Dr.Manolito Bada Basilio Dr. David Cababaro Bueno

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Research Skills and Attitudes of Master Teachers in a Division towards Capability Training Dr. Manolito Bada Basilio Dr. David Cababaro Bueno

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Abstract- The accurate assessment of research self-efficacy may help

identify a given self-identified strengths and weaknesses with respect to research, thereby facilitating research training and guidance. This study focused on the Master Teachers’ (MTs) skills and attitudes towards research as basis for research capability building program for MTs in the Schools Division of Zambales. The study used the descriptive-survey design.

The data gathered were organized and processed through the SPSS. Majority of the MTs were middle aged, female and married, earned MA/MS units, and have served as Master Teacher I for 1-4 years. A very small percentage of the MTs have attended research-related trainings or conferences and undertaken, published or presented researches. They have average skills in searching, using and evaluating information including their awareness on the various sources of information and where to obtain them. They have fair skills in designing experimental study as well as selecting and developing research instruments, choosing appropriate statistical tools and preparing manuscript for publication. They strongly value training in educational research but moderately apply research findings to real life context. They have high regards relative to the value of doing research to become better educator. Time, efforts and resources in learning about research findings were essential elements to create positive attitudes towards research. A research capability training program is hereby proposed as the output of the study. The program consists of various levels from lectures, hands-on workshop, and writing research articles for colloquium and for possible publication.

Keywords- Education, Master Teacher, Research Skills and Attitudes,

Capability Program, Department of Education, Descriptive-survey, Zambales

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Introduction

The first academic revolution, taking off in the late 19th century, made research school’s function in addition to the traditional task of teaching. At present, education is usually broken down into three components, namely teaching, research and service. Research is the systematic process of collecting and analyzing information to increase a human understanding of the phenomenon under study. In other words, research is a process comprised of data collection, analysis, interpretation, and assessment procedures conducted in a planned manner in order to find solutions to a problem. Teachers are the one who conduct research in school. Because of the education process and need to submit research for effective teaching, master teachers play an important role in research process.

During recent decades, the construct self-efficacy has been receiving growing attention in educational research. In summary, research self-efficacy refers to one’s capabilities to execute particular tasks in research domain. Research self-efficacy has been found to predict students’ interest in conducting research and is related to research productivity among students (Kahn, 2001).

The accurate assessment of research self-efficacy may help identify a given self-identified strengths and weaknesses with respect to research, thereby facilitating research training and guidance.

Research has shown that low research self-efficacy can interfere with research training and their willingness to conduct research (Love et al. 2007). Research has also shown that high research selfefficacy is an important factor related to successfully conducting research and pursuing research beyond graduate study (Forester et al. 2004).

However, little is known about research self-efficacy and its correlates among Mater Teachers (MTs) particularly in the Division of Zambales. This knowledge enables us to better understand and minimize elements that could impede or interfere with the research process. Therefore, the goal of this research was 2

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to investigate the MTs personal and professional characteristics, research skills and attitude towards research.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution declares the policy of the State to “establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people, the country and society-at-large.” A strong basic education is the key to this State policy. Teachers, then, play an integral role in ensuring that this policy is carried out. Cognizant of this, the government institutionalized mechanisms in order to “promote and improve the social and economic status of public school teachers, their living and working conditions, their terms of employment and career prospects in order that they may compare favorably with existing opportunities in other walks of life, attract and retain in the teaching profession more people with the proper qualifications” (Magna Carta for Public School Teachers).

One of these mechanisms is the introduction of Master Teacher positions in the Philippines, initially in 1978, at four levels, which match the salary grades of principals and assistant principals. With this, a two-track system of career progression for teachers was made available: school administration and classroom teachers. As in most countries, the career paths of teachers especially talented practitioners lead to headship which is done by progressively reducing classroom work in order for them to take on leadership and management responsibilities (Bush, Glover, Yoon Mooi & Romero, 2015). In order to maintain talented teachers in the classroom, some educational systems established a mechanism which offers alternative promoted posts, often described as master teachers (Bush et.al., 2015). This is also the case in the Philippines.

Master teachers are expected to have more experience in curriculum development, professional development, and mentoring than a traditional teacher; they serve as a role model for all other instructional staff and are considered the “gold standard” in teaching (NIET cited in Moore, 2015). They are considered the 3

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"crème de la crème" of the teaching profession and their teaching practices will be different from the general, non-master teachers.

(Ibrahim, Aziz & Nambiar, 2013).

McClean (2009) described MTs are as those who have superior preparation, exceptional teaching strategies, motivation and communication skills, sound curriculum knowledge, interpersonal competence, and classroom management proficiencies. Further, MTs are perceived as effective teachers, staff developers, stimuli of curriculum leadership and the strong provider of instructional leadership.

Given this important role of MTs in the educational system, they are in the best position to influence educational policies through research. The importance of educational research in the system needs no further emphasis. Livingstone (2005) of the UNESCO-International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) on Basic Elements of Research Design underscores that in an ideal world, educational research has a vital role to play in the improvement of education, whether this be in the development of theory to better explain why things occur the way they do in particular learning situations, or stimulating ideas for innovative practices, or developing new procedures and materials to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of instruction. Moreover, educational research has the role of providing attested information to improve the quality of decision-making for educational policy.

The conduct of educational research especially in basic education is reinforced in Republic Act 9155 or the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 (Chapter 1, Section 7 (5), RA 9155) as it mandates Department of Education (Deped) to “undertake [national] educational research and studies” which can become part of the basis for necessary reforms and policy inputs. Deped Order 43, s. 2015 or Revised Guidelines for the Basic Education Research Fund (BERF) further emphasizes this as it called for evidence-based policy development through the institution of reforms that strengthen transparency and accountability (DepEd 4

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Order No. 43, s. 2015). On top of this policy, DepEd started to provide funding facility for research through the Basic Education Research Fund (BERF) under DepEd Order No. 24, s. 2010. The said fund was made available to internal and external research practitioners that meet the minimum eligibility requirements. To date, DepEd Order No. 43, s. 2015 revitalized this initiative with the revised guidelines for BERF. In the regional level, DepEd Region 3 issued Regional Memorandum No. 144, s. 2015 which underscored the implementation of Rationalization Program of the Department as foreground for the conduct of policy and action researches across hierarchical levels and functional divisions. The Regional Office is mandated to formulate the regional research policies to ensure the unified direction in conducting policy and action researches.

The Region’s goals of formulating research-based policies and strategies across disciplines to support the attainment of the direction of the Department of Education in general and the region in particular; developing professional communities of practitioners in various divisions equipped with scientific and creative thinking skills; and organizing academic gatherings as an avenue for exchange of research outputs – define the Regional Office’s commitment of its contribution towards the attainment of DepEd Central Office’s vision and mission through research.

These research directions bind Schools Divisions to implement research-related programs and projects of the DepEd Central and Regional Offices and formulate and initiate parallel ones that address specific problems in schools.

DepEd Zambales has framed its research initiatives anchored on the objectives of its Schools Division Education Development Plan (SDEDP) covering a period of six years, 20152020 setting out the research direction and priority areas for improvement identified within DepEd’s three general thematic areas: ACCESS, QUALITY and GOVERNANCE. One of the objectives stated therein is, “To develop a culture of research in the Schools 5

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Division.” The SDEDP objectives serve as take-off points for research to guide DepEd Zambales personnel especially the Master Teachers (MTs) who are mandated to do action researches.

These mechanisms manifest the full support of the government to educational research. This provides the perfect environment for Master Teachers to conduct action researches which can become bases for policy proposals and reforms. This is, in fact, part of the duties and responsibilities of MTs based on the Results-Based Performance Management System (RPMS) where it is stipulated under the Position and Competency Profile “conducts in-depth studies or action researches on instructional problems” and “conducts at least one action research every year”.

However, in the Research Capability Training cum Colloquium for Master Teachers (MTs) conducted on September 24, 2015 by the Planning and Research Unit of DepEd Zambales, it was revealed that 70% of some 300 MTs in the Schools Division have difficulty conceptualizing an action research proposal which they were required to submit prior to the training. Data gathered in this training served as baseline data besides a survey questionnaire that purports to identify and gauge their ability to conduct action research, methodology skills in particular.

It is upon this premise that this present study was initiated to identify the skills and attitudes of MTs towards conducting research. While the earlier discussion presented the mechanisms, in terms of policy, system and funding that provides an environment where MTs can readily conduct educational research, it is likewise important to look into internal factors such as research skills and attitudes to understand the difficulty being experienced by the MTs when it comes to conducting research.

In the instrument developed by Meehra et.al. (2011) to measure research skills, two constructs were identified, i.e., information seeking skills defined in the study as “the awareness of the various sources of information that are available and the 6

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ability to search, use, and evaluate information” and research methodology skills which “involves identifying and designing appropriate research procedures, understanding the limitations and scope of research design (for example, sample sizes and data type)”. This diagnostic instrument allows the identification of competencies in research knowledge and skills in order to identify the deficiencies which can be addressed through trainings.

(Meehra et.al, 2011). In the context of this present study, the particular needs for research capacity building of the MTs can be identified through this research.

On the other hand, attitude towards research is influenced by three contributing factors namely, teacher participation in education research, the perceived value of education research, and the usefulness of research skills (Lazo, Anito Jr., Labrador & Prudente, 2014). A thorough understanding into MTs attitudes towards research would also provide valuable input as to why only a few MTs conduct action researches considering that this is part of their mandate.

This study focused on the skills and attitudes of Master Teachers towards research, specifically action research which they are mandated to conduct as one of their duties and responsibilities as stated in the Results-Based Performance Management System– Position Competency Profile (RPMS-IPCRF) and Civil Service Form 1. The participants profile important factors that will complement and substantiate the data that will be gathered in this study. The research skills being referred to in this research were limited to only two constructs as specified by Meerah, et. al. (2011) relative to information-seeking and methodology skills. Analysis of the questionnaire pertaining to these two constructs embodies all other constructs such as the statistical analysis skills, problemsolving skills, and communication skills. These two constructs were allowed and given permission by Meerah to be used for the purpose of this study. Data on MTs attitudes towards research

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were obtained through a survey-questionnaire from Ozturk (2011).

Methodology This study utilized the descriptive-survey design in investigating the research skills and attitude of Master Teachers.

This method is to describe systematically the facts and characteristics of a given population or area of interest, factually and accurately. The characteristics of descriptive research are accumulating a database to describe a situation, event or entity.

The purpose of survey studies are to collect detailed factual information that describes existing phenomena; to identify problems or justify current conditions and practices; to make comparisons and evaluations; and to determine what others are doing with similar problems or situations and benefit from their experience in making future plans and decisions (Bueno, 2016).

The study utilized computer software namely sample size calculator in determining the sample size of 183 respondents from the population of the 346 Master teachers who are stationed in public elementary and secondary schools in the Division of Zambales They are chosen as participants since one of their duties and responsibilities is to conduct action research as stated in their Position and Competency Profile in the Results-Based Performance Management System (Conducts in-depth studies or action researches on instructional problems and conducts at least one action research every year) and as further emphasized in their duties and responsibilities as reflected in their Position Description Form (Civil Service Commission Form 1).

The sampling design to be used is a non-probability sampling, specifically convenience sampling, which entails the use of the most readily, and conveniently available respondents as sample for the study. Convenience sampling is advantageous especially for pilot studies since it gives the researcher an initial idea about the trends and other basic information of the 8

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phenomenon being observed. Moreover, compared to other sampling techniques, it is cheaper, fast, and easy to conduct (Castillo, 2009). In the case of this current study, the most conveniently available Master Teachers from 13 District in Zambales composed of public elementary and secondary schools.

This study used survey questionnaire as main instrument used in data-gathering. The questionnaire that aims to measure research skills (information-seeking skills and methodology skills which are Likert-type with 26 and 13 items each respectively) was adapted from Meerah, et. al. (2011) while the questionnaire that purports to measure attitudes towards research with 29 Likerttype items categorized under eight (8) identified factors was adapted from Ozturk (2011). The instruments which the researcher used so as to gather the data needed was the Survey Questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of three (3) parts. The first part consists of profile of the respondents such age, gender, civil status, position, highest educational attainment, number of years in service, number of research related training, number of research related conferences, number of research presentation, number of published research, number of research undertaken and current/0n-going research. The said part is of structured type to facilitate presentation of the data collected. The second part of the questionnaire was adapted from Meerah, et. al. (2011) which aims to measure the Master Teacher research skills in terms of information seeking skills which consists of 26 items and methodology skills consists of 13 items. The third part questionnaire was adapted from Ozturk (2011) which aims to measure the attitude of Master Teacher towards research skills which consists of 29 items under the following factors namely educators value training in educational research (items 1, 9, 15, 19 and 26), educators who keep up with research are better educators (items 2, 16 and 20), educators value doing research in their schools (3, 10 and 17), research findings are applicable to real life context (items 4, 11 and 21), incorporate doing their own research 9

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in their practices (items 5, 22 and 27), educators believe that research reports are understandable (items 6, 12, 23 and 28), time and resources to make use of research findings (items 7, 13, 18, 24 and 29) and invest time and effort in learning about research findings (items 8, 14 and 25). Since the instruments were adapted from identified sources and the researcher was allowed to use them through an e-mailed request, there was supposedly not any need for validation as they were constructed and validated by the sources who hold Doctorate Degree, thus considered as authorities and experts in the field, added to the fact that they already have used the instrument in their studies and others’ as well.

Nevertheless, the researcher still asked the help of other local experts to carefully look into the questionnaires if they suit the intended participants of the study. After which, the questionnaires were finalized and administered.

The data gathered were organized and processed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). As one of the rules followed in the use of the software, the formula of the statistical tools used were not reflected anymore since the computer did not follow the steps in the manual computation. The frequency and percentage distribution were used to describe the profile of the respondents. The weighted mean was used to assess the Master Teacher research skills and attitude towards educational research.

Results and Discussion Majority of the MTs were middle aged, female and married, earned MA/MS units, and have served as Master Teacher I for 1-4 years. A very small percentage of them have attended researchrelated trainings or conferences and undertaken, published or presented researches. The MTs have average skills in searching, using and evaluating information including their awareness on the various sources of information and where to obtain them. They have fair skills in designing experimental study as well as selecting 10

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and developing research instruments, choosing appropriate statistical tools and preparing manuscript for publication. The MTs strongly value training in educational research but moderately apply research findings to real life context. They have high regards relative to the value of doing research to become better educator.

Time, efforts and resources in learning about research findings were essential elements to create positive attitudes towards research.

Certain qualifications were set to become a Master Teacher in the Department of Education which includes academic qualifications, performance, teaching experience and leadership potential. In connection with the findings, the lowest age range is 29-34 which means that it takes more or less five years to reach Master Teacher level in order to meet these qualifications. The highest age range is 65-70 since the retirement age in the DepEd is set at 65.

Demographic variables have generally been associated with research productivity. Age has been studied in numerous works, with conflicting results. Many studies about productivity have indicated that the relationship between publication and age is not linear, although the overall rate of publication generally declines with age (Finkelstein, Seal & Schuster 1998; Teodorescu 2000).

According to Over (1982), research productivity of academics slightly decreased with age. Bland and Berquist (1997) also observed that the average productivity of academic members drops with age but many senior academics remains active and that there is no significant evidence that age determines a drop in productivity. Teodorescu (2000) investigated faculty publication across 10 countries and discovered that age significantly influences research productivity in the United States. In a study using a random sampling of 228 colleges and universities in the United States, Kotrlik et al. (2001) found that age does not significantly affect research productivity. As provided in Chapter 6 of said manual on the PCC Scheme for Teaching Positions in Elementary and Secondary Schools, there is a quota system on the 11

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allowable number of Master Teacher positions in elementary and secondary schools. This quota system is determined by DepEd in consultation with the Department of Budget and Management and is as follows: For elementary schools: Total Master Teacher positions shall not exceed 10% of the total authorized teacher positions in the district, to wit: • Master Teacher I positions shall not exceed 6.6% of the total number of authorized teaching positions. • Master Teacher II positions shall not exceed 3.4% of the number of authorized Master Teacher I positions. For secondary schools: One (1) Master Teacher position regardless of level may be allowed per subject area with at least 5-7 authorized teacher positions within the school. The findings reflect the need for the upgrading of the educational qualifications of Master Teachers in the division. It is notable, however, that in order to reach the Master Teacher II level, the requirement on educational qualification is Bachelor’s degree for teachers are provided in the Magna Carta for teachers plus completion of academic requirements for Master of Arts. Master’s degree is required only for the Master Teacher III level. Given that a primary purpose of graduate school is to prepare graduate students to assume professorial responsibilities, it is of utmost importance that they develop both teaching skills and research skills. The activity of teaching is critical in the development of teaching skills.

Conducting research is also important in the development of research skills. However, recent investigations into the relationship between teaching and research among graduate students suggest that teaching experiences may also impact graduate students’ research skills while involvement in research has the potential to influence teaching skill development. Lyons, Fisher & Thompson (2005) found that teachers in the graduate programs reported improvement in their research skills as a result of participation in their graduate teaching fellowship programs.

The graduate students in their study participated in teaching experiences specifically designed for graduate students to develop 12

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inquiry-based teaching skills (skills that allow teachers to better facilitate students’ ability to ask questions, develop hypothesis, and identify methods that allow them to investigate their questions).

As Steigelmeyer and Feldon (2009) explained, inquiry-based teaching methods and research share cognitive processes as “researchers-in-training must reflect carefully on their own experiences and knowledge to refine their understandings of events in a similar way that teachers using inquiry-based methods must carefully analyze knowledge to scaffold students‘ learning effectively”.

Researchers have gained interest in further exploring the relationship between teaching and research and how each of these activities (as well as the integration of these activities) impact the development of graduate students’ teaching and research skills (Deen & Lucas, 2006; Maher, Timmerman, Hurst, & Gilmore, 2009; Robertson & Blackler, 2006; Steigelmeyer & Feldon, 2009).

However, one barrier to examining these relationships stems from the lack of validated instruments designed to capture each of these areas in tandem (teaching skills and research skills). The use of a parallel format will allow researchers to compare graduate students’ perceptions of their teaching skills with their research skills. There are several existing instruments that capture either skills of effective teachers or researchers and these instruments will be described in the literature review. This information informed the development of a survey designed to capture graduate students teaching and research skills.

Thus, the main function of graduate schools is to instruct and train people for different professions and to conduct research to advance scientific and technological knowledge. To promote education for all, many institutions of higher education are now proposing to introduce courses about reading and carrying out research studies as part of their regular program of instruction at undergraduate and graduate levels (Sanyal, 2005). The results reflect the inadequacy of capability trainings on research for 13

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majority of the respondents. While the importance of research in education and the teaching profession has been overly emphasized with the mechanisms such as policies and programs already in place, the reality, at this time, is that teachers and, in this case, Master Teachers are not capable of undertaking research due to lack of training. international research-related conferences.

These findings mirror that of the findings on the attendance of teachers in research trainings, i.e., majority have not attended research conferences from the school-level to the internationallevel. Research productivity in the Department of Education cannot be studied in isolation. One of the strategies for determining research productivity is to assess the quantity of publications which researchers communicated through primary or other sources. Research productivity and research activity are interrelated. Research involves collecting and analyzing data.

Productivity among MTs results from writing, reading, and publishing research reports in professional refereed journals, and displaying it on the web, or to making it known to the public through any other means. According to Creswell (1986), Research productivity is the extent to which lecturers engage in their own research and publish scientific articles in refereed journals, conference proceedings, writing a book or a chapter, gathering and analyzing original evidence, working with postgraduate students on dissertations and class projects, obtaining research grants, carrying out editorial duties, obtaining patents and licenses, writing monographs, developing experimental designs, producing works of an artistic or a creative nature, engaging in public debates and commentaries. Academic staff members conduct research and their productivity is measured in various ways. Schools primarily measure research productivity based on published works, externally funded grants, and the number of citations the published works received (Middaugh, 2001). The most common productivity measures look at publications that are submitted, accepted or published. The published works could be journal 14

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articles (refereed and non-refereed), books (including edited books and textbooks), book chapters, monographs, conference papers, and research proposals written to receive external and internal grants (Middaugh, 2001). Moreover, Uzun (2002) observed a sharp decline in the research productivity of academics in terms of the number of articles published in journals indexed in the Social Science Citation Index database. Aina and Mabawonku (1998) observed that the highest proportion of rejection out of the papers submitted to the Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science (JLAIS) for publication. While reporting on research productivity in developing countries, Arunachallam (1992), as cited by Nwagwu (2007), opined that there were countries whose scholarly works had dominated the developing countries with a 13% contribution to the publishing of 140,000 periodical titles listed in Ulrich's Periodicals Directory.

A few studies have been conducted on the research productivity of academic staff members. Nwagwu (2006) carried out a bibliometric and documentation analysis of articles by authors published. He averred that only the co-author category differs from the inverse power of the law while the other categories do not. In the same vein, Chiemeke, Longe, Longe, and Shaib (2009) conducted an empirical study on the research output from institutions and found that publication remained a yardstick for promotion in the academia. Schools and universities across the world are considered as producers of new knowledge. Universities are considered as modern entrepreneurial engines and generators of knowledge through research. Hence, the role of academics is not limited to teaching. At the center of intellectual and scholarly research are academics interested in the creation, dissemination, or preservation of knowledge. McCabe and McCabe (2000) noted that academic staff members in any institution, especially universities, are provided the opportunity to focus on an area of inquiry, develop a research program and later share the knowledge with students and others in the drive to develop professional skills 15

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and impact on a field and society, as a whole. Research provides a good platform for teaching faculty members to become successful academics. This is because research develops academic knowledge and reinforces the skills needed for effective knowledge transfer. It also inspires academics towards hard work, fills the gaps of previous researches, and creates an opportunity for future research. Most of the research productivity of academics is disseminated via publications. Research publications enable academics to earn recognition in academic circles locally and internationally. In higher education, research productivity often served as a major role in attaining success in academics circles as it is related to promotion, tenure, and salary (Bassey, Akuegwu, Udida, and Udey, 2007). It is generally accepted that research plays a critical role in promoting the prosperity of a nation and the wellbeing of its citizens in this knowledge-based era (Abbott and Doucouliagos, 2004). Creswell (2008) reported that research not only aids solving practical problems and brings about material improvements, but it also provides insight into new ideas that improve human understanding of various social, economic and cultural phenomena. Research has always been the main approach to solving problems by all categories of professionals right from the ancient times (Boaduo and Babitseng, 2007). According to Rashid (2001), research is a conscious effort to collect, verifies, and analyzes information. Research can be understood as having two broad components, namely, knowledge creation and knowledge distribution. Ochai and Nedosa (1998) asserted that the fruits of research are new knowledge and facts, which are communicated to the academic community through scholarly publications and seminars. In universities, recognition and advancement of individual academic staff members depend largely on the quantity and quality of their research productions, which are communicated in form of journal articles, books, technical reports, and other types of publications (Vakkari, 2008).

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Research productivity is the extent to which lecturers engage in their own research and publish scientific articles in refereed journals, conference proceedings, writing a book or a chapter, gathering and analyzing original evidence, working with postgraduate students on dissertations and class projects, obtaining research grants, carrying out editorial duties, obtaining patents and licenses, writing monographs, developing experimental designs, producing works of an artistic or a creative nature, engaging in public debates and commentaries. Few studies have been conducted examining important research skills of developing researchers; however, some work in this area is available. For example, Kardash (2000) developed an instrument designed to capture the developing research skills of undergraduates engaged in research, while Powers and Enright (1987) constructed a survey measuring graduate student research skills that were deemed important by faculty members. However few studies have examined graduate student development in terms of the research skills that they deem important.

The researchers felt that this was critical in the development of a measure that adequately captures their selfassessments of their teaching and research skills.

In the twenty first century, remarkable for the information explosion, information literacy has become a vital skill that is necessary in every aspect of life. In higher education, information literacy is gaining increasing importance due to the fact that the complexity and volume of information necessitates skills to be displayed by three different subgroups – the student body, teaching faculty and library staff. Whilst such skills can generally be derived from the definition as outlined by Johnston and Webber (2003) in that information literacy is “the adoption of appropriate information behavior to obtain, through whatever channel or medium, information well fitted to information needs, together with critical awareness of the importance of wise and ethical use of information in society�, Bruce, Edwards and Lupton (2006) assert 17

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that different participative groups in the learning-teaching context may adopt different perspectives about the processes of information literacy education. It is apparent that information literacy is important not only to librarians though the majority of literature written by them about this topic centers on the views, experiences and strategies of this subgroup themselves. Minimum attention has been given to the beliefs and behavior of university academics towards this subject with the exception of a handful of studies, the most recent by Wu and Kendall (2006), Brooks, Irwin, Kriigel, Richards and Taylor (2007), and Boon, Johnston and Webber (2007). Of course, in a learner-centered approach, such educators who are directly and constantly at the front-line engaging with students are essential agents in the successful promotion and achievement of information literacy. Furthermore, a major theme that has dominated the literature with regards to the successful adoption of information literacy is that of collaboration between teaching faculty and librarians.

Minimum evidence of attention directed on teaching faculty’s perspective of information literacy coupled by a recurring theme in the literature on the importance of collaborative effort between faculty and librarians for the success of information literacy in higher education were two major motivations for this research into the beliefs and behavior of university academics in the promotion of information literacy at the University of the South Pacific (USP). The Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (Cruise et al., 1985) was designed to measure the value of statistics, the interpretation of statistical information, test anxiety, cognitive skills in statistics, fear of approaching the instructor and fear of statistics. Other similar instruments included the Statistics Attitude Survey (Roberts & Bilderback, 1980), and the Statistics Anxiety Inventory (Zeidner, 1991). However, although a number of instruments that measure attitudes toward statistics already exist, they all differ in content and configuration (Dauphinee, 1993). For example, although some instruments represent attitudes as a 18

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construct with six factors, others regard it as a uni-dimensional construct which hypothesizes that no meaningful domains exist within attitudes (Roberts & Bilderback, 1980). The identification of the factors that form the structure of the student attitudes toward a research methods course may bear important theoretical and practical implications, especially due to the fact that this has never been examined before. For example, by identifying these subscales of attitudes, research methods instructors may include themselves in the process of learning research from a different angle. By using these domains, instructors may facilitate the learning of research for their students, by enabling them to create more positive attitudes toward such courses. Teacher research, which is defined as systematic, intentional inquiry by teachers into their own school and classroom work, is also considered as important in the professional development of teachers (CochranSmith, 2003). Having student teachers read only the summaries of the research that experts in the field have carried out will make the teachers wait for directions on how to improve their instruction.

Besides reading academic literature it is important to have teachers take responsibility for improving student learning by conducting research into improving their practice. This is possible when the teachers are aware of the research methods (Frager, 2010). Cochran-Smith, Barnatt, Friedman and Pine (2009) state that carrying out research encourages student teachers to engage in critical reflection, develop a questioning stance, understand school culture, construct new curricula and pedagogy, modify instruction to meet students’ needs, and become socialized into teaching by participating in learning communities. Dobber, Akkerman, Verloop and Vermunt (2012) state that teacher research is motivated by different aims such as professional development of teachers, improvement in certain aspects of pupil or student outcomes, influence on policy on the basis of research outcomes, and potential contribution of teacher research to theory.

Iqbal (2011) conducted a research to explore the research 19

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attitudes of prospective teachers in different degree programs of teacher education like science education, business education, Islamic education, child education, etc. He found significant differences in attitudes of prospective teachers from different teacher education degree programs. He further highlighted that there is urgent need of conducting research in this area. There is scarcely any other research which has explored prospective teachers’ attitudes towards research.

In order for teachers to remain effective over the years, they must keep up-to-date with constant changes in educational research, development and policy. There are frequent changes in curriculum, assessment modalities, and economic realities that affect the teaching and learning environment. Teachers have to keep pace with these new developments and trends or fall behind, lose their competitive edge and place their students at a disadvantage.

As in other professions, teachers must find the time to practice lifelong learning in their subject areas and pursue continuing professional development (CPD). They need to keep up-to-date with new pedagogical methods and best practices in their field.

These measures are equally important for inexperienced and veteran teachers. Time does not stand still and students have differing needs. Teachers cannot continue to teach the same content in the same way, in every class, from year to year. The educational context keeps changing. In other words teachers must keep their subject knowledge, pedagogical skills and communication skills up-to-date on an ongoing basis.

They promote high standards of work and have high expectations for their students. They should also make it a point to share their new knowledge and skills with colleagues and students so that the whole institution benefits. They can also share with other schools through professional organizations or personal networking. Everything should be done to enhance student attainment.

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There are many ways for teachers to keep their practice upto-date. The internet is an invaluable tool in this respect.

Enormous amounts of information on any subject are available online. So is the latest in professional development and communication skills. Educational technology is there for the taking and teachers can take full advantage of it. Bring it more fully into classroom practice and homework. Read educational blogs, newsletters, access podcasts, follow webinars and relevant social media pages. There are also helpful e-books and audio books.

Research mentors can be very helpful in helping to keep teachers up-to-date through research. They can provide needed information and help to hone research and teaching skills. Teachers should also join or form professional subject organizations and participate in departmental activities that promote excellence and best practices. Each teacher must read educational literature since they need to locate your practice within appropriate educational theory.

Conferences, seminars, Edcamps, research, and projects also play a definite role in keeping teachers up-to-date. Short courses, upgrades of qualifications or professional training, where necessary, can also increase teacher readiness and effectiveness in doing research.

Many educational experts recommend the suggestions given above to keep teachers current with any new research developments or requirements. They also agree that teachers who remain up-to-date increase their expert power. Their students learn more and their colleagues look to them for leadership.

Up-to-date teachers quickly notice any changes in the educational environment and they prepare their students for them in a timely manner through conducting classroom-based action research. They are also up-to-date with their daily planning, preparation, curriculum pacing, and record keeping relative to their students. The findings imply that at a time when virtually every government around the world is asking how it can improve 21

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the quality of its teaching force, the British Educational Research Association (BERA) and the RSA have come together to consider what contribution research can make to that improvement. High quality teaching is now widely acknowledged to be the most important school-level factor influencing student achievement through research activities. This in turn has focused attention on the importance of teacher education, from initial training and induction for beginning teachers, to on-going professional development to help update teachers’ knowledge, deepen their understanding and advance their research skills as expert practitioners. Policy-makers around the world have approached the task of teacher preparation and professional development in different ways, reflecting their distinctive values, beliefs and assumptions about the nature of professional knowledge and how and where such learning takes place.

Furthermore, at a time when teacher education is under active development across nations, an important question for all those seeking to improve the quality of teaching and learning is how to boost the use of research to inform the design, structure and content of teacher education programs. The Inquiry aims to shape debate, inform policy and influence practice by investigating the contribution of research in teacher education and examining the potential benefits of research-based skills and knowledge for improving school performance and student outcomes. There are four main ways that research can contribute to programs of teacher education: the content of such programs may be informed by research-based knowledge and scholarship, emanating from a range of academic disciplines and epistemological traditions; research can be used to inform the design and structure of teacher education programs; Teachers and teacher educators can be equipped to engage with and be discerning consumers of research; and teachers and teacher educators may be equipped to conduct their own research, individually and collectively, to investigate the

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impact of particular interventions or to explore the positive and negative effects of educational practice.

At present, there are pockets of excellent practice in teacher education in different parts of the world, including some established models and some innovative new programs based on the model of ‘research-informed practice’. However, in each of the nations there is not yet a coherent and systematic approach to professional learning from the beginning of teacher training and sustained throughout teachers’ working lives. There has been a strong focus on the use of data to inform teaching and instruction over the past 20 years. There now needs to be a sustained emphasis on creating ‘research-rich’ and ‘evidence-rich’ (rather than simply ‘data-rich’) schools and classrooms. Teachers need to be equipped to interrogate data and evidence from different sources, rather than just describing the data or trends in attainment.

The priority for all stakeholders (Government, national agencies, schools, universities and teachers’ organizations) should be to work together to create a national strategy for teacher education and professional learning that reflects the principles of ‘research-informed practice’. Rather than privileging one type of institutional approach, these principles should be applied to all institutional settings and organizations where teacher education and professional learning takes place.

Moreover, evidence-based practice is the idea that within the field of education the practice of teachers should be based on evidence from research. As Hammersley points out, there is already a certain rhetorical effect in the title to discredit opposition to it: 'after all, who would argue that practice should not be based on evidence' (Sharhar, 1997, quoted in Hammersley, 2001). This rhetorical effect means that it is difficult for critics to challenge this assertion. There have also have been a number of critiques of the evidence-based approach, Hammersley (2001) highlights the problems and dangers of privileging evidence over experience and 23

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of how research knowledge is refined into summary statements for use by practitioners.

There have been more recent calls for the knowledge that is already in existence to be used more effectively to improve these education systems (OCED, 2010). More specifically in the UK, there has been a call to increase access to existing knowledge about education (Pollard and Oancea, 2010). Hence an important area of research is the use of knowledge that is already in existence and how it that can be transformed (Foley and Hargeaves, 2003; Pollard, 2008), so that it can be leveraged. Although Hammersley, (2001) asserts that this process is not straight forward and can be problematic. Other researchers have pointed out that teachers and school leaders do use research provided it is relevant to their needs (Levin et al., 2011; Biddle and Saha, 2006; Cordingley, 2009). The assumption underlying these debates is that research has a useful role to play in informing practice in schools and can contribute to school improvement. If this assumption is correct, it follows that school leaders can play a critical role in making schools evidencebased by using research themselves to inform their own decisionmaking, by promoting research use more widely within their school and by involving their school in studies which contribute to the evidence base in education (see Goldacre, 2013). However, traditionally, teaching has been characterized by the acts that involve various activities that help younger people to learn (Szucs, 2009). It involves planning and delivering lessons, marking class and home work, and examining students’ progress. Teachers, traditionally, were not expected to undertake research in order to explore the problems that they would face in the process of teaching and learning. They have been relying on the experts from other fields such as psychologists, philosophers, mathematicians and scientists for the solutions to their problems. This is evident from the fact that there has been a substantial contribution, to the field of teaching and learning, from the people who were not trained as educationists (Polya, Thorndike, 1910). There has been 24

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a shift in the role of teachers (Scheirer, 2000) and now they are expected to explore the solution, by themselves, to their immediate classroom problems through action research. They are also expected to involve in scientific investigations through rigorous research methods (Peterson, Clark & Dickson, 1990). Zeuli (1992) stated that “research of various types forms the bulwark of teachers' professional preparation�. He further said that reading research is imperative for learning to teach. It gives future teachers a vision about the practical implications of different approaches, their validity, rationale for decision making, targeting problems and brining improvements, etc. (The importance of research for education’s future, 2011).That is why initial teacher training program has been added courses on research methods and trainee teachers are also expected to culminate their program with a research project.

Thus, improving the use of research in schools is important to ensure that school practices are as effective as possible in helping students succeed. Many factors contribute to the current situation in education, in which research use is a hit and miss affair.

In some cases, the empirical evidence needed to inform practice simply does not exist or is not in a format that practitioners can find or apply. In other cases, however, credible bodies of evidence do exist but are not incorporated into the daily lives of educators and schools. This may be because the research is not known, or because the ideas are not seen as practical, or sometimes because they do not align with conventional professional wisdom or public belief. Teachers at the undergraduate level, typically tend to view research-related courses with negative attitudes and feelings.

These negative attitudes have been documented in numerous studies for a number of years in relation to courses in research, statistics and mathematics (Adams & Holcomb, 1986; Elmore & Vasu, 1980; Wise, 1985).

One of the main problems of these attitudes is that they have been found to serve as obstacles to learning (Wise, 1985; 25

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Waters, Martelli, Zakrajsek, & Popovich, 1988). In turn, these negative attitudes have been found to be associated with poor performance in such courses (Elmore, & Lewis, 1991; Woelke, 1991; Zeidner, 1991). Causal models, however, suggest that attitudes are actually mediators between past performance and future achievement (Meece, Wigfield, & Eccles, 1990). Prior research studies have found that negative attitudes toward a course (mathematics) have been found to explain a significant portion of the variance in student learning (Ma, 1995). In turn, these attitudes influence the amount of effort one is willing to expend on learning a subject, which also influences the selection of more advanced courses in similar areas (research and statistics courses) beyond those of minimum requirements. Therefore, assessing students’ attitudes toward a research methods course is important in order to enable instructors to develop instructional techniques leading to more positive attitudes toward the subject (Waters et al., 1988). In a 1980 study, Roberts and Bilderback (1980) found that most students who take statistics are quite anxious. Once this preponderance of negative attitudes was revealed, many more survey instruments designed to measure university students’ attitudes toward statistics were developed (Dauphinee, Schau, & Stevens, 1997; Zeidner, 1991). One such instrument is the Survey of ‘Attitudes Towards Statistics’ (Schau et al., 1995), which is comprised of four dimensions, those of affect, cognitive competence, value, and attitudes about the difficulty of statistics. There is good evidence that research use can impact positively on teaching practices. Bell et al. (2010) conducted a systematic review of practitioner engagement in and/or with research and its impact on learners. Their synthesis included various studies in education and they concluded that there was ‘strong evidence from these studies of links between teacher engagement in and with research and significant changes in practice with a positive impact on student outcomes.’ (2010).

Impacts on learners included improvements in knowledge and 26

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skills, behavior for learning, and attitudes/motivation for learning.

Research engagement was shown to contribute to teachers selecting new approaches to their practice based on the evidence of what is effective. Bell et al. particularly emphasize the value to teachers of being engaged with research that focuses on student learning needs, with the most powerful element of the process being the assessment of whether any changes in practice were having the desired impact on student outcomes. These require research funding for related activities. Moreover, the school provides easy access to academic journals, encourages teachers to engage in research-related undertaking, and provides sufficient time and resources for research purposes. Investing time and effort in learning about research findings requires accessibility journals and professional websites. The way research is communicated is a key factor. Hemsley-Brown and Sharp (2003) found that teachers could be deterred from using research because of too much jargon or high-level statistics. Other studies have found that publication format, the sheer volume of research or a lack of skill/confidence to access research findings were factors in teachers’ likelihood to engage with research (Poet et al., 2010).

Wilson’s research found that teachers had successfully been made aware of research through summaries, newsletters, website links, and conferences and training.

Conclusions and Recommendations Majority of the MTs were middle aged, female and married, earned MA/MS units, and have served as Master Teacher I for 1-4 years. A very small percentage of them have attended researchrelated trainings or conferences and undertaken, published or presented researches. The MTs have average skills in searching, using and evaluating information including their awareness on the various sources of information and where to obtain them. They have fair skills in designing experimental study as well as selecting and developing research instruments, choosing appropriate 27

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statistical tools and preparing manuscript for publication. The MTs strongly value training in educational research but moderately apply research findings to real life context. They have high regards relative to the value of doing research to become better educator.

Time, efforts and resources in learning about research findings were essential elements to create positive attitudes towards research. Thus, the MTs should continue upgrading their educational attainment by attending graduate and postgraduate education in the area of specialization, and by attending researchrelated conferences. The school authorities should consider reviewing incentive package for research-related activities of MTs to include training on research writing and publications. The MTs should acquire higher or advance skills searching and evaluating information as well as designing appropriate method, developing instruments, choosing appropriate statistical tools and preparing manuscript for publication. The MTs should improve their research attitudes related to classroom or school-based action research, applicability or usefulness of research findings to real life context, and reporting and publication of outputs. The research capability training program consisting of various levels from lectures, hands-on workshop, and writing research articles for colloquium and possible publication should be fully implemented immediately and regularly monitor its effectiveness.

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