Roisin P. Corcoran

Examining the impact of prior academic achievement on moral reasoning development among college students: A growth curve analysis

Abstract Moral reasoning is concerned with making decisions regarding the appropriate course of action in particular situations and has been highlighted as a critical factor that may facilitate (or impede) the effectiveness of educational programs in promoting positive outcomes. This study examined the trajectories of moral reasoning as measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT2) for college students and to what extent there are intra-individual (within student) and inter-individual (between student) changes in moral reasoning during this developmental period. The results suggest that moral reasoning was best represented by a linear increase on the mean level and non-significant variability across students. The relationship between moral reasoning and students’ prior academic attainment was also examined.

Assessing Emotional Intelligence and Its Impact in Caring Professions: The Value of a Mixed-Methods Approach in Emotional Intelligence Work with Teachers

A considerable body of research into the impact of having emotional intelligence has attracted attention to the concept. The strength of this research lies in the link between scores on emotional intelligence tests and outcome measures such as performance in work or in other aspects of life. Much of the focus in this has been in the use of emotional intelligence measures by management consultants, meaning many studies have been conducted in the context of organisational research and managerial practice with comparatively little attention been given to “caring” professions such as teaching where emotional intelligence is argued to be important. This is all the more important since what data exists on emotional intelligence and teachers suggests that, during their preservice stages of teacher education at least, they typically have a level of emotional intelligence significantly below the average for the wider population. What, then, can be meaningfully said about the ways in which emotionally intelligent people would perform differently than less emotionally intelligent people in a profession like teaching?

Personality Development during Teacher Preparation

Objective: The purpose of this 3-year longitudinal study was to examine pre-service teachers’ personality trajectories as measured by the IPIP Big-Five factor markers during teacher preparation. The relationship between students’ personality traits, social desirability, and prior academic attainment was also examined. Method: This 3-year longitudinal study invited participants from the first year of a 4-year undergraduate (UG) pre-service teacher education program, the class of 2017. The sample consisted of 305 students. Results: The results suggest that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience were best represented by a non-significant longitudinal change in means. Results also suggest that social desirability predicts agreeableness and emotional stability with small to moderate effect sizes. Conclusion: The study concludes that no value is added to pre-service teachers’ personality traits during 3 years of tertiary education. Furthermore, the data presented does not support the view that academic attainment is a good predictor of personality traits. Implications for educational research, theory, and practice are considered.

Factors That Predict Pre-Service Teachers' Teaching Performance.

Abstract Understanding the factors that contribute to an effective teacher has the potential to influence selection and preparation of pre-service teachers and may influence student outcomes. Prior research suggests a relationship between teacher characteristics (academic achievement, verbal ability, gender) and teacher effectiveness, however, these factors explain only a fraction of the overall variance in the effectiveness of teachers. Guided by the What Works Clearinghouse protocol for Teacher Training, Evaluation and Compensation, this study involving pre-service teachers (N = 400) used teacher performance rankings resulting from classroom observations and explored factors that may contribute to varying levels of teacher performance. Pre-service teachers’ prior teaching performance, personality characteristics and previous academic achievement were assessed as predictive factors of teacher performance. Results indicate that no significant relationship was identified between personality traits and the outcome variable teaching performance in this study. However, previous teaching performance in addition to academic achievement scores emerged as significant predictors of teaching performance.