Ph.D Theses
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Browsing Ph.D Theses by Subject "Human Development"
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Item Development of Assessment Scale for Primary School Teachers to Identify Children with Learning Disability(Avinashilingam, 2024-09) Rajkumari S; Dr. Ramya BhaskarLearning Disabilities (LD) are a complex group of neurological disorders that affect various cognitive functions, including listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, and math. Often termed a hidden disability, LD is prevalent in India, with approximately five children in every classroom affected. However, due to a lack of awareness, many cases remain unidentified. Teachers, being key players in early detection, often lack the necessary knowledge and training. The need for a standardised, accessible, handy and user-friendly assessment scale for primary school teachers is critical for early identification and intervention, preventing academic difficulties and social exclusion among affected children. The primary objective of this study was to develop an assessment scale for primary school teachers to identify children with Learning Disabilities. Secondary objectives included assessing the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of teachers regarding LD, studying the socio-demographic determinants of KAP, conducting a Sensitisation Programme, and evaluating its impact on KAP. A cross-sectional research design was employed, with purposive sampling targeting primary school teachers from rural and urban parts of Coimbatore jurisdiction, Tamil Nadu. The assessment scale's development initially involved an extensive literature review and expert validation. The scale consisted of 104 statements. These statements were integrated into a 5-point Likert scale designed to aid in the identification of specific learning disabilities. The developed scale underwent rigorous validation procedures, including face validity and content validity assessments by a panel of nine experts. Incorporating the suggestions and opinions of these experts, the assessment scale was refined, resulting in a total of 96 items. The Teacher’s Knowledge Scale on Learning Disability, the Attitude Scale for primary school teachers towards Learning Disability, and the Checklist on Teaching Practices of primary school teachers were developed and also underwent rigorous assessments for both face and content validity. The knowledge scale comprised 57 items, the attitude scale consisted of 35 items and the practices checklist contained 24 items. Subsequently, the tool was deployed in a pilot study involving 133 samples. The data collected from the pilot study underwent thorough analysis, including the application of Cronbach's Alpha test for tool reliability. The results of Cronbach's alpha analysis provided conclusive evidence of the reliability and robustness of the developed scale. The actual study started with responses from 514 teachers who were considered for the standardisation of the assessment scale. During data collection, the tools were administered with clear instructions. The data was scored and consolidated according to developed scoring norms. KAP of teachers on learning disability was analysed and a sensitisation programme was designed and implemented, grounded in Gagne's Conditions of Learning Theory. The programme consisted of 12 one-hour sessions over six weeks, targeting 53 teachers. Data collected before, after, and during the follow-up of the sensitisation programme was done to find the effectiveness. The standardisation procedures encompassed various validity and reliability tests. Further factor analysis using PCA reduced the items to 48. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis results were as follows: KMO Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy = .959, Bartlett's Test of Sphericity significant at 1% level, with a total variance explained at 65.58%. Confirmatory factor analysis using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicated a good model fit, with values like CFI= 0.90 and RMSEA= .062 in the acceptable range. Cronbach's Alpha test showed excellent reliability, with a value of 0.972 overall. Test-retest reliability showed Pearson correlation at 0.703, and inter-rater reliability (IRR) was 73.3%. Sensitivity and Specificity were at 91.3% and 96.83%, respectively, with a Kappa coefficient of 0.862. KAP analysis revealed that 13.4% of primary school teachers exhibited high knowledge, 33.7% of teachers demonstrated a favourable attitude and 39.1% of teachers employed good/satisfactory teaching practices regarding learning disabilities. A positive correlation was found between teachers' knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding LD. Looking at the influence of Socio-Demographic markers on KAP. Higher knowledge levels were associated with older age groups (51-60 years), married teachers, those with more children, teachers with over 15 years of experience, ICSE board schools, private schools, joint families, and those with child development/psychology in their curriculum. Regarding attitude, favourable attitudes were seen in older teachers (51-60 years), married teachers, those with more children, teachers with over 15 years of experience, diploma/teacher training qualifications, ICSE board schools, private schools, and those with child development/psychology in the curriculum. Good/satisfactory teaching practices were associated with older age groups (51-60 years), married and widowed teachers, those with children, teachers with over 15 years of experience, ICSE board schools, private schools, and those with child development/psychology in their curriculum. The Sensitisation Programme significantly improved teachers' knowledge from a moderate level (mean score: 34.47) to a higher level (mean scores: 39.62 and 40.87 in follow-up). Attitudes remained neutral with no significant change (mean scores: 84.82 before, 83.15 after, and 82.98 in follow-up). Practices improved from an average level (mean score: 18.96) to satisfactory/good levels (mean scores: 19.42 and 19.87 in follow-up). The study underscores the need for a standardised assessment scale for primary school teachers to identify LD and targeted sensitisation programmes to enhance teachers' capacity to identify and address LD effectively in primary schools. Socio-demographic markers play a significant role in shaping teachers' KAP, and sensitisation can lead to notable improvements in knowledge and practices. The study emphasised the importance of continuous professional development, and comprehensive support systems, including the involvement of school counsellors. Furthermore, implications for central and state governments, educational institutions, teachers, parents, and future research were explored. The findings advocate for the integration of specialised modules on LD in teacher training programs and highlight the role of parents in collaborating with educators to create supportive learning environments. This research concludes that ongoing advancements in policy, technology, and regional adaptations are essential to enhance the effectiveness of LD identification and intervention strategies. Keywords: Learning Disabilities, Primary School Teachers, Assessment Scale, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Sensitisation Programme, Socio- Demographic markers.Item Effectiveness of Music and Meditation on Psychological Status of Pregnant Women in Lakhimpur District Assam(Avinashilingam, 2024-04) Sharanoor Hussain; Dr.M. PriyaPregnancy involves drastic changes in both physiological and psychological states, which significantly affect pregnancy outcomes, but only a few studies have discovered the relationship between multiple psychological factors with music and meditation intervention. The study‘s primary objective focuses on assessing the effectiveness of music and meditation intervention on psychological status of pregnant women. The study also aims to examine the socio-demographic profile of the pregnant women, construct and validate a pregnancy psychological status scale, assess their psychological status and its dimensions based on the socio-demographic variables, create music and meditation intervention modules for pregnant women, and compare their effectiveness. In this quasi-experimental study, 300 pregnant women in their first trimester were purposively selected from government and private health centres in Assam‘s Lakhimpur District. Following stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria, 120 pregnant women were chosen for the final intervention. Starting in the second trimester and continuing until the eighth month (third trimester), targeted music and meditation interventions were introduced to the selected pregnant women, commencing in the fourth month of pregnancy. The pregnant women were subjected to music (n=60) and meditation(n=60) intervention, further randomization was done in the control (30 respondents) and experimental (30 respondents) groups for each intervention module. The music and meditation experimental groups underwent 20 and 14 sessions respectively. Pre, mid and post-intervention data were collected and assessed using a self-constructed Pregnancy Psychological Status Scale with 40 items. Statistical analyses were employed, including independent t-tests, ANOVA, repeated measures ANOVA and paired t-tests. In the present study, a pregnant woman‘s psychological status is a representation of her level of happiness, stress and anxiety, family relationships, socialization, physical health, and body image. Pregnant women‘s psychological status was divided into three categories: high, moderate, and low. High psychological status (scored between 121 and 160) means that the woman is happy, able to cope with stress and anxiety, has strong family relationships, is better able to socialize, has good physical health and a positive body image. Moderate psychological status, with a score ranging from 81 to 120. It indicates pregnant women have average levels of happiness, average levels of stress and anxiety management, average family relationships, moderate levels of socialization, average physical health, and body image. Low psychological status (with a score ranging from 40 to 80). It indicates that pregnant women are less happy, have trouble coping with stress and anxiety, have poor socialization, poor family relationships, poor physical health, and have a negative body image. Findings revealed that the majority of respondents (45.00%) exhibited moderate psychological status, followed by low (30.00%) and high (25.00%) psychological status, with the younger age group (18-24 years) experiencing poorer psychological status than the older group (25-40 years), supported by a t-value of 4.078 (p<0.01). Education levels also played a significant role, with illiterate participants and postgraduates exhibiting significant differences in psychological status (t-value 4.677, p<0.01). Higher monthly income (55,001-80,000) was associated with a higher mean psychological status score (t-3.41, p<0.05). Planned pregnancies showed a higher mean psychological status score than unplanned pregnancies, supported by a t-value of 4.165 (p<0.01). Additionally, the multivariate analysis of variance in the music intervention mean profile plot showed that significantly improved psychological well-being in pregnant women, particularly better in coping stress, family relationships, socialization, physical health, and body image. On the other hand, the mean profile plot of meditation demonstrated that it has significant impact on managing stress, family relationships, physical health, body image, and overall psychological status in pregnant women. Despite these improvements, the control group's mean value remains unchanged. Based on the findings of comparison between the music and meditation experimental group, the multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in overall psychological status between trimesters (F=20.64, p<0.01, η2=0.420), indicating a large effect size. The mean profile plot of the study revealed that music and meditation interventions improve psychological status in the areas of happiness, coping stress & anxiety, good physical health. Meanwhile meditation has a more significant effect on body image and family connection dimensions in all trimesters. The study advocates heightened attention from healthcare professionals, society, and family members to recognize and address psychological well-being during pregnancy. It recommends integrating meditation practices within Assam's healthcare centres, presenting a transformative opportunity to enhance pregnant women's mental health and overall lifestyle. Keywords: Pregnant women, psychological status, music, meditation intervention, trimestersItem Predictive Models of Multiple Intelligence, Learning Style and Teaching Pedagogy for the Academic Achievement of School Children(Avinashilingam, 2023-12) Vijaya Lakshmi G; Dr. K. Arockia MaraichelviAcademic Achievement (AA) portrays the academic outcome that indicates the extent to which students have attained their educational goals. To perform well academically, children must be made aware of not just their intelligence level but also the kind of intelligence that each possesses (Batdi, 2017). Learning Styles (LS) is concerned with how the learners learn rather than what they learn and are believed to be a crucial factor for students' AA (Gokalp, 2013. More so, Yasin, 2020) has stated that a well-thought-out Teaching Pedagogy (TP) is essential in aiding school children to learn more effectively and develop thinking skills of higher order. The study was undertaken with the primary objective of developing predictive models of MI, LS, and TP for the subject-wise AA of school children. The study's secondary objective was to determine the influence of socio- demographic variables on AA, MI, LS, and TP. An exploratory research design was adopted with randomly selected 3026 school children (studying in schools following the Samacheer Syllabus - Uniform syllabus of Tamil Nadu) enrolled in 6th, 7th, and 8th standard who constituted the sample and 215 teachers handling classes for these children. Four tools were used to get the necessary data from school children, namely a self-formulated general background questionnaire to get the personal and parental profiles of the school children. Standardized tools, namely the Multiple Intelligence Scale developed by Agarwal & Pal and the Learning Style Inventory developed by Misra, were used to determine student respondents' intelligence and learning patterns, and the Teaching Style Scale developed by Sharma and Saran was used to assess the teaching style of the teacher respondents. Likert Scale to assess subject-wise Academic Achievement (secondary data procured from the student's report cards) of the selected students. The average marks of five major subjects (Language, English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science) in the five major exams conducted in an academic year were categorized using the commonly used grading system of the schools of Tamil Nadu. The collected data were statistically computed using frequency analysis, t-test, and ANOVA with the independent (socio-demographic variables) and dependent variables (AA, MI, LS, and TP) Hierarchical regression was used with the outcome variable AA in all five subjects and predictor variables as the 9 types of MI, 6 types of LS, and 5 types of TP. The study revealed that more than 50% of the student respondents had only average and above average levels of AA in almost all the subjects except Language. However, 60 - 70% of the respondents were observed to possess average and above-average levels in all domains of MI. In terms of LS, except for FC, all other types of LS were practised only at an average level. The five types of TP, as practised by the selected teacher respondents, were at average and above-average levels. However, the Delegator type of TP was practised at a higher level (17.6%) than other teaching pedagogy. Among all the socio-demographic factors pertinent to school children, the type of family was found to be an independent factor for AA, MI, and LS. The father’s educational status was the next least influencing factor. Teachers' experience and educational qualifications influenced the Formal authority TP and Demonstrator TP, respectively. The five predictive models of a good fit for AA derived in each subject provided the following clues regarding positive and negative contributors to AA. Logical, Spatial, Naturalistic, and Intrapersonal types of MI positively predict the AA of one or the other subjects. Likewise, in terms of LS, only ER influenced AA on a positive note. Language - the finding of the study stated that an increase in one unit of naturalistic intelligence and expert TP of teaching will increase the language scores of children by 0.075 and 0.081. The negative regression weight signifies an indirect relationship between these predictors and language score. Increase one unit of an existential intelligence, demonstrator and formal authority TP will decrease the language score of children by 0.090,0.059 and 0.043 marks. English - an increase in one unit of Facilitator style and Formal Authority style of teaching increases the score of children by 0.045 and 0.042marks. The negative regression weight signifies an indirect relationship between these predictors and English score. Increase in one unit of figural reproducing, expert, and delegator will decrease the English score of children by 0.056, 0.070, and 0.138 marks respectively. Mathematics - an increase in one unit of Logical, Spatial, Naturalistic, and Intrapersonal MI, Enactive Reproducing LS, and Delegator TP increases the Mathematics score of student respondents by 0.093, 0.069, 0.091, 0.119, 0.071and 0.112 marks. All the more, an increase in one unit of Linguistic and Existential MI, Figural Reproducing LS, Formal Authority, Demonstrator, and Facilitator TP decreased the Mathematics score by 0.203, 0.114, 0.055, 0.094, 0.068, and 0.251 marks, respectively as it had a negative regression weight. Science (Fit Model) - β0 + .104 (logical intelligence) + .077 (spatial intelligence) +.076(naturalistic intelligence) + .138 (intrapersonal intelligence) +.054(enactive reproducing) +.048 (expert) + .115 (facilitator) – .275 (linguistic intelligence) – .151 (existential intelligence) –.042 (verbal Constructive) – .046 (figural reproducing) –.228 (formal authority). Social Science - None of the LS had a significant relationship with the outcome variable with respect to social science score. Increase in one unit of facilitator style of TP, and one unit of intrapersonal MI will increase the social science scores of children by 0.087 and 0.103 marks. The negative regression weight signifies an indirect relationship between these predictors and social science score. Increase in one unit of linguistic MI, and demonstrator TP will decrease the Social Science score of children by 0.077 and 0.048 marks. Regarding TP, except for the Demonstrator, other styles predict AA. The higher the linguistic and existential MI, the lower the AA. Similarly, VC and FR were negatively contributing to the AA. The demonstrator style of TP negatively influenced all the subjects except Science. The predictive models also suggested some of the non-contributing factors and cautious factors to AA. Bodily-kinesthetic, Musical, and Interpersonal domains of MI, EC, VR, and FC of LS were the non-contributing factors, as they did not show any relationship with AA. The cautious factors have positive and negative values and to be taken care of for the respective subjects. For example, Formal Authority TP, which positively predicted AA in English, negatively predicted Language, Mathematics, and Science learning. Similarly, Facilitator TP that positively predicted AA in English, Science, and Social Science was found to be negatively influencing Mathematics learning. Key Words: -, Academic Achievement, Multiple Intelligence, Learning Style and Teaching Pedagogy, and Samacheer Kalvi