naturally] attended if they did not have a disability” (Chireshe, 2013, p.223). Inclusive education can, therefore, be viewed as a „new‟ human rights and social justice approach to education and disability (Bunch, 2008). Inclusion, in this sense, involves restructuring the cultures, policies and practices in education so as to respond to the diversity of students in their locality irrespective of their physical or mental states (Chireshe, 2013; Booth & Ainscow, 2002), that is, rights of all learners to mainstream learning institutions. Mainstreaming is the educational equivalent of the normalization principle based on the view that people living with disability have the right to the same life experiences as their peers (Swart & Pettipher, 2001). The concept of mainstreaming, however, needs to be pruned off its reliance on the medical perspective in which the barriers to equal access are seen as caused by the disability of the affected persons with no regards to how the institutional environment may be contributing to disabling them (Pieterse, 2010). Evidently, the underlying philosophy for inclusivity germinates from equal access and education for all movements in which education is seen as a right for every human being (UN, 2006). The above is tantamount to also declaring that every human being has right to information (Ndinde & Kadodo, 2014). In other words, the provision of information is as much a human rights issue as is provision of education. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2008 “reinforced our understanding of disability as a human rights and development priority” (World Health Organization, 2011, p.5). We note here that inclusion extends beyond the physical placement of people with disability to include moral issues of human rights and values (Pieterse, 2010; Clough, 1998; UNESCO, 1994). Inclusivity, in this regard, is a move away from the deficit perspective (a move from blaming the victim) to a systemic authentic change (Lomofsky & Lazarus, 2001) where people living with disability are viewed, accepted and included for what they are. Inclusive education in learning institutions should be understood as an integral component of a democratic society (Engelbrecht & Green, 2001; Dyson & Forlin, 1999). The hallmark of a fully inclusive community is where people with disability can declare that “we are everywhere these days, wheeling and looping down the street, tapping our canes, sucking on breathing tubes, following our guide dogs, puffing and sipping on the mouth sticks that propel our motorized chairs” (Heyer, 2007, p.261; Linton, 1998, p.4). This includes accessing and sharing information in same learning institutions. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRD) (UN, 2006) set the tone for member states to adopt, adapt and develop their own models of the rights of those living with various forms of disability for integration in mainstream systems. The UNCRD defines disability as evolving from interaction between persons living with impairments, attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their complete and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others (UN, 2006). Impairment, as Chataika (in Deaf Zimbabwe Trust, 2014) notes ranges from physical, sensory, neurological, intellectual, multi-impairments to mental illness or psychiatric. In other words, impairment is a long-term limitation of a person‟s physical, mental or sensory function (http://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/our-brand/social-model-of-disability

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downloaded 31/03/2015). In Zimbabwe, the spin at making education a right for all its citizens was visible in the 1987 Education Act that declared „education for all‟ seen as a corrective measure to empower the formerly disadvantaged group(s) in society. As regards disability, a SINTEF study carried out in 2003 (Choruma, 2006; SINTEF 2003b) indicated that 32% of the people with disabilities in Zimbabwe had no schooling, 36% had some primary schooling and 32% had some education beyond primary level. This acted as catalyst for activism on the rights of learners with various forms of disabilities. The logic informing this move rested in the recognition of education as human rights issue in which equal access became the catch phrase. The concept of equal access, however, can never be achieved without incorporating the rights of those with impairments. In order to facilitate the integration of learners with various forms of impairment into mainstream education, Zimbabwe (being a signatory to the Salamanca declaration for action on special needs education) developed a national framework to this end (Chireshe, 2013, 2011; Musengi et al., 2010; Mpofu et al., 2007). Zimbabwe does not have a specific policy on inclusive education but has inclusive education related policies, for instance, the 1996 Education Act and the Zimbabwe Disabled Persons Act of 1996 that advocate for non-discrimination of people with disability in the provision of education (Chireshe, 2013). This research, however, notes that inclusivity is much more than ratifying protocols and designing policies, or having a range of learners together in same institutions. To fully embrace the concept of inclusivity, it is equally necessary to ensure all other equalizing aspects are taken into account. Unless this is ensured, inclusivity would just remain a principle that has very little relevance to reality on the ground. For instance, Stofile and Green (2007) report on implementation problems of inclusivity owing to lack of adequately trained educators in South Africa, Griender (2010) reports on lack of logistic coordination amongst stakeholders in Malawi, whilst Musengi et al. (2010; see also Chireshe, 2013) note that lack of resources, relevant manpower training, policy makers and politicians‟ commitment to inclusivity as serious hindrances to successful implementation in Zimbabwe. This research looks at both accessibility of physical library structures and information in libraries as key to inclusivity. These are components that, together with others, should act as equalizing aspects for inclusivity to be realized.

1.1 Theoretical framing of disability Assessing the extent to which institutional libraries support inclusivity (or thereof lack of it), requires an understanding of how disability is framed because that inadvertently influences how libraries provide for various groups of its clientele. There are three perspectives that are used to frame disability. These are the Medical model, the Charity model and the Social model (Deaf Zimbabwe Trust [DZT], 2014). Some researchers like Yokoyani (2001), classify these perspectives into two, that is, the Medical and the Social where the Charity model is subsumed in the Medical model. In this research, we prefer to concentrate on the Medical and the Social because we are convinced that the Charity model comfortably sits within the Medical model. For convenience, we,

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however, begin with an outline of the three. As noted earlier, impairment is in various forms such as physical impairment, sensory impairment, neurological impairment, intellectual impairment, multi-impairments, mental illness or psychiatric impairment (Chataika, 2014 in Deaf Zimbabwe Trust, 2014). It is beyond the scope of this research to assess which impairment types could be handled in what way(s) or with what ease or difficulties for inclusivity to succeed. Rather, our purpose is to assess whether tertiary and university libraries in Masvingo urban are fulfilling their role to support inclusivity using infrastructural and informational accessibility for all users.

1.1.1 The Medical Model This perspective sees impairment as the problem and therefore regards problems of disability as situated in disabled individuals (Yokoyani, 2001). This view emphasizes individual deficits resulting in individuals needing to be cured and cared for. The model conceives that such individuals require medical treatment from doctors, physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists etc. whilst their caring requires rehabilitation centres, special schools, social workers, sheltered workshops, educational psychologists, specialized transport, sympathy and charity (Yokoyani, 2001; Deaf Zimbabwe Trust, 2014). This perspective places greater emphasis on the impairment than the capabilities and needs of the person (Deaf Zimbabwe Trust, 2014). The perspective sees individual deficit rather than the limitations of suitable provisions for personal needs (Yokoyani, 2001) as the problem. In short, in this perspective, the victims are blamed for being victims and are seen as only suitable for peripheral charity. They are viewed as passive recipients who should be cured and cared for by professionals within specialized settings manned by specialists. The exclusion is not viewed as discriminatory but as “a natural outcome of a person‟s physical or mental deviation from the nondisabled norm” (Heyer, 2007, p.265). Given the views above, what could this mean regarding service provision for impaired users in a carelessly envisioned library?

1.1.2 The Charity Model The model sees charity as the only logical way of helping persons with disabilities (Deaf Zimbabwe Trust, 2014). Charity is envisioned as necessary to create separate „specialized‟ facilities located away from „mainstream‟ community life. A typical example in Zimbabwe has been the establishment of Jairos Jiri Shelters for the physically impaired away from the so called mainstream society. The charity discourse is underpinned by the medical model of disability thus, does not foster self-esteem but instead opiates disability. As already stated above, we believe that the very characteristics that define this model situate it squarely as a subset of the medical model that rely on cure and care that come through charity from the „able‟ and the „haves‟.

1.1.3 The Social Model The emphasis in this perspective is on the socio-political environment in which problems of disability are situated in social structures (Yokoyani, 2001). The structures are seen as unyielding and unsupportive of people living with disabilities. These structures, rather than being enablers, they actually become

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disablers and tend to lower impaired people‟s self-esteem creating a sense in which the so called mainstream society seem to say, „It is alright, we understand that you can‟t do much within the normal environments‟. This becomes an excuse for the many badly designed social structures and mind-sets that are exclusionist. From the library point of view, exclusion occurs primarily due to both the physical buildings and institutional inaccessibility for impaired people (Yokoyani, 2001). Attitudinal segregation that are coupled with prejudiced views, are deep-sited in cultural and religious beliefs, and tend to diminish and erode impaired people‟s self-belief that they can actually achieve a lot of progress primarily from their own individual efforts. In other words, social structures create the dependency syndrome in people living with disability. In this way, self-assertiveness diminishes and self-pity and blame sets in. As Harvey (1992 in Yokoyani, 2001) notes, the situation will not be fully changed until the social structures and people‟s mind-sets towards disability are changed. Unfortunately, the Disabled Person‟s Act in Zimbabwe does not have adequate provisions nor powers to compel services infrastructure and public transport owners to ensure that their facilities allow free access by impaired people (Mandipa,2014 in Deaf Zimbabwe Trust, 2014). We believe that when disablers/barriers are removed or minimised, impaired people can exercise their independence and experience equal access with a measure of choice and control over their own lives (http://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/our-brand/social-model-of-disability downloaded 31/03/2015). Drawing from an amalgam of disablers/enablers outlined in the social model ranging from cultural and religious, segregation, inaccessibility and social prejudice, this research examines how libraries in the research location handle two critical enablers/disablers; accessibility of facilities and accessibility of information for impaired people. Depending on how each is treated, these can work as either enablers or disablers. One critical assumption of the social model is that once the nondisabled majority gains increasing contact with their disabled peers, discriminatory attitudes and fears of the unknown will disappear (Heyer, 2007).

1.2 Libraries, disability and inclusivity We note that the user is the „life-blood‟ of any 21st century library the world over. The library itself is in fact “the heart if not aorta” of any institute of learning (Sharma, 2012, p.222). The inclusive movement recast the mandate of libraries as an important component of the equalization process. Libraries, as centers of information provision, aim at providing timely, pertinent and reliable information for their users without discrimination. It cannot be overemphasized that the library is the hub of any learning institute. The library has mandate to collect and provide information to the whole range of their clientele. Wright (1997) posits that all library facilities and information services should be available to all library users. What this implies is that the facilities and services that libraries offer should be in tandem with the needs of all their users. This research examines whether this equalization desire is fully supported on the ground. We examine the nature of service charters, what James Cook University Library (downloaded 08/01/2016) sets out as „development of standards‟ that each of the libraries in the research site has and to what extent these are evident

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of equalization in services provision. We also look at in-house and external training that the library staff undergo to strengthen their service delivery. In addition, we look at accessibility of the physical infrastructure and whether information is properly coded for the various readers to fulfill the library‟s mandated service delivery to all its clients. As noted earlier, there are various categories of impairment that the library needs to cater for in its quest for inclusivity. They range from cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, to multi-impairment. This implies physical access to buildings and service areas, workstations, reading rooms, relevant visual/audio materials, relevant information technology gadgets for various library user-categories, specialized software etc. (Atiles et al., 2004). Some researchers like Williamson et al. (2007) observe that libraries have had problems in providing information for people with disabilities.

2 Research question Having noted the presence of library clients with various forms of disability, these researchers were left wondering as to what extent the said libraries were copying. We, thus, decided to carry out a research guided by the following question. To what extent are tertiary and university libraries in Masvingo urban supporting inclusive education?

3 Research methodology The current research employed qualitative methodology to assess the role of libraries within inclusivity education discourse. Qualitative research is “a situated activity that locates the observer in the world…[it]…involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world…[where]…researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, interpreting phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011, p.3; Creswell, 2013, p.43-4). The theme of inclusive education is social discourse whose comprehension requires understanding of “the social world that people have constructed and which they reproduce” through their activities and interactions (Blackie, 2007, p.124). As Blackie (2007) notes, qualitative research allows us to understand the meanings of social situations, interpreting people‟s actions and meanings of human-created worlds. Situating ourselves physically as researchers in the research environment allowed us to interpret and comprehend the underlying perceptions influencing the way libraries in the research site deal with education inclusivity and disabled library users. Through the interpretive paradigm, we sought to understand socially constructed reality (Yanow & Schwartz-Shea, 2011; Denzin & Lincoln, 2011; Creswell, 2013; Thahn & Thahn, 2015) from the point of view of both library staff and impaired library users. We were convinced that we could discover their reality through participants‟ views, their own backgrounds and experiences as well as through our own observations (Yanow & Schwartz-Shea, 2011; Creswell, 2003). It was for that reason that we employed semi-structured interviews and observation as data generating methods. The current research took the form of a qualitative descriptive survey design. The design helped us to understand how things are and what obtains on the

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ground (Denscombe, 2010). In short, this design was very useful in providing information about the “current state of affairs” (Kadodo, 2013, p.509) regarding library services in the defined research site. Information was given directly by participants (which helped us to assess the underlying attitudes of individuals) and through observation of situations on the ground (Kadodo et al., 2012).

3.1 Semi-structured interviews and observation An interview can be effectively used for gathering data about “a person‟s knowledge, values, preferences and attitudes” (Gray, 2014, p.383). Commenting on semi-structured interviews Brenner (2006), notes that the method allows researchers to ask all participants the same core questions with the freedom to follow-up questions that build on the responses received. Since the required information was located in social realities, semi-structured interviews helped to elicit highly personalised information that may otherwise not have been got through other data collection procedures (Gray, 2014). Participants expressed their views and feelings regarding whether libraries involved in this research were adequately catering for all their library users. Semi-structured interviews are flexible in that participants can expand their answers to clarify their meanings and reasons. Denzin and Lincoln (2011, p.467) note that observation is “the mainstay of the ethnographic enterprise” in which researchers are “observers of both human activities and of the physical settings in which such activities take place”. Through observation, we were able to „see‟ beyond participants‟ “opinions and self-interpretations of their attitudes and behaviours” (Gray, 2014, p.413). This data generating method allowed the researchers to observe the physical set-up of libraries. This data generating method moved us “towards an evaluation of their [participants] actions in practice” (p.413). Use of the two methods allowed us to triangulate and further move us to a deeper understanding of what really obtains (and why) in libraries in the research site. It was for these reasons that we used semi-structured interviews and observations to generate data for this research. Data collection was done by the researchers. Questionnaire items were developed around three key areas, namely the availability of client service charters in libraries, physical infrastructural accessibility and informational infrastructural accessibility. The researchers developed and administered the questionnaire and interviews.

3.2 Research participants Participants in this research comprised eight library staff, four impaired library users and two impaired lecturing staff. Of the eight library staff, two were Deputy Librarians whilst six worked at materials issuing as well as help desks. Their years of experience was two years and above. This selection decision ensured that we collect data from „information rich‟ participants regarding the phenomenon under study. The experience of the two lecturers was between three and five years in tertiary and university teaching. Two of the four library users were in their first year whilst the other two were in their second year of © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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study. All participants were drawn from the four libraries that took part in this research; namely Great Zimbabwe University Library, Zimbabwe Open University Library, Masvingo Teachers‟ College Library and Masvingo Polytechnic Library, all located in Masvingo urban. All research participants were purposively selected from libraries that took part in this research. We opted to purposively sample participants to ensure that only “knowledgeable people” take part in interviews (Cohen et al., 2011, p.157). We were convinced that we would get valuable information through focusing on “a relatively small” but information-rich group (Denscombe, 2010, p.34) allowing us to understand how the libraries are fulfilling the inclusive education mandate.

4 Findings and discussions Results for this research are organized into three thematic categories, that is, client service charter for inclusivity, physical infrastructural accessibility and informational accessibility. The results discussed here should be understood within the context of the tertiary and university libraries that participated. Although the same results may obtain in other localities beyond this research area, we emphasize on the „trustworthiness‟ and „credibility‟ of results than the „transferability‟ of them owing to the uniqueness of each library locality (Gray, 2014, p.186; Denzin & Lincoln, 2011, p.120). Data was analysed qualitatively and the discussion of findings was organized into themes. The results are thus discussed under three thematic categories namely, client service charter for inclusivity, physical infrastructural accessibility and informational accessibility.

4.1 Client service charter for inclusivity Library client service charter is a document that spells out in succinct terms the nature and quality of service provision, relational partnership of library staff and users and the inclusivity of service provision. The State Library of Queensland, Australia, in its draft charter notes that a “Customer Service Charter is an excellent opportunity to spell out your services and objectives” referring “to any existing library policies e.g. internet policy, and any library rules or regulations” (State Library of Queensland, download 08/01/2016). It further notes that the charter should be clearly displayed in the library, on the library website and on appropriate library promotional materials to facilitate maximum exposure to the library community. A client service charter is part of an organization‟s “continual efforts to improve client services in line with high standards of quality” (Dubai Customs, downloaded 08/01/2016). James Cook University Library client service charter, for instance, states that it “provides an environment that is inclusive and diverse” assuring its clients living with disability (James Cook University Library, downloaded 08/01/2016). The results from interviews with library staff and observations that we carried out revealed that none of the libraries taking part in this research had any client service charter in place. The interviewed library staff professed ignorance on the

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desirability of a client service charter for, and in the library. What we noted from some of the libraries were very brief mission statements adapted from organizational mission statements. For example, one such mission statement displayed on one library‟s website reads “…to support the teaching, learning and research programmes by acquiring and organizing access to information resources in a variety of formats….” This is just about all that talks about this library‟s service provision to its clients. The mandate of inclusivity for libraries is left to speculation with no clearly put across commitment by the said libraries. This, contrasted with, e.g. the James Cook University Library Charter that reads, as one among several of its key functions, that “We provide an environment that is inclusive and diverse…” (James Cook University Library, downloaded 08/01/2016) makes it sound like some libraries operate in the mode of „business as usual‟ with no particular urgency nor are under any pressure to be accountable to their clients. It is our conviction that modern libraries in the 21st century must be answerable to the demands of inclusivity as much as they should to their clients. We strongly believe that libraries should design client service charters that spell out the expected service partnership with their library clients. As libraries “we must focus on the needs of our clients” (University of Technology Sydney, downloaded 08/01/2016) ensuring that they are all catered for. A client service charter acts as both a guide and reminder for the library staff and library users of the essential cardinal rules of service partnership and provision. In a related issue, participants revealed that the current crop of library staff is not capacitated enough to attend to the needs of users with disability. The World Health Organisation, 2011, p.9) notes that “weak staff competencies can affect the quality, accessibility, and adequacy of services for persons with disability”. One participant in this research noted that “There is no specific training geared towards servicing users with disabilities” and that it was “out of human heart” that “we strive to help them under difficult circumstances”. The greater number of interviewed library staff felt that libraries should employ „specialist‟ library staff capable of assisting users with disability. Another participant weighed in that “It‟s a forgotten tribe in librarianship” referring to disabled library users. We, however, do not share the same views of employing library specialists to cater for the disabled users because that would perpetuate discrimination and derail inclusivity and equal access. This path, in our view, is shaped by the Medical (including the Charity) model where lack of equal access to service in the library is blamed on the disability of users than social structures that prefer keeping disabled users as a separate group needing specialist personnel to care for them. We rather suggest that all library staff be capacitated to deal with all groups of users to avoid this subtle form of discrimination. As a community, we need mentality/attitudinal shift to see all users as deserving equal treatment. Unless we are ready to embark on this counter-attitudinal shift, we must openly make our „goodbyes‟ to inclusive education. 4.2 Physical infrastructural accessibility Physical infrastructural accessibility relates to accessibility of buildings, services space and work stations. This also includes transport systems, all which should

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act as equalization factors. Unless these factors are attended to, then equal access and inclusive education are not possible in our communities. For the purpose of this research, we did not include transport and parking issues because we felt that this was outside the scope of institutional libraries. Data from interviews and observations revealed that of the four libraries, two had constructed ramps as an after-thought. The situation at one other library was particularly worrying. At this library, both the entry and exit points are fitted with „rotational‟ single, upright entry requirement facilities. Obviously, this does not accommodate wheelchair-bound users and is likely to give crutch-aided library users accessproblems. Our observations at this library deed not reveal any other entry options to this library. One impaired user we interviewed revealed that such users relied on the „charity‟ of friends who, after borrowing library materials would share with them. We also noted that at another library, though a ramp has now been constructed, those with mobility impairment were limited to the ground floor because there are no elevators. The only means of access to the first floor is a flight of steps. On the plus side, we noted that one of the four libraries has purpose-built restrooms but the other three still have to make such provisions. Interviews with both library staff and impaired users, and our observations revealed that in all libraries there were no height-adjustable tables for users with such requirements. We also noted that access to some workstations and services desks was not guaranteed for some impaired users owing to infrastructural designs. In his Foreword to the Report of the World Health Organization, Professor Stephen W Hawking notes that “My house and my workplace have been made accessible for me” (World Health Organization, 2011, p.3) indicating that for equality and inclusivity to be realized we need to make deliberate efforts to adjust physical infrastructure to be accommodative of all library users. The World Health Organization (2011) notes that reports from even countries with laws on accessibility, even those dating as far back as from twenty to forty years ago, confirm a very low level of compliance with these requirements. What this tells us is that we need to double our efforts for inclusive education and equal access to be realized.

6.3 Informational accessibility Informational accessibility refers to accessibility of information in formats consistent with the requirements of each library-user categories. Interviews and observations yielded data that revealed that the great bulk of library information was not available in formats accessible to some impaired library users. For example, speech to text and/or text to speech computer software, speech synthesizers, magnification equipment, large print and braille were conspicuously absent from the four libraries. Only one library had some software for the partially-blind. There were equally no capacitating sign language interpreters or displayed signs for the deaf and those hard-of-hearing (dumb). In short, the libraries in the whole did not have special format materials and technical aids for those impaired. While the four libraries had computers and other electronic gadgets, they did not have any adaptive technology and software for impaired library users. The World Health Organization‟s (2011,

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p.10) report also notes that reports from elsewhere indicate that “Little information is available in accessible formats, and many communication needs of people with disabilities are unmet”. Most of the interviewed library staff sited lack of resources and funding as a major handicap.

5 Conclusion and recommendations This research notes that the current position of the four participating libraries is that they are not offering adequate services to some of their library users. It was discovered that some user-categories are not fully catered for. As noted by various research participants, one of the noted problems is funding for libraries to make necessary physical infrastructural alterations to allow free access to services and facilities by impaired users as well as for the procurement of technologies and information in formats consistent with the needs of various groups of impaired users. However, in our view, this problem goes deeper than „meets the eye‟ where we may be framed to see the library and its environs as the problem. The issues go deeper than just the provision of the physical infrastructure and informational access. These issues need also to be understood at the attitudinal level for library staff, institution managers and policy makers. Unless commitment to inclusivity is demonstrated and vigorously supported from the national executive (politicians) there will be very little progress in realizing equal access in the area of education, and libraries in particular. Ratification and implementation of policies should be translated into practical actions that are backed by the executive at national level. In our view, we need to move away from seeing impairment from a deficit position to enabling social structures that allow impaired people to unleash their potentials. Meaningful inhousing training for library staff can only be realized when attitudes to impaired people are positive. As Engel and Munger (2003, p.80) notes, “rights shape identities” and these determine how the rights can be turned into “rights as a framework interpreting…experiences of unfairness”. We believe that by positively framing impairment, we move a step in the right direction in equalization of both physical infrastructural and informational accessibility as well as developing positive attitudes towards impaired library user.

Declaration The researchers wish to declare that there was no research grant attached to this research by any organization.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 204-217, March 2016

Student Attentive State Data Accumulation for Attention Tracker Development Chi-Jen Lin Fo Guang University Yilan 26247, Taiwan

Abstract. Attention is vital to learning, and attention trackers are potentially powerful tools for education practitioners. Herein, the promising technologies and relevant studies on attention are reviewed. In order to realize the goals of attention trackers, this study aimed to accumulate initial attentive state data, and to explore potential problems in the use of the accumulated data. It was found that the gaze location was a good estimator of the student’s attentive state. It was also discovered that real-time applications of attention trackers may find that previously obtained student attentive states must be altered at a later time. More studies are required for the development of attention trackers with desired characteristics. However, published results are promising. Keywords: Attention tracker; gaze estimation; webcam

Introduction Attention is an indispensable factor of successful learning. Without attention, poor learning outcomes are expected (Nissen & Bullemer, 1987). The impact of inattention on math and reading achievement of elementary children is both concurrent and longitudinal (Grills-Taquechel, et al., 2013; Gray, et. Al., 2015). Therefore, student attentive state data (attentive or inattentive) are valuable to investigate the reasons of poor student learning outcomes. In fact, student attentive state data are also informative for investigations of how instruction influences learning. For example, if a specific group of students in a class lose their attention at a specific time, this may indicate that the lecture was boring or too difficult for them at that time. Therefore, student attentive state data are valuable for the instructor’s assessment and for instructional improvement studies. In an ordinary classroom, it is generally not feasible to track and record the variation of attentive states of each student during the class. Even if it is economically feasible to track students’ attentive states manually, it is expected there will be increased interference during the class under such educational settings. Hence, student attentive state data should be better obtained through © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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automated tools, or using the attention trackers proposed in this study. In addition to applications in classrooms, attention trackers may also increase the bandwidth of intelligent tutoring systems in student modeling and allow implementation of more effective learning experiences. They may also be used to create new types of e-learning systems. Recent advancements in the field of computer vision, along with other technological advancements, have facilitated the implementation of numerous practical applications, such as body motion sensing (Zhang, 2012), eye gaze control of computing devices (Lopez-Basterretxea, Mendez-Zorrill, & GarciaZapirain, 2015), Google glasses, and self-driving cars (Greenblatt, 2016). Most of these applications focused on commodities or entertainment. Unfortunately, development of similar applications in the field of education has received much lesser attention. However, based on the trend of development of these applications, this study envisions and argues that the development of attention trackers using webcams is promising with existing computer vision techniques. The use of webcams is emphasized because they are currently available on most smart phones, pad and laptop computers. Thus, all these devices can be converted into attention trackers with the installation of dedicated software. Relevant computer vision techniques will be reviewed in this paper to justify this argument. When attention trackers are eventually created, their accuracy in attention tracking must be quantified to evaluate their usability. To quantify the accuracy of attention trackers, a video database of student learning with the associated attentive state labels assigned by human beings is required. The video data will be input into attention trackers to produce attention tracking data that will be compared with the attentive state labels stored in the database. Subsequently, the accuracy of attention trackers will be calculated based on the comparative results. Given that this attention tracking database does not exist currently, it is imperative that is manually created. In addition to accumulating data for this database, it is also significant to investigate whether consistency problems exist in the attentive state labels assigned by different persons. This consistency study is significant for verification of the effectiveness of the accuracy measure. In the remaining parts of this paper, we will first review some prior literature studies on the topic of attention, and the promising techniques for attention tracker development. An experiment on how to accumulate student attention data, and the generated results, are subsequently described. Discussion and conclusions are also outlined.

Published studies on attention Attention was extensively studied in many academic fields, including psychology, cognitive science, special education, human-computer interface, computer vision, etc. It was reported that more than 40,000 studies existed in a survey of attention studies (Lin & Chou, 2010). However, concerns raised by the published studies differed among academic fields or even within the same field in some occasions. In the field of psychology, it was stated that the word ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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“attention” could refer to different phenomena, such as focused attention, selective attention, attention switching, divided attention, and sustained attention (Wickens & McCarley, 2007). Nonetheless, psychological studies mainly focused on articulating the mental mechanisms of attention of human beings. On the other hand, human-computer interface studies manage user attention in order to optimize information displayed to users (Bulling, 2016), while special education studies might focus on training of children with attention deficit disorders (Barkley, 2013; DuPaul & Stoner, 2014; Smith, et al., 2015). However, among the various concerns of attention studies, the topic of visual attention intrigued the largest number of researchers, including those in the fields of psychology, cognitive science, computer vision, and education. A vast amount of work was conducted to study visual attention during reading, scene perception, and visual search (Rayner, 2009; Borji & Itti, 2013). Such studies were generally conducted with eye movement data. This study investigates attention tracking, the mechanisms to recognize immediately on whether students are attentive during learning, especially during lectures. This scientific concern of attention is novel and few similar study is dedicated to it. It is significant to discover how much information is needed to recognized effectively students’ attentive states. It was indicated in the literature that eye behavioral information, such as saccadic velocities, fixation durations, blink rates, and pupil diameters, were beneficial for inferring the emotional states of students (Porta, Ricotti, & Perez, 2012), which might be also beneficial for inferring the attentive states of students. Therefore, the studies of visual attention and eye behaviors were valuable for the study of attention tracking. It was also known that attention could be classified into overt and covert attention (Wickens & McCarley, 2007; Rayner, 2009; Bulling, 2016). Behavioral traits of overt attention showed alignment between gaze position and the object of interest, while covert attention did not. However, covert attention was difficulty to be estimated (Bulling, 2016). Furthermore, it was claimed that covert attention was not easy to achieve for tasks such as reading, scene perception, and visual search (Rayner, 2009). Thus, it was practical to neglect covert attention while inferring student attentive states for attention tracker development.

Potential techniques and strategy for attention tracker development Attention tracking might involve estimation of visual attention, eye behaviors, facial expressions, and body gestures. Therefore, the task of attention tracking was supposed to be complex and difficult. However, the techniques used to estimate most of the aforementioned human behaviors were extensively studied in the computer vision literature. Particularly, gaze estimation (estimation of gaze position) with webcam data is now maturing (Li, Li, Qin, 2014; Wood & Bulling, 2014), although the main stream studies typically use cameras with improved specifications and an additional infrared light source to increase the accuracy of estimation (Chennamma & Yuan, 2013; Al-rahayefh & Faezipour, 2013). Products also exist for facial expression recognition, such as the FaceReader (for recognition of the emotion expressed by a facial expression), and for body gestures recognition, such as the Xbox Kinect. Therefore, in order © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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to develop an attention tracker, it is important to learn how to discern whether students are attentive during learning by combining all these information. To reduce the complexity in the development of attention trackers, techniques that could be potentially beneficial will be introduced incrementally, with a priority placed on gaze estimation. Gaze position is believed to account for most of the attentive states of students. If the gaze position of a student is targeted on a reasonable area, such as the lecturer or learning material, it is plausible to assume that the student is attentive. This hypothesis will be preliminarily explored in the experiment reported in next section. Information obtained from facial expressions and body gestures may be used to vindicate or override the assumptions posed for gaze estimation. Comparing the estimation of attention trackers with accumulated data in the attention tracking database might be beneficial to reveal how to combine all these information. Furthermore, studies of consistent attentive state label assignments by different people may also help discover the knowledge possessed by humans. Therefore, the task of accumulating student attentive state data is essential for the development of attention trackers.

Experiment on attentive state data accumulation As stated in the introduction section, two types of information have to be accumulated in the attention tracking database, namely, video data of student learning, and their attentive state labels. However, the duration of video clips must be decided before commencing the data labeling task. In this study, video data of student learning was logically divided into units of five-second video clips to facilitate subsequent work. The video clips of the same student were actually stored in the same file, but a blank frame was added to separate one video clip from another. Each logical video clip was reviewed, and was then independently labeled with its attentive state by two students. This video analysis approach was suggested in the literature (Wu, Sung, & Chien, 2010). Hence, there were two attentive state labels for each logical video clip in order to facilitate the conduct of the consistency study. At this stage of the attention tracker development, the best place to use the webcam for this experiment was in PC rooms. Therefore, the experiment was conducted with students who attended classes in PC rooms. The details and the results of the experiment are given in the following subsections.

Experimental tools Some software applications were developed to facilitate the experimental tasks and to reduce the error rates in video data labeling, and labeling data transcription. The functions of each software application are explained below. (1) Video recording software: The main task of this software was to record video data of student learning. Since the video data was planned to be divided into five-second video clips, a blank frame was automatically added every five seconds by the software. Moreover, before recording, a calibration process was conducted to facilitate subsequent work. Firstly, a student had to ensure that the webcam setup was able to fully capture the ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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user. Therefore, after launching the software, a window appeared, and displayed what the webcam captured, as shown in Fig. 1a, in order to facilitate adjustment of the webcam setup. Secondly, in order to facilitate the task of attentive state labeling, some reference shots of each student were taken when the student was looking at the teacher and at the four corners of the screen, respectively, as shown in Fig. 1b to Fig. 1f. These reference shots were supposed to be compared with the video clip data in order to determine if the student was attentive or not. In Fig. 2b, the user was asked to press the spacebar while looking at the teacher. In the meantime, while the spacebar was pressed, a reference shot of the student was taken while looking at the teacher. Similarly, the student was asked to click at the disk located at the four corners of the screen. Reference shots were taken while the student was looking at the four corners of the screen.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

Figure 1: Calibration process before video recording.

(2) Attentive state labeling software: This software was used to display video clips stored in video files created by the video recording software, and to assign the associated attentive state labels. After loading a video file, the software automatically read the five reference shots and displayed them in designated tabs, as shown in Fig. 2b to Fig. 2f. The video itself was shown in ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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the first tab, as indicated in Fig. 2a. The user could switch from one tab to another freely, even during the video play. At the end of a video clip, the video display was automatically stopped. The play button was pressed to advance to the next video clip. However, to enable a fast search of video clips, the number of video clips could be keyed in to allow easy navigation. The results of attentive state labels were saved whenever the user clicked on the save button.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

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(3) Gaze location labeling software: This software was used to label student gaze location in each video clip whenever it focused on reasonable targets, namely, on the computer screen, or on the teacher. These gaze location data were used for comparison with attentive state data to explore how well the gaze location data accounted for attentive state data. The interface of this software was similar to attentive state labeling software, and only some descriptive text labels in the interface differed.

Participants Eleven students in total participated in the video recording experiment. Two students failed to properly set up their webcams, and their videos did not always include their entire heads. Unknown technical problems occurred in the video recording for one student leading to a non-useful video file. Therefore, the video data of these three students were not used in subsequent studies. All students recorded their own videos while attending a class in a PC room. Four students were hired to conduct the video labeling tasks, including the attentive state labeling, and the gaze location labeling.

Procedures Initially, four student workers were hired to conduct the video recording experiment in order to identify potential problems of video recording in a PC class. These four students positioned webcams on the top of the computer monitors, at a position in front of the user faces. The frontal position of the webcams facilitate video reviews. After the success of the video recording experiment, seven volunteers were recruited from two classes in Fo Guang University in Taiwan. No rewards were given to them. The intended academic use of their videos, and instructions for the use of the video recording software, were explained during their recruitment. The participants signed their agreements before they entered the experiments. Each participant received a webcam and a USB drive containing the video recording software. Student video files were stored in the USB drives during recording. All devices were returned after video recordings. The volunteers positioned webcams on top of the desks. This position of the webcam resulted in a skewed frontal view of student faces, because it was only approximately 50 cm away. At a later stage, it was found that this skewed frontal view resulted in difficulties in video reviews. The student workers reported that it was harder to discern the eye targets of the students in the skewed frontal views compared to those in frontal views. However, in order to develop an attention tracker, we need videos at different view angles to test the capability and limitations of attention trackers. The number of recruited volunteers was much lower than our expectation. Most students did not enter the experiment because they hesitated to record their own videos. Even if the volunteers decided to enter the experiment, some of them behaved unnaturally before the cameras for a period of time. Furthermore, two volunteers failed to produce usable videos for our study, because their heads were not always in view. Another volunteer encountered unknown software ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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problems. Finally, only of the four volunteer datasets was kept for subsequent labeling tasks. After receiving the student videos, the four student workers served as reviewers of the conduct of the attentive state labeling tasks, with each video reviewed by two reviewers. Subsequently, only the videos with frontal views were used. Gaze location labeling tasks were conducted first, and inconsistent labels were then discussed by the reviewers to assess on whether they could reach consensuses.

Results The statistical data of attentive state labels of frontal view videos are listed in Table 1. The data associated with each student video (denoted by s1 to s4) provided by the two reviewers are shown in each row. There were 2145 fivesecond (7.15 h) video clips in total in this category. Reviewers were allowed to assign three types of labels: attentive, inattentive, and undiscernible (a label to be given when the reviewer was not able to tell whether the student was attentive or not). However, there was a small percentage of video clips (0.09%) in which the reviewers neglected to assign labels. Thus, there were four possible attentive states in a video clip in total. Indiscernible video clips only occupied a small percentage (6.43%) of the total recordings on average, indicating that the attentive state of most video clips were discernible.

Video

Total

Table 1: Attentive state labels of frontal view videos. Attentive state label Total number Unlabeled Attentive Inattentive Indiscernible of video clips 0 294 242 47 (0%) (50.43%) (41.51%) (8.06%) 583 1 88 494 0 (0.17%) (15.09%) (84.73%) (0%) 3 189 373 14 (0.52%) (32.64%) (64.42%) (2.42%) 579 0 40 539 0 (0%) (6.91%) (93.09%) (0 %) 0 407 117 207 (0 %) (55.68%) (16.01%) (28.32%) 731 0 250 473 8 (0 %) (34.20%) (64.71%) (1.09%) 0 205 47 0 (0 %) (81.35%) (18.65%) (0 %) 252 0 87 165 0 (0 %) (34.52%) (65.48%) (0 %) 4 1560 2450 276 2145 (0.09%) (36.36%) (57.11%) (6.43%)

Label consistency

317 (54.37%)

399 (68.91%)

304 (41.59%)

124 (49.21%) 1144 (53.33%)

According to Table 1, on average, only 53.33% of the video clips were assigned consistent labels by the two reviewers, indicating that human beings tended to be inconsistent about their views of student attentive states. However, this ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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inconsistency was eliminated after the reviewers discussed the reasons of their decisions while watching the video clips together. From time to time, the attentive state of the student in the five-second video clips might have been attentive for a part of time, and inattentive for the rest. This finding was influential on the problem of attentive state inconsistency. When this finding was discovered, a criterion was established to assign to video clips the attentive state that dominated it. Nonetheless, sometimes it was still difficult for reviewers to estimate which attentive state dominated. In this case, reviewers would assign an indiscernible label. There were also some cases for which reviewers needed to also consider the subsequent video clip to assess which decision was more sensible. In addition to partial attentive state problems, misinterpretation of student behavior was another significant reason of inconsistency in attentive state labels. No matter which reason led to the assignment of inconsistent attentive state labels, the discussion phase was significant to ensure the quality of the final attentive state data. Table 2: Consistency analysis of self-reviews and peer reviews (consensus). Attentive state label Total number Video Consistency Unlabeled Attentive Inattentive Indiscernible of video clips 0 0 92 491 s1 self (15.78%) (84.22%) (0%) (0%) 488 583 (83.7%) 0 0 155 428 peer (26.59%) (73.41%) (0%) (0%) 0 0 516 63 s2 self (89.12%) (10.88%) (0%) (0%) 262 579 (45.25%) 0 199 380 0 peer (0%) (34.37%) (65.63%) (0%) 0 344 384 3 s3 self (0 %) (47.06%) (52.53%) (0.41%) 608 731 (83.17%) 0 362 363 6 peer (0 %) (49.52%) (49.66%) (0.82%) 1 150 97 0 s4 self (0.40%) (59.52%) (38.49%) (0%) 178 252 (70.63%) 0 185 67 4 peer (0 %) (73.41%) (26.59%) (1.59%) Total 1 1102 1035 3 self (0.05%) (51.38%) (48.25%) (0.14%) 1536 2145 (71.61%) Total 0 901 1238 10 peer (0.00%) (42.00%) (57.72%) (0.47%)

The discussion phase produced the consensual results of the two reviewers of each video. In this experiment, no disputation between the four pairs of reviewers was found during the discussion phase. In order to investigate how the consensual results of peer reviews of each video relate to student selfreviews, the students in the frontal view group were asked to do a self-review of their own videos. Consistency analysis between self-reviews and peer reviews was depicted in Table 2. Note that the rate of indiscernible labels was greatly reduced after peer discussion, as revealed by comparing Table 1 and Table 2. ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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The discussion phase helped the reviewers to become more capable of discerning the attentive states of students. In consideration of the statistical data of skewed frontal view videos shown in Table 3, it was found that the average label consistency was not much different from those of the frontal view videos. In fact, the average label consistency of skewed frontal view videos was slightly better than those of the frontal view videos, although the reviewers reported that it was more difficult to review the videos in this category. It is possible that the skewed frontal view only increased the mental efforts of the reviewers, but did not influence other aspects of the review. There were 4480 five-second (14.93 h) video clips in total in this category.

Video

Total

Table 3: Attentive state labels of skewed frontal view video. Attentive state label Total number Label Unlabeled Attentive Inattentive Indiscernible of video consistency clips 0 487 467 4 (0 %) (50.84%) (48.75%) (0.42%) 733 958 (76.51%) 5 308 645 0 (0.52%) (32.15%) (67.33%) (0 %) 0 560 164 444 (0 %) (47.95%) (14.04%) (38.01%) 665 1168 (56.93%) 0 984 118 66 (0 %) (84.25%) (10.10%) (5.65%) 0 1098 38 35 (2.99%) (0 %) (93.77%) (3.25%) 794 1171 (67.81%) 4 768 399 0 (0.34%) (65.58%) (34.07%) (0 %) 0 649 239 295 (0 %) (54.86%) (20.20%) (24.94%) 534 1183 (45.14%) 3 212 845 123 (0.25%) (17.92%) (71.43%) (10.40%) 9 4854 2067 552 2726 4480 (0.10%) (54.17%) (23.07%) (6.16%) (60.85%)

In addition to attentive state labels, each reviewer also assigned gaze location labels to the same set of video clips. Thus, the relationship between these two types of information of the same reviewers would reveal how well gaze location labels predicted attentive state labels. Table 4 showed the results of this relationship. The numbers in Table 4 denoted numbers of video clips. The value of a gaze location label was either positive, indicating that the gaze location of the student was targeted on the computer screen or the teacher, or negative, indicating the opposite case. If a gaze location label was positive and the associated attentive state label was attentive, then the gaze location label was an accurate positive predictor of the attentive state label. Similarly, if a gaze location label was negative, and the associated attentive state label was ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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inattentive, then the gaze location label was an accurate negative predictor of the attentive state label. According to Table 4, the rate of accurate positive predictions was approximately the same as the rate of accurate negative predictions, and they reached 80.7% on average. Therefore, the gaze location was a good approximation for student attentive states. Table 4: Accurate prediction of gaze location on attentive states. Review

Accurate positive prediction

Accurate negative prediction

Total accurate prediction

Inaccurate prediction

R1 (s1) R2 (s1) R3 (s2) R4 (s2) R5 (s3) R6 (s3) R7 (s4) R8 (s4) Total

165 (79.33%) 86 (93.48%) 175 (46.67%) 24 (54.55%) 394 (98.01%) 330 (100%) 134 (67.68%) 73 (64.04%) 1381 (78.33%)

224 (59.73%) 489 (99.8%) 185 (90.69%) 519 (97.01%) 117 (35.56%) 387 (97.24%) 36 (66.67%) 124 (89.86%) 2081 (82.48%)

389 (66.72%) 575 (98.63%) 360 (62.18%) 543 (93.78%) 511 (69.9%) 717 (98.08%) 170 (67.46%) 197 (78.17%) 3462 (80.70%)

194 (33.28%) 8 (1.372%) 219 (37.82%) 36 (6.218%) 220 (30.1%) 14 (1.915%) 82 (32.54%) 55 (21.83%) 828 (19.30%)

Total number of video clips 583 583 579 579 731 731 252 252 4290

In order to preliminarily investigate the effects of student ages, and to explore other potential factors that may influence the accuracy of attention tracking and the effectiveness of the data in the attentive state database, two grade-four students were recruited to conduct the same experiment. However, the learning activity was modified. The two elementary students were studying an online geometric learning material during the experiment. No human teacher gave the two students lectures during the experiment, but a teacher was around them during the experiment. Four teachers with more than ten-years teaching experience were recruited as reviewers. The results of label consistency analysis were listed in Table 5. According to Table 5, the label consistency of the reviewers of the two elementary student videos was much higher than that of Table 1 and Table 3, indicating that the teaching experience of reviewers do impact the effectiveness of the reviews.

Video

Total

Table 5: Label consistency analysis of elementary student data. Attentive state label Total number Label Unlabeled Attentive Inattentive Indiscernible of video consistency clips 0 117 31 3 (0 %) (77.48%) (20.53%) (1.99%) 119 151 (78.81%) 0 116 22 13 (0%) (76.82%) (14.57%) (8.61 %) 0 253 18 0 (0 %) (93.36%) (6.64%) (0%) 251 271 (92.62%) 10 251 10 0 (3.69%) (92.62%) (3.69%) (0%) 10 737 81 16 370 422 (1.18%) (87.32%) (9.60%) (1.90%) (87.68%)

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Since the two students were generally concentrated on the learning tasks, the rate of inattentive states was 9.60% only, according to Table 5. The low number inattentive states may have influenced the rate of negative prediction of gaze location on attentive states, as depicted in Table 6. The negative prediction rates greatly fluctuated between 100% and around 48%, with an average of 68.97%. The positive prediction rates were more stables, with an average of 93.78%. The overall prediction rate of gaze location on attentive states was 85.19%, indicated again that gaze location was a good approximation of attentive states. Table 6: Accurate prediction of gaze location on attentive states (elementary students). Accurate Accurate Total Total Inaccurate Review positive negative accurate number of prediction prediction prediction prediction video clips r1 (e1) 117 (84.78%) 7 (100%) 124 (82.12%) 27 (17.88%) 151 r2 (e1) 116 (94.31%) 17 (100%) 133 (88.08%) 18 (11.92%) 151 r3 (e2) 206 (96.71%) 7 (53.85%) 213 (78.6%) 58 (21.4%) 271 r4 (e2) 240 (96%) 9 (42.86%) 249 (91.88%) 22 (8.118%) 271 Total 679 (93.78%) 40 (68.97%) 719 (85.19%) 125 (14.81%) 844

Discussion It was difficult to solve the partial attention problem in student video clips at this stage. Ideally, the boundaries of video clips should be best placed at the transition points of changing attentive states in the video rather than be placed at the fixed 5-seconds periods. However, such boundary decisions would require knowledge on how to discern on whether a student was attentive or not, which was one of the goals pursued by segmenting the entire video into multiple clips. Although it was possible to determine the video clip onsets and ends manually, such a decision-making process was time consuming, and it was still unclear on whether such boundary decisions would be accurate, given that currently, appropriate theories for boundary decisions of video clips for attentive state labeling are still lacking. The experience gained through the data accumulation experiment in this study might be worthy of consideration in attention tracker development, in that, sometimes reviewers may require more observation time to decide on whether a student was attentive or not. This experience indicated that attention trackers might be unable to produce attentive state data until a later time. Another possibility was that attention trackers may need to change their previously produced data at a later stage. Real-time applications of attention trackers should also take these features into consideration. A noteworthy finding revealed in Tables 1, 2, and 3 was the low percentage of student attentive time. Students in the frontal view group were attentive for only 36.36% (42.00% according to the consensual results after peer discussion, 51.38% according to the results of self-reviews) of class time, while students in the skewed frontal view group were attentive for only 54.17% of class time. This finding was surprising for the class teachers. From this perspective, if attention ÂŠ 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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trackers are available, teachers might use them to obtain the distribution of student attentive time of the entire class. Such information would be based on evidence rather than perception for teachers. In the study of the 2 sigma problem that is well known in the intelligent tutoring system research community (Bloom 1984), it was claimed that teachers were generally under the impression that all students in their classes were given equal opportunity for learning, while in fact they provided more favorable conditions for top students, and ignored average students. Attention trackers would be enabling tools to investigate the details of Bloom’s claim (Bloom 1984). Attention trackers might also be used to estimate the impact of new pedagogical tools on student motivation. In most occasions, learning attention was also an indicator of learning motivation. Bored students would lose their learning attention eventually, while motivated students were usually highly focused on learning. Therefore, comparing student attention time would be an objective measurement for evaluating which pedagogical approach must be preferred.

Conclusions and future work Attention trackers are potentially powerful tools for instructional improvements and educational tool enhancements. The realization of attention tracker development is promising, but more studies are required to investigate how to immediately recognize whether a student is attentive or not. Gaze location was shown to be a good approximation of the student attentive state. The use of other information to recognize student attentive state, such as eye behavior and body gesture, requires more investigations. In fact, the studies on how primary school teachers discern the attentive state of students are in progress. The goal is to obtain a set of reliable rules to recognize student attentive state. Such a set of rules will be useful for training video reviewers, for producing database with high quality data, and for developing attention trackers. It is expected that the realization of attention trackers will result in beneficial influences in the field of education.

Acknowledgements The author would like to thank for the grant support of Fo Guang University and Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan under the contract number MOST 104-2511-S-431-001. Special thanks were given to Grace Gao for her efforts in conducting the elementary school experiment.

References Al-Rahayfeh, A., & Faezipour, M. (2013). Eye tracking and head movement detection: A state-of-art survey. IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine, 1, 2100212-2100212. DOI: 10.1109/JTEHM.2013.2289879. Barkley, R. A. (2013). Defiant children: A clinician's manual for assessment and parent training. Guilford Press. Bloom, B. S. (1984). The 2 sigma problem: The search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one tutoring. Educational Researcher, 13(6), 4–16. Bulling, A. (2016). Pervasive Attentive User Interfaces. IEEE Computer, 49(1), 94–98. Borji, A., & Itti, L. (2013). State-of-the-art in visual attention modeling. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 35(1), 185–207. © 2016 The author and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Chennamma, H. R., & Yuan, X. (2013). A Survey on Eye-Gaze Tracking Techniques. Indian Journal of Computer Science and Engineering, 4(3), 388–393. Conati, C., Merten, C., Muldner, K., & Ternes, D. (2005). Exploring eye tracking to increase bandwidth in user modeling. In L. Ardissono, P. Brna, and A. Mitrovic (Eds.): User Modeling 2005, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 3538, (pp. 357–366). Heidelberg: Springer, Berlin. DuPaul, G. J., & Stoner, G. (2014). ADHD in the schools: Assessment and intervention strategies. Guilford Publications. Gray, S. A., Rogers, M., Martinussen, R., & Tannock, R. (2015). Longitudinal relations among inattention, working memory, and academic achievement: testing mediation and the moderating role of gender. PeerJ, 3:e939. DOI 10.7717/peerj.939. Greenblatt, N.A. (2016). Self-driving cars and the law. IEEE Spectrum, 53(2), 46-51. Grills-Taquechel, A.E., Fletcher, J.M. Vaughn, S.R., Denton, C.A., & Taylor, P. (2013). Anxiety and inattention as predicators of achievement in early elementary school children. Anxiety, Strees, & Coping, 26(4), 391-410. Li, X., Li, Z.L., & Qin, J.L. (2014). An improved gaze tracking technique based on eye model. Proceedings of the 33rd Chinese Control Conference, (pp. 7286-7291). Nanjing, China. IEEE. Lin, H.Y., & Chou, T.J. (2010). The development of an attention test for elementary school children. Bulletin of Special Education, 35(2), 29-53 (In Chinese). Lopez-Basterretxea, A., Mendez-Zorrilla, A., & Garcia-Zapirain, B. (2015). Eye/head tracking technology to improve HCI with iPad applications. Sensors, 15(2), 22442264. Nissen, M. J., & Bullemer, P. (1987). Attentional requirements of learning: evidence from performance measures. Cognitive Psychology, 19(1), 1–32. Porta, M., Ricotti, S., & Perez, C. J. (2012). Emotional e-learning through eye tracking. IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), (pp. 1–6). Marrakech, Morocco. IEEE. Rayner, K. (2009). Eye movements and attention in reading, scene perception, and visual search. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62(8), 1457–1506. Smith, T. E., Polloway, E. A., Patton, J. R., Dowdy, C. A., & Doughty, T. T. (2015). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings. Pearson. Wickens, C. D., & McCarley, J.S. (2007). Applied Attention Theory. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. Wood, E., & Bulling, A. (2014). Eyetab: Model-based gaze estimation on unmodified tablet computers. Proceedings of the Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications, (pp. 207–210). Safty Harbor, Florida, USA. ACM. Wu, H.K., Sung, Y.T., & Chien, H.Y. (2010). Conducting video analysis in educational research. Journal of Research in Education Sciences, 55(4), 1–37 (In Chinese). Zhang, Z. (2012) Microsoft kinect sensor and its effect. IEEE MultiMedia, 19(2), 4-10.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 218-241, March 2016

Antecedents of Students‘ Self-Regulatory Strength in Technology-Rich School Environments Thomas Arnesen Stord/Haugesund University College Stord, Norway Knut-Andreas Christophersen and Eyvind Elstad University of Oslo Oslo, Norway

Abstract. The internet activity of adolescents has increased to a considerable extent over the past few years. A key question is how students are able to regulate their study efforts in technology-rich classrooms. With the introduction of internet access in the classroom, a conflict of motivations may ensue between short-term rewards of playing games, interacting on social media or surfing the net and the long-term rewards of academic achievement. The purpose of this article is to explore the antecedents of students‘ self-regulatory strength. The antecedents are students‘ school motivation and school-related factors (use of internet as a learning resource at school, as well as distinct quality aspects of the teaching: teacher expectations, explanatory skills and classroom management). Regression analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were carried out based on 3400 student (15-17 year olds) answers to a questionnaire administered in 60 secondary schools. First, the regression analysis shows significant associations between the regressors and students‘ regulatory strength. Second, the SEM analysis shows that any positive effect of the teaching on students‘ self-regulation depends to a significant extent on the attitudes of the students towards the school as an institution. Third, our results show that the provision of the internet as a teaching resource induces a motivational conflict between recreational internet activity and schoolrelated academic work. This conflict has a clear negative effect on students‘ regulatory strength in academic work. The conclusion must therefore be that it is difficult to make use of the many internet affordances for school learning within schools without a critical

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awareness of the potential negative side effects on students‘ selfregulatory strength. Keywords: ICT and education; technology-rich classrooms; selfregulation; motivational conflict.

Introduction The internet activity of adolescents in and out of school has increased to a considerable extent over the past few years. The use of the internet in the context of school has long fascinated educational researchers, politicians, educational bureaucrats, teachers and students. Some see the arrival of information and communication technology (ICT) in schools as part of schools‘ necessary adaptation and modernisation (Søby, 2013). ICT has contributed to efficiencies in many careers, so why not in school? Others regard the internet as a potential tool for strengthening learners‘ creative work with information sources (Willett, Robinson & Marsh, 2009). Searching for information and synthesizing information from multiple sources is an important skill in a society in which access to information increases significantly year on year (European Commission, 2013). On the basis of such reasoning, Nordic educational authorities claim that digital skills are an important competency (Finnish National Board of Education, 2014; Skolverket, 2013; Utdanningsdirektoratet, 2012). School should prepare an individual for life after schooling, so why not use ICT as a writing tool, for simulations, for the gathering of information and for communication? Students are currently expected to make academic use of the internet. However, the technology also affords the possibility to off-task behaviours in the classroom: chat, browse websites and play games. A significant professional controversy is found in the question of what effect different varieties of ICT use in school can have on academic achievement. One argument is that the conscious use of ICT tools can contribute to more effective learning (Rutten, van Joolingen, & van der Veen, 2012). ICT can, for instance, help visualise explanations of dynamic processes, which traditional textbooks struggle to do in a similar manner (Clarke & Mayer, 2011). An example is a physical explanation of what happens inside a pump when a person uses the pump to blow air into a bicycle tyre. The possibility of visualising the dynamic mechanisms involved means that educational computer programmes are better able to explain the physical processes than a textbook‘s step-by-step images of certain stages of the process combined with textual explanations (Mayer & Moreno, 2002). Another example is that educational computer programmes make it possible to simulate processes which otherwise are difficult to experiment with, such as simulating blood flow in the body, macroeconomic mechanisms, physical processes in zero gravity, cell division and so on. In short, it is argued that ICT can contribute to unique opportunities for learning complex

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academic material in an effective manner (Smetana & Bell, 2012). Others believe that learning activities in school will offer an amputated experience if learners cannot use the information tools that actually exist in the world outside school (Greeno, 2006). An example of this is the argument that traditional school examinations without the help of external aids promote an artificial control of knowledge (Ludvigsen, 2012). Yet others propose a socio-cultural view that knowledge is built into the apparatus that we use. From this theoretical perspective, thinking is no longer regarded as something that takes place exclusively in a person‘s head, but rather it occurs in the interaction between the person, the object and the tools that are employed (Säljö, 2001, p. 83). On the basis of the above descriptions, there are scholarly arguments for the use of ICT in schools. Following this reasoning, the educational authorities in some countries (such as Norway) have put significant resources into purchasing personal computers with internet access for almost all students in uppersecondary education. Further, similar purchases of computers for many students in primary and lower secondary school are expected to occur. Norway, Sweden and Finland come top in Europe with regard to ICT access at 11th grade (European Commission, 2013:, p. 12), but the intensity of ICT use in lessons by teachers is much lower in Finland compared to Sweden and Norway (European Commission, 2013, p. 56). Investments have also been made in learning platforms as communication tools between teachers and students, as administrative tools for school management and as a teaching resource (for instance, electronic textbooks and educational programmes that are incorporated in the learning platforms). A great deal of research has been carried out into how students use computers in an educational context for academic work (e.g. Smets & Mooji, 2001) and the impact on learning (Angrist & Lavy, 2002; Fried, 2008; Vavik et al., 2010), and research also indicates the darker sides of student use of computers in school (Elstad, 2006, 2008), such as tendencies to multitask and to carry out non-academic activities during lessons (Fried, 2008; Brante, 2009). Self-regulation is a crucial component if students are to mindfully apply effort at school (Salomon, 1983). Self-regulation or self-discipline ―outdoes IQ‖ in predicting academic performance of adolescents, and ―A major reason for students falling short of their intellectual potential [is] their failure to exercise self-discipline‖ (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005, pp. 939, 944). Regulatory skills are important because ―grades depend heavily on the ability to sustain effort and concentration despite boredom, fatigue, and innumerable distractions over the course of an academic year‖ (Duckworth & Seligman 2006, p. 199). Regulatory strength requires (1) ―the ability to suppress prepotent responses in the service of a higher goal and … such a choice is not automatic but rather requires conscious effort‖ (Duckworth & Seligman, 2005, p. 944) and/or (2) that teachers influence students‘ regulatory strength by means of their teaching. The

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purpose of this article is to explore the antecedents of students‘ regulatory strength in technology-rich school environments.

Theoretical framework Mindful engagement is crucial for achieving deep learning in academic tasks (i.e. the answers students are required to produce). Intellectual demands are inherent in students‘ academic work at school: the products students are to formulate, the operations that are to be used to generate the product and the learning resources available to students in technology-filled classrooms while they are generating a product (Doyle, 2006). Students may find school boring, and at the same time, they need regulatory strength to overcome the temptation of off-task behaviours while they are doing academic tasks when they have access to the internet and games. A motivational conflict then arises, and this motivational conflict may influence the students‘ regulatory strength. School motivation to learn the material in question is here regarded as a precursor of regulatory strength. Regulatory strength expresses sincerity, self-exertion, endurance of hardship and concentration. To simplify matters, it is assumed here that the student has two types of decision alternatives: either (1) to concentrate on an activity that is on the academic agenda for that lesson, with or without use of technology; (2) to engage with non-academic activities, which gives the student an immediate euphoric experience; or (3) a mix between 1 and 2. Students in technology-filled classrooms have their own techniques for switching from window to window so that the teacher does not notice that they are writing e-mails, chatting or browsing some of the time (Blikstad-Balas, 2012). There may be periodic variations in the prevalence of non-academic activities in response to contextual factors, such as the subject matter or the quality of the teaching. To some extent, students manage to switch from academic activities, in accordance with the school programme of action, to non-academic activities, and vice versa, but multitasking takes up so much of the students‘ information processing capacity that attention is diverted from the learning task on the academic agenda (Opher et al., 2009). The non-academic activity may be conducted surreptitiously or openly. The teacher may or may not constrain students‘ off-task behaviours and/or influence the students‘ school motivation. This study integrates three strands of theories that have their focal points in students‘ regulatory strength in academic work: (1) a theory on school motivation and self-regulation, (2) Didaktik theory and (3) a theory on affordances of ICT in technology-rich school environments. Theory on school motivation and self-regulation One antecedent mental state that causes self-regulatory strength in academic work is school motivation (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2011). Therefore, we expect

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positive associations between students‘ school motivation and their selfregulatory strength in academic work. This is hypothesis 1. Research on motivation gives empirical support, however, for the claim that students exhibit a decline in their intrinsic motivation for school learning as they enter and move through secondary education (Eccles, 2014; Eccles et al., 1993; Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). There is a systematic grade-related change from an orientation of intrinsic to more extrinsic motivation. These psychological shifts of orientation are associated with a general mismatch between the needs of developing students and the opportunities provided by schools. In schools, computers are primarily used as tools for writing, for collecting information and for communication, and students are expected to use the internet only for academic purposes. Yet, a motivational conflict—and thus a self-regulatory challenge—may arise with easy online access in the classroom, with students drawn to undemanding off-task behaviours while trying to engage in demanding academic work. Our basic model of the self-regulation process is Mischel and Ayduk‘s cognitiveaffective processing model (2011), which relies on discounting theory (Ainslie, 2001). Discounting refers to a method of comparing immediate and delayed rewards, and it is an important attribute in our decision making in that our decisions demand that we weigh temporally distributed consequences. Practically all of us are faced with ‗choice situations‘ that require us to choose between present and future rewards. In these situations, when we have a choice between rewards at different points in time, the relative value we assign to the choices is discounted in accordance with anticipated delays until they are realised. Hence, our subjective valuation of a delayed reward is inversely related to the length of the postponement (Ainslie, 2001). Extensive research on human decision making has identified this type of hyperbolic pattern and our proclivity to attach more importance to immediate rather than delayed rewards. In such cases, our behaviour can be described as dynamically inconsistent—the very modus operandi of weakness of will (Elster, 1979). The existence of competing motivations is called motivational conflict in this article. Students may have academic ambitions and clear objectives for what they want to achieve in their education, for which consistent diligent effort at school in required. Yet, at the same time, they may be found lacking in the regulatory strength needed to work strategically in the present. The qualitative mechanisms of this paradigmatic case of self-regulatory ability can be explained by a model of hyperbolic discounting. However, we do not believe that students discount the future by a precise quantitative function. Curves I and II in Figure 1 represent the current value of reward A (mindful effort in academic work) and reward B (off-task behaviour), respectively. We assume that the student has A and B as possible future options at a given point in time, represented by t1 in Figure 1 (well ahead of the time of choice). At that particular point in time (t1),

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the student values academic work over off-task behaviour because of its contribution to the achievement of a future educational objective at time-point t3. In other words, at t1, the student prefers the greater but delayed academic reward at t3. However, as the time to the short-term reward draws close (t*), the subjective value of short-term reward B catches up and equals the subjective value of long-term reward A, which is illustrated by an intersection of curves I and II in Figure 1. Thus, between t* and the time of the short-term reward at t2, the attractions of off-task digital behaviour loom larger than those of mindful effort in academic work. In other words, between t* and t2, the current subjective value of the smaller reward is higher, and consequently, at t2 the student takes the smaller reward. Subjective value

Curve I Curve II

t* t2

Time

Figure 1: The motivational conflict arises between t* and t2 when a nonacademic activity (curve II) provides a quick gain and it looms larger than the academic work illustrated by curve I (figure adjusted after Ainslie, 2001). To sum up, the current subjective value of reward A is greater than the current subjective value of reward B before the point in time t*. However, after t* and until making the decision to cash in the smaller reward of the imminent alternative B at t2, the subjective value of the delayed alternative A is smaller than B. In the absence of an effective application of self-discipline or external contextual restrictions, e.g. constraints enforced by a teacher, the realisation of alternative B can be said to provide higher utility than alternative A in the prospect of an imminent reward. A clear-cut hypothesis is not defendable because several mechanisms are possible, but we explore the associations between a motivational conflict (between leisure and school-based activities) on the one hand, and studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; self-regulatory strength in academic work on the other. This is our exploratory hypothesis 2. Further, we explore the associations ÂŠ 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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between school motivation and motivational conflict. This is our exploratory hypothesis 3. Didaktik theory Hopmann (2007) characterises the common core of the German concept Didaktik as ―restrained teaching‖. A number of studies show that teaching quality impacts student achievement. These effects are quite large (Aaronson, Barrow, & Sander, 2007; Goldhaber & Hansen, 2010; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005; Rockoff, 2004). In this article, we limit ourselves to focusing on three different aspects of restrained teaching: teachers‘ exposed expectations about student achievement (Braun, 1976; Cooper & Tom, 1984), teachers‘ classroom management (Doyle, 2006; Emmer & Stough, 2001) and teachers‘ instructional explanatory skills (Duffy et al., 1986; Penno et al., 2002). Students‘ choices are possibly subject to constraints imposed by the teacher. ‗Classroom management‘ is understood as a method of facilitating positive student behaviour and achievement. Sugai and Horner (2002) maintain that the central components of classroom management are the maximised allocation of time for instruction and the arrangement of instructional activities to optimise academic engagement and achievement. Hence, classroom management is by definition a factor that is supposed to help students attend to the academic tasks at hand, thereby increasing the amount of engaged time. It is therefore hypothesised that classroom management is associated with students‘ regulatory strength (hypothesis 4). Successful classroom management and building good relationships may nurture students‘ school motivation (hypothesis 5). However, opposite mechanisms are also possible. A common feature among effective teachers is that they have high expectations on behalf of their students‘ academic behaviour, learning and achievement, a phenomenon often referred to as the ―Pygmalion effect‖ (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968; Rubie-Davies, Peterson, Sibley, & Rosenthal, 2014). Drawing on the theoretical framework, this increase in achievement is the result of an increase in the duration and/or quality of students‘ active engagement in trying to learn specific academic content. Based on this assumption, we hypothesise that teacher expectation is associated with students‘ regulatory strength (hypothesis 6) and their school motivation (hypothesis 7). Further, we expect that teachers‘ instructional explanatory skills are associated with students‘ regulatory strength (hypothesis 8) and their school motivation (hypothesis 9). Theory on affordances of ICT Affordances of ICT refer to the perceived and actual properties of digital resources (computers and mobile phones), primarily those functional properties

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that determine just how the thing could possibly be used in school (Salomon, 1997). Wikis, blogs and WebQuest and other web-based communication tools might have the potential to allow teachers and students to increase student engagement by enhancing the experiential type of learning (Blessinger & Wankel, 2012), depending on how the actual properties are perceived and put to use. The combination of actual and perceived utility thus determines their affordance. Similarly, the use of social media in school can have a positive impact on some students‘ motivation for school work (Luckin et al., 2009). Students can be motivated by social media (Luckin et al., 2009), and online tools facilitate conversation and interaction online among youth (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010; Selwyn, 2011; Vasbø et al., 2012), and this motivation may nurture school motivation or not. Our exploratory research question is as follows: How are affordances of ICT in school associated with school motivation (exploratory hypothesis 10), motivational conflict (exploratory hypothesis 11) and students‘ regulatory strength (exploratory hypothesis 12)? Based on these hypotheses, we create this theoretical model:

Teacher’s explanatory skills H:9 H:8

Classroom management H:4 Teacher expectation H:5

H:6

H:7 H:1

School motivation H:10 ICT use at school

H:3

Regulatory strength H:12 H:2

H:11

Motivational conflict

Figure 2: The hypothesised research model (hypothesis is abbreviated as H).

Methods Sample The empirical study that forms the basis for the analysis was completed with 60 secondary and upper secondary schools between February and March 2013. We chose schools located in, or close to, main city areas in the Nordic countries,

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since city teens are most likely to have full broadband access and thus have had the opportunity to engage in the same spectrum of digital activities and develop similar digital habits in all three countries. A total of 3400 students (15-17 year olds) in general study programs voluntarily participated. None of the students who were present declined to take part in the survey. Instrument Students answered a questionnaire on different aspects of school situations and propositions about schools. The questionnaire was partly self-developed and partly adapted from internationally validated scales and surveys, such as the ―Student related aspects of school climate scale‖, ―Approaches to learning scale‖ and ―Disciplinary climate scale‖ from PISA 2009 and Tangney, Baumeister, and Boone‘s (2004) ―Self-control scale‖. The work was done within a classical test theoretical paradigm in which psychological constructs were contextualised through a set of individual questions that were asked of the students. To assess the measurement reliability of the indicators for each of the scales, Cronbach‘s alpha was used. Alpha coefficients of .70 or higher were considered to be acceptable (Nunnally et al., 1994). Three of the concepts had an alpha lower than .70. However, this can be explained by only two items being used. The students were asked to respond to questions that included a Likert scale. Seven constructs were included in the structural equation model: self-regulatory skills in academic settings (per_I), α=.62 (e.g. ―I experience difficulties in concentrating (reversed)‖); motivational conflict induced by ICT (con_I), α=.68 (e.g. ―I lose focus on my school work when I use the PC at school‖); school motivation (val_I), α=.67 (e.g. ―I enjoy school learning‖); teacher‘s explanatory skills (tea_I), α=.84 (e.g. ―Teacher explanations make it possible for me to solve difficult problems‖); teacher expectation (exp_1), α=.76 (e.g. ―I look up to teachers who set high academic standards‖); classroom management (clm_I), α=.87 (e.g. ―The students do not manage to work well‖, reversed); and internet use at school (―Time spend online while at school‖). ICT use was measured by the following question: ―How many hours per day do you spend on the internet at school?‖ Procedure The students completed the paper-based survey and handed them in to their teacher, who in most cases collected the questionnaires on behalf of the project and who sent them to the research coordinator. The students were asked to respond to questions that included a 6-point Likert scale with alternative response choices: Strongly disagree (1), Disagree (2), More disagree than agree (3), More agree than disagree (4), Agree (5) and Strongly agree (6). An exemption was the last-mentioned construct (where students chose one of the following boxes: 0-1 hours, 1-2 hours, 2-3 hours, 3-4 hours, 4-5 hours, more than 5 hours).

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Data analysis A regression analysis (Table 1) confirms significant associations between the regressors and the dependent variable (regulatory strength). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess the factor structure. The assessments are based on the p-value for the χ2-statistic, RMSEA (root mean square error of approximation), CFI (confirmative fit index), GFI (goodness-of-fit index) and TLI (Tucker-Lewis index). The standard criteria of p > .05, RMSEA < .05 and GFI and CFI >.95 have been used for good fit (Kline, 2005). The measurement and the structural model were estimated with IBM SPSS Amos 22. The values RMSEA = .043, GFI = .974 and CFI = .967 indicate that the structural model in Figure 3 has an acceptable fit. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the direct and indirect relationships between the variables. SEM allows for the analysis of latent variables with multiple indicators and multiple equations and the testing of complex causal theories with multiple pathways. Ellipses represent the latent variables, circles represent measurement errors and rectangles represent the observed measured variables. The structural model consists of terms with paths (arrows) between them. The path arrows indicate theoretical common causes and the figures (standardised regression coefficients) reflect the measured strength of the connections. The strength increases with the numerical value.

Unstandardised coefficients B Std.Error 8.887 .344 .086 .016

Standardised coefficients

Significance Beta t Constant 25.869 .000 Teacher’s .095 5.493 .000 explanation Classroom .026 .009 .045 2.787 .005 management Teacher .065 .023 .052 2.897 .004 expectation School .263 .017 .294 15.806 .000 motivation Motivational -.306 .012 -.387 -24.483 .000 conflict ICT use -.090 .038 -.037 -2.352 .019 Table 1: Results of regression analysis when students’ regulatory strength was the dependent variable

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Results The structural equation model shows the pathways (the arrows) between the variables in Figure 3. The analysis shows: • Hypothesis 1: School motivation‘s effect on regulatory strength is significant (p<0.01), moderately large and positive [b(val_I→per_I) = 0.30]. This means that the null hypothesis is rejected in favour of hypothesis 1 at the 1% significance level. One interpretation is that the higher level of school motivation that students report, the higher level of regulatory strength they report having. • Hypothesis 2: School motivation‘s effect on motivational conflict is weak. However, the null hypothesis is rejected at the 5% level (p<0.05) because of the large number of respondents in this study. Our inference is that the effect is small and negative [b(val_I→con_I) = - 0.06] and that a further exploration of the links between school motivation and motivational conflict should be an avenue of further research. • Hypothesis 3: Motivational conflict‘s effect on regulatory strength is significant. The null hypothesis is rejected at the 1% level (p<0.01). The effect is very large and negative [b(con_I→per_I) = - 0.65]. It is reasonable to conclude that the null hypothesis is false and that the higher motivational conflict that students report, the weaker regulatory strength they report having.

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Figure 3: Structural equation modelling of exogenous variables (val_I = school motivation; con_I = motivational conflict induced by ICT; exp_I = teacher expectation; tea_I = teacher’s explanatory skills; clm_I = classroom management; ict = ICT use at school) and the endogenous variable (per_I = students’ self-regulatory strength).

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

Hypothesis 4: Classroom management‘s effect on regulatory strength is weak but significant (p<0.05) because of the large number of respondents. The effect is small and positive [b(clm_I→per_I) = 0.07]. A further exploration of the links between classroom management and regulatory strength is needed. Hypothesis 5: Classroom management‘s association with school motivation is significant (p<0.01) and positive [b(clm_I→val_I) = 0.26]. One interpretation is that the higher classroom management that students report, the higher the school motivation score is. Hypothesis 6: Teacher expectations‘ relation to regulatory strength is not significant (p>0.05). The effect is very small and negative [b(exp_I→per_I) = - 0.03]. A further exploration of the links between teacher expectations and students‘ regulatory strength is an avenue of further research. Hypothesis 7: Teacher expectations‘ association with school motivation is significant (p<0.01), large and positive [b(exp_I→val_I) = 0.59]. It is reasonable to conclude that the null hypothesis is false and that the higher teacher expectations that students report, the higher the school motivation score is. Hypothesis 8: Teacher‘s explanatory skills‘ effect on regulatory strength is weak but significant (p<0.05). The effect is positive [b(tea_I→per_I) = 0.10]. A further exploration of the links between teacher explanatory skills and students‘ regulatory strength is needed. Hypothesis 9: Teacher‘s explanatory skills‘ association with school motivation is significant (p<0.01), large and positive [b(tea_I→val_I) = 0.42]. One interpretation is that the higher that students report teacher‘s explanatory skills, the higher the school motivation score is. Hypothesis 10: School motivation‘s association with ICT use in school is weak but significant (p<0.05). The effect is negative [b(val_I→ict) = 0.07]. A further exploration of the links between school motivation‘s associations with ICT use in school is needed. Hypothesis 11: ICT use in school‘s effect on motivational conflict is significant (p<0.01) and clearly positive [b(ict→con_I) = 0.21]. One interpretation is that the higher level of ICT use in school that the students‘ report, the more they report experiencing a motivational conflict. Hypothesis 12: ICT use in school‘s effect on regulatory strength is not significant (p>0.05) and is very small and negative [b(ict→per_I) = - 0.01]. A further exploration of the links between ICT use in school and students‘ regulatory strength is an avenue of further research.

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Discussion and conclusion The primary aim of this paper was to explore how time spent online in school and students‘ perceptions of being trapped between two worlds—one digital and one with academic demand—were statistically associated with students‘ perceptions of their ability to remain focussed and delay gratification through their regulatory strength. This choice of focus draws its legitimacy from two main assumptions: that students need to learn increasingly challenging higherorder thinking skills and develop deep knowledge and understanding at school, and that the level of mastery of these kinds of skills and knowledge relies to a high degree on students‘ differential investment of sustained and conscious mental effort. Even if we assess the use of the internet in classrooms in terms of the relation to students‘ regulatory strength, it does not mean that we see regulatory strength as a panacea for the problems in education. Indeed, it can be argued that regulatory strength should be regarded in curve-linear terms, in that both too little and too much can be detrimental to achievement (Ainslie, 2001). However, we justify our choice of focus on the grounds that previous qualitative research has identified focused attention among students as a crucial factor for systematic and sustainable advances in higher-order thinking skills and the development of deep knowledge (e.g. Blikstad-Balas, 2012). Acknowledging that spending time online in a classroom setting is played out against the backdrop of other salient contextual factors, we included four factors commonly held to be important for student achievement in general and student self-regulatory strength in particular. Thus, it becomes possible to quantify some of the interrelationships currently at work in classrooms. Based on the assumptions mentioned above, the choice of the theoretical framework seemed reasonable due to the similarities in the conceptualisation of learning as a product of the duration and quality of students‘ active engagement with particular tasks. The empirical findings suggest that the negative associations between students‘ perceptions of a motivational conflict and their regulatory strength—a conflict partially fuelled by time spend online at school—is larger than the positive association between the three teacher-related constructs expectations, classroom management and explanatory skills and students‘ regulatory strength. Given that the theoretical assumptions embedded in the structural model are indeed valid, the findings thus suggest that the positive effects of teachers‘ explanatory skills and their efforts to regulate students‘ classroom behaviours are to some extent undermined by students‘ sense of being trapped between digital procrastination and real world demands—one dominated by instant gratification and one requiring its delay. The statistical associations between this motivational conflict and students‘ regulatory strength are strong, while the

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associations between teaching attributes and regulatory strength is somewhat weaker. A possible conclusion is that it is just the perennial struggle between focus and distraction taking on a digital form in 21st century Nordic classrooms. However, students have always found ways to distract themselves when faced with tedious, too easy or too demanding tasks. There could be an element of truth in this claim, but more research is needed before we can state clear conclusions. However, it is unprecedented that students are faced with hardware and software professionally designed to capture and maintain as much of students‘ attention as possible. Thus, the combination of open internet access and high student autonomy in upper secondary schools puts a premium on the successful exercise of regulatory strength, but this is increasingly hard to do even in the presence of good teaching. One might argue that it is the individual‘s responsibility to pay attention and keep focus, and the teachers can only inform students about the risks and let them make their own decisions. Yet recent research indicates that the degradation of focus is not merely individual but social (Sana, Weston, & Cepeda, 2013). This means that the exercise of regulatory strength is adversely affected even if the student is just in direct view of the screen of a distracted peer. There is also a worry that it becomes gradually more acceptable to succumb to instant gratification, and that educationally meaningful tasks that are not instantly intrinsically motivating are not carried out with the investment of mental effort required to develop important higher-order thinking skills and depth-oriented knowledge (Salomon, 1983). The empirical findings show that the current use of the internet in Nordic classrooms is positively associated with students‘ perceptions of a motivational conflict. The strength of this empirical association is moderate. More research is needed to better understand these processes. If causal processes reflect this empirical association, it can be argued that the current provision of internet access in classrooms exacerbates a motivational conflict that can have serious ramifications for the necessary exercise of regulatory strength in academic work. We need also more research to better understand this link between students‘ motivational conflict and their self-regulatory strength. Furthermore, if the statistical associations between regulatory strength and motivational conflict reflect causal processes, we may say that one way of reducing the mismatch situation between school content and the students‘ spontaneous learning desire is for teachers to engage the student even more, to sugar-coat learning; or to make the learning task more palatable; or to concentrate more on the content of the curriculum that appeals to the students‘ spontaneous learning desire (Elstad, 2006). The empirical findings might indicate that the current provision of internet access in classrooms has the potential to undermine the development of students‘ higher-order thinking skills and acquisition of deep knowledge and

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understanding; thus, it is negatively associated with the subsequent fulfilment of students‘ academic ambitions and in the long run is possibly detrimental to students‘ sense of personal agency stemming from experiences with overcoming obstacles by sustained effort in a school setting. An attractive way of reducing the extent of non-academic activity is to lay the ground for the students themselves to behave more responsibly with respect to the obligations they have to engage in the programme activities that lead to learning in the classroom. This includes inter alia skills in exercising agency and self-regulation. This requires that the students assume responsibility when the teacher performs transfer of agency over learning from herself to the student. However, more research is needed to better understand the mechanisms of these assertions. The empirical analysis that has been carried out in this article rests on the premise that regulatory strength is an important prerequisite for success in school by contributing to depth in the learning process. The development of higher-order thinking skills and deep disciplined knowledge is important for intellectually and future-oriented school-based learning. In other words, we assume that high effort via self-regulatory strength is a typical attribute in a results-oriented school environment. This assumption, however, is neither selfevident nor uncontroversial. It is possible to argue that a school can and should adapt to developments in youth culture by providing a space for the type of internet activity that is characteristic of contemporary youth culture (Erstad, 2014; Ito et al., 2010). The distinction between curriculum and pedagogy is important to consider when these claims are put forward. While curricula reflect what a given society regards as essential knowledge, skills and attitudes based on a complex process of compromise between a number of legitimate stakeholders, pedagogy refers, among other things, to the processes through which the state-sanctioned content is supposed to be introduced to students. And while students‘ constantly changing spare-time activities and habits tend to have only a minor impact on the development of state curricula, they are crucially important for the competent teacher who uses students‘ life-worlds as a gateway to the development of thinking skills, deep knowledge and understanding. It is against this background that claims regarding the digital disruption of education should be understood, since while it is uncontroversial to say that teachers could reach more students by utilising knowledge about students‘ life-worlds in order to introduce the content of the curriculum, it is unsettling to a different extent to claim that the state sanctioned content of curricula should be dictated by dominant youth trends. The latter would require that we leave behind what we consider a key mission of education, namely, to provide a bridge between the knowledge, skills and attitudes developed and treasured by previous generations and the knowledge, skills and attitudes one might envisage as important in the future. We are thus debating a different type of education. © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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There can be a trade-off between the vertical acquisition of knowledge—which in political debate is coupled with ideas of the knowledge-based society—and a result-oriented school on the one hand and a school that embraces youth internet culture on the other. It is difficult to claim, on the basis of research, that opening up for or letting students themselves choose between off-task digital activities or academic pursuits within the school walls is without its problems. Our study provides empirical grounds to suggest that those who have strong opinions that schools should adapt to the extensive use of the internet, for instance, also need to acknowledge that such a move might have seriously adverse conative consequences, particularly for students lacking in impulse control and selfregulatory abilities. If the acquisition of higher-order thinking skills and a deep understanding of disciplinary knowledge is still a key function of education in the 21st century and if this function is to some extent contingent upon students‘ regulatory strength, it is critical to find ways to reduce students‘ motivational conflict and avoid increasing the tensions as the current integration of Internet in classrooms seems to contribute to. Limitations and needs for further research This section raises some concerns about the method used in this study and emphasises the need for complementary research approaches to develop a richer understanding of the links between students‘ access to the internet and their self-regulation. It was not practicable for us to couple our survey data with indicators for value-added measures during the period prior to data collection. Coupling the measurements of student attitudes with performance measurements is highly demanding in research terms because this requires measurements at several different times. It is also demanding because the Nordic countries have regulations that place limitations on the practical opportunities of researchers in empirical surveys that are based on relatively substantial data material. It is, however, possible to carry out analytically oriented small-scale surveys, which can be useful in research for assessing possible causal processes. This is clearly an avenue of further research. This study has inherent limitations which apply to more or less every equivalent study based on a cross-sectional approach. We acknowledge these limitations and argue that they can serve as a point of departure for future research. Of course, a number of factors may influence behaviour. In order to build an even stronger case for causality claims, longitudinal, experimental and quasiexperimental studies are required, plus particularly more qualitatively oriented studies of operating causal mechanisms in context. Another limitation of this study is the use of self-reported questionnaire data. The subjective component of such data is undeniable. Cross-sectional studies only present still-images of dynamically developing and interacting phenomena. Furthermore, assumptions

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inherent in the SEM model might be unfounded, e.g. reversed causation may play a role, omitted variables may have influenced the overall model or variables that are not included in the model could be important. This study‘s methodological approach makes it difficult to draw clear conclusions without first acknowledging the need for further validation of the findings that we regard as central. Some of the path coefficients are so small that we must urge caution. We believe, however, that our theoretical basic model is based on such a strong research foundation that we do not believe that the statistical associations highlighted in this study can be the result of coincidence or spurious connections. It should be emphasised that when we speak of teacher influence, the causal processes can go in either direction, from teacher to student or from student to teacher. Our study, similar to other studies of student-teacher interaction, can be interpreted as an empirical support of the following statement: the student must also make an effort via regulatory strength if the teacher is to have a positive effect on the student‘s learning work. In common with so much other research, our study underlines the importance of the teacher (Piopiunik, Hanushek, & Wiederhold, 2014) but also the importance of school motivation and motivational conflict. We see that there is a string statistical association between students‘ positive perceptions of a teacher and the degree to which the students value the school as an institution. When we look at the three distinct teaching quality aspects put together, we see that there are medium or large positive associations between each of the first three aspects (explanatory skills, classroom management and teacher expectations) and school motivation (path coefficients=0.42, 0.26 and 0.59, respectively). Hence, the three quality aspects of teaching seem to have a medium positive indirect association with regulatory strength via the construct school motivation. Furthermore, the construct school motivation is also slightly negatively (but significantly) related to the use of the internet in class (path coefficient=-0.07) and students‘ sense of a motivational conflict (path coefficient=-0.06), thus adding to its influence on regulatory strength. This illustrates that a greater emphasis on student socialisation in the school community can also affect the same students‘ self-regulation in learning. However, we need more research to understand the mechanisms involved in the processes that contribute to making students value school more strongly as an institution. An in-depth qualitative follow-up study could be interesting to gain insight into the underlying cognitive and motivational processes. In-depth case studies with think aloud protocols, observations and interviews with students and teachers could be an interesting approach.

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Digital media has attained a considerable position among youth, and it contributes to promoting trans-national cultural tendencies. The investigation reported in this article is done among 15 to 17 year-olds in Nordic countries. A further validation of this study should be done in different countries, different school contexts and different ages. This is also an avenue for further research. Implications for practice Despite its limitations, this study contributes to our understanding of the antecedents of students‘ regulatory strength. If the associations between the independent and dependent variables represent causal relationships, our findings may have implications for practice: the need for teacher professionalism and the need for meta-cognitive awareness among students in technology-rich classrooms. Technology has become an ever-present factor in more or less every contemporary situation, while digital media has acquired a considerable significance in the lives of young people. Students bring their own, predominantly vernacular, conceptions of the internet to school, where academic literacy practices are expected. Thus, conflicting conceptions and practices are integral to the affordances offered by internet use in school. However, the salience of these conflicts will vary both on the level of the individual student, the school subject, the teacher and the classroom, the school and the wider educational and social contexts. It follows that the implications drawn from the study must be understood as informed suggestions based on this study‘s particular set of assumptions, the questions asked and the results obtained, and they will consequently resonate more with some particular configurations of contexts than others. However, within these limitations, the study offers valuable new insights into how students perceive of their technology-rich environment in relation to their educational endeavours, which deserve to be taken into account when policy initiatives within this area are considered. The crux of the matter is the empirically identified associations between students‘ sense of a motivational conflict and their self-regulation. The need for teacher professionalism The first question one needs to consider is the extent to which the net result of the trade-off between the cognitive benefits and conative drawbacks of internet use in the classroom is cumulatively positive based on the educational purposes one is pursuing. Since the assumption made in this paper is the need for regulatory strength on the part of the student in developing higher-order thinking skills and acquiring deep knowledge and lasting understanding, the terms of the trade-off would include the extent to which internet use improves epistemic access—in other words, how internet use is instrumentally valuable in

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terms of broadening and deepening students‘ understanding of the defining conceptual frameworks and modes of thinking in different school subjects. Making this kind of professional judgment requires teachers with expert subject knowledge and knowledge of the optimal ways to provide learning opportunities which demand original, independent and joint thinking about worthwhile disciplinary content for particular groups of students, in the individual school subject and in cross-curricular work (Abramovich, 2013; Debele & Plevyak, 2012). The need for meta-cognitive awareness The second question one needs to consider is the following: Is it possible to prepare students for the task of taking on more responsibility for engaging in activities conducive to educational learning via meta-cognitive awareness? The importance of this question is evident when considering the possibility that distracted students not only lose out on the pertinent content being presented or discussed, but they might also contribute to an understanding of opting out as unproblematic. Moreover, they may provide second-hand distractions for their fellow students. In such an environment, students require both support in their pursuance of their academic ambitions and defences against powerful short-term incentives which undermine their academic efforts. These support and defence structures are not limited to the individual‘s choices, but they are provided by the social and material context. In school, that context is first and foremost provided by the teacher. Metacognition includes skills in exercising agency and self-regulation, and the development of students‘ strategies for action control and maintenance of intentions becomes a critical task for schools and teachers as the ability to delay gratification gains importance in open, technology-rich instructional environments. Teachers need to develop critical awareness of the trade-offs involved between the possible cognitive benefits and conative drawbacks of internet use. This development can help teachers decide how, when, for what purposes and for whom the cumulative effects seem advantageous or not in light of the educational goals they are pursuing. More attention is needed to strategies which strengthen teachers‘ pedagogical content knowledge to make them see viable compromises and alternatives. There is a need for increased emphasis on explicating both students‘ academic ambitions and their relation to net activities and habits and their appreciation of school and its relation to schools‘ academic mandate.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 242-255, March 2016

Using the “ARIADNE” Interest Questionnaire to Assess Cypriot Adolescents‟ Career Interests Despina Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou and Nikos Drosos Psychology Department, Faculty of Philosophy, Pedagogy, and Psychology National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece Abstract. The present study examines the career interests of tenth grade Cypriot students with the use of the “ARIADNE” Career Interest Questionnaire. “ARIADNE” is a career guidance instrument designed to assist individuals‟ decision making regarding their educational and vocational choices. The sample used in the present study consisted of 3,579 tenth grade Cypriot students. Participants‟ educational and vocational preferences are discussed in relation to their gender. Male students demonstrated higher level of interest in “Computer Science”, “Mathematics and Science”, “Agriculture”, “Enterprising and Management”, “Economics”, “Engineering”, “Sports”, “Military and Police Occupations”, and “Technical Occupations” than their female counterparts. On the other hand, female students reported higher degrees of interest than male students in “Educational Services”, “Social Sciences”, “Legal Services”, “Arts/ Graphic Arts”, “Health and Biology”, “Customer Services”, and “Philology and Philosophy”. Results are discussed in terms of research and practical implications. Keywords: secondary education Cypriot students, career interests, ARIADNE interest questionnaire

Introduction Up until 2009, Cyprus has been a state with a stable open, free-market, service-based economy with some light manufacturing. World Bank had classified Cyprus as a high-income economy, while the International Monetary Fund had included it in its list of advanced economies in 2001. Nevertheless, in 2009 the Cypriot economy went into recession. The economy suffered 1.67% shrinkage with large drops mainly in the tourism and shipping sectors which led to rising unemployment. The wider European debt crisis affected heavily the economy of Cyprus leading to the 2012-2013 Cypriot financial crisis. The decisions of the Eurogroup in March 2013, that imposed a one-time bank deposit levy on all © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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uninsured deposits over the amount of 100,000 euros, caused a major negative effect on the state‟s labor market. The current unemployment rate is steadily over 15%, while in January 2009 it was 3.9%. Youth unemployment rates for the period of 2014-2015 ranged from 31.7% (12/2015) to 40.3% (09/2014), while in 2009 they were below 10%. The sharp increases in unemployment, followed by a significant reduction in the salaries and the pension, have violently forced Cypriots to change their life style within a very short period of time (Koutsampelas, & Polycarpou, 2013; Rodrigues, Zolyomi, Kalavrezou, & Matsaganis, 2013). These changes are likely to have major impacts on the educational and career choices of Cypriot students, as they may express preferences to occupations based on the (perceived) direct link between area of specialty and the labor market. This hypothesis was tested in the present study that investigated career interests of tenth grade students. There is general consensus that career interests emerge during childhood (Tracey, 2001) but become progressively more stable or fixed as individuals become adolescents, and approach adulthood (e.g. Marcia, 1980; Vondracek, 1993). This might be partly attributed to increasing self-awareness (Amundson, 1995), development of academic or work skills (Phillips & Zimmerman, 1990), world of work knowledge (Walls, 2000), and educational choices knowledge (Betz & Schifano, 2000). Longitudinal studies (e.g. Lubinski, Benbow, & Ryan, 1995; Swanson, 1999) and meta-analytic reviews (Low et al, 2005) have argued that interests remain considerably stable over time. Nevertheless, career interests should not be considered as unchanged factor, because the new learning experiences that somebody acquires might change them. Although one can say that there is a partly crystallization of career interests in adolescence they are still subjected to change when the person has the chance to participate in new activities, try new behaviors, and acquire new experiences. Career Interests’ assessment Many decades ago Super (1949) identified three types of career interests: expressed, manifest and tested, and in the same way he proposed three different types of assessment that can be used to identify an individual‟s interests. The first type of assessment measures the “expressed” interests through an interview about what an individual does and doesn‟t enjoy (expressed interests are verbal statements of liking a task, occupation, object or activity). “Manifest” interests are reflected by an individual‟s behaviors when participating in various activities, and they are evident by the activities in which they voluntarily engage. Finally, “tested” interests are those that are identified through the use of standardized psychometric tools, such as interest inventories. While interest inventories are the most widely used types of measurement (Locke, Myers, & Herr, 2001), there are several reasons that advocate in favor of using other methods as well: (a) a client may misinterpret the results believing that they provide “definitive” answers (Yost & Corbishley, 1987), and (b) © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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some researches indicate that expressed interest have more predictive value than the tested ones (e.g. Bartling & Hood, 1981; Borgen & Seling, 1978; Dolliver, 1969; Holland, 1985; Slaney & Russel, 1981). Most career interest inventories are developed by comparing the individual‟s strength of interest in various activities to those activities that are commonly found in various careers. Particular occupations (or groups of occupations) are then determined to meet the individuals‟ preferences based on their enjoyment of various activities associated with these occupations. (Levinson, 1993; Power, 2000). The present study aims at investigating career interests of tenth grade Cypriot students. The following research questions were addressed: - Which basic groups of occupations do the Cypriot students prefer? - Are there any gender differences in their preferences? - What is the relationship between the various basic interest scales?

Methodology Participants The sample consisted of 3,579 tenth grade students (48% male, 52% female) attending public urban high schools in Cyprus. Tenth grade was chosen because at the end of this school grade students are obliged to make one of their first career decisions; and choose an “Orientation Group” of disciplines that will affect their future educational choices. Research took place during the period 2013-2015. Students answered the questionnaire online under the supervision of licensed career counselors. Participants needed approximately 30 minutes to answer the questions. Instruments “ARIADNE” Career Interest Questionnaire (www.ariadne-project.gr) was used to assess the students‟ career interests. ARIADNE (Sidiropoulou, & Drosos, 2013, 2014, 2015) is a state-of-the-art, online computerized psychometric tool that assesses the relationship between the activities that a student likes or dislikes and the activities required in various occupations. It was standardized in a sample of 1003 Cypriot students. Reliability coefficients ranged from α = .82 to α = .94. The user‟s manual (Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, & Drosos, 2014) presents construct validity evidence based on the questionnaire‟s internal structure. ARIADNE is designed to correspond to most of Europe‟s educational systems and the current labor market, and it provides scores for 16 broad educational/ occupational categories. The first part of ARIADNE consists of two hundred (200) items and employs a 5-point Likert-type scale of “I strongly disagree” to “I strongly agree”. Scores range from 0 to 100 (a secondary scoring scale is used) with higher scores indicating higher level of interest. The length of the second part of ARIADNE © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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depends on the first answers of each student, as it is comprised of items that further explore their interests in the occupational categories with high scores. ARIADNE is an adaptive questionnaire and it can provide scores for up to thirty (30) occupations‟ sub-categories. For the needs of the present study we examined only the 16 broad occupational categories. Table 1. Description of the 16 broad occupational categories of ARIADNE Occupational Categories 1) Educational Services: People with a high score in Educational Services are interested in teaching various subjects to students, as well as in pedagogy and education. If there is moderate - high or high score then additional questions appear to examine the student‟s preferred age group for teaching. 2) Technical Occupations: People with high scores in Technical Occupations prefer activities that require manual work. Common interests of people with high score in this category are the use and handling of equipment, technical construction, damage repairs etc. 3) Military and Police Occupations: People with a high score in this category like to get involved with the provision of security services and protection of civilians, as well as with the military as staff of the army/naval/air force etc. 4) Agriculture: People with a high score in “agriculture” sector are interested in occupations related to nature, farming, agriculture and general livestock and crop production. Agriculture often requires knowledge of chemistry and biology and it has various applications in areas such as food technology. 5) Sports: People with a high score like to engage in sport activities. Their involvement can be direct (as athletes) or indirect. Sometimes there may be a high level of interest in this category, but people might consider their activities only as hobbies. 6) Mathematics and Science: People with a high score like to study mathematics, the application of mathematical methods to problem solving, as well as to study natural science and its applications. If there is moderate - high or high score in the questionnaire, additional questions will appear on the screen to examine the specific area that interests the person (mathematics, chemistry, physics, geology or pharmaceuticals (that combines “Health and Biology” with “Mathematics and Science”). 7) Social Sciences: People reporting a high score in this category are interested in the study of human behavior both as an individual and as member of a society. If there is moderate - high or high score in the questionnaire, additional questions will appear to determine whether students are interested in psychology/counseling, sociology/anthropology, theology, paramedical occupations (that combine “Health & Biology” with “Social Sciences”) or journalism and Media (that combines “Philology/ Philosophy” with “Social Sciences”). The interest may be limited to the study of psychological and social phenomena or it may extend to helping individuals and communities to overcome various problems and difficulties. 8) Computer Science: People with a high score like to deal with computers. They might be interested in both the hardware and the software of computers. In case of moderate - high or high score in the questionnaire, additional questions will appear to determine whether there is specific interest in the field of graphic design (that combines “Computer Science” with “Fine Arts/ Graphic Arts”). 9) Health & Biology: People with a high score like to learn about the anatomy of the human body, and they want to acquire broader knowledge in the field of biology. In the future, they would like to work in the health sector (e.g. as doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, etc.), or to engage in research in these fields. In case of moderate - high or high score in the questionnaire additional questions will appear to examine the specific © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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area that interests the person (biology, medicine/dentistry, paramedical occupations, pharmaceuticals, dietetics). 10) Legal Services: People with a high score like dealing with the laws and their interpretation. They are interested in studying law and having constant updating. The relevant professions (e.g. lawyer, notary, prosecutor, judge, legal consultant, etc.) may require the support of accused people, legal advice, judgment to resolve disputes etc. 11) Engineering: People with higher scores in this sector are interested in designing, organizing and implementing constructions, buildings etc., in mechanical and electrical engineering and its application in solving practical issues. In case of medium - high or high score in the questionnaire additional questions appear to examine the specific field that interests the individual the most (architecture, civil engineering or electrical and computer engineering). 12) Fine Arts / Graphic Arts: People with a high score like to express themselves through art. In the relevant professions, various media are used to express ideas and feelings and to describe or interpret human experiences. In case of moderate - high or high score in the questionnaire, additional questions will appear to evaluate the field or fields of art that mostly interest the person: Music, Painting, Photography/ Decoration, Theater, Graphic Design (that combines “Fine Arts/ Graphic Arts” with „Computer Science”) and Architecture (that combines “Fine Arts/ Graphic Arts” with “Engineering”). 13) Economics: People with a high score like to deal with economic issues (e.g. financial planning of an enterprise, forming balance sheets etc.) and / or to engage in accounting (recording revenue - costs of a business etc.). 14) Philology and Philosophy: People with a high score are interested in philology/ literature, philosophy and relevant fields (literature, history, foreign languages). In case of moderate - high or high score in the questionnaire, additional questions will appear to examine the field that interests the person most: Philology/literature and History Studies, Foreign Languages, and Journalism and Media (that combines “Philology and Philosophy” and “Social Sciences”). 15) Enterprising and Management: People with a high score are interested in working in the various sectors of an enterprise or possibly to create their own. 16) Customer Services: People with a high score prefer activities that require manual work such as cooking, makeup, hairdressing, manicure, pedicure, etc.

Results Measures of central tendency and variability were computed, as well as the percentages of students who had low, median and high levels of interest in the 16 interest scales. The data are presented in Table 2 and Graph 1. As can be seen in Table 2:  Students showed higher level of interest in “Sports” (M=52.78), as 51.3% has medium-high or high score. “Enterprising & Management” come next (M=48.62) with 49.8% of students having medium-high or high score; and “Social Sciences” (M=47.32) with 44.6% having medium-high or high score. Additionally, we have “Legal Services” (M=47.19) with 41.3% of students showing medium-high or high level of interest, “Arts/ Graphic Arts” (M=46.14) with 41.4% showing mediumhigh or high level of interest, and “Health & Biology” (M=45.05) with 40.08% showing medium-high or high level of interest.  Students showed lower level of interest in “Technical Occupations” (M=25.45), as 86.9% has medium-low or low score. “Agriculture” come next (M=25.76) with 88.8% of students having medium-low or low score; and “Engineering” (M=30.12) with 84.0% having medium-low or low score. Additionally, we have “Economics” © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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(M=33.80) with 78.4% of students showing medium-low or low level of interest, and “Customer Services” (M=36.65) with 74.8% showing medium-low or low level of interest.

Legal Services

Arts/ Graphic Arts

Computer Science

Mathematics & Science

Health & Biology

36.81

45.05

18.39

19.99

21.59

21.63

20.42

24.59

22.67

25.15

37.7%

40.1%

28.9%

28.4%

29.6%

44.6%

48.7%

38.1%

33.2%

31.1%

26.4%

30.3%

29.0%

22.9%

23.8%

21.1%

19.2%

18.5%

24.1%

22.2%

23.1%

16.1%

15.7%

18.2%

9.9%

10.3%

20.5%

19.1%

18.3%

16.4%

11.8%

22.6%

Customer Services

Social Sciences

40.32

Technical Occupations

Students with low level of interest (0 – 33,33) Students with medianlow level of interest (33,34 – 50,00) Students with medianhigh level of interest (50,01 – 66,66) Students with high level of interest (66,67 – 100,00)

46.14

Military & Police Occupations

S.D.

47.19

Sports

Mean

47.32

Engineering

Descriptive Statistics/ Occupational categories

40.08

Economics

Philology & Philosophy

S.D.

41.06

Enterprising & Management

Mean

Agriculture

Descriptive Statistics/ Occupational categories

Educational Services

Table 2. Means, Standard deviations of scores and frequencies for students’ low, median and high scores in “ARIADNE” basic interest scales

25.76

48.62

33.80

30.12

52.78

37.44

25.45

36.65

19.76

18.61

21.47

19.95

31.30

24.71

21.60

23.87

71.1%

23.0%

54.2%

61.7%

31.2%

49.8%

72.2%

48.1%

17.7%

30.2%

24.2%

22.3%

17.5%

21.2%

14.7%

26.7%

7.3%

31.4%

14.4%

10.9%

14.9%

14.0%

7.2%

13.1%

3.9%

18.4%

9.2%

5.1%

36.4%

15.0%

5.9%

12.1%

248

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Graph 1. Means of the 3.579 students in the 16 basic interest scales.

A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test whether students‟ gender has an effect on the levels of interest in the 16 occupational categories. MANOVA revealed a significant multivariate main effect for gender, Wilks‟ Λ=0,45, F(16, 3562)=268.123, p <.001, partial η2=.55. Results of separate ANOVA tests (Table 3) showed that students‟ gender results in significant differences in ratings of their interest in most of the occupational categories, as following:  Boys demonstrated higher scores than girls in the following interest scales: “Computer Science”, “Mathematics & Science”, “Agriculture”, “Enterprising & Management”, “Economics”, “Engineering”, “Sports”, “Military & Police Occupations”, and “Technical Occupations”.  On the other hand, girls had higher scores than boys in the following interest scales: “Educational Services”, “Social Sciences”, “Legal Services”, “Arts/Graphic Arts”, “Health & Biology”, “Customer Services”, and “Philology & Philosophy”.

Health & Biology

S.D.

Mathematics & Science

Girls

Computer Science

Mean

Arts/ Graphic Arts

S.D.

Legal Services

Boys

Social Sciences

Mean

Philology & Philosophy

Statistics/ Occupational categories

Educational Services

Table 3. Means, Standard deviations of scores of boys and girls; and ANOVA’s results

34.77

38.74

37.94

44.35

41.40

54.26

41.91

40.78

15.94

19.23

19.61

20.30

19.58

23.66

22.46

23.61

45.61

41.04

54.12

49.26

49.57

30.23

33.13

48.14

18.70

20.48

20.41

22.31

20.32

19.85

22.08

25.78

249 76.03

<.001

<.01

<.001

<.001 Customer Services

135.76

Technical Occupations

1084.32

Military & Police Occupations

145.27

Sports

45.44

Engineering

567.12

Economics

11.56

Enterprising & Management

330.31

Agriculture

F (1, 3575)

30.98

51.41

38.20

39.58

63.43

46.91

36.59

26.22

21.35

17.16

21.17

20.17

30.57

24.51

22.96

18.32

21.96

46.61

30.62

23.27

45.08

30.59

17.38

44.20

17.58

19.35

21.15

16.75

29.52

22.50

16.35

24.56

190.16

58.73

111.92

691.24

326.65

425.09

853.96

573.90

<.001

Statistics/ Occupational categories Mean Boys S.D. Mean Girls S.D. F (1, 3575) p

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Male Female

Graph 2. Means of the 1.503 male and the 2076 female students in the 16 basic interest scales..

Correlations Correlations (Pearson r coefficients) were computed among the 16 interest scales on data for 3.579 students (Table 4). Although results suggest that most of the correlations are statistically significant, the vast majority is lower than r=.35. Results with r greater than .35 are presented below:

250

 “Engineering” is strongly correlated with “Technical Occupations” (r=.72, p<.001), “Agriculture (r=.56, p<.001), “Computer Science” (r=.54, p<.001), “Mathematics & Science” (r=.51, p<.001), and “Military & Police Occupations” (r=.48, p<.001) .  “Social Sciences” are strongly correlated with “Legal Services”(r=.53, p<.001), “Educational Services” (r=.48, p<.001), “Philology & Philosophy” (r=.41, p<.001), “Health & Biology” (r=.40, p<.001), “Arts/ Graphic Arts” (r=.39, p<.001), and “Customer Services” (r=.37, p<.001).  “Mathematics & Science” are strongly correlated with “Health & Biology” (r=.57, p<.001), “Agriculture” (r=.53, p<.001), “Computer Science” (r=.41, p<.001), and “Technical Occupations” (r=.36, p<.001).  “Technical Occupations” are strongly correlated with “Agriculture” (r=.59, p<.001), “Military and Police Occupations”(r=.54, p<.001), “Computer Science” (r=.41, p<.001), and “Sports” (r=.37, p<.001).  “Legal Services” are strongly correlated with “Philology & Philosophy” (r=.48, p<.001), and “Enterprising & Management” (r=.40, p<.001).  “Arts/ Graphic Arts” are strongly correlated with “Customer Services” (r=.52, p<.001).  “Economics” are strongly correlated with “Enterprising & Management” (r=.64, p<.001).  “Military & Police Occupations” are strongly correlated with “Sports” (r=.49, p<.001), and “Agriculture” (r=.45, p<.001). Table 4. Correlation Coefficients among the 16 basic interest scales

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 P13 P14 P15 P16

P10

P11

P12

P13

P14

P15

P16

1 .30** .48** .27** .34** -.04* .07** .24** .17** .21** .15** .03 .07** .07** .03 .38**

1 .41** .48** .32** .08** .15** .19** .22** .18** .12** .14** .05** .13** .08** .13**

1 .53** .39** -.08** .13** .40** .22** .22** .10** .03 .04* .12** .02 .37**

1 .24** .05 .16** .24** .18** .40** .32** .16** .13** .27** .08** .19**

1 .16** .12** .13** .26** .17** .02 .29** .14** .18** .24** .52**

1 .41** .08** .32** .26** .33** .54** .22** .32** .49** -09**

1 .57** 53** .15** .26** .51** .14** .32** .36** -,01

1 .34** .06** .09** .19** .07** .16** .07** .13**

1 .22** .25** .56** .27** .45** .59** .21**

1 .64** .31** .20** .25** .23** .13**

1 .34** .18** .22** .26** .06**

1 .31** .48** .72** .04*

1 .49** .37** .08**

1 .54** .12**

1 .13**

Note. *p<.05, **p<.01, P1= Educational Services, P2=Philology and Philosophy, P3=Social Sciences, P4=Legal Services, P5= Arts/ Graphic Arts, P6= Computer Science, P7=Mathematics and Science, P8=Health and Biology, P9=Agriculture, P10=Enterprising and Management, P11=Economics, P12=Engineering, P13=Sports, P14= Military and Police Occupations, P15= Technical Occupations, P16= Customer Services.

Discussion Tenth grade Cypriot students showed higher level of interest in activities related to “Sports” followed by “Enterprising & Management”, “Legal Services”, “Social Sciences”, “Arts/ Graphic Arts”, and „Health & Biology”. Score differences among the aforementioned career interests are rather small. On the contrary, students scored lower at “Technical Occupations”, “Agriculture”, “Engineering”, © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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“Economics”, and “Customer Services”. It is worth mentioning that several of the career interest groups with low scores are related to manual activities (“Technical Occupations”, “Agriculture” and “Customer Services”). The low score in manual occupations might be partly related to the sample‟s synthesis, as the research took place in “General Lyceum” (Senior High School) that prepares students to entry Universities, and not in Technical Lyceum that prepares students for technical occupations. The aforementioned results have little correspondence to Cyprus‟ labor market needs. The country‟s natural gas reserves and the subsequent growth prospects are leading to employment needs for technical occupations, such as craft-workers and machine operators, for management occupations, and for engineers that will be specialized in natural gas (ANAD, 2012). Moreover, Cyprus‟ economy is based in the service sector (including: commerce, accounting, legal services, telecommunications that offer good prospects), while tourism, shipping, maritime trade and agriculture, also, offer relatively good prospects (ANAD, 2015). Nevertheless, the levels of interest of Cypriot students in many occupations with relatively good prospects such as technical occupations, agriculture, engineering, and economics/logistics, are rather low; and our hypothesis that students would show higher level of interest in occupations with (perceived) easier and faster access to labor market was not confirmed. Perhaps it would be interesting to examine in a future research whether their work values have been affected; and they tend to put higher importance in work values like income, social status, work prospects etc. For a better understanding of these results, we should take into consideration that interests and preferences are only one of the factors that influence the choice of an individual‟s career and educational path. People, also, tend to examine their skills, their work values, other personal and family factors, and career prospects in the various occupations. Thus, they might choose to follow an occupation that comes second or third in their level of interest, but satisfies better the other criteria that they value. More specifically, career counseling practice with adolescents has shown that, although a great percentage has a high level of interest in the activities relevant to “Sports”, the vast majority does not consider the relevant occupations as realistic career choices, due to lack of suitable skills or bad (perceived) future prospects. Their interest in sports is mostly expressed in leisure activities. Results of the present study stress the necessity for implementing career guidance programs and activities which promote occupations and labor sectors with good prospects. Development of interests is correlated with children‟s social experiences. So, the education system in general and career counselors in particular can have a major role in increasing students‟ interest in occupations and sectors where they‟ll be easier employed. Career guidance is of paramount importance for efficiently meeting the newly-emerging labor market needs in an economy that is still suffering from the crisis‟ effects. In respect to the students‟ gender our findings revealed that girls scored higher than boys in “Educational Services”, “Social Sciences”, “Legal Services”, “Arts/ Graphic Arts”, “Health & Biology”, “Customer Services”, and “Philology & Philosophy”, while boys had higher scores than girls in “Computer Science”, “Mathematics & Science”, “Agriculture”, “Enterprising & Management”, “Economics”, “Engineering”, “Sports”, “Military & Police Occupations”, and “Technical Occupations”. These results are consistent with the findings of a series of other studies (e.g. Lippa, 1998; Proyer & Hausler, 2007; Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, 1991, 1995a; Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, & Pavlopoulos, 2005) that have shown significant gender differences among career interests and subsequently among career © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

252

and educational choices. It seems that career development is influenced by the broader socialization of people and the culturally defined role of each gender, as many authors have pointed out (e.g. Athanasiadou, 2010; Delligianni-Kouimtzi, Athanasiadou, Papathanasiou, Stogiannidou, & Fortotira, 2008; SidiropoulouDimakakou, 1995, 1997). The present study does not intend to focus on the gender perspective in career interests, as other studies have already thoroughly discussed gender differences. Nevertheless, our results confirm that students‟ gender in Cyprus has a major role in the development of their interests, and highlight the necessity for career guidance intervention programs and activities that are designed to reduce these differences. Additionally, our study examined the correlations that occurred between the career interest groups. The expected relationship among “Social Sciences”, “Legal Services” and “Educational Services” was found. Likewise, the expected relationship among “Engineering”, “Technical Occupations”, “Computer Science”, and “Mathematics & Science” was detected. It should be noted that “Mathematics and Science” was, also, strongly correlated with “Health & Biology”, and “Agriculture”, which is easily explained as the relevant studies have many courses in common. “Economics” was found to be strongly associated with “Enterprising & Management”. This finding was anticipated as well because both these career interest groups are in essence part of Business Administration studies. The relationship that appeared between “Military & Police Occupations” with “Sports” and “Technical Occupations” was expected as all three categories require exercise of physical and manual activities. Finally, the correlation between ”Arts/ Graphic Arts” and “Customer Services” was, also, expected because “Customer Services” include occupations such as chef, hairdresser etc. that require artistic skills. The fact that the vast majority of the correlations were statistically significant could be attributed to the large number of participants. This may be the case with even very low correlations. No correlations (or of very low magnitude – below r=.10) were found between groups that we did not expect to be associated together (e.g. “Arts/Graphic Arts” and “Economics”). This finding is consistent with many studies suggesting lack of correlation between certain career interest groups (e.g. Farh, & Leong, 1998; Proyer, 2006; Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, Mylonas, & Argyropoulou, 2008).

Conclusions The utility of career interest assessment tools is based on the connection between information about the individual and information about the occupations. This is an important asset that facilitates career counseling not only by helping people identify their preferences but by giving them the chance to broad them, if necessary. We should always take into consideration that interests might change as time passes by. This means that people are not obliged to commit themselves in an occupation for the rest of their life just because they showed a high level of interest in a certain period of their life (Krumboltz, 2009). Career interest‟s assessment contributes to an individual‟s self-knowledge, to determining their career choices, to differentiating career activities from leisure activities and to determining the cause of lack of satisfaction in various activities. Additionally, career interest inventories might motivate an individual to acquire a better knowledge of the world of education and work. The results can increase career guidance services effectiveness, and play a major role in helping students understand how career interests may be connected to their future career success. For © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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the aforementioned reasons, career interest inventories have become an essential part of career counseling services. The current perspective regarding the role of career interest inventories in career counseling suggests that they should be used as motivation for learning, indepth self-exploration, exploration of the world of work, and development of decision-making skills. This approach aims at preparing students for an uncertain and unpredictable world where they will probably have to make several career choices. “ARIADNE” Career Interest Questionnaire is based on this philosophy; and its results should be used with flexibility in career counseling and be considered as both a challenge and a call for learning and further exploration. High quality career counseling and guidance services with the use of valid and reliable psychometric tools are needed so that schools, universities, and career offices address the challenges of a constantly changing world of work. Having this in mind, European University of Cyprus (http://www.euc.ac.cy/) is providing free use of “ARIADNE” in trained career counselors of High-schools in Cyprus with special permission by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

References Amundson, N. E. (1995). An interactive model of career decision-making. Journal of Employment Counseling, 32, 11–21. ANAD (Αρχή Ανάπτυξης Ανθρώπινου Δυναμικού στην Κύπρο - Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus) (2012). Έγκαιρος Eντοπισμός Aναγκών Aπασχόλησης και Kατάρτισης για Aποτελεσματική Διαχείριση του Φυσικού Αερίου στην Κύπρο [Early identification of employment and training needs for effective use of natural gas in Cyprus]. Nicosia: Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus. ANAD (Αρχή Ανάπτυξης Ανθρώπινου Δυναμικού στην Κύπρο - Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus) (2015). Προβλέψεις απασχόλησης στην Κυπριακή Οικονομία 2014-2024 [Employment forecasts in the Cyprus economy 2014-2024]. Nicosia: Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus. Athanasiadou, Chr. (2010). Επαγγελματική συμβουλευτική με την οπτική του φύλου [Career counselling in the light of gender] In B. Deligianni-Kouimtzi, Chr. Athanasiadou, & Ar. Stogiannidou (Eds.) ΢υμβουλευτική με την οπτική του φύλου [Counselling in the light of gender] (pp. 129-156). Athens: Ellinika Grammata.. Bartling, H. C. Hood, A. B. (1981). An 11-year follow-up of measured interest and vocational choice. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28, 27-35. Betz, N. E., & Schifano, R. S. (2000). Evaluation of an intervention to increase realistic selfefficacy and interests in college women. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 35–52. Borgen, F. H. & Seling, M. J. (1978). Expressed and inventoried interests revisited: Perspicacity in the person. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 25, 536-543. Deligianni-Kouimtzi, V., Athanasiadou, Ghr., Papathanasiou, M., Stogiannidou, A., & Fortitira, M. (2008). ΢χολικός επαγγελματικός προσανατολισμός με την οπτική του φύλου: Ασκήσεις ευαισθητοποίησης μαθητών-μαθητριών [School Vocational Guidance in the light of gender: Exercises for male and female students sensitization]. Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Dolliver, R. H. (1969). Strong Vocational Interest Blank versus expressed vocational interests: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 72(2), 95-107. doi: 10.1037/h0027850 Farh, J. & Leong, F. (1998). Cross-cultural validity of Holland‟s model in Hong-Kong. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 52, 425-440. Holland, J. L. (1985). Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

254 Hyde, G., & Trickey, G. (1996). Career Interest Inventory for Schools: Manual. London: The Psychological Corporation – Harcourt Brace & Co. Koutsampelas, C., & Polycarpou, A. (2013). The Distributional Consequences of the Cypriot Crisis. Cyprus Economic Policy Review, 7(1), 47-61 Krumboltz, J. D. (2009). The happenstance learning theory. Journal of Career Assessment, 17(2), 135-154. Levinson, E.M. (1993). Transdisciplinary vocational assessment: Issues in school-based programs. Brandon, VT: Clinical Psychology Publishing Co. Lippa, R. (1998). Gender-related individual differences and the structure of vocational interests: The importance of the people–things dimension. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(4), 996-1009. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.74.4.996 Locke, D.C., Myers, J.E., & Herr, E.L. (Eds.) (2001). The handbook of counseling. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage. Low, K. S. D., Yoon, M., Roberts, B. W., & Rounds, J. (2005). The Stability of Vocational Interests From Early Adolescence to Middle Adulthood: A Quantitative Review of Longitudinal Studies. Psychological Bulletin, 131(5), 713737. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.5.713 Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P., & Ryan, J. (1995). Stability of vocational interests among the intellectually gifted from adolescence to adulthood: A 15-year longitudinal study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 90–94. Marcia, J. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159–187). New York: Wiley. Phillips, D. A., & Zimmerman, M. (1990). The developmental course of perceived competence and incompetence among competent children. In R. J. Sternberg & J. Kolligian Jr. (Eds.), Competence considered (pp. 41–66). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Pancyprian Federation of Women‟s Associations. (2013). Οι επιπτώσεις της οικονομικής κρίσης στην ποιότητα ζωής των νέων γυναικών [The consequences of economic crisis in the quality of young women’s life]. Nicosia: PFWA. Power, P. W. (2000). A guide to vocational assessment (3rd ed.). Austin, TX: PRO-ED. Proyer, R. (2006). The relationship between vocational interests and intelligence: Do findings generalize across different assessment methods? Psychology Science, 48(4), 463-476. Proyer, Rene T., & Hausler, J. (2007). Gender differences in vocational interests and their stability across different assessment methods. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 66(4), 243247. Rodrigues, R., Zolyomi, E., Kalavrezou, N., & Matsaganis, M. (2013). The impact of the Financial Crisis on Unmet Needs for Healthcare: Research Note 7/2013. European Commission. Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, D. (1995). ΢χολικός Επαγγελματικός Προσανατολισμός με ΢τόχο την Ισότητα των Φύλων [School Vocational Guidance for Gender Equality]. Athens: General Secretariat for Equality- Research Center for Equality Issues. Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, D. (1997). Εκπαιδευτικές και επαγγελματικές επιλογές των δύο φύλων: Ο ρόλος του Επαγγελματικού Προσανατολισμού [Educational and vocational choices of both sex]. In V. Deligianni & S. Ziogou (Eds). Φύλο και ΢χολική Πράξη [Gender and School Practice] (pp. 645-666). Thessaloniki: Vanias. Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, D. & Drosos, N. (2013). ARIADNE – Career Interests Questionnaire. Poster presented in the annual conference of the International Association of Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG). Montpellier, France, 24-27/9/2013. Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, D., & Drosos, N. (2014). ΑΡΙΑΔΝΗ- Ερωτηματολόγιο Επαγγελματικών Ενδιαφερόντων: Εγχειρίδιο χρήστη [ARIADNE-Career Interest Questionnaire: User’s Guide]. Nicosia: European University of Cyprus. Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, D., & Drosos, N. (2015). Διερεύνηση των Επαγγελματικών Ενδιαφερόντων των Κύπριων Μαθητών με τη χρήση του Ερωτηματολογίου Επαγγελματικών Ενδιαφερόντων «ΑΡΙΑΔΝΗ» [Investigation of Cypriot Pupils‟ Career Interests with the use of the “ARIADNE” Career Interest Questionnaire]. In D. Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, A. Asvestas, G. Koumoundourou, & E. Mylona-Kalava (Eds.) ΢ύγχρονα Θέματα Επαγγελματικής ΢υμβουλευτικής [Contemporary Career Counselling Issues], pp.133-146. Athens: Gregory. © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

255 Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, D., Mylonas, K., & Argyropoulou, K. (2008). Holland's hexagonal personality model for a sample of Greek university students. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 8(2), 111-125. Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, D. & Pavlopoulos, V. (2005). Επαγγελματικά διαφέροντα μαθητών Δευτεροβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης με τη χρήση του Ερωτηματολογίου Επαγγελματικών Διαφερόντων [Career interests of secondary education students with the use of Career Interest Inventory]. Review of Counselling and Guidance,72-73, 117-134. Slaney, R. B. & Russell, J. E.A. (1981). An investigation of different levels of agreement between expressed and inventoried vocational interests among college women. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 28, 221-228. Super, D. E. (1949). Appraising vocational fitness by means of psychological tests. New York: Harper & Row. Swanson, J. L. (1999). Stability and change in vocational interests. In M. L. Savickas, & R. L. Spokane (Eds.), Vocational interests meaning, measurement, and counseling use (pp. 135– 158). Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black. Tracey, T. J. G. (2001). The development of structure of interests of children: Setting the stage. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 59, 89 –104. Vondracek, F. W. (1993). Promoting vocational development in early adolescence. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Early adolescence: Perspectives on research, policy, and intervention (pp. 277– 292). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Walls, R. T. (2000). Vocational cognition: Accuracy of 3rd-, 6th-, 9th-, and 12th-grade students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 137–144. Yost, E.B. & Corbishley, M.A. (1987). Career Counseling: A Psychological Approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 256-264, March 2016

Gender and other Determinants of Undergraduate Student Satisfaction in STEM Ossama Elhadary

Abstract. In this research, the author is attempting to identify the factors that lead to student‟ satisfaction with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program in a public college. By building a model of these factors, the author was able to test the impact of various demographic variables on students‟ satisfaction. Of specific interest was the role of gender, as well as having English as a first language and how these two factors influenced student satisfaction. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, both variables were not found to have any influence, and as thus the determinants of satisfaction were the same for males and females, as well as for those who had English as a first language, and those who did not. On the other hand, students‟ perception of the effectiveness of the program, the skills acquired, satisfaction with teaching, and the availability of an internship, all contributed to students‟ overall satisfaction with the program. In addition, it was also found that as students mature (in terms of the number of credits they have), they tend to be more satisfied with the program. Similarly, Bachelor‟s students were more satisfied than Associate‟s students. Keywords: STEM; Student Satisfaction; Gender; Internship

Introduction Juillerat and Schreiner (1996) define student satisfaction as „„a student‟s perception of an institution‟s effectiveness‟‟, and it is directly related to whether students‟ expectations have been met (Bowman and Smedley, 2012).Higher education institutions must achieve student satisfaction in order to gain competitive advantage, and with pressure on institutions to increase student enrolments and retention, the emphasis placed on a positive student experience has become much greater (Arambewela, 2010). In addition, studies have indicated that university satisfaction is positively associated with student retention, institutional reputation, and institutional vitality (Bryant 2006b; Miller 2003; Schreiner 2009). It is now universally accepted that student satisfaction results from the total student experience and not just from quality in teaching and learning (Wilkins et al., 2012, and Wright & O‟Neill, 2002). Elliott & Shin (2002) state that “the campus environment is a web of interconnected experiences that overlap and

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influence students‟ overall satisfaction; thus what happens in the classroom is not independent of all other experiences relating to campus life”. Accordingly, to study student satisfaction one needs to consider not only the teaching and classroom experience, but also other factors like the use of technology, resources available, etc. Alves and Raposo (2009) explained that “in order to establish long-term relationships with their students, higher education institutions need above all to satisfy them”. They then attempted to develop a satisfaction construct using seven variables: 1) program effectiveness; 2) quality of lecturers and teaching; 3) student learning; 4), assessment and feedback; 5) learning resources; 6) use of technology; and 7) facilities/quality of social life. Douglas et Al. (2006) studied student satisfaction levels across a university‟s service offerings in the UK. The survey used was subdivided into the following categories: 1) lecture and tutorial facilities, 2) ancillary facilities, 3) the facilitating goods, 4) the explicit service and 5) the implicit service. To measure the students‟ satisfaction (and similar to my research), the authors asked students for their overall satisfaction rating and whether they would recommend the University to others or not. The results of that study showed that with regards to student satisfaction, many of the physical aspects of the University services are unimportant. Such a finding supports the findings of Schneider and Bowen (1995), Banwet and Datta (2003) and Hill et al. (2003) who found that the university‟s core service (lecture, class delivery, etc) is the most important aspect of a university‟s service offerings. Wilkins et al. (2012) used seven dimensions (adapted from Alves & Raposo, 2009; Douglas et al., 2006; Miliszewska & Sztendur, 2010; Telford & Masson, 2005) to study student perceptions of their experience of study at an international branch campus 1) student learning; 2) quality of lecturers and teaching; 3) program effectiveness; 4), assessment and feedback; 5) learning resources; 6) use of technology; and 7) facilities/quality of social life. In their examination of the extent to which university satisfaction varies as a function of students‟ religious affiliation, Bowman and Smedley (2012) reported that “group disparities in satisfaction are also observed for race/ethnicity, gender, parental education, and academic preparation”. The students‟ race/ethnicity, gender, pre-university achievement, and parental education were all significantly related to university satisfaction. Black and lower-achieving students are less satisfied with university, whereas women and students with higher parental education are more satisfied. In the same paper, Bowman and Smedley (2012) pointed to a number of researches that studied the relationship between race and student satisfaction: Black and Asian students for example report lower overall satisfaction with their university experience than White and Latino students (Noel-Levitz 2009; Fischer 2007; National Survey of Student Engagement 2005).Black students also seem to be less satisfied than White, Asian, and Latino students with the structural diversity of their institution (Park 2009) as well as with their social interactions (Harper and Hurtado 2007). Black students also seem to be “less satisfied with the (un)equal treatment that they receive from students and faculty” (Suarez-Balcazar et al. 2003). Bowman and Smedley (2012) also report that according to Harper and Hurtado (2007), “Latino

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and Native American students reported being thankful for the opportunity to attend the particular institution, and they expected less social support than did Black students”. Kuo et al (2013) studied student satisfaction in online learning and showed that the following factors were good predictors of student satisfaction: 1) learnerinstructor interaction, 2) learner-content interaction, and 3) Internet self-efficacy. On the other hand, interactions among students and self-regulated learning did not contribute to student satisfaction. They also found that gender, class level, and time spent online per week seemed to have influence on learner-learner interaction, Internet self-efficacy, and self-regulation. In a cross-sectional study of undergraduate students across two north-west university business schools in the UK, Douglas et al. (2015) identified the following variables as determinates of quality in education: motivation, reward, social inclusion, usefulness, value for money and fellow student behavior. Selim and Masud (2014) on the other hand conducted a quantitative survey on students‟ perception of a higher educational institute in Malaysia, and concluded that to achieve higher satisfaction, graduate schools need to provide up-to-date equipment and physical facilities, as well as focus on responsiveness of academic staff.

Hypothesis and Research Model Borrowing variables from the literature, the author built the following model (diagram 1) that describes the determinants of student satisfaction. Accordingly, the author hypothesizes that the following factors will have a positive direct effect on student satisfaction: 1) perceived program effectiveness, 2) the skills acquired, 3) satisfaction with teaching, 4) satisfaction with courses material, 5) quality of assessment and feedback, 6) participation in internships, 7) participation in research projects, 8) availability and utilization of technology resources, 9) availability of and utilization of all other resources, 10) Program/number of credits, 11) Gender, and 12) English as a first language.

Data To collect the data, a survey was emailed to 1244 students (361 Associate‟s degree students, and 883 Bachelor‟s degree students) in an information systems program in a public college. The survey consisted of 29 questions that were designed to address the following areas: 1. Perceived program effectiveness 2. Overall satisfaction with the programs in terms of the likelihood of rechoosing the programs, and/or recommending it to a friend. 3. Satisfaction with and use of technology resources 4. Satisfaction with and use of all other resources (library, tutoring, counseling, etc.) 5. Satisfaction with faculty and course material 6. Assessment and feedback 7. Participation in internship and research 8. Student learning (skills acquired) 9. Demographics, including gender, English as a first language, program, and the number of credits.

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By the end of the 10 days, 593 students (47.7%) took the survey. Because the survey responses were anonymous, it is fair to say that the responses reflect the students‟ true feelings and perceptions.

Effectiveness

Skills

Teaching

Internship

Material

Student Satisfaction

Technology Resources

Program/ Number of Credits

Assessment

Research

Other Resources

Gender

English as First Language

Diagram 1. Research Model

The Survey

Student Satisfaction: Two items were used to assess overall student satisfaction:  

I would recommend my major to others If you could start college over, would you choose to pursue degree in this department?

Program Effectiveness Program effectiveness can be assessed on both a „use‟ basis: relevance to actual work, and „exchange‟ basis: the ability to use the end qualification to gain a better job, higher pay, further education etc (Wilkins et al., 2012). Two items were used to assess overall program effectiveness:  

My current program has prepared me for my career and/or advanced studies I feel confident that I will be able to find employment in my chosen field

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Student Learning Student learning is measured by the skills acquired by students during their tenure in the program. Nine items (as shown in following table) were used to assess the skills acquired by the students in Information Systems:         

My program has helped me develop skills in Desktop Maintenance and Support My program has helped me develop skills in Communications Skills My program has helped me develop skills in Web Technologies My program has helped me develop skills in Introduction to Computer Systems My program has helped me develop skills in Information Security My program has helped me develop skills in Networking My program has helped me develop skills in Database Systems My program has helped me develop skills in Programming My program has helped me develop skills in Problem Solving

These items were added and then an average was calculated that represents an overall Skills factor for each student. Assessment and Feedback Two items were used to assess the quality of assessment and feedback:  

Frequency of feedback from faculty about your course performance Quality of feedback from faculty about your course performance

Satisfaction with teaching: One item was used to assess the students‟ satisfaction with the quality of teaching: 

I am satisfied with how the instructors teach the classes

Satisfaction with material: One item was used to assess the students‟ satisfaction with the quality of material used in the program: 

I am satisfied with the courses material

Demographics Three items were used to measure demographics:   

Is English your first language? What is your gender? What is your program?

Internships and Research One item was used for Internships and another for Research:  

I have taken/will participate in the internship program provided by the department I have taken/will participate in the research activities or opportunities provided by the department

Technology Resources

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Three items were used to assess the use of technology resources:   

The computers are available for my use. You have utilized the following resources: Department Computer Lab You have utilized the following resources: Equipment in the Classrooms

These items were added to create a Technology Resources factor for each student. Other Resources 4 items were used to assess the frequency of use of the following resources offered by the college.    

Tutoring Service Library Department advisor Counseling center

These items were then added to create a measure of resources_other.

Data Analysis The author then ran the following regression using EViews, and the results are shown under model 1 in table 1: Satisfaction=β0 + β1*Satisfied_Teaching + β2*Satisfied_Material +β3*Skills + β4*Effectiveness + β5*Assessment + β6*Internship + β7*Research + β8* Resouces_Technology + β9*Resources_Other + β10*Gender + β11*English + β12*Program + ε By replacing the Program variable, with the number of credits, the author ran the following regression equation using eViews, and the results are shown under Model II in table 1. Table 1. Regression Results

Variable SATISFIED_TEACHING SATISFIED_MATERIAL SKILLS EFFECTIVENESS ASSESSMENT INTERNSHIP RESEARCH RESOURCES_TECHNOLO GY RESOURCES_OTHER ENGLISH GENDER PROGRAM Credits

Model I Coefficie nt 0.23 -0.04 0.37 0.16 -0.01 0.26 0.04

Probabilit y 0.0023 0.6361 0.0035 0 0.6925 0.0006 0.5266

Model II Coefficie nt 0.23 -0.05 0.38 0.16 -0.01 0.24 0.05

Probabilit y 0.0022 0.534 0.003 0 0.7213 0.0015 0.4792

0.14

0.0836

0.14

0.0783

-0.07 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.17

0.3456 0.9925 0.4394 0.054 0.6204

-0.07 0.00 0.10 0.08 0.19

0.3635 0.9879 0.4564 0.0315 0.5737

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The results imply that the following equation holds for model 1: Satisfaction = .23*Satisfied_Teaching + .375*Skills + .161*Effectiveness + .258*Internship + .204*Program And for model II, the following equation holds: Satisfaction = .231*Satisfied_Teaching + .38*Skills + .164*Effectiveness + .238*Internship + .078*Credits Both results show that the more mature the student is (in the Bachelor‟s versus the Associate‟s program, or having acquired more credits), the more satisfied he/she is. In addition, both results also show that students‟ satisfaction with the program is positively affected by their perception of the quality of teaching, the skills they acquire, their perception of the effectiveness of the program, and the availability of an internship program.

Discussion The results confirm previous findings (Douglas et al., 2006; Schneider and Bowen, 1995; Banwet and Datta, 2003; Hill et al., 2003) that many of the physical aspects of the University services have no direct impact on student satisfaction and that the most important aspects of a university‟s service offerings are associated with the core service, i.e. the lecture, including the attainment of knowledge, class notes and materials and classroom delivery. This research though was not able to find relationship between overall student satisfaction and satisfaction with class material. Career focus The findings suggest that students‟ satisfaction with the program is highly influenced by career-related considerations. Students were satisfied when they perceived that they gained specific skills that will help them find suitable jobs. The perception of the effectiveness of the program, in terms of preparing students for their careers, and helping them find employment was a strong predictor of student satisfaction. The availability of internships also influenced student satisfaction because students perceived them to have a positive impact on their career prospects. The same can not be said though about engaging in research which students did not seem to perceive as improving their career prospects. The effect of demographics on student satisfaction: One of the key findings of this research was that gender does not play a role in the determination of student satisfaction. These findings confirm the findings of Kuo, et al. (2013) with regards to finding no relationship between gender and overall satisfaction. The findings on the other hand contradict those of Bowman and Smedley (2012) who found that women and students with higher parental education are more satisfied with their universities. The same was true with having English as a first language as this research found no differences in the determinants of satisfaction based on the student‟s native language. Although one would expect that non-native English speakers would find it more difficult to succeed in college and accordingly would be overall less satisfied with their experience, the findings did not seem to support this hypothesis.

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The more mature the student, the more satisfied he/she is: An interesting finding of this research is that bachelor students seem to be more satisfied than associate students. Also the more credits a student has, the more satisfied he/she is. At the beginning of their studies, students might not be able to understand how the knowledge and skills they acquired will help them in their careers. What this finding implies is that as students take more courses, they develop a better understanding of the field and gain appreciation for their education.

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