Volume 8, Issue 3 (2012) | Journal of Social Sciences

Contact with Nature and Children’s Wellbeing in Educational Settings

Giuseppe Carrus — 2012-03-26

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 26 March 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.304.309

Problem statement: The study explores the role of the spatial-physical features of the environment for the functioning of educational institutions. Previous research in the field of environmental psyc...

The Implications of Teacher Effectiveness Requirements for Initial Teacher Education Reform

S. G. Pretorius — 2012-03-26

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 26 March 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.310.317

Problem statement: School effectiveness research shows that teacher effectiveness is the single most important school-based factor in student success. The effects of poor teaching linger and can be me...

Towards Constructivist Teacher Professional Development

V. J. Pitsoe — 2012-03-26

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 26 March 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.318.324

Problem statement: In recent years, much has been written about constructivist learning theories and their applications to outcomes-based teaching and learning environments in South Africa. Approach: ...

Comparative Analysis of Postmodern Design for Information Technology in Education in Relation to Modernism

Saeid Zarghami Hamrah — 2012-03-26

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 26 March 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.325.331

Problem statement: The purpose of present study is a comparative analysis of the philosophical bases of postmodernism in relation to modernism and suggesting the necessities of each base in the design...

How does a Culture of Learning Impact on Student Behaviour?

Fransa Weeks — 2012-03-30

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 30 March 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.332.342

Problem statement: Despite the need for a culture of learning in South African schools, research reveal that it is not generally encountered. Research also indicates the manifestation of student behav...

The Effects of Social Constructivist Approach on the Learners’ Problem Solving and Metacognitive Levels

Erdal Bay — 2012-04-05

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 5 April 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.343.349

Problem statement: Socio-cultural constructivism; stressing the social context, culture and collaborative side of learning, is another kind of constructivism. The social constructivist approach has po...

The Impact of the Professional Learning and Psychological Mentoring Support for Teacher Trainees

Christina Peter Ligadu — 2012-05-07

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 7 May 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.350.363

Problem statement: Mentoring practices have been an important part of the practicum in initial teacher training. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a mentoring program for teac...

Mobile Phone and Short Message Service Appropriation, Usage and Behavioral Issues among University Students

Vimala Balakrishnan — 2012-05-09

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 9 May 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.364.371

Problem statement: This study aims to explore mobile phone and Short Message Service (SMS) usage among urbanized Malaysian youth. Uses and Gratification theory was used to explore mobile phone purchas...

Finding What You Expect to See: Theoretical Modeling in Psycholinguistics

Kathleen Ahrens — 2012-05-18

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 18 May 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.372.380

Problem statement: Theories of language processing rely upon experimental evidence to support or reject their hypotheses. Yet it is often the case that conflicting theories flourish alongside each oth...

Understanding of the Built of European Union Legal System: The Function of Individual Rights

Valentina Colcelli — 2012-05-24

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 24 May 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.381.389

The article analyses whether in the EU legal system, the selection of relevant interests in horizontal legal relationships arises for the same reason and in the same way as the qualification of rights...

Reversal of Attitude: The Influence of Counter-Attitudinal Information

Pauline Dibbets — 2012-06-12

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 12 June 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.390.396

Problem statement: Research has shown that both positive and negative information can alter a neutral attitude towards an unknown person, with negative information having, in general, a larger impact....

Cultural Capital and Performance in Medical Education

Karin Darin — 2012-06-12

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 12 June 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.397.406

Prior research has found that students from higher social classes generally perform at higher levels in education than other students. A common explanation is that these students hold higher volumes o...

The Application of Interpersonal Relationship Poll to the Enhancement of Management Efficacy

Kuo-Wei Lin — 2012-07-16

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 16 July 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.407.411

Problem statement: Every employee needs to directly face their different superiors and subordinates that he must have ability to get along with other people or teams. It is the ability that he could c...

Social Interactions for Academic Purposes in Literature Classes for Non English Speakers

Ai Chun Yen — 2012-07-16

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 16 July 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.412.419

Problem statement: This study reports how Learning Communities (LCs) and Online Learning Communities (OLCs) can improve Taiwanese EFL students’ lack of Social Interactions (SIs) and acdemic skills i...

Opening Up a ‘Third Space’ To Innovate Curricula

Hannelize Jacobs — 2012-07-17

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 17 July 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.420.428

Problem statement: Against the background of innovating learner experiences in South African schools and higher learning institutions in the 21st century, it is crucial to determine, in the analogy to...

Eras of Material, Energy and Information Production

Sergey K. Aityan — 2012-07-28

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 28 July 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.429.434

This study identifies and discusses three types of production: production of aterial goods, energy, and information. The production timeframes with the reference to each production era are about 103, ...

A Preliminary Investigation of the Adversity Reading in Archaic WEI Passives

Jun-Yu Zhang — 2012-08-08

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 8 August 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.435.446

Problem statement: It is well-known that modern Chinese imposes such a requirement on the subject in the BEI passive, but in fact it does not hold tightly in Modern Chinese. Only 50-75% of passives ha...

Religion and Schools in a Liquid World

Frank Peters — 2012-08-10

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 10 August 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.447.453

This study is an exploration of the changing contexts within which schools are required to function. As global borders have become more porous schools are challenged to deal with students from increas...

Level of Water Awareness at Some Jordanian Universities Student’s

Mohamad Said Damanhouri — 2012-08-16

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 16 August 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.454.458

Problem statement: Jordan has been facing shortage in water sector during the last three decades due to natural and society factors, weakness of water awareness is one of these Society factors, so thi...

Implementation of "Learning from Success" Model on Learning Disabilities Students

Zeev Greenberg — 2012-08-28

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 28 August 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.459.466

Problem statement: Students who have difficulties with studies lack study skills, demonstrate inconsistent achievements and are generally assigned to low-level study groups. In light of this situation...

A Teaching Method to Develop a Critical Thinking of the Students of the General Education Ecclesiastical School

Phrakhruvisitpattanaporn — 2012-08-31

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 31 August 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.467.471

Problem statement: The objectives of the research were to study (1) the teaching method to develop a critical thinking of the students of the General Education Ecclesiastical School, (2) the effective...

Employability Skill Acquisition among Malaysian Community College Students

M. K. Omar — 2012-08-31

Journal of Social Sciences, Published online: 31 August 2012; doi:10.3844/jssp.2012.472.478

The objective of this study was to assess the acquisition of employability skills among Malaysian community college students. The sample size of the present study 325 students selected randomly. Emp...