Kym A. Irving

Validation of the diagnostic tool for assessing Tertiary students’ readiness for online learning

Increasing numbers of educational institutions are adopting an online approach to teaching and learning; however, little regard has been given to the prerequisite personal and technical qualities required for academic achievement and satisfaction within this environment. In recognition of this, researchers have been exploring the design, development and testing of diagnostic tools to assess student readiness for online learning. This study builds on previous work by the authors to further validate their diagnostic tool for assessing Tertiary students’ readiness for online learning (TSROL) which has four subscales: ‘Technical skills’, ‘Computer self‐efficacy’, ‘Learner preferences’ and ‘Attitudes towards computers’. Factor and reliability analyses revealed that Technical skills and Computer self‐efficacy possessed good reliability and validity, and ‘Attitudes towards computers’ fair reliability and validity. However, ‘Learner preferences’ required revision as it possessed poor reliability and validity. Analysing the demographic data revealed that older students had lower Technical Skills and computer self‐efficacy than younger students. The TSROL can be improved by adopting a more multidimensional interpretation of the Learning preferences and Attitudes towards computers subscales.

The Effect of Gender Context on Children's Social Behavior in a Limited Resource Situation: An Observational Study

Knowing when to compete and when to cooperate to maximize opportunities for equal access to activities and materials in groups is critical to childrens social and cognitive development. The present study examined the individual (gender, social competence) and contextual factors (gender context) that may determine why some children are more successful than others. One hundred and fifty-six children (M age=6.5 years) were divided into 39 groups of four and videotaped while engaged in a task that required them to cooperate in order to view cartoons. Children within all groups were unfamiliar to one another. Groups varied in gender composition (all girls, all boys, or mixed-sex) and social competence (high vs. low). Group composition by gender interaction effects were found. Girls were most successful at gaining viewing time in same-sex groups, and least successful in mixed-sex groups. Conversely, boys were least successful in same-sex groups and most successful in mixed-sex groups. Similar results were also found at the group level of analysis; however, the way in which the resources were distributed differed as a function of group type. Same-sex girl groups were inequitable but efficient whereas same-sex boy groups were more equitable than mixed groups but inefficient compared to same-sex girl groups. Social competence did not influence childrens behavior. The findings from the present study highlight the effect of gender context on cooperation and competition and the relevance of adopting an unfamiliar peer paradigm when investigating childrens social behavior.

Developing a diagnostic tool for assessing tertiary students' readiness for online learning

The increasing investment in developing high quality systems for online learning has focused more on technology with little regard for learners’ readiness to learn through such systems. One of the reasons for this was an assumption that most students have the necessary capacity (technical and attitudinal) to deal with online learning. This assumption is increasingly being challenged in recent years. This paper explores the difficulties experienced by online learners and develops a diagnostic survey instrument to ascertain learner readiness to participate in online learning environments. Through confirmatory factor analysis, four factors were identified: Technical skills, Learner self-efficacy, Learning preference and Learner attitude. This paper reports on the design and development of the survey instrument.

Australian Students' Perceptions Of The Importance And Existence Of Their Rights

In this study, 519 early adolescents rated the importance and existence of 40 rights, based on the themes of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in their homes and public schools. From a cross-national perspective, Australian students were similar to stu-dents from a majority of countries in the priority they gave to survival and development, health and medical care and emotional and family support in the home setting. These rights were also ranked highly in terms of their existence in Australian homes. Rights emerging as most important in the school arena focused on quality of education, educational opportunities, quality of social relationships and autonomy in choosing social relationships. Australian students were most like students from Denmark, Belgium and the USSR in their stronger emphasis on the school peer context as an arena in which to establish rights to freedom of association and expression. Discrepancies between ratings of importance and ratings of existence revealed that for between 25 percent and 28 percent of the sample, students felt that their rights to advocacy, privacy and fair treatment received little or no support in schools. The results of the survey make a significant contribution to understanding the views of Australian adolescents as a first step to their inclusion, in a consultative manner, in educational programs regarding rights for children. They may also aid school psychologists and teachers in their endeavours to identify ways in which school environments can be enhanced to support the psychological, as well as educational, growth of students.

Parental Control and Style in Australia and India: A Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract The research reported in this paper is an exploration of parental control, maturity demands and parenting style in Australia and India. In Brisbane. Australia parents of 100 preschool-aged children (100 mothers and 55 fathers) and in Hisar, India parents of 178 preschool-aged children (178 mothers and 149 fathers) participated. In Brisbane, parental data was collected through questionnaires. In Hisar. data was collected through interviews. For the Hisar study, the questionnaires were translated into Hindi. For parental control, Indian fathers were generally more firm than Australian parents and Indian mothers. Indian mothers were generally more harsh than Indian fathers and Indian parents were more harsh than Australian parents. For lax control, Indian parents were generally more lax than Australian parents and Indian fathers were more lax than Indian mothers. For maturity demands, Indian parents were more likely to expect self-control and independent behaviour than Australian parents. A high proportion of Australian and Indian parents fell into the permissive category of parenting style. In both cultural groups, with increase in children’s age, firm and harsh control and expectations for mature behaviour increased. Compared to less educated parents, more educated parents were less likely to use harsh and lax control and were more likely to use firm control. With higher parental education demands for mature behaviour increased.

Parental Assessment of Temperamental Behavioural Style of Australian Children

Abstract The present study was conducted in Brisbane, Australia. One hundred mothers and 55 fathers of 4 to 6 year old children assessed temperament of their children using Behavioural Style Questionnaire (McDevsitt and Carey 197 5). The results revealed that parental perceived highly active children were arrhythmic, slow to adapt, more intense, negative in mood, and distractible. Arrhythmic children were withdrawn, slow to adapt, more intense, non-persistent and low on threshold. Children who were withdrawn and slow to adapt were more likely to be negative mood, non-persistent, highly distractible and low on threshold. Children perceived low on threshold were non-persistent and distractible. Results also revealed sex differences in temperamental dimensions.

Temperament and Social Cognitive Scores

Abstract The present study was conducted in Hisar to study relationship between temperament and social competence of preschool-aged children and their mothers participated. To assess children’s temperament, the Behavioural Style Questionnaire (McDevit and Carey 1975) was used. To assess social competence of the children two measure were used - the Social Problem-Solving test - revised (Rubin 1998) and preschool Problem-Solving test developed by Shure and Spivack (1974). Result indicated that there exist relations between temp erament dimensions and social competence. Highly active and distractible children were more likely to suggest less number of strategies in object acquisition, friendship initiation and avoiding anger problem-solving tasks. They were less flexible in providing alternate solutions and suggested irrelevant solutions in Hypothetical problem problem-solving tasks. Easy to adapt, approachable and persist ent children were likely to suggest more solution and generated greater number of different strategies in all the three social problem-solving task areas. These children were also more flexible in providing alternate solutions and were more likely to suggest relevant solutions in all the three task areas.

Maternal Beliefs About Children’s Friends in Australia and India

The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, date were collected in Brisbane, Australia. In the second phase, data were collected in Hisar, India. Mothers of 100 preschool-aged children constituted the sample in Australia as well as in India. A questionnaire was used to explore maternal beliefs about children’s friends. The results of this study indicated that although Australian and Indian mothers held similar beliefs about children’s friends, cultural differences were also found to exist. Mothers in both cultures expected their children to be friends with well-mannered children and mentioned that ill-mannered and violent children were unsuitable as friends for their children. Cultural differences indicated that Indian mothers valued family background and intellect of children’s friends. In line with Western research, a substantial proportion of Aust ralian mothers mentioned not to intervene in exclusive friendship and valued their child’s decision to promote self-confidence in their children.