Development of an Instrument for Measuring the Teachers' Concerns Based on the Concepts of the Concern-Based stage theory

This research was aimed at developing an instrument for measuring teachers‘ concerns according to the Concern-Based Stage Theory by using content validity analysis and construct validity analysis through confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis results found that the teachers‘ Concern Component Model corresponded to the empirical data. When analyzed with the Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis program, the analysis results comprised 3 aspects of the principles of teaching concern i.e. self, task and impact on students with another14 sub-components

State, Problems and Guidelines for Solving Problems in Implementing Student Portfolio Assessment in Elementary Schools in Thailand

AbstractImplementation of student portfolio assessment has gained more interest from school teachers, especially after the enactment of the National Education Act of 1999 and the educational reform policy in Thailand. The purposes of this study were to examine the state and problems in implementing student portfolio assessment, as well as to propose guidelines for solving the problems. A sequential mixed method design was employed. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from two hundred and forty-two elementary school teachers on the state and problems in implementing student portfolio assessment. A focus group interview was conducted to collect qualitative data from three experts on the guidelines for solving problems in implementing student portfolio assessment in elementary schools. Descriptive statistics, content analysis, and analytic induction were employed to analyze the data. Results indicated that, overall, teachers implemented five main steps of the student portfolio assessment in a medium level. The common problems in implementing student portfolio assessment were (a) a lack of knowledge and deep understanding of teachers in implementing student portfolio assessment, (b) a poor attention and cooperation of students in creating the portfolios, and (c) a lack of materials and budgets to support teachers in implementing student portfolio assessment. Various guidelines for solving the problems were also presented in this study

An Analysis of Teacher Feedback for Improving Teaching Quality in Primary Schools

AbstractFeedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning. This article provides an overview of the current state and problems of feedback for teachers and students in primary schools. Data were gathered from national test scores, readiness tests, teachers’ interviews, teachers’ self-assessment and classroom observation. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyze data. The findings revealed that teachers received feedback on their instruction with superficial results. Slight recommendations could not improve teacher performance and student achievement. Teachers did not use evidence from assessment to improve their students’ performance individually. Most teachers misinterpreted the responses on the readiness test of grade 6 students in mathematics and sciences. All teachers assessed themselves as having low ability of teaching. Moreover, there is no feedback for students addressed in the lesson plans. Teachers needed to improve their performance on teaching and assessment individually. All information from the analysis was used to design a feedback system which can be used to enhance its effectiveness in classrooms on teaching and learning

An Analysis of the Social Networks in Health Promoting Schools

This multi-case study aims to compare the social networks of health promoting schools with different qualities of health service management. Selected using apurposive sampling technique, the samples were three secondary schools in Nonthaburi Province under the Office of the Basic Education Commission. The criteria for the selection were school size and the quality of health service management. From the three sample schools, 181 informants participated in the study. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, social network analyses using UCINET and Net Draw programs. The results were as follows. The social networks in health promoting schools with better health service management were larger and less centralized. Analyses of the whole-networks revealed that schools with different qualities of health service management had different social network characteristics. By the comparison of social networks of schools, it was found that network size and centralization can be used to categorize schools with diverse good health service management. The density of the network and eigenvector centrality cannot be clearly categorized.

Effect of Research Training Environment on Doctoral Students’ Research Intentions

The research training environment (RTE) is an important factor for enhancing doctoral students’ research intentions (RI). This study aims to develop and validate the casual relationship model of the RTE and RI, mediated by research self-efficacy (RSE) and research engagement (RE), and examine differential RTE effects in years 1-3 of the doctoral program. The research sample consisted of 246 doctoral students in years 1-3 of their doctoral program, with the respondents randomly selected from 13 universities in Thailand. Data were collected via questionnaire and analyzed using an integrated generalized structured component analysis (IGSCA) with multigroup analysis. The findings have shown that there was no mediation effect of RE or RSE between the RTE and RI in the first year. In contrast, mediation effects of RE and RSE were found in the second (β = .097) and third years (β = .723) of the doctoral program. Based on the results, it is suggested that the RTE component associated with RSE should be established (e.g., allowing students to engage with their projects early and minimally) in the first year. Furthermore, it is recommended that RSE and RE be developed concurrently (e.g., encouraging students to share research ideas with others) in the second and third years

Development and Validation of a Composite Learning Index for Cambodian High School Students

This study aimed to develop an instrument for measuring student learning and to establish a learning index for high school students. A sample of 1,619 Cambodian high school students was selected using a stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected through a 56-item questionnaire based on a 5-point Likert scale and were analyzed using various statistical methods including descriptive statistics, content analysis, objectivity analysis, correlation analysis, construct validity (using M-plus), reliability analysis (using the R-package for Windows), and t-test analysis. The instrument consists of two key components: “Learning to Know” and “Learning to Do”, each further broken down into ‘Process’ and ‘Outcome’ elements. Each of these sub-components were represented by three distinct indicators. The instrument demonstrated good content validity with an Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) index ranging between 0.50 and 1.00, and excellent construct validity, supported by a variety of goodness-of-fit indices (CFI = 1.00, TLI = 0.99, SRMSR = 0.01, RMSEA = 0.02). The instrument also showed high internal consistency with reliability coefficients ranging from 0.83 to 0.93. The criterion-related validity was confirmed through known-groups validation. Two methods—criterion-related and norm-related—were used to determine students’ learning index levels. For this study, the norm-related method was chosen. The learning index was categorized into four levels: low (0.000 - 0.062), medium (0.063 - 0.375), relatively high (0.376 - 0.680), and high (0.681 - 1.000). Percentile ranks were also calculated to provide additional context for interpreting the learning indices of Cambodian high school students

An Analysis of Elementary School Students’ Difficulties in Mathematical Problem Solving

AbstractThe main purpose of mathematics teaching is to enable students to solve problems in daily life. Unfortunately, according to the latest national test results, most students lack mathematical problem solving skills. This proves to be one of the reasons why overall achievement in mathematics is considered quite low. It also reflects that students have difficulties in comprehending mathematical problems affecting the process of problem-solving. Therefore, in order to allow teachers to establish a proper teaching plan suitable for students’ learning process, this research aims to analyze the difficulties in mathematical problem solving among elementary school students. Samples are divided into two groups, elementary school students and mathematics teachers. Data collection was conducted by structured interview, documentary analysis, and survey tests. Data analysis was conducted by descriptive statistics, and content analysis. The results suggest that there are several difficulties in problem solving, namely 1) Students have difficulties in understanding the keywords appearing in problems, thus cannot interpret them in mathematical sentences. 2) Students are unable to figure out what to assume and what information from the problem is necessary to solving it, 3) Whenever students do not understand the problem, they tend to guess the answer without any thinking process, 4) Students are impatient and do not like to read mathematical problems, and 5) Students do not like to read long problems. Therefore, the results found in this research will lead to the creation and the development of mathematical problem solving diagnostic tests for teachers, in order to improve students’ mathematical problem solving skills

Causal Model of Research Competency Via Scientific Literacy of Teacher and Student

AbstractScientific literacy is a latent variable which affect research competency. Therefore, it's imperative for teachers to receive scientific literacy development in order to be used in the development of scientific literacy for students more effectively. The purpose of this research is to study casual model of research competency via scientific literacy of teacher and student. A qualitative method was used to validate the theoretical model. The results found that the theoretical model developed by the researcher is possible. Most of the experts agreed that scientific literacy is a variable that has an effect with research competency of teacher and student. The use of internet and computer skill of student and teaching method are both factor influencing to scientific literacy level

Developing the Quality of ICT Competency Instrument for Lower Secondary School Students

AbstractThis study aimed to develop and investigated the quality of ICT competency instrument. The respondents were 364 lower- secondary school students and research instrument was ICT self-assessment questionnaire. To ensure the instrument quality, the reliability was checked Cranach's alpha coefficient using SPSS and content validity was examined through IOC analysis. Moreover, the construct validity was examined through the secondary-order confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL.Results reveal that the reliability of questionnaire was very high. In addition, the questionnaire had acceptable content validity and the secondary-order CFA showed that the measurement model of ICT competency fitted the data quite well

Mokytojų nuostatų ir poreikių, susijusių su portfolio metodo taikymu mokinių pasiekimams vertinti, analizė Tailando švietimo reformos procese

Background. Education reform in Thailand includes curriculum reform, teaching and learning reform, and assessment reform. Regarding the assessment reform, a new student learning assessment method including portfolio assessment is introduced. However, teachers did not change student learning assessment methods and student achievement in the five main subjects remained at a low level in the first decade of educational reform. This provides a good opportunity to study how teachers view the use of and how they see a need for student portfolio assessment. Purpose. The purposes of the present study were (a) to examine teachers’ attitude towards the use of student portfolio assessment in the educational reform process, and (b) to examine teachers’ needs concerning the use of student portfolio assessment in the educational reform process. Material and Methods. Two hundred and forty two elementary school teachers participated in this study. Questionnaires were sent out to collect data. Results. Results indicated that, overall, teachers had positive attitude towards the use of student portfolio assessment but they also had needs in all of the steps of using student portfolio assessment. Teachers had most critical needs in the use of student portfolio assessment in the step of selecting products and reflecting on the selected products, followed by the step of revising and evaluating products, and the step of utilizing portfolio assessment results, respectively. Conclusions. Workshop training sessions on the use of student portfolio assessment should be provided for teachers. The step of selecting products and reflecting on the selected products, the step of revising and evaluating products, as well as the step of utilizing portfolio assessment results should be heavily emphasized in the training sessions.Problema. Tailande vykdoma švietimo reforma siekia reformuoti mokymo turinį, mokymo ir mokymosi bei mokymosi pasiekimų įvertinimo metodus. Portfolio metodas siūlomas kaip vienas iš galimų mokinių pasiekimų įvertinimo būdų. Tačiau mokytojai nenoriai keičia įprastus mokinių įvertinimo būdus naujais, nors dešimtmetį vykdomos reformos pagrindinių penkių mokymosi dalykų rezultatai išlieka žemi. Todėl verta gilintis, kaip mokytojai vertina portfolio metodą ir kaip supranta tokio vertinimo poreikį. Tikslas. Šiuo tyrimu keliami tikslai: a) įvertinti mokytojų nuostatas į portfolio metodo taikymą mokinių mokymosi pasiekimams vertinti vykstančios švietimo reformos kontekste; b) įvertinti mokytojų poreikius, susijusius su portfolio metodo taikymu mokinių mokymosi pasiekimams vertinti. Metodikos. Tyrime dalyvavo 242 pradinės mokyklos mokytojų. Duomenims rinkti pasitelkti klausimynai. Rezultatai. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad mokytojai bendrai teigiamai vertina portfolio metodo taikymą mokinių pasiekimams vertinti, bet jiems reikia pagalbos įgyvendinant atskirus šio metodo etapus. Mokytojams reikia pagalbos įvertinti, kokią mokinių produkciją įtraukti į portfolio vertinimą bei kaip ją reflektuoti, kaip pasirinktus produktus koreguoti ir vertinti bei kaip panaudoti portfolio įvertinimo rezultatus. Išvados. Tyrimas parodė, kad mokytojams turi būti organizuojami seminarai, kuriuose būtų mokoma tinkamai taikyti portfolio įvertinimo metodą. Mokymų metu turėtų būti suteikiamos žinios, kaip tinkamai pasirinkti vertinimo produktus ir juos reflektuoti, kaip peržiūrėti ir vertinti bei kaip prasmingai panaudoti portfolio metodu gautus įvertinimo rezultatus