An investigation of Turkish female school administrators’ views on the concept of self-development

ABSTRACT

The aim of this qualitative-phenomenological study was to investigate Turkish female school administrators’ views on the concept of self-development and the techniques they adopt in their self-development process. Using snowball sampling, ten female school administrators participated in a semistructured interview. The obtained data were analyzed through the content analysis method and validity and reliability of the study were obtained thorough peer-debriefing, member checking and consistency checking. The findings pointed to a need to clear the current negative perceptions toward women school administrators. This study also showed that social roles that are attributed to women by society become obstacles for the self-development process of female school administrators, especially when they want to attend a developmental activity. Moreover, management of feelings, psychology and communication became the fields in which female school administrators needed to improve themselves. Findings showed that self-development is a notion worth exploring. Further conclusions and implications are discussed.     

An empirical study of using history as a ‘goal’

This article discusses an empirical study on the use of history as a goal. A historical module is designed and implemented in a Danish upper secondary class in order to study the students’ capabilities at engaging in meta-issue discussions and reflections on mathematics and its history. Based on videos of the implementation, students’ hand-in essay assignments, questionnaires, and follow-up interviews, the conditions, sense, and extent to which the students are able to perform such discussions and reflections are analyzed using a described theoretical framework.     

An empirical study on Zhuang Nationalities’Meta-cognitive Strategy Use and Listening Achievement

The present research aims to find out(1) What are Zhuang Nationalities’Meta-cognitive Strategy Use and Listening Achievement(2) What are the correlation between successful and unsuccessful Zhuang subjects’ meta-cognitive strategy use and their listening achievement.120 Zhuang subjects in a medical university located in Guangxi participate in the research.The results show:(1) all Zhuang students have an intermediate level at their meta-cognitive strategies use and compensating use but a bit low listening ability;(2) there exist significant differences between successful and unsuccessful Zhuang students’overall meta-cognitive strategy,listening and compensating;(3) significant correlations can merely be discovered between unsuccessful Zhuang students’monitoring and listening,yet significant correlations appear between successful students’overall meta-cognitive strategy,planning,evaluating and listening.     

Psychological determinants of university students’ academic performance: An empirical study

This study utilises an integrated conceptual model of academic performance which captures a series of psychological factors: cognitive style; self-theories such as self-esteem and self-efficacy; achievement goals such as mastery, performance, performance avoidance and work avoidance; study-processing strategies such as deep and surface learning; and effort. We investigate a group of first-year university undergraduates taking a course in business statistics at a British university. The results show a significant causal path of the form: self-esteem→ self-efficacy→ mastery→ effort→ performance. We conclude that the strengthening of any of the elements in this path would have beneficial effects on students’ academic performance and discuss various approaches to pedagogy, primarily assessment and feedback, to achieve this goal.     

The study of the pupil’s cognitive structure: the concept of angle

The present research approached a problem which has a twofold aspect: the concept of angle and the techniques needed to represent how pupils construct that concept in their cognitive structure during their years in school. In order to access the knowledge of the concept of angle, we used the pathfinder associative networks. This technique provided us with the data of the 458 networks of the participating students, using 11 concepts related to the general concept of angle. We used quantitative indicators on the network characteristics: coherence, complexity, and similarity with others. Results showed how the pupil’s cognitive structure evolutioned during instruction and what were the most relevant concepts for them. On the basis of the results, we have proposed what we call the “Theory of Nuclear Concepts” which offers a new focus to understanding how the processes of teaching and learning occur.     

The influence of external concept structures on an individual’s knowledge structures

Educational technology research and development - This experimental investigation considers how the inherent conceptual structure of external representations influences individuals' knowledge...     

International education,the formation of capital and graduate employment: Chinese accounting graduates’ experiences of the Australian labour market

Since the late 1970s, international education has steadily gained in popularity in China. An emerging middle class seeks to strengthen its position in China’s rapidly stratifying society under its socialist market economy with the shift from wealth creation for all to wealth concentration for a few. Previously, a foreign qualification was considered a passport to success in either the host or home country’s labour market. But the growing popularity of overseas study, coupled with the massification of the Chinese higher education, means Chinese international students are seeking to distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive global labour market. This longitudinal study of international graduates, backgrounded by Australian employer perceptions, examines the journeys of 13 Chinese accounting graduates as they attempt to transition from an Australian university into the Australian labour market. Bourdieu’s thinking tools of field, capital, disposition and habitus are utilised to consider how different cultural, social and linguistic capitals inform employer understandings of ‘employability’ meant Chinese accounting graduates significantly adjusted their life goals.     

The effect of university attended on graduates’ labour market prospects: A field study of Great Britain

Utilising data for comparable B.Sc. graduates in economics who have studied in different universities that had set the same entry standards, we compare job seekers’ employment prospects when they search by themselves for jobs by submitting CVs to the same firms. The outcomes suggest that graduates who studied in universities that are ranked in better positions, based on the UK league tables, gain more invitations to interviews (access to vacancies) and higher entry-level annual salaries than those who studied in universities that are ranked in lower positions. To clarify the assigned pattern, we utilised further qualitative indicators, and we estimated that both membership of a scholarly group of universities and universities’ research intensity can positively affect their graduates’ invitations to interviews and entry-level annual salaries. Interestingly, by assessing the influence of degree grades, the study suggested also that applicants’ degree grades can moderate the relation between university attended and employment prospects.     

Using TPACK as a framework to study the influence of college faculty’s beliefs on online teaching

The purpose of this multiple case study was to understand how the beliefs of college of education faculty members about their students and teaching online influenced their online teaching. The study focused specifically on beliefs regarding student digital literacy and preparedness. The study used the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework as a lens for looking at online teaching. Results indicate that participants’ beliefs about students did in fact influence their online teaching in a variety of ways and with differing teaching outcomes. The results of this study have implications for those who teach online as well as those who support them.     

Employability of IT graduates from the industry’s perspective: a case study in Turkey

The qualifications that constitute the employability and identity of graduates are viewed differently by the academic community and the industry. Currently, it is observed for Information Technologies (IT) sector that the demands of the industry are not always satisfied by the perceived standards of the graduates. To provide feedback to the corresponding departments, a survey regarding employer expectations and factors affecting these expectations has been conducted among a number of senior professionals and managers working in the IT sector in Turkey regarding this inconsistency. The employer expectations are considered in two empirical categories as competencies and adequacies. The multiple regression analysis technique has been used to analyze the survey data. Based on the analysis, recommendations are provided to IT departments as well as their students to better fulfill the demands of the industry.     

Davydov’s concept of the concept and its dialectical materialist background

Educational Studies in Mathematics - The goal of this article is to investigate Davydov’s concept of the concept against the backdrop of its philosophical system, namely, dialectical...     

A cross-cultural study on the influence of cultural values and teacher beliefs on university teachers’ information and communications technology acceptance

This study examined how cultural values and teacher beliefs influence Chinese and Spanish university teachers’ acceptance of ICTs by combining Hofstede’s cultural values theory with technology acceptance theories. Four hundred and twenty-five university teachers from China and 385 teachers from Spain participated in the study. The proposed research model was tested by using samples from both countries and the multigroup analyses were performed to test moderating effects of cultural variables. Results confirmed the validity of the model in both samples and the effects of cultural values on the adoption of ICTs, and significant differences were observed between the two samples.

     

An examination of the influences on ‘green’ mobile phone purchases among young business students: an empirical analysis

This article examines the determinants of eco-friendly electronic good consumption among students at a large Australian university who have been exposed to a marketing campaign, Mobile Muster. Empirical research generally shows younger consumers to be less concerned about the environment. Similar studies demonstrate that peer pressure has a large role to play. Accordingly, using the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior, this study examines subjective norms, attitudes, perceived control, environmental concern, altruism, risk aversion, price consciousness, involvement, branding, environmental knowledge, and their relationship with purchase intentions. It is the first study to examine these effects on the purchase of eco-friendly phones, a product of high personal relevance to these consumers. Mediation effects were also assessed. Results showed that subjective norms (friends/experts) can increase intentions and mediate the relationship between information and intentions. Involvement emerged as a significant influencer on intentions, presenting new findings for the literature. Moreover, higher levels of objective knowledge increased intentions. This supported the significant role of the Mobile Muster scheme in dispersing knowledge. These findings are of practical value to educators, allowing them to determine factors that influence consumer knowledge and norms with the aim of enabling students to form more ecological relevant purchase intentions.     

An exploratory study on singaporean secondary school students’ perceptions of choral learning

This paper explores 122 secondary school students’ perceptions of the choral learning environment. A survey questionnaire was developed taking into consideration the responses of a pilot study in which students were requested to list what they liked and disliked about the choir. The participants rated their degree of agreement on a five-point scale on psychosocial and other perspectives of choral learning. Three research questions were posed: (1) What are Singaporean secondary school students’ perceptions of choral learning? (2) Are there any gender differences in their perceptions of choral learning? (3) Are there any across school differences in their perceptions of choral learning? The findings of the study were discussed from the perspective of Singapore’s education and learning environment research.     

An Analysis on the Twins’“Depravity”Image in The God of Small Things

The God of Small Things written by Arundhati Roy is a novel about the post-colonial India. Based on the main clue of an upper-class family in a small town, the author describes the life and the state o...