Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemA study of transformational and transactional leadership among leaders at the Rajabhat University, Thailand( 2007)The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the leadership styles and organizational culture in The Rajabhat University in Thailand as viewed from the leaders' and non-leaders' perspectives. The study examined leadership behavior based on the notions of transformational and transactional leadership. A survey research methodology was used to gather data from six departments in The Rajabhat University. A total of 96 leaders and 99 non-leaders responded to the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), and 95 leaders and 101 non-leaders responded to the Organizational Description Questionnaire (ODQ). Leaders perceived their leadership styles to be transformational. Conversely, the non-leaders perceived the leadership styles of their leaders as highly transactional. These results were confirmed by the results of the organizational culture surveys both leaders and non-leaders agreed that the organizational culture were moderately transformational and highly transactional, with non-leaders viewing organizational culture as more transactional than that viewed by the leaders. Transformational leadership culture has been associated with improved organizational outcomes These findings suggest that organizations like The Rajabhat University may need to develop a more transformational leadership culture.
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ItemFrom "great!" to "gr8!" : register shifts across CMC modes : a case study of three boys with varying literacy abilities( 2007)The aims of the current study were to observe A) the extent to which various ability level students demonstrate control over register in the three CMC modes of SMS, email and Word documents; and B) the extent to which these students are aware of these shifts in register. Data was collected by using a video recorder to capture how three students, Alex, Jasper and Eric, typed an SMS, an email, and a school-based text as a Microsoft Word document. Each student then discussed their texts in an interview, using the footage as a think-aloud protocol. All sessions were carried out with individual students, each lasting no more than 20 minutes. Data were analysed using the Hallidayan theory of register, taking into account its sub-categories of field, tenor and mode (Halliday, 1985a; 1985b; Eggins, 2004). The video footage indicated that Alex and Jasper, the students with higher literacy abilities, were able to switch between abbreviated codes and academic written English, demonstrating an understanding of the different communicative requirements of both informal and formal texts. The linguistic analysis illustrated that these students were very comfortable in using both Shorthand codes and conventional spelling in their SMS and email messages, and demonstrated a sophisticated use of the generic, syntactic and especially, lexical structures in their formal texts. However, Eric, identified by his teacher as having lower literacy abilities, was less comfortable in using abbreviations in his SMS and email; a less sophisticated structure in his formal text even showed some register confusion. The interviews revealed Alex's and Jasper's awareness of their register choices, evident across their texts. Although Eric also showed an awareness of these, his texts show he demonstrated these shifts to a lesser extent. Alex and Jasper also revealed positive attitudes towards, and an exploratory use of CMC modes. However, Eric's surprising aversion to technology suggests that some teenagers may be uncomfortable with the abbreviated language associated with some forms of CMC. Results show that, contrary to populist beliefs, (such as Texting 'is not bar to literacy;' cited in Thurlow, 2006, p. 699) the relationship between Shorthand codes and academic written English is multifaceted. Alex's and Jasper's awareness of composing texts with varied tenor allowed them to make appropriate register choices, whereas Eric's choices of code were more restricted. This study suggests that clearly, there are more complex variables operating, which should be examined in a wider array of students in future investigations.
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ItemWhat is a quality rubric? : curriculum design, state frameworks and local assessment of secondary science( 2009)In explicating Science the science teacher is likely to say, 'I have reached Chapter 9!' Bureaucracy has its own logic and State curriculum writers have pushed for results that looked rational: results that could codify, sort and explain to their masters. The schools and universities have responded. The rubric has recently entered the teacher lexicon as a quasi professional tool for instructional planning and student assessment in the public domain as a response to central accountability requirements in relation to mandated curricula and standards of student and teacher performance. The rubric is characteristically a grid which defines any piece of instruction, a list of anticipated educational attainments, stated as criteria, against levels or standards of attainment, stated as descriptors. The rubric has become a public statement, a quasi contract written by groups of teachers in a school that identifies what can be expected in terms of teaching behaviours and student learning, in the name of a school or the state. But how would the quality of a rubric be discussed or assessed in relation to science education? The study explores the use of rubrics to support situated cognition and social constructivist science teaching. This thesis does not investigate the question of educational 'quality' per se. It does not set out to prescribe or stipulate ideals. Nor does it recommend how teachers ought to use rubrics to measure or assess such ideals. Rather it is an ethnogenic study of the judgements made about the qualities of the rubrics designed and used by science teachers and a particular group of students in an inner urban secondary school. The students in this study are enrolled in the Select Entry Accelerated Learning program at Hill View Secondary College which seeks to engage them in higher levels of educational involvement and attainment.