The aim of the present study is to identify primary school principals' self-monitoring skills. The study adopted the general survey model and its population comprised primary school principals serving in the city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, while 292 of these constituted the sample. Self-Monitoring Scale was used as the data collection instrument. In data analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test, homogeneity of variances, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's test were used. The primary school principals' mean self-monitoring score was found to be 9.72. In addition, primary school principals' self-monitoring skills did not significantly vary in terms of gender and length of service. On the other hand, primary school principals who were class teachers had a higher level of self-monitoring skills than subject teachers; Faculty of Education graduates had a higher level of self-monitoring skills than those of other faculties', teachers serving as principals had a higher level of self-monitoring skills than both principals and assistant principals at a significant level.

The study developed and standardized an Inventory for measuring Students’ Integration into University Academic Culture named Inventory for Students’ Integration into University Academic Culture (ISIUAC). The increase in dropout rates, substance use, cultism and other deviant behaviours in Nigerian universities makes it necessary for one to ask the extent to which university students are integrated into the university academic culture. This necessitates the development of standardized instrument for the assessment of students’ integration into university academic culture. The Study employed an instrumentation design in which a five point scale inventory were developed and standardized. An initial draft of 60 item instrument was developed and standardized. After corrections a 58 item instrument emerged and was administered to 500 University students. The data collected were subjected to factor analysis. The result from factor analysis showed that 27 items loaded well on three factors with minimum loading of 035.  The 27 items were administered to 1,000 students to establish norms. The norm for the entire instrument was 105.19, the norms of male and female students were 100.96 and 109.21 respectively.  Cronbach alpha statistics was used to establish the reliability of the instrument, its result shows an internal consistency of 0.926 for the 27 items. Hypotheses were tested using t-test statistics; the result shows that there is a significant difference between the norms of male and female students. The manual of the ISIUAC shows the administration and scoring procedure of the inventory and its psychometric properties. The instrument ISIUAC is recommended therefore for assessing students’ integration into the university academic culture.

This article reports the results of a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of 7E learning cycle in science teaching. Totally 35 different effect sizes from 24 experimental studies, comprising 2918 students were included in the meta-analysis. The results confirmed that 7E learning cycle have a positive effect on students’ achievement. The overall effect size (Hedges’s g) value obtained from independent studies was calculated as 1.245 (% 95 CI, SE = .148) between confidence intervals 956 and 1.534 according to the random effects model. Among all effect sizes 32 had a positive effect whereas 3 of them had negative effect. A number of sub-group analyses (school level, type of publication, subject matter and duration) were conducted. The effect of 7E was not significant for school level, type of publication and duration. However, regarding the subject matter a significant difference was observed. The high effect size calculated in this meta-analysis implies that the 7E learning cycle is a useful strategy that should be included in science curriculums.

Measuring the quality of the ‘product’ is elemental in education, and most studies depend on observational data about student achievement factors, focusing overwhelmingly on quantitative data namely achievement scores, school data like attendance, facilities, expenditure class size etc. But there is little evidence of learner perceptions. 553 students from two different universities, who graduated from 3 high school types, were asked to respond to two fundamental questions to reflect on school and classroom level achievement factors. 2294 responses produced eight categories in question one, teacher factors being the most preferred (n=424), followed by individual factors (n=404) and then family factors (n=395). As for liking towards a course, 1362 responses were produced, most frequent one being teacher’s attitude (n=205). Results indicate student perspective of causes of achievement is somewhat different from those expressed in quantitative studies. Girls attributed more achievement to study habits, family support whereas boys attributed more to school and technology. More emphasis is needed on perceived achievement factors for a sound evaluation of effectiveness in school.

The objective of the study was to find out the effect of EI and gender on job satisfaction of primary school teachers. A total of 300 (150 male and 150 female) primary school teachers were selected randomly for the study. Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) and Teachers’ Job Satisfaction Scale (TJSS) were used to collect the data. The study found a significant positive relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction. Regression analysis showed that emotional management and emotional maturity significantly predicted the job satisfaction. The results of the two-way ANOVA showed that the interaction effect of gender and EI was not significant. Results also showed that level of EI significantly affected the job satisfaction of primary school teachers. However, there is no significant difference between male and female teachers regarding the level of job satisfaction. There are other factors which affect job satisfaction but the role of EI cannot be neglected. So the level of EI must be taken into consideration in order to select the best teachers.

This study provides a framework for the production of Hypermedia Instructional package. It also assessed the effectiveness of hypermedia instructional mode of delivery on students’ performance in Chemistry. This is with a view of improving the learning of Chemistry which may eventually help to improve students’ performance. The developmental study employed a pre-test, post-test control group design. The research sample consisted of 60 private secondary school students in Osun State with an enrolment of 30 students from each of the two schools selected. The students were thereafter assigned to experimental and control groups. The stimulus material used for the experimental group was the Hypermedia Instructional Package, while the Control group received instruction with similar content through the conventional method. The test instrument used was Hypermedia Learning Achievement Test (HLAT). Content and face validity of the instrument used was carried out by experts in the area of tests and measurement. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for the HLAT gave a value of 0.72. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results obtained showed that students exposed to the Hypermedia Instructional Package (HIP) performed significantly better than those exposed to the conventional teaching method (t = 5.458, df = 58, p < 0.05). Results also revealed a significant difference in the retention ability of students in Chemistry between those exposed to the package and those that were not (t= 6.842, df=58, p<0.05). The study concluded that the use of HIP was an intervention which improved students’ performance retention and attitude towards Chemistry.

Although wealth of empirical researches have covered the impact of crucial, indispensable role reading skills play in the development of individuals’ mental faculties through the acquisition of knowledge in a particular language, scientific works on the assessment of the relationship(s) between pre-reading activities (consisting of games, puzzle solving, match making) and reading skills achievement remain depressingly scanty in Ghana. This study in the light of foregoing atmosphere explored how pre-reading activities facilitate pre-reading and reading skills among preschoolers with the use of randomized experimental control groups design which adopted pre and post-test of two classes, as well as observation guides to diagnose the problem of reading among the KG children in the two groups (control and treatment groups). The findings from these experimentations clearly portrayed the significant influence that pre-reading activities exert on the level of preschoolers reading skills achievements. Upon thorough analysis, and discussions predicated on the research outcome, it has been recommended that preschool educators incorporate levelappropriate pre-reading activities to enrich Preschool Education in Ghana.

Because of the importance of intellectual disability teenagers fulfilling the daily life skills by themselves, an animation that shows the intellectual disability and autistic high school students an interactive shopping skill by means of iPad was played and its effect on providing them with the independent shopping skill was analyzed. 3 intellectual disability and autistic students attending The Umit Kaplan Vocational Education Center that offers a High School- Level Training in Ankara have participated in the research in 2013-2014 School Year. The ages of the students range between 17-19 years. The dependent variable of the research is the participants’ levels of performing the shopping skills from a supermarket. The independent variable is, however, the animation practices that indicate the interactional shopping skills presented through iPad. The design of the research is the “multiple probe design across subjects” which is one of the single-subject designs.

This research is a critical study of instructional topics and their effectiveness in the subject of Education taught in colleges at graduate level vis-à-vis our current needs and the advancements in this field through research in all over the world. It also emphasizes the importance of curriculum review and revision for overcoming obstacles in curriculum development. The methodology of this study was a survey based or enquiry into the need and scope of subject of Education in our society. Secondly the existing curriculum had been analyzed form data interpretation. The target population for this study is the teachers and the students of all those government and private colleges in Karachi that offer Education as a subject at graduate level. Out of those, 24 government colleges and 7 private colleges had been selected for the survey questionnaire.607 respondents including 57 teachers and 550 students were randomly selected from the colleges. The questionnaires were used as a research tool. The collected data was interpreted and evaluated through chi-square statistical tool. In the light of results recommendations were presented to update the curriculum and adjust to the changing trends of this modern and growing world.

In this article, a teaching strategy which not only blends yesterday and today in a meaningful way but also powerfully integrates literacy and history will be examined. Firstly Readers’ Theatre as a technique will be introduced. Secondly, the usage guidelines of Readers’ Theatre will be presented. Finally the opinions of secondary school students about Readers’ Theatre as an instructional component in history teaching will be discussed. The research was conducted on 72 11th grade students from Deneme Secondary School in Çankaya district in Ankara in the spring term of 2013-2014 school years. For the purpose of the study, students were taught by using Readers’ Theatre technique in history lessons for four weeks and at the end of this implementation, the semi-structured interviews were held to determine the opinions of students about Readers’ Theatre technique. The themes were formed by making content analyze to the collected data. It is concluded that the students mainly have described Readers’ Theatre as “theatre”. They have found Readers’ Theatre useful in many respects as they outline the positive effect of the technique on their reading and obtaining historical information. They like most the cooperation with their peers and acting. The vast majority of students have not mentioned any dislikes and a few of them have difficulties to follow the script. Finally, the answers of the majority of the students on the implementation of Readers’ Theatre again are “positive” and their suggestions for better implementation are “on stage”, “the same way” and “using visuals”.

The major purpose of the study was to investigate factors which contribute to the decline in students’ academic performance in junior secondary schools in Botswana since 2010. The study was mainly quantitative and used the positivist inquiry paradigm. The study employed critical theory for its theoretical framework. Questionnaires were used to gather data from two hundred participants. Some documents were analyzed to supplement the information collected through the questionnaire. Data were analysed using the computer package known as Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15. The findings of the study showed that there were several factors that can contribute toward students’ low academic performance ranging from low staff morale to students unpreparedness for the examinations. The study, therefore, recommends that high teacher’s morale, availability of resources and parental involvement are critical for the attainment of high quality education in Botswana secondary schools. Furthermore, the findings of the study have implications for research and practice.

This study examines the effect of project based learning on 8th grade students’ statistical literacy levels. A performance test was developed for this aim. Quasi-experimental research model was used in this article. In this context, the statistics were taught with traditional method in the control group and it was taught using project based learning in the intervention group. Statistics was given for four weeks according to pro ject based learning at intervention group. The performance test was applied to total 70 students as pre and post-test. Participants are from two different classes of a middle school in Trabzon. The data were analysed using Rasch measurement techniques. This measurement allowed both students’ performance and item difficulties to be measured using the same metric and placed on the same scale. All raw scores converted linear score in order to obtain equal interval scale. Acquired linear scores were compared. In the analysis of gained datum covariance analysis are used. According to gained results in pre-processing application there isn’t substantial difference between the achievements of intervention group and control group; but after processing between the achievements of intervention group and control group there is a substantial difference statistically in favor of intervention group. The results of the study revealed that the project based learning increased students’ statistical literacy levels in the intervention group.

Schools and teacher induction programs around the world routinely assess teaching best practice to inform accreditation, tenure/promotion, and professional development decisions. Routine assessment is also necessary to ensure that teachers entering the profession get the assistance they need to develop and succeed. We introduce the Item-Level Assessment of Teaching practice (I-LAST) as a flexible framework-based approach for quantitative evaluation of teaching best practice in the induction stages. We based the I-LAST on a novel framework for teaching best practice, and used Fuller’s scale as a framework for understanding the potential of the I-LAST in providing longitudinal measures for growth. Using the context of a year-long teacher induction program in the Midwestern United States, we collected data through an online survey from 46 teaching supervisors who were asked to evaluate their interns. We used the Rasch partial credit model as a criterion for construct validity, and measured dimensionality and reliability from both Rasch and classical frameworks. The I-LAST was found to be a unidimensional, valid, and reliable measure for teaching best practice. It demonstrated the ability to provide reliable scores for specific sub-dimensions of best practice, including those which manifest at various stages along Fuller’s scale. Potential uses of the I-LAST to advance understanding of the role of teacher induction programs in fostering productive growth in new teachers is discussed.

Advances in computer technologies and adoption of related methods and techniques in education have developed parallel to each other. This study focuses on the need to utilize more than one teaching method and technique in education rather than focusing on a single teaching method. By using the pre-test post-test and control group semi-experimental researchmodel, this study examined the effects of the web-assisted education method supported by six thinking hats technique on student achievement, on students’ attitudes towards science and their attitudes towards the use of computers in science classes. The working group of the study was composed of 7th graders in a state secondary school in the 2013-2014 academic year. A working group consists of two randomly selected classes assigned as the experimental and control groups. The working group comprised of 50 students with 25 experimental and 25 control group students. Paired samples t-test, independent samples t-test and ANOVA techniques were used in analyzing the data collected via data collection tools to compare the experimental and control groups. The results showed that web-assisted education materials prepared with the use of the six thinking hats technique increased student attitudes towards science and computers. Students’ attitudes towards computers were similar based on the variables of owning a computer and gender. Paternal education levels had no significant effects on student attitudes towards computers and their academic achievement.

This paper presents a comparative research project on pre-vocational education in lower secondary schools in seven European countries. The primary aim of the study was to better understand how the formal pre-vocational education curriculum is interpreted and shaped by individual teachers. The countries covered are Austria, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Scotland. Two research methods have been used. First, a content analysis of the relevant curricula was carried out, focussing on how, and to what extent, pre-vocational education competencies are embedded in the official curriculum in the seven countries covered by the study. Second, 75 teachers took part in qualitative expert interviews about their implementation of the relevant curriculum. This research builds upon previous studies in education and employment and in particular, on a theoretical framework that explores the differences between the ‘prescribed’ curriculum and the ‘enacted’ curriculum. This study will argue that, although it is possible to identify a distinct pre-vocational curriculum within each region in the seven countries, this curriculum is, in practice, taught very differently within the schools and that the differences in curriculum implementation can be explained, amongst other factors, by the availability of resources and the initial and further training of teachers.

Lesson starts are transitional events which may cause management problems for teachers This study sought junior secondary school mathematics teachers’ beliefs about calculator use in mathematics instruction in Botswana and was descriptive in nature adopting a survey design. The sample of seventeen (17) mathematics teachers from four (4) junior secondary schools in the Tutume Sub-district in Central Educational Region was selected through a purposive random sampling procedure. A questionnaire comprising both closed and open ended questions was designed to collect data then the analysis of results was carried out using descriptive and inferential statistics. As an illustration, a t-test was used to test for differences in teachers’ beliefs by gender while a one-way ANOVA was used to test for difference in their beliefs by experience. The study revealed that most of the teachers expressed their lack of confidence and were incompetent with the use of a calculator in their teaching with female teachers feeling less confident to explain different functions of a calculator than their male counterparts. In addition, the study showed that most of the teachers believed that a calculator was a technological tool that could be useful to the students in the future. On the contrary, most teachers felt that the overuse of calculators by the students could hamper the development of basic computational skills. Therefore, it was recommended that school based training on calculator use should be provided so as to empower teachers with the necessary technological skills for effective classroom instruction. The study findings have implications to research and practice as it provides unique and comprehensive data that will lead to insight for curriculum designers, policy implementers and instructional leaders on effective calculator use in math instruction.

This research paper explores the concept of ‘cost sharing’ which became more prominent in Zambia education with the advent of democratic form of governance in 1991. As a way of responding to the ever diminishing tax revenues, government through the education policy of 1996, allowed higher education institutions including public universities to introduce cost sharing as way of improving financial vibrancy, accountability and cost effectiveness. This paper therefore, uses students’ perceptions to examine the cost sharing policy which has now been existence for almost two decades. More specifically, it explores underlying factors which can make cost sharing more effective and sustainable. In exploring these prospects and challenges, a self administered questionnaire based on convenient sampling was used to collect data from 729 respondents in Zambia’s three biggest public universities. The findings revealed that the current cost sharing policy was appropriate but lacked the government support in its implementation. The study further highlighted the need for re-engineering the current policy by providing details on the implementation process. The study highly recommends that a true cost-sharing model be implemented in an effort towards making public universities more effective and sustainable.

Different forms of the performance management system have been implemented in many countries for some years. As in other countries, in 1999 the government of Botswana took a decision to implement a performance management system (PMS) across the entire public service including schools. The government explained the purpose for which this reform was being implemented. Using grounded theory, school heads, deputy school heads and heads of houses in twenty-two of the twenty-seven schools were interviewed about senior management team’s perceptions of the implementation process in senior secondary schools in Botswana. These members of the senior management team are responsible for the implementation process of the PMS in schools. This paper looks at participants’ perceptions regarding the expected benefits of the PMS in senior secondary schools.

The major purpose of this study was to explore the social studies teachers’ perceptions and understandings of citizenship education in primary schools in Botswana. The study adopted a post colonial lens by using the notions of the pedagogy of imperialism and contrapuntal criticism to interrogate the teachers’ perceptions of citizenship education. The study was qualitative in nature and employed the naturalistic inquiry paradigm. Qualitative methods were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using grounded theory through the constant comparative technique. The findings of the study revealed that social studies teachers perceived teaching about Botswana as citizenship education. The paradox lies in the teachers’ view that knowledge about Botswana’s cultures, histories and politics constitutes citizenship education. Therefore, the study recommends that citizenship education be re-imagined to take into account both the local and global trends on citizenship education. Furthermore, teachers have to be cognizant of the politics of mainstream academic knowledge and work towards knowledge construction devoid of imperialist ideologies.

The study investigated the present position of literacy, information and communication technology (ICT} in Prisons by examining the perception of inmates .The study adopted a descriptive survey using structured questionnaire and observation guides on a randomly and purposively drawn sample of 664 inmates out of a population of 47,628 inmates nationally. Frequency counts and percentage were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that in the 21 prisons studied in 12 Nigerian states, the literacy level was low; that inmates were inadequately rehabilitated and that the presence of information and communication technology was lacking. The findings have important implication for literacy development, information and communication technology programmes in Prisons for empowering inmates and reducing recidivism. This paper points to the need to retrace, redirect, restructure and refocus their services and activities on literacy, rehabilitation, information and communication technology so as to empower the inmates.