Educational Correlates of Ohio Agricultural Students' Career Maturity

The purposes of the study were to assess the level of career maturity of agricultural students in Ohio and to determine the relationships between students' career maturity and several educational correlates. The study employed a descriptive corelational research design. The analysis was based on 495 respondents who returned the usable instrument. The study showed that career maturity scores of agricultural students ranged from 45 to 147 and the mean was 92.84. About one-fourth of the students scored below the 25th. percentile and about one-fourth of the students scored above the 75th. percentile. The career maturity measures of agricultural students in Ohio were significantly lower than students of the norm group at grades 10, 11, and 12. The career maturity measures of the 9th. Graders did not differ for both groups. There were significant relationships between career maturity and: participation in the FFA; participation in career development activities; participation in extracurricular activities; academic achievement; and occupational aspirations. Five significant educational correlates uniquely explained about 19% of the total variance of agricultural student's career maturity

Organizational team building culture among teachers in Gombak Selangor

This study examined the organizational team building culture among teachers in Gombak, Selangor. Aspects that were being studied were the teachers’ perception on the elements of team building, the relation between team building factors and motivational factors and differences between gender and the eight factors of team building which were goals, priorities, roles and responsibilities, self-awareness, leadership, group dynamics, communications and environment. The study employed a survey method for collecting data from 100 purposively selected teachers from 10 government aided secondary schools

Agricultural jobs in the eyes of college students

There is now a renewed interest in agriculture. The Malaysian government wants to revitalize the agriculture sector to become the third engine of growth after the services and manufacturing sectors. For that matter, a total of RM11.7 billions is allocated under the 9th. Malaysian Plan (9MP) to transform agriculture sector into a modern, dynamic and competitive sector. With the emphasis given by the government, Malaysia has to have her younger generation who are willing to venture into agricultural industries. But, is Malaysian younger generation willing to venture into agriculture? The study aimed at determining the young generation’s (students) interest in agriculture related jobs and their perceptions about occupations in agriculture. The findings indicated that students were moderately interested in agriculture related jobs (M = 2.68; SD =.86). Their perceptions about jobs in agriculture were moderate (M=3.41, SD. = .97). Based on the study actions have to be taken to ensure that young people would want to venture into agricultural careers. Even though they were interested in agriculture but their moderately positive perceptions about agriculture will hinder their movement into agricultural industries

Teacher sense of efficacy among Malaysian agriculture student teachers

This exploratory descriptive study sought to investigate teachers’ efficacy beliefs among agriculture science student teachers in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Specifically, the study explored student teachers’ efficacy beliefs in terms of student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. The study also attempted to explain the relationships between student teachers’ backgrounds variables and teachers’ sense of efficacy beliefs. The study showed that general teacher efficacy beliefs among UPM agriculture science student teachers was high (Mean=4.15, SD. =.33). Male student teachers were found to have a significantly higher general teacher efficacy beliefs than female students teachers (t (79) = 2.20, p=.031). Experienced student teachers were more efficacious than student teachers who have no experience at all (t (79) = 3.072, p=.003). Age correlated significantly with general teacher efficacy belief (r=.51, p <.01). Significant correlations were also found between CGPA and general teacher efficacy belief (r=.31, p <.01

Aspirasi pekerjaan pelajar kejuruteraan sekolah menengah teknik

Career aspiration is an important aspect in a person's life that can influence his or her career development. Career aspirations can become a motivating force to school students to get involved in certain kinds of jobs. A descriptive study was conducted to identify the career aspirations of engineering students in the secondary technical schools in Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 1,123 Form Four students was chosen as research sample. Questionnaires were used to collect the data. The findings showed that many female students were enrolled in the fields of civil and construction engineering, whereas many male students were enrolled in the fields of electrical and mechanical engineering. A majority of the respondents said that they had chosen their fields of study because of their interests. Though even the respondents enrolled in the fields of engineering, only one half of them had the ambition to become engineers, whereas the others had chosen other kinds of jobs besides engineers. As a result, it was suggested that efforts should be made to attract more students to be interested in becoming engineers, especially among those enrolled in the field of engineering. This could be done by exposing them to various kinds of jobs that were related to their fields of study

Perceived leadership characteristics of students majoring in Education at Universiti Putra Malaysia

A study was conducted to assess the leadership characteristics of Universiti Putra students majoring in Education. The study showed that in general, UPM trainee teachers possess the leadership characteristics needed to function effectively as a leader. The study also showed that the trainee teachers' involvement in organizational activities was about average. It was also found that the leadership characteristics differed significantly among students with different level of participation in organizational activities, the perceived ability to manage the students' organizations, the perceived amount of knowledge the students have about the management of the organizations, the perceived importance of a student's organization, and the type of teacher education programs

Preparing Malaysian vocational and technology teachers to integrate computer technology in teaching vocational and technology subjects

A study was conducted in three selected states in Malaysia to determine the preparedness of vocational and technology teachers to integrate computer technology in their classrooms. The study showed that teachers did not have a high level of general knowledge about computers (mean=6.3, sd.=2.97). They were not very knowledgeable in some computer software. They thought that they were not skillful in using computer software such as electronic spreadsheet (57.1%), word-processing and desktop publishing (50.8%), and database management (67.9%). Almost two-thirds of the respondents cannot do programming. Realizing that they did not have the necessary knowledge and skills, the majority of the teachers would like to attend training in using computers for instruction

Teaching using information and communication technology: Do trainee teachers have the confidence?

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is an important aspect of education. Numerous benefits of using ICT in education have been unearthed therefore, ICT should be widely used in teaching. However, in order to use ICT in teaching, teachers have to have certain level of confidence. They hve to be prepared to use ICT in teaching. In relation to that, this study sought to identify trainee teachers’ confidence in teaching using ICT. The respondent comprised 675 trainee teachers at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). They were all were final year students in the teacher education program. Their confidence was assessed using 12 statements on their ability to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT)in teaching. The study showed that trainee teachers were quite confident integrating ICT with teaching. The study also showed a significant difference in the level of confidence between students with teaching experience and students without teaching experience. Older students were more confident integrating ICT in teaching than younger student

Learning to Lead: The Role of a Teacher Training Institution

There is a strong belief that in order to improve classroom process as well as its outcomes, teachers' effectiveness should be enhanced. Effective leadership is the most important determinant for the effectiveness of the organization. In a classroom, a teacher assumes the leadership roles for the effectiveness of the teaching learning process. A teacher has to be an effective leader if he or she wants to bring out successful educational outcomes. To be an effective leader, a teacher has to have certain leadership characteristics. This article will discuss research findings of leadership characteristics possessed by prospective teachers trained in UPM. The findings showed that majority of the respondents felt that they possessed leadership characteristics necessary to be an effective leader

Teachers' efficacy beliefs among novice Malaysian teachers.

This article is a presentation of the findings of research conducted on the teacher’s sense of efficacy among novice teachers in Malaysia. A total of 727 novice teachers participated in the study. Novice teachers are teachers who have been in service for three years or less. Teachers’ sense of efficacy was assessed using the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale (OSTES), developed by Tschannen- Moran and Woolfolk Hoy. The level of overall teaching efficacy among novice teachers was moderate (Mean: 3.87; S.D: 0.62). The findings indicated that they were moderately efficacious in terms of student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. The implication of the study to teacher-education programs in Malaysia is discussed