Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemCreativity and under-achievement : a study of the 1992 Foundation Studies students at Victoria University of Technology (Footscray Campus)( 1993)This study investigates students enrolled in the 1992 Foundation Studies course at the Victoria University of Technology, Footscray Campus. This was a one year bridging course, for students whose Anderson Scores had been insufficient to gain them a place on a degree course. Despite their low scores, many of these students gave an impression of good academic ability, coupled with a divergent, creative approach to their work. My investigation , therefore, sought to establish # if they really were very able; # if any academic under-achievement thus substantiated could be explained by the individual's creativity. The students were investigated for # ability, using Raven's Matrices; # academic achievement , using Anderson Scores; # creativity, using the TCT-DP Creativity Test; # self-esteem, using the Coopersmith self-esteem Inventory; # personality, using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI); # personal histories, using the writing of autobiographies and a survey. A survey of literature covering research on the connections between creativity and academic achievement was undertaken. Testing confirmed lecturers' perceptions of the good academic ability of many of the students. Creativity proved not to be a significant factor in the academic achievement of the majority. However, it was implicated in the under- or over-achievement of some of the students. In most cases, issues of self-esteem were crucial in determining performance; many of the students had low academic and home/family self-esteem scores. Peers scores, however, were high, focussing on sporting and social activities rather than on study. This confirmed the E (Extrovert) preference identified for many students by the MBTI.
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ItemThe effects of imputed popularity and imputed success on self-esteem and school achievement in the eighth grade( 1977)The aim of the investigation was to study the effects of imputed success and imputed popularity on self-esteem and school achievement. 96 eighth-grade students at a Victorian country high school rated themselves and their classmates on "popularity" and "success"; performed three achievement tests (in reading vocabulary, reading comprehension and mathematics); and completed the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory; and the Otis Intermediate Test. It was hypothesized that the more "popular" and more "successful" students would attain higher scores on the three achievement tests and have higher Self-Esteem scores, than less "popular" and less "successful" students. Imputed popularity and imputed success were found to be independent. With the Otis test used as a covariate, students rated high on "success" attained significantly higher scores on the reading vocabulary and mathematics test, and on the Self-Esteem inventory, as hypothesized. Scores on the reading comprehension test were not significantly different. Students rated high on "popularity" did not attain significantly different scores on any of the three achievement tests nor on the Self-Esteem Inventory, than less "popular" students. Implications for classroom practice were discussed.
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ItemThe relationship between academic self-concept, cognitive engagement and achievement( 1999)Much research has documented the influence student self-perceptions of ability have on school achievement. Published literature has been investigating the mechanisms through which these self-perceptions affect performance. This research sought to determine the effect academic self-concept has on cognitive engagement, thereby identifying a possible mechanism through which self-perceptions of ability influence academic performance. After reading published literature in the areas of motivation, goals, academic self-concept, self-efficacy and cognitive engagement, an intervention was designed that aimed to alter student perceptions of their ability, improve their motivation levels and increase the effectiveness of their learning strategies. A self-description questionnaire was used to measure the academic self-concept and cognitive engagement of 221 secondary school science students. Repetitive administration of this questionnaire over a two month period allowed investigation of the relationship between changes in academic self-concept and changes in cognitive engagement and achievement levels of students. In addition repetitive administration of the questionnaire allowed the effectiveness of the intervention in altering academic self-concept and cognitive engagement levels of participants to be measured. Correlation analysis found academic self-concept to have a significant relationship with the cognitive engagement of the students and their test performance and was consistent with the following: 1) a negative correlation existed between academic self-concept and superficial engagement 2) a positive correlation existed between academic self-concept and active cognitive engagement, and academic self-concept and achievement 3) test mark had a positive correlation with active cognitive engagement and a negative correlation with superficial engagement, and 4) a positive correlation existed between measured changes in academic self-concept and changes measured in active cognitive engagement. One hundred and seventy-seven students participated in the intervention sessions. Students who participated in all of the required intervention sessions reported an increase in the use of active cognitive engagement strategies and a decrease in the use of superficial engagement strategies. The control group of students did not report these changes in cognitive engagement. ANOVA revealed the differences between the cognitive engagement of the experimental group and the control group to be statistically significant. The intervention did not significantly improve the academic self-concept of participating students.
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ItemSchool organization as an internal teaching context : case studies of two Hong Kong aided secondary schools( 1996)In this study, school organization is investigated as a teaching context from the teachers' perspective. The study investigates the theoretical position that characteristics of the school organization affect teachers' job-related attitudes which, in turn, affect educational outcomes. A review of the literature shows that various characteristics of school organization are related to teachers' attitudes and performance and educational outcomes of schools. In this study, the case study approach is adopted and both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used. The teachers' job-related attitudes of two aided secondary schools in Hong Kong are analyzed. The internal teaching contexts of the schools are then described in terms of structural, cultural and social relations perspectives. Factors of school organization which may affect teachers' attitudes are identified. The findings from this study provide support for previous research into the influence of teachers' working environments or the internal context of teaching on school effectiveness. Implications for efforts directed at improving workplace conditions in Hong Kong secondary schools and an agenda for further research are discussed.
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ItemThe effects of ability grouping on the achievement and self-esteem of year 7, rural students( 1997)This study investigated the achievement and self-esteem effects of ability grouping of a cohort of Year 7 students in a small country secondary school. Intelligence was used as a control variable to determine whether ability grouping enhanced the academic performance of students. Results indicated that no inequitable spread of achievement benefit between high aptitude and mid-low aptitude groups occurred during the project. After eight months the differences between the groups on academic, general, home and social self-esteem subscales remained the same as at the beginning, although there was some non-significant evidence of a decrease in academic self-esteem in the mid-low aptitude groups. The academic self-esteem decrease was reflected in the general self-esteem of one of the mid-low aptitude groups but not in the other. The results were rather ambiguous with regard to academic self-esteem, with considerable variation occurring across the groups across different times.
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ItemSucceeding academically at a working-class school: some case studies( 1990)In this pilot study, I chose to interview only academically successful students because I wanted to identify as many as possible of the factors that might be unique to this group. In a larger study it would be necessary to interview the unsuccessful as well to establish whether the characteristics identified were in fact unique to the successful students. (From chapter 1)