Scholar: Vol. 11, No. 2 (2019)
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ItemA comparative study of attitudes toward English language held by Grades 7-10 students at no.1 Mindat High School, Chin State, MyanmarThe purpose of the study was two-folded: firstly, to determine the levels of attitudes toward learning English, in terms of four subscales (i.e., English language teacher, English language class, English language textbook and English language work), of Grades 7-10 students at № 1 Mindat High School, Chin State, Myanmar; and secondly, to determine if there was a significant difference among Grades 7-10 students at the target school regarding their attitudes toward learning English language in terms of the aforementioned subscales. This quantitative study used the questionnaire originally developed by Uribe, Gutierrez & Madrid (2013), in order to examine students’ attitudes toward English language. The respondents were 529 Grades 7-10 students from № 1 Mindat High School, Chin State, Myanmar, during the academic year 2017-18. The research findings indicated that, on average, Grade 7, Grade 8 and Grade 9 students showed positive attitudes toward English language, whereas Grade 10 students, on average, showed neither positive nor negative attitudes toward English language. A Games-Howell post hoc multiple comparison test revealed a significant difference in attitudes toward English language between students from Grade 7 and Grade 9, Grade 7 and Grade 10, Grade 8 and Grade 9, and Grade 8 and Grade 10. Contrarily, it was not found a significant difference in attitudes toward English language in students from Grade 7 and Grade 8, or Grade 9 and Grade 10. Finally, recommendations for teachers, students, administrators and future researchers are presented.
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ItemA comparative-correlational study of attitudes toward and motivation for Learning English as a foreign language in Grade 9 students from Akha, Bamar and Shan ethnic Groups at no 2 Basic Educational High School, Keng Tung, Eastern Shan State, MyanmarThe purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a significant relationship between attitudes and motivation of Grade 9 students toward English as a foreign language from the Akha, Bamar, and Shan ethnic groups and to compare both variables among three different ethnic groups at № 2 Basic Education High School, Keng Tung, Eastern Shan State, Myanmar. A total of 199 students participated, and the instrument adapted for this study was the latest version of Gardner’s (2004) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between the research variables, and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine if there were significant differences between attitudes and motivation of the participant students. From this study, a positive attitude and high motivation of Grade 9 students toward learning English as a foreign language (EFL) were found, regardless of their ethnic memberships. Also, it was found a statistically strong, positive correlation between attitudes toward and motivation for learning EFL of Grade 9 students in each ethnic group. Furthermore, the findings also revealed a significant difference between attitudes toward EFL of the students, but no significant difference between motivations for learning EFL of the students in all three ethnic groups. Finally, recommendations for teachers, students, administrators and future researchers are presented.
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ItemA study on the effectiveness of ecological civilization education in experimental school of Chinese education for sustainable developmentEcological civilization is the wisdom crystallization of China's long-term explorations and researches based on Marxist ecological theory and scientific outlook on development, and the essence is to achieve sustainable development. Since the beginning of the new century, our government has attached great importance to ecological civilization and sustainable development and school education played an important role in this process. With the active promotion of international and domestic related policies and education administrative departments, ecological civilization education deepen its development. This paper focuses on the summary and analysis of the main implementation models and achievements in promoting ecological civilization education by experimental schools of education for sustainable development in the field of elementary education in recent years, aiming at providing reference for further promoting ecological civilization and sustainable development from the perspective of education.
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ItemA comparative study of Grade 3 students' Chinese character achievement through character structure literacy method and Chinese radical literacy method at an international school in Samut Prakarn, ThailandThe purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference between Grade 3 students’ Chinese character achievement through character structure literacy method (CSLM) and Chinese radical literacy method (CRLM) at an international school in Samut Prakarn, Thailand. This study was conducted on a population sample of 65 Grade 3 students from the target school. The Chinese Character Achievement Test was administered to students and collected in March 2018, to identify students’ Chinese character achievement after an experimental period of five weeks, from January 22nd to March 2nd, 2018, during which the experimental group was taught through CSLM, and the control group was taught through CRLM. The findings suggest that students taught through CSLM (the experimental group) do not statistically differ from students taught through CRLM (the control group), with both literacy methods being found somehow effective when teaching students to learn a Chinese character. Despite the fact that no significant difference in Chinese character achievement was found, a numerical difference in favor of the experimental group versus the control group was observed. Finally, recommendations for teachers, students, administrators and future researchers are presented.
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ItemDeath anxiety, coping strategies, and empathy among Thai physicians in Chiang MaiThis study investigates the relationship of years of experience and death anxiety to the empathy of Thai physicians in Chiang Mai toward their patients, as mediated by coping strategies (engaged, disengaged, and both). A total of 143 physicians (ages of 25 and 75) from four hospitals in Chiang Mai, who completed a self-administered questionnaire that was designed to measure the study’s variables, namely demography, death anxiety, coping strategy, and empathy. The results of the study indicate that the years of experience of Chiang Mai’s physicians directly and significantly relate to their reported level of death anxiety and empathy. Meanwhile, death anxiety is indirectly related to empathy when mediated by coping strategies. The results also reveal that physicians with a higher level of death anxiety tended to employ disengagement and coping strategies. Lastly, physicians who utilized all types of coping strategies reported higher levels of empathy toward their patients. These findings suggest that as Thai physicians in Chiang Mai become more anxious about death and feel more empathy toward their patients as they gain professional experience. While contending with death anxiety, they are more apt to employ disengagement or coping strategies; however, an engaged coping strategy is more likely to promote empathy in comparison to other strategies. The implications of these findings may assist physicians in further understanding death anxiety and identifying the most strategy to cope and generate empathy toward their patients.
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ItemStress and life satisfaction among medical students in Myanmar: the mediating role of coping stylesThis study investigate the direct effect of perceived stress on life satisfaction and the indirect effect between stress and life satisfaction mediated by the three different coping styles; problem-focused coping, emotional-focused coping, the avoidance focused coping The participants were medical students from first year to final year from two medical universities in Yangon, Myanmar. The quantitative research employed path analysis using survey questionnaires of 216 students obtain via convenient sampling. The path analysis result showed that the relationship between problem-focused coping and life satisfaction is highly significant. The result also found that the stress inversely predicts the emotional focused coping. This research finding may provide some reference for future research in the area of stress and wellness of medical students.
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ItemThe direct and indirect influences of self-compassion on alcohol consumption among Thai businessmen, mediated by stress and depressionThe current research aimed to explore the direct and indirect influences of self-compassion (SC) on alcohol consumption (AC), being mediated by stress and depression among Thai businessmen in Bangkok, Thailand. This research investigation employed quantitative methods based on data derived from a self-report survey questionnaire on a population of 266 Thai businessmen (N=266). This study used the correlation approach via path analysis to determine if the targeted population’s level of SC can predict their level of AC, both directly and indirectly, being mediated by their levels of stress and depression. The findings demonstrated significant direct influence of SC on AC. It was also found that SC has negative direct influence on stress and depression, indicating that the more self-compassionate the participants are, the lower is their level of depression and stress. Surprisingly, this research did not find an indirect influence of SC on AC, being mediated by stress and depression. The findings, conclusions, limitations, and recommendations of the study were discussed accordingly.
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ItemThe relationship of Grade 7 students' general ICT use and attitudes towards ICT use for school related activities with ICT self-efficacy in eleven English program schools of ThailandThe purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of Grade 7 students’ general ICT use and attitudes towards ICT use for school-related activities to ICT self-efficacy in eleven English Program schools of Thailand. An adapted version of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment 2012, Information and Communication questionnaire was used to collect data from 559 Grade 7 English Program (EP) secondary students attending public or private (i.e., non-international) secondary schools within Central Thailand who were enrolled in an English Program during the first term of the 2017-2018 academic school year. Descriptive statistics and multiple correlation coefficients were used to analyze the data. To encourage self-access learning and provide the type of communicative and collaborative tools to EP students that promote 21st century learning skills, this researcher developed a Learning Management System (LMS) system, Icon Educate. Every incoming Grade 7 class enrolled in a participating English Program was given training on how the system can be used as well as an introduction to its content. It was found that there was a strong and positive relationship between students’ general ICT use for school-related activities and their attitudes towards ICT use for schoolrelated activities. Additionally, there was a moderately strong and negative relationship between students’ general ICT use for school-related activities and their CT self-efficacy.
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ItemThe relationship between teachers' demographic profiles and teachers' perception towards the internal quality assurance assessment at program level in two secondary high schools in Laiza and Mai Ja Yang Townships, Kachin State, MyanmarThe purpose of this study was to determine the teachers’ perception towards Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Assessment at program level and relationship with the teachers’ demographic factors: age, educational qualification, years of service in school, and academic rank in two Secondary High Schools in Laiza and Mai Ja Yang Townships, Kachin State, Myanmar, and to compare teachers’ perception towards internal quality assurance system according to teachers’ gender. Two set of questionnaires were used to conduct this study: Questionnaires for teachers’ demographic profile and Questionnaires for Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) Assessment at Program Level. 95% of the questionnaires were returned valid and data were analyzed by frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r). The findings of objectives were that the teachers’ perception towards total internal quality assurance system based on fifteen components was at low level. Therefore, there was no significant difference between male teachers and female teachers’ perception towards internal quality assurance system according to teachers’ gender. There was no significant relationship between internal quality assurance system at program level and other teachers’ demographic factors. Since all the significant values were bigger than .05 at the significant level. The study recommended that school’s principals and board committee members should pay more attention to focus on IQA strategic planning and implementation process in order for promoting schools’ quality.
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ItemA correlational-comparative study of self-efficacy for learning Chinese as a foreign language and Chinese academic achievement of Grades 6-10 students according to their Chinese language proficiency levels at a trilingual international school in Samut-Prakarn, ThailandThe purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between selfefficacy for learning Chinese as a foreign language and Chinese academic achievement in four different criteria of Chinese class Phase 3, Phase 4 and Phase 5 (Grade 6-10 student groups) that were divided according to their Chinese language proficiency level, The four criteria were comprehending spoken and visual text, comprehending written and visual text, communicating in response to spoken, written and visual text, and using language in spoken and written form. An adapted version of Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire by Pintrich, Smith, Garcia and McKeachie (1991) was used to collect data from a total of 167 students. The researcher compared the self-efficacy for learning Chinese as a foreign language in Phase 3, Phase 4 and Phase 5 students during the first semester of academic year 2017-2018. Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and inferential statistical procedures (Pearson product-moment correlations and one-way ANOVA tests) were used to analyze the data for this research study. The research found that Chinese proficiency Phase 3, Phase 4 and Phase 5 level students had high levels of self-efficacy for learning Chinese; furthermore, it was found that the level of students’ self-efficacy for learning Chinese correlated significantly with students’ Chinese academic achievement. Recommendations for practice and future research are provided.
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ItemA comparative study of students' attitudes toward learning English as a foreign language according to their instructional strategies preferences at Gateway Learning Center, Hpa-an Township, Karen State, MyanmarThe purpose of this study was to investigate if there was a significant difference between students’ attitudes toward learning EFL according to their preferences for instructional strategies at Gateway Learning Center, Hpa-an Township, Karen State, Myanmar. This research was a quantitative comparative design utilizing two questionnaires: Attitudes Toward Learning English as a Foreign Language Questionnaire (ATLEFLQ) and Instructional Strategies Preferences Questionnaire (ISPQ) to collect data. The data were collected from 203 students in November and December, 2017. The researcher analyzed the data using descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, frequencies and percentages) and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for statistical hypothesis testing. The findings indicated that the students had positive attitudes toward learning English as a foreign language and the most preferred instructional strategy for learning EFL was mixed instructional strategy, followed by experiential learning, interactive instruction, indirect instruction, direct instruction and finally independent study. There was no significant difference between students’ attitudes toward learning EFL according to their preferences for instructional strategies. Recommendations for students, teachers, administrators and future researchers are provided.
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ItemThe relationship between instructors' transformational leadership style and their job satisfaction in nursing science faculty, University of SomaliaThis study investigated the relationship between instructors’ transformational leadership style and their job satisfaction in nursing science faculty, University of Somalia. This study aimed (1) to identify the degree in which transformational leadership style is used by the instructors; (2) to determine the satisfaction level of the instructors; and lastly (3) to examine the relationship between instructors’ transformational leadership style and job satisfaction of the nursing science instructors at University of Somalia. The study had 76 respondents, all full time instructors at the nursing science faculty and 100% of them responded to the survey. This research design was a quantitative and relationship study. A previously developed descriptive survey was used to investigate the Nursing Science department. The researcher used a statistical software program to analyze the collected data. This study found that the degree in which instructors use transformational leadership style was high, the instructors were overall highly satisfied with their job, and that there was a positive significant relationship between instructors’ transformational leadership style and their job satisfaction in nursing science faculty at the University of Somalia.
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ItemThe moderation effect on the relationship between the TPB-based predictor variables and intention for healthy eating among Thai university students in BangkokThe present study was conducted to explore the moderation effect of health science education, internal health locus of control, and gender on the relationship between theory of planned behavior (TPB)-based variables and intention for healthy eating among Thai university students in Bangkok. There are 199 participants in this study whom were recruited from two universities via convenience sampling. Questionnaire about TPB-based variables from previous research and Multidimensional health locus of control scale were utilized to access participants’ attitude towards healthy eating, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention for healthy eating, and internal health locus of control. The results from this study show that TPB is applicable with Thai university students in Bangkok. Furthermore, the results showed three moderation effects. The first two moderations are the moderation effect of internal health locus of control on the relationship between two TPB-based predictors variables (attitude towards healthy eating, subjective norm) and intention for healthy eating. Meanwhile, gender also moderate the relationship between subjective norm and intention for healthy eating. Hence, considering client’s level of internal health locus of control and gender are necessary because those moderator variables will promote the efficacy of healthy eating strategy for Thai university students in Bangkok.
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ItemThe relationship between teachers' art experiences and their attitudes towards the importance of art education in an international school in Bangkok, ThailandThe purpose of this research was to identify teachers’ art experiences, as well as their attitudes towards the importance of art education, and subsequently determine the relationship between teachers’ experiences and their attitudes. The research focused on teachers from the primary level of an international school in Bangkok, Thailand. A questionnaire was used to gather information about teachers’ past art experiences as a student in primary, secondary school and university, as an adult and as related to family. Findings revealed that teachers value their art experiences in primary and secondary school as somewhat positive, while it was deemed neutral in university. A gradual change was also observed in the results regarding how teachers rated the importance of art education: from somewhat positive in primary and secondary school, to neutral in university. Correlation analyses further confirmed that there was indeed a significant relationship between teachers’ art experiences and their attitudes towards the importance of art education, particularly as a student.
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ItemThe influence of dispositional optimism-pessimism on life satisfaction mediated by coping strategies among Thais in BangkokResearch has shown that optimism and productive coping strategies have a momentous positive impact on physical and psychological well-being. It has been found that optimists tend to use engaged-style coping and pessimists use disengagedstyle coping. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the direct and indirect relationship of dispositional optimism-pessimism on life satisfaction, being mediated by coping strategies among Thais in Bangkok. Two hundred and four Thai adults participated in an online survey. The research design of this study was correlational, using path analysis to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that there was no direct influence between optimism-pessimism on life satisfaction. However, there was an indirect positive relationship between optimism and life satisfaction, mediated by engaged coping. Lastly, there was no indirect relationship of pessimism on life satisfaction, mediated by disengaged coping, but disengaged coping was negatively related to life satisfaction. Some of the results in the present study diverged significantly from existing literature, future research is recommended to further investigate these discrepancies. Future studies should also continue to explore predictors to life satisfaction within the Thai population and develop culturally appropriate interventions.
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ItemA comparative study of Grades 10 and 11 students' perceptions of English teacher effectiveness in Lai Za High School and Mai Ja Yang High School in Kachin State, MyanmarThe purpose of this study was twofold: firstly, to determine Grades 10 and 11 students’ perceptions of English teacher effectiveness using Danielson’s (2011) framework for teaching model and its domains (i.e., planning and preparation, classroom environment, and instruction) in Lai Za High School and Mai Ja Yang High School in Kachin State, Myanmar; and secondly, to identify whether there were significant differences in Grade 10, Grade 11, and Grades 10 and 11 students’ perceptions of English teacher effectiveness between the same schools. This quantitative study used the Students’ Perceptions of Teacher Effectiveness Questionnaire (SPTEQ, Sprague, 2013). The respondents were 184 Grades 10 and 11 students in Lai Za High School and 220 Grades 10 and 11 students in Mai Ja Yang High School during the academic year 2017-2018. The research findings indicated that, in Lai Za High School, on average, Grade 10 students perceived their English teachers as neither effective nor ineffective, while Grade 11 students perceived their English teachers as effective. In Mai Ja Yang High School, both Grades 10 and 11 students, on average, perceived their English teachers as effective. Independent samples t-tests revealed that there were significant differences in Grade 10 and Grades 10 and 11 students’ perceptions of English teacher effectiveness between Lai Za High School and Mai Ja Yang High School, whereas no significant difference in Grade 11 students’ perceptions of English teacher effectiveness was noted between Lai Za High School and Mai Ja Yang High School.
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ItemThe relationship of perceived teacher effectiveness and perceived teacher's classroom use of dialects with motivational orientation for learning Chinese language of Grade 10 students in Chinese language class at Hengxian High School, Guangxi Province, ChinaThe purpose of this study was to identify the relationship of perceived teacher effectiveness, perceived teacher’s classroom use of dialects with motivational orientation for learning Chinese language of Grade 10 students in Chinese language class at Hengxian High School, Guangxi Province, China. Analysis of the collected data revealed that there was a significant, positive, and moderately strong correlation between perceived teacher effectiveness and motivational orientation for learning Chinese language of Grade 10 students in Chinese language class at Hengxian High School. The research findings indicate that the level of teacher effectiveness can affect students’ motivational orientation for learning Chinese language in Chinese language class at Hengxian High School. However, teacher’s classroom use of dialects does not significantly affect students’ motivational orientation for learning Chinese language in Chinese language class at Hengxian High School. Based on the research findings, recommendations for students, teachers, administrators and future researchers are provided.
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ItemThe influence of social support and student's self efficacy on academic engagement of undergraduate students mediated by sense of belonging and psychological distressThis study investigates the relationship of social support and self-efficacy on the academic engagement of Thai undergraduate students in Chiang Mai, Thailand, mediated by sense of belonging and psychological distress. A total of 267 students (aged between 17 and 24) from three universities in Chiang Mai participated in this study by completing a self-administered questionnaire designed to measure the study’s primary variables (social support, self-efficacy, sense of belonging, psychological distress, and academic engagement). The results of the study indicate that the undergraduate students’ social support and self-efficacy, directly or indirectly mediated by sense of belonging and psychological distress, have no significant relationship to their academic engagement. Therefore, social support, self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and psychological distress present no predictive value to undergraduate students’ academic engagement. However, the results reveal that students’ social support and self-efficacy is directly and significantly related to their psychological distress in the opposite direction. This finding indicates that the more social support and self-efficacy undergraduate students have, the less psychological distress they have. The implication of this finding may help undergraduate students ease their psychological distress by promoting their social support and self-efficacy.
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ItemA comparative study of students' motivation for learning English as a foreign language according to their preferences for indirect learning strategies at Nelson English Language Centre, Yangon, MyanmarThe purpose of this study was to examine the difference between the students’ motivation for learning English as a Foreign Language according to their preferences for indirect learning strategies at Nelson English Language Centre in Yangon, Myanmar. This research was designed as a quantitative comparative study. A total of 215 students from Intro, Level 1 and Level 2 at Nelson English Language Centre in Yangon participated in this study research. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire, which was adapted from the international version of Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) for motivation and Oxford’s Strategy Inventory for Language Learning questionnaire (SILL) for indirect learning strategies. The collected data were analyzed first through descriptive statistics (i.e., means, standard deviations, frequencies and percentages) and then through inferential statistics (i.e., one-way analysis of variance) for statistical hypothesis testing. The findings indicated that the students’ motivation for learning EFL in Nelson English Language Centre was “High”. Besides, the students preferred metacognitive strategies the most followed by social strategies, mixed strategies and affective strategies. These research findings showed that there was no significant difference between the students’ motivation for learning EFL according to their preferences for indirect learning strategies. The recommendations for teachers, school administrators and future researchers are provided based on the findings of this study.
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ItemA comparative study of Grade 6 science students' academic achievement under teacher-centered learning method and inquiry-based learning method at Panchasap School, Bangkok, ThailandThe purpose of this study was to compare grade 6 science students’ academic achievement under two different teaching methods at Panchasap School, Bangkok, Thailand. The two methods were teacher-centered learning method and inquiry-based learning method. The research included five objectives. Objective one was to determine the students’ academic achievement under teacher-centered learning method in pre-test and post-test. Objective two was to determine if there was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test under teacher-centered method. Objective three was to determine students’ academic achievement under inquiry-based learning method in pre-test and post-test. Objective four was to determine if there was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test under inquiry-based learning method. Objective five was to determine if there was a significant difference in academic achievement in science between teacher-centered learning method and inquiry-based learning method. Two groups of Grade 6 students at Panchasap School, Bangkok, Thailand were used for this research study. The sample size of this study was 83 students where 42 students were under the teachercentered learning method and 41 students were under the inquiry-based learning method. The data were collected by using a pre-posttest. The pre-post test scores were analyzed by means, standard deviations, paired samples t-test and an independent samples t-test (two-tailed). The findings of the study indicated a significant difference between teacher-centered learning method and inquiry-based learning method at a significance level of .05. Students achieved higher when exposed to inquiry-based learning method.