American Journal of Educational Research

Educational fraternity is moving towards research based practices to improve educational standards. Many novice educational researchers are in dilemma to adopt research design in order to explore reality through their research endeavor because of a tag of war on ontological epistemological and axiological perspectives among qualitative and quantitative researchers. In this confounding situation, this article guides them to fuse both qualitative and quantitative stand points to explore reality from another perspective which is known as pragmatic paradigm. In this connection, this article aims at explaining the holistic ideas of mixed method design focusing particularly on philosophical premises, generating research questions, data collection and analysis process, potential ethical issues, quality of inference and teaching mixed methodology. This article highlights on the growing interest of educational researchers on sequential mixed method design in order to collect and analyze data for legitimize knowledge claim. This article is expected to be useful to novice researchers who are in quandary to adopt explanatory sequential mixed method as a research method and it also creates a roadmap in educational research indicating methodological possibilities for new knowledge claim.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2016, 4(7), 570-577. DOI: 10.12691/education-4-7-10
Pub. Date: May 16, 2016

Full-Text PDF

54173 Views12777 Downloads23 Likes

English Language Provision in Australia within the Global Context of ELT

by Ahmad Mousa B. Altasan

Review Article

The first part of this report reviews briefly different purposes for learning English worldwide in the current context of globalisation. The second part of this paper researches and critically analyses English language provision in Australia through following topics: Types of programs and providers in the different sectors and their purposes for teaching English; Funding sources for programs; Types and provenance of clients; Nature of curricula, courses and credentials within programs; Purposes of and approaches to language assessment in different sectors;. Regulation of the sectors. By examining a range of published journal articles, facts sheet, discussion feedback, evaluation reports and official internet sites, data were collected, edited, coded, classified and organized. Overall, Australia EL industry is constantly evolving to keep up with the changing needs of the global ELT market. Public and private sectors are strong and making a great progress though quite unstable and sensitive to the external challenges and fluctuations in demand.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2016, 4(7), 563-569. DOI: 10.12691/education-4-7-9
Pub. Date: May 14, 2016

Full-Text PDF

10296 Views4360 Downloads2 Likes

The Evolution of Academic Self-Efficacy and Academic Stress on the University Students in Mexico

by Luis Fernando Hernández Jácquez

Original Research

This research deals around the variables of academic self-efficacy and academic stress arising from the problems presented by undergraduate students of a university in Mexico; it is regarding the perception of poor security experience to do their assignments. The results presented are the first stage of a quantitative study, no experimental and evolutionary groups (cohort), based on the self-efficacy theory of Albert Bandura. These results show that the students had an average level of perceived academic self-efficacy and a moderate level of academic stress, concluding that it was not possible to establish statistically significant correlation between the two variables.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2016, 4(7), 556-562. DOI: 10.12691/education-4-7-8
Pub. Date: May 13, 2016

Full-Text PDF

11326 Views4289 Downloads3 Likes

Impacts of Education on Sustainable Development: A Micro Study in Burdwan District of West Bengal, India

by Pankaj Kumar Paul and Chitralekha Mehera

Original Research

The present research paper attempts to examine the impacts of education on sustainable development in the district of Burdwan, West Bengal. The study covers two hundred households both in urban and rural areas consisting of ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL) and ‘Above Poverty Line’ (APL) of Burdwan district in West Bengal. As a statistical method, Chi-square test was used to examine the association between education and sustainable development of the households. The analysis also includes historical evolution and principles of education conducive to sustainable development. A conceptual framework has also been developed to visualize the role of education for achieving sustainable development through a system model. A binary logit regression model has been used to determine the extent of relationship between education and sustainable development by a set of selected indicators. Again, students’t-test has been applied to examine the hypotheses whether any variation about the impact of sustainable development in terms of education among the households (i.e., rural and urban or APL and BPL families) exists or not. Finally, it has been concluded that education have had a significant positive impact on the sustainable development of households of Burdwan district in West Bengal.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2016, 4(7), 551-555. DOI: 10.12691/education-4-7-7
Pub. Date: May 12, 2016

Full-Text PDF

13185 Views4279 Downloads

Primary School Completion Rates in Rivers State, Nigeria (2008 -2014): Implications for Millennium Development Goals

by Adieme Franca Ginikachi and Nath M. Abraham

Original Research

This study assessed Primary School Completion Rates in Rivers State, Nigeria (2008 -2014): Implications for Millennium Development Goals Three research questions guided the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all the 942 primary schools from which a sample size of 94 primary schools was drawn using the proportionate stratified sampling technique. The instrument that was used for the study was a document analysis. Data for the study were analysed using percentages, which were presented in bar charts. The findings of the study revealed among others that the aggregate completion rates for a full course of primary education for boys and girls in the 23 local government areas of Rivers State was 69%. Based on the results of the study, it was recommended among others that the government and educational stakeholders should make effort to boost access to education and retention of pupils in schools by providing conducive learning environment.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2016, 4(7), 539-550. DOI: 10.12691/education-4-7-6
Pub. Date: May 12, 2016

Full-Text PDF

8000 Views2586 Downloads

Guidance and Counselling in Early Childhood Teacher Training

by Ahmed Abdulai and Agatha Inkoom

Original Research

This paper examines the place of Guidance and Counselling in Early Childhood teacher training. A 20-item questionnaire was administered to 486 students drawn from University of Education, Winneba (UEW) and University for Development Studies (UDS); both public universities engaged in teacher education. A descriptive survey was adopted for the study. The main instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire for Early Childhood Education students. The data gathered was coded and analysed with the aid of computer software, Statistical Package for Service Solution (SPSS) version 17. The statistical tools used in the analysis consisted of both descriptive and inferential statistics. The open-ended data was also categorised and recorded according to themes for emergent patterns. It is evident from research data that teacher trainees are aware of the availability of guidance and counselling services in their respective schools, which is mostly through the school counsellor. Furthermore, this study presents viewpoints in relation to the needs of the student, how they are addressed, and how well these services are available. The current study has added to existing knowledge on student1w perception about the place of guidance and counselling services between UEW and UDS. The paper draws on the findings and recommend that sourcing of guidance and counselling services should be mandatory on the part of students and that such services should not be limited to academic issues but should also address personal and social needs of recipients.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2016, 4(7), 531-538. DOI: 10.12691/education-4-7-5
Pub. Date: May 09, 2016

Full-Text PDF

26309 Views6153 Downloads

Similarities and Differences between Education Systems UK, Tunisia and Thailand through the PISA Reports

by Santiago Nieto Martín and María Luisa Sevillano García

Original Research

This article attempts to compare three educational systems through the PISA tests. I compare the educational systems of the United Kingdom, Tunisia and Thailand through the academic results obtained through the implementation of the PISA tests and distinguish four models for managing heterogeneity in the classroom.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2016, 4(7), 519-530. DOI: 10.12691/education-4-7-4
Pub. Date: May 06, 2016

Full-Text PDF

26522 Views6054 Downloads

Integrating the Tenets of Peace and Care of Planet Earth in Reading Comprehension Passages of the English Language Curriculum for Junior Secondary Schools in Nigeria

by Hanna Onyi Yusuf

Original Research

The paper examined the various ways in which the tenets of peace and care of planet earth can be integrated into the reading comprehension passages of the English language curriculum for junior secondary schools in Nigeria. Samples of reading comprehension passages on the tenets of peace and care of planet earth developed by this author were provided for integration into the English language curriculum for junior secondary schools. The paper suggest that schools should adopt a holistic and integral approach in promoting tenets of peace and care of planet earth by encouraging students to engage in meaningful activities such as dramatization, miming, singing etc. students should also be exposed to practical activities such as field trip that would give them opportunities to demonstrate the tenets of peace and care of planet earth. The more children are exposed to the tenets of peace in the classroom, the less they are likely to find fault with one another and the more they are able to live and work together in peace as future adults for the benefits of mankind and for the good of the society. Similarly, the more children are exposed to caring for the planet earth, the less they are likely to engage in activities that can cause damages to the planet earth and the more they will be able to make scientifically informed decisions in future about the consequences of not caring for the planet earth.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2016, 4(7), 512-518. DOI: 10.12691/education-4-7-3
Pub. Date: May 06, 2016

Full-Text PDF

7029 Views2431 Downloads

Teaching Methods for Balancing Chemical Equations: An Inspection versus an Algebraic Approach

by Nathan L. Charnock

Original Research

In secondary chemistry education, there are two predominate teaching methods which are typically employed to convey a systematic method of chemical reaction balancing: by inspection or with a linear algebraic approach. The objective of this study was to determine the most effective method to teach the skill set needed to perform the task of chemical reaction balancing in the secondary education setting as measured by performance on a teacher-made summative assessment. The results clearly indicated that the algebraic approach to balancing both simple and advance chemical reactions typically encountered in the secondary chemistry classroom is superior to that of the inspection method. The algebraic method is not a new approach to employ in the systematic resolution of stoichiometric coefficients and the novelty of application makes it an attractive, effective, and efficient teaching and learning method in practice.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2016, 4(7), 507-511. DOI: 10.12691/education-4-7-2
Pub. Date: May 05, 2016

Full-Text PDF

27850 Views14477 Downloads

Disproof the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture

by Leszek W. Guła

Original Research

The Guła’s Theorem. Only one in the world the proper proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem for n=4. Disproof the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture. The proof of Goldbach’s Conjecture.

American Journal of Educational Research. 2016, 4(7), 504-506. DOI: 10.12691/education-4-7-1
Pub. Date: May 03, 2016

Full-Text PDF

8616 Views3819 Downloads1 Likes