Boys' and girls' self-beliefs, engagement, and aspirations in physics

Students' self-beliefs and engagement in learning are known to be associated with learning outcomes. In learning physics, students' self-efficacy and engagement in physics as well as their inclination to scientific inquiry are likely to influence their views of future opportunities and aspirations in a career that is related to physics. However, some gender differences may also exist. A sample of students from secondary 1 (7th grade) in Singapore responded to survey items that asked about five constructs: self-efficacy, engagement, inquiry, job opportunity, and career aspiration, all pertaining to the domain of physics. Confirmatory factor analysis defined the five constructs. Self-efficacy, engagement, and inquiry were positively correlated with both perceived job opportunity and career aspiration, but their correlations with self-efficacy appear to be higher, indicating that self-efficacy may be a relatively stronger factor in relation to students' views about their future. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) found that boys and girls did not differ significantly in engagement, inquiry, and perceived job opportunity, indicating that they worked similarly hard, were both inclined to engaging in scientific inquiry, and had similar views toward future opportunity. However , boys had significantly higher self-efficacy in physics and higher career aspiration for a career related to physics. Considering contemporary gender imbalance in the job market of physics-related professions, it is important to enhance girls' self-efficacy in physics in order to attract females to join the field

Halal Barcode Scanner Prototype in Android using Client Side Processing with Json Technology

Halal industry has becoming a steady growth industry in Malaysia since people including Muslim and non-Muslim are already alert about this issue due to its hygienic production. However, consumers nowadays are facing few difficulties regarding Halal recognition status as the logo has been duplicated and contacting JAKIM directly via telephone call or browsing web portal is slow and tiring. In certain circumstances, the use of existing technology like Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) is expensive and unaffordable to local communities. Besides, reading the barcode itself will burden consumer as they need to remember all sorts of codes available in stores. Therefore, the usage of Smartphone, barcode,scanner and camera will be tested to recognize and split information from a barcode. The results will be analysed by developing Halal Barcode Recognition Status using Android Smartphone by matching the scan barcode to the database. Client server architecture is used to migrate data stored in server database and save to local database. The information will be extracted to recognize its halal status. Based on the testing, the system is capable to recognize the Halal status; however it needs further research for commercial use

Domain-specificity of self-concept and parent expectation influences on short-term and long-term learning of physics

Background: Students' academic self-concepts are known to be domain specific. Researchers have also identified two related components of self-concept:cognitive (how competent students feel about a subject domain) and affective (their interest in the subject). This paper examines whether both components are domain specific. Research has also shown that parents tend to influence children's academic behaviours and choices, but it is unclear whether parent influences would also be domain specific. Aim: This paper examined whether both the cognitive and affective components of self-concept in learning were domain specific with regard to learning physics and whether students' perceived parent support in learning physics would have short-term and long-term influences. Sample: A sample of secondary 1 students (7th graders) in Singapore responded to 29 items in a survey about their self-concepts in learning physics (competence and interest), self-concepts in English (competence and interest), perceived parent expectations in physics, engagement in learning physics (a short-term outcome), and aspiration to learn physics in future (a long-term outcome). Method: Structural equation modelling was conducted to establish the 7 factors. Path analysis examined the relations of physics self-concepts to engagement (a short-term outcome) and aspiration (a long-term outcome). The paths from parent expectations were also examined. Result: The cognitive and affective components of self-concept were highly correlated, but only within respective domains. Physics self-concepts were uncorrelated with English self-concepts. The path from competence in physics to engagement was statistically significant, but not the path to aspiration. Paths from interest in physics to both outcomes were positive. Competence in English did not have positive relations with outcomes in physics, but interest in English had a positive relation with engagement in physics. Parent expectations had positive influences on both engagement and aspiration. Conclusion: The results provided partial support for the domain specificity of both the cognitive and affective components of self-concept. Parental influences tended to be strong even when the impacts of self-concepts are controlled. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.

A cross-cultural investigation of basic psychological need satisfaction at work in an Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian sample across occupation types

Self-determination theory (SDT) posits universality without cross-cultural uniformity of the three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) which have been associated with desirable job outcomes. Yet these promising directions in theory and research have not been extended to Indigenous samples and different occupational types. This is unfortunate as Indigenous peoples globally remain the most disadvantaged on all socio-economic indicators, including employment. This study adopted a strengths-based approach to investigating associations between SDT’s need satisfaction and job outcomes in Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous professionals and non-professionals. Participants included 1,146 Indigenous (48.8%) and non-Indigenous Australians (39.1% men), aged 18 to 81 years (Mage = 43.54). Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that autonomy and competence need satisfaction were associated with multiple positive work outcomes and less job ambiguity, whereas satisfaction of the need for relatedness was associated with increased job satisfaction and greater resilience in the workplace. Moderation by Indigenous status and occupation type revealed few differences in the direction and strength of the associations between need satisfaction and job outcomes. However, non-professionals reported significantly lower satisfaction of all three needs, and Indigenous participants reported significantly lower levels of autonomy need satisfaction. As need satisfaction was shown to be equally beneficial for all workers regardless of culture or occupation type, these findings highlight the need for employers to invest more in cultivating the need satisfaction of their Indigenous and non-professional staff. Overall, the results extend upon previous research by demonstrating that SDT is generalizable to an Australian Indigenous population and that workplace need satisfaction is important for Indigenous and non-professional employee outcomes