The Social Psychology of Organizations.

Dispositional differences in cognitive motivation : the life and times of individuals varying in need for cognition

Dual coding theory (DCT) explains human behavior and experience in terms of dynamic associative processes that operate on a rich network of modality-specific verbal and nonverbal (or imagery) representations. We first describe the underlying premises of the theory and then show how the basic DCT mechanisms can be used to model diverse educational phenomena. The research demonstrates that concreteness, imagery, and verbal associative processes play major roles in various educational domains: the representation and comprehension of knowledge, learning and memory of school material, effective instruction, individual differences, achievement motivation and test anxiety, and the learning of motor skills. DCT also has important implications for the science and practice of educational psychology — specifically, for educational research and teacher education. We show not only that DCT provides a unified explanation for diverse topics in education, but also that its mechanistic framework accommodates theories cast in terms of strategies and other high-level psychological processes. Although much additional research needs to be done, the concrete models that DCT offers for the behavior and experience of students, teachers, and educational psychologists further our understanding of educational phenomena and strengthen related pedagogical practices.

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Dual coding theory and education

The article examines the effects of principals’ leadership style (transformational or transactional), principals’ decision-making strategy (autocratic versus participative), and teachers’occupation perceptions on teacher satisfaction from the job. More specifically, it attempts to find out how much of the variation in teachers’job satisfaction can be attributed to their perceptions of their occupation, as compared to their perceptions about their principals’ leadership style and decision-making strategy. A quantitative questionnaire using Likert-type scales was administered to 930 teachers in Israeli schools, of whom 745 responded. Path analysis was used to explain teacher job satisfaction by the exogenous variables. The most salient finding was that teachers’occupation perceptions strongly affected their satisfaction. Principals’transformational leadership affected teachers’satisfaction both directly and indirectly through their occupation perceptions. Implications of the study are discussed in relation ...

The influence of leadership style on teacher job satisfaction

Perceived workplace conditions and first-year teachers’ morale, career choice commitment, and planned retention: a secondary analysis

This article proposes a conceptual scheme of the influences affecting teachers’ career satisfaction and reports a study using that scheme to investigate the relationship between selected abilities, values, and accomplishments and teachers’ career satisfaction. Results supported the scheme. Specifically, women were more satisfied with their teaching career than men. Teachers’ skills and abilities were significantly related to satisfaction but accounted for only small amounts of the additional variance. Career satisfaction is related to assigning little importance to activities and accomplishments that, given the structure of the school, may be difficult to achieve. Yet, actual accomplishments in these areas have a strong positive relationship to satisfaction. Last, the importance of recognition by administrators to teachers’ career satisfaction was discussed.

Teachers’ Satisfaction with Teaching

Students in colleges and universities seeking preservice preparation for professional careers now outnumber those pursuing liberal studies. This enrollment pattern challenges college and university administrators, even in some colleges formerly devoted to liberal arts, to become familiar with an increasingly diverse set of programs. Because professional preparation programs vary so greatly on dimensions such as educational goals, expected outcomes, teaching methods, student time commitment, relations with practitioners, and even educational level (baccalaureate or postbaccalaureate), it is not easy for administrators to develop a working understanding of each of them.

A Conceptual Framework for the Study of Preservice Professional Programs in Colleges and Universities

Responsive Professional Education: Balancing Outcomes and Opportunities

This study explored faculty views about curriculum planning in academic programs. Using a semistructured format, researchers interviewed 59 faculty members at two very different campuses about their assumptions and the influences upon them as they work with colleagues in planning program curriculum. Although many of the same factors influence course and program planning, we observed that, compared to course planning, program planning is irregular (even infrequent), typically responds to a specific catalyst, and is more dependent upon a supportive institutional climate and leadership. We consider ways that institutional researchers can help provide a supportive climate for responsive and regular planning that will link planning and assessment more closely.

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PROGRAM-LEVEL CURRICULUM PLANNING: An Exploration of Faculty Perspectives on Two Different Campuses

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Malcolm A. Lowther

Papers

Teachers’ Satisfaction with Teaching

A Conceptual Framework for the Study of Preservice Professional Programs in Colleges and Universities

Responsive Professional Education: Balancing Outcomes and Opportunities

PROGRAM-LEVEL CURRICULUM PLANNING: An Exploration of Faculty Perspectives on Two Different Campuses

Strengthening the Ties That Bind: Integrating Undergraduate Liberal and Professional Study. Report of the Professional Preparation Network.