Bicultural Identity And Academic Achievement: The Second-Generation Immigrant Student Experience, Karimeh Haddad

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

By comparing the academic success and internal processes of immigrant groups, this study aimed to explore the impact of immigration status (first, second, and third-generation) and cultural backgrounds on academic achievement on a holistic level. By measuring acculturation, parental expectations, self-efficacy, goal adjustment, motivation, control beliefs, and vocabulary knowledge of university students, the combination of constructs best correlated to academic achievement was studied with determinants of demographics playing a key role. In addition to quantitative analyses, in-depth interviews supplemented the analyses and further gave insight to the backgrounds of the target population, second-generation immigrant students. The results indicated that there …

The Inclusive Nature Of Mindfulness-Based Practice: Does Executive Functioning Play A Role In Children's Mindful Experience?, Kaitlyn Butterfield

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

We examined the effects of a six-week mindfulness program in order to assess how executive function level played a role in students’ mindful experience. The effects of the mindfulness program were evaluated according to prospective outcomes across students’ level of executive function, in comparison to an active control group. Classrooms were randomly assigned to a mindfulness-based program or a health-based active control group. Pre- and early adolescent students in the 5th to 8th grade (N = 52) from two MindfulMe! program classrooms and two HealthyMe! program classrooms (active control group) completed self-reported pretest and post-test measures to assess mindful attention …

Building Young People’S Capacity For Critical And Transcendent Engagement: Examining The Institution, The Community, And The Individual As Protagonists Of A School Setting, Livia Dittmer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As a powerful socializing force in Western society, schools have significant influence on young people’s development into adulthood. As powerful agents of societal maintenance and change, adolescents have significant influence on communities and institutions such as schools. In this embedded case study, I use structuration theory, German Critical Psychology, and systems thinking to examine the dynamic relationship between institutional structures and student agency in a school setting. I specifically examine the influence of this relationship on young people’s capacity for critical and transcendent engagement, constructs described further in this work. In the setting of Nancy Campbell Academy (NCA), an international …

Uncovering The Processes And Consequences Of Egyptian Immigrant Parental Involvement In Their Children’S Education: Bridging Cultural Differences, Hend Shalan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

For more than a decade, researchers have concluded that immigrant parents face several barriers to becoming involved in their children’s education. All studies agree that language and cultural differences are the most significant barriers to immigrants’ involvement in their children’s education, yet we know little about what these cultural differences are and how these cultural differences influence the school involvement of immigrant parents. This study integrates theories of cultural differences, acculturation, and culture shock and the corresponding literature to investigate the lesser involvement of immigrant parents in school-related activities.

A focused ethnographic design was employed and a thematic analysis …

Evaluating A Skills-Based Approach To Bullying Prevention, Rebecca Pister

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the following paper, I present an evaluation of the bullying prevention program designed and delivered by the John Howard Society of Waterloo-Wellington (JHS WW). A mixed-methods approach involving both quantitative and qualitative data collection was used to assess the program impacts on children receiving the primary stream of the program (Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 3), and the junior stream of the program (Grades 4 through 6). A case study was also conducted to assess the impacts of the program one year after program delivery and after two consecutive years of programming. Finally, all school staff members were invited to respond …

Predicting And Understanding Teacher Use Of School Consultation Services, Loretta M. Hillier

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Special education services offered to students and teachers in Ontario schools have changed dramatically within the past twenty years. Special education service delivery has evolved from a focus on the school psychologist as a psychometrist to the formation of multidisciplinary teams to deal with the needs of special students and their teachers. Students with special needs are no longer always segregated or left to fade into the wallpaper. By recent legislation, all students with special needs are entitled to special education programs suited to their needs. This often results in students being placed into the “least restrictive environment” which is …

Increasing Participation In Continuing Education The Relationship Of Specific Obstacles And Supports To Likelihood Of Participation, Victor Wayne Oake

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The study investigated the relationship between reported likelihood of participation in a continuing education course and the importance of obstacles and supports to participation as perceived by 238 adults. The research instrument, a questionnaire developed by the author, was mailed to 1,000 residences in the county of Waterloo, Ontario. Previous research and theoretical positions on obstacles to participation in continuing education were examined. It was hypothesized that obstacles and supports related to concern with academic ability would be significantly correlated with Likelihood of participation. The Pearson Product-Moment statistic was utilized to test the hypothesis. No significant correlations between the dependent …

Evaluation Of Family Life Education In The Secondary School A Case Study Based On Student And Teacher Report, Christine Ruth Chant

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Family life education can be defined as “any activity…aimed at imparting information concerning family relationships and providing the opportunity for people to approach their present and future relationships with greater responsibility” (Vanier Institute of the Family, 1971). The purpose of the present research was to identify the needs and interests of high school students and to determine whether their needs and interests were being met in the area of family life education. This author believes it is important to meet the needs of “consumers” of family life education, i.e., the students, because this may increase the possibility that students will …

The Effect Of Discussion Groups On A Field Placement Program Comparison Of Two Groups Of Undergraduate Students, Kathryn L. Gerstman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of the present research was to study changes that students with field placements experience with the addition of discussion groups to the regular supervision. The participants were 29 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses requiring field placements. These students volunteered to be in discussion groups concerning placements. Thirteen students were in the experimental condition of discussion groups and 16 were in the control group with no additional resource support or supervision. The discussion groups met weekly for approximately 50 minutes during the winter term and were led by advanced psychology honours students. At the beginning of the program, …

The Effects Of Interaction With Conserving Adults And Peers On The Acquisition Of Conservation By Nonconservers, Douglas Arthur Smith

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Nonconserving children were placed in a situation where they had to interact with either two conserving adults or two conserving children. Each triad (one nonconserver and two conservers) was asked to give judgments and explanations for conservation problems. The type of conserving explanations (invariant quantity, reversibility, and compensation) given by the conservers in the interaction were varied. Approximately one week after the interaction the nonconserving subjects were posttested and the results indicated that nonconservers increased in conservation score after interacting with conservers. Hearing different explanations did not differentially affect the scores of nonconservers. The results did indicate that invariant quantity …