Summary. This study used Biggs' Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) as a case study to examine some conceptual issues in the learning approaches of Australian teacher education students. A factor analysis of the SPQ indicated that the internal coherence of the surface strategy subscale, in particular, was unsatisfactory. A second study found no relationship between students' surface, deep and achieving strategy scores on the SPQ and their performance on basic and complex tasks using a cognitive strategies framework developed by Weinstein and Mayer. A conceptual reclassification of the strategy items on the SPQ as rehearsal, organisation or elaboration strategies indicated that the Weinstein and Mayer cognitive strategies framework was more consistent with the pattern of factor loadings, and that only elaboration items are adequately represented on the SPQ. It is suggested that the Weinstein and Mayer conceptualisation may provide a richer and more discriminating framework for analysing students' cognitive strategies on learning tasks.
The sex role attitudes of 461 teacher education students were measured on a 32-item questionnaire. Chi-square analyses produced significant effects for gender on 22 of the items, showing that the females were more egalitarian than the males. However, most of the students adopted an egalitarian stance on many, though not all, of the items. Responses to some items (women getting drunk and swearing, corporal punishment, boys doing heavy chores, and boys dressing up and playing with dolls) suggest that some traditional stereotypes may be particularly resistant to change. The data also suggest that students may adopt egalitarian attitudes out of self-interest rather than as a matter of principle, and are more accepting of general principles of gender equity than of specific practices designed to achieve it. Finally, although there is some evidence of ambivalence among the students, particularly the males, it is more accurate to characterise these students as definite in their gender attitudes.
The role of schools in perpetuating social inequalities has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. However, less attention has been paid to the impact of teacher education programs in influencing teacher attitudes which can contribute to discriminatory practices. To begin to address this question in relation to gender equity, attitudes of 751 teacher education students to traditional sex-role stereotypes were measured on a 32-item questionnaire. One three-way ANOVA was conducted on the total score (all items summed) and another on each item. The independent variables were age, gender and length of enrolment of the student. A consistent main effect for gender was obtained; women were more egalitarian in their attitudes than men. There was, however, no effect for length of enrolment. This was interpreted to indicate that the current teacher education program in which the students were enrolled had a limited impact on traditional gender-related stereotypes.
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