REPORTED VOICE DIFFICULTIES IN STUDENT TEACHERS: A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

ABSTRACT:  As professional voice users, teachers are particularly at risk of abusing their voices and developing voice disorders during their career. In spite of this, attention paid to voice care in the initial training and further professional development of teachers is unevenly spread and insufficient. This article describes a questionnaire survey of 171 trainee teachers at the end of their Postgraduate Certificate in Education year that included the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) ( Jacobson et al., 1997 ). The survey aimed to identify the prevalence and types of voice problems experienced by students during their teaching practice and to relate these to previous history and to the area of the curriculum they were teaching. The analysis suggests that over a third of trainees suffer from voice difficulties on teaching practice and that one student in 12 was classified as having a moderate handicap as defined by the VHI. Trends of symptoms particular to individual curricular areas appear to be a fruitful area for further study.     

MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF STUDENT AND INSTRUCTOR/COURSE CHARACTERISTICS ON STUDENT RATINGS

Multilevel SEM was used to examine the extent to which student, instructor, and course characteristics affect student ratings. Data were gathered from 1867 students enrolled in 117 courses at a large teacher training college in Israel. Four alternative two-level models that differ in only the nature of the relationship among interest in the course subject, expected grade, and student ratings were tested. Two of the models were judged as less appropriate, one because it failed to support the spurious relationship assumed between expected grade and student ratings, and the other on grounds of poor model-data fit. The other two models were equally good both in terms of the model-data fit and the amount of variance in student ratings that is accounted for by each of them. Both models supported the mediation effect of expected grade in the relationship between interest in the course subject and student ratings.     

STUDENT MOBILITY IN THE EUROPE REGION: A STATISTICAL EVALUATION

Based on data taken from the Unesco Statistical Yearbook (1987), supplemented, for several countries, with data obtained from the Liaison Officers of CEPES or from other available sources, the article examines the statistics of student mobility in the Europe Region over the 1980‐1985 period. Special attention is given to the intra‐European flows of foreign students, and several trends in European student mobility are thus identified.     

SELF AND STUDENT EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC STAFF

At the University of Queensland a questionnaire to students for their evaluation of tutors’ and lecturers’ classroom presentation and classroom management has been in (increasing) use since 1982. The introduction of the evaluation questionnaire and the management of the evaluation system are based on the research lieterature on change. Student evaluations per se do not induce change. However, self evaluations focus staffs attention on their own perception as teachers, and possible discrepancies between self and student evaluation may then motivate staff to change.

Therefore self evaluation has been used in the evaluation of teaching schemesto facilitate change. Overall, there was no relationship between student ratings and staff self ratings on the question, “All things considered, how would you rate this staff member's overall effectiveness as a university teacher?” Both highly and poorly rated lecturers showed large discrepancies between their self perception and student perception. This emphasises the importance of using more than one source of evaluative information for decision makeing. An interview study found that nearly all those evaluated had implemented changes and felt positive about evaluation.     

EVALUATION OF A DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE IN GERIATRIC INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMING

approach are advantageous in a rapidly changing health care system where managed care and integrated services are of increasing importance. A statewide Geriatric Education Center, in cooperation with faculty from multiple disciplines at a state-supported major medical college and other nationally known experts in this area, developed a graduate level distance learning course to enhance awareness of the importance of interdisciplinary teaming. Evaluation results documented an increase in the skills important to effective interdisciplinary team functioning. Greater improvements in attitude toward health care teams occurred among students employed in jobs where they worked primarily with older adults. Pre-training and post-training motivational differences were also found to distinguish students engaged in direct care, geriatric employment. Results are discussed in relation to other evaluation studies in this area and the advances likely to be documented with increased recognition of the benefits in employing geriatric interdisciplinary teams.     

MODELS OF EVALUATION AND THEIR RELATION TO STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS

The union and disjunction models for combining individual test marks to yield final grade distributions were outlined. It was expected that these models would differentially favor students according to their characteristic methods of learning and studying. The models were examined empirically in two educational psychology classes; five performance assessments were available, as well as eleven dimensions of study behavior and academic attitudes. While there was a substantial correlation between the distributions derived from the two models, they were found significantly to favor different student characteristics. The union model, relative to the disjunction model, favored students who were dependent, who interrelated different aspects of their course work, who scheduled their work and who rote-learned material. These differences were interpreted in terms of the educational assumptions underlying the two models. Some implications of the study for grading practice were suggested.     

DESCRIPTIVE MODELS OF STUDENT DECISION BEHAVIOUR IN EVALUATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Sound assessment and evaluation of higher education necessitates deep understanding of the detailed processes underlying student overall evaluation of course and Instructor. The present study employs both correlational analysis and step‐wise multiple regression in an effort to help us understand student decision behaviour and to build mathematical models representing the dynamics of student evaluative Judgement of course and instructor. The resulting models were very strong and were ctually used to improve the performance of the academic programmes in the Institute of Banking Studies In Kuwait.     

基于学生任务建模的开放性问题解决环境的设计与评价

开放性问题解决环境是一种全新的互动学习环境，其设计、分析与评价是一个综合了方法论、技术、系统性等多方面因素的复杂过程。通过对国外有关文献的分析研究，介绍了与教育环境设计与评价有关的问题，概括了基于学生任务建模概念的设计与评价框架结构，并探讨了设计与评价的支持工具的可用性问题以及该框架结构在开放性问题解决教育环境的评价过程中所产生的积极作用。     

STUDENT EVALUATION OF TEACHING IN AN AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY ‐‐ STAFF PERCEPTIONS AND REACTIONS

At the University of Queensland staff have had the opportunity since 1982 to make use of a standardised questionnaire to students to get feedback on their teaching. The questionnaire was developed and is organised in such a way that it may be used in promotion applications, as evidence of teaching ability in the annual appraisal of probationary staff by the head of department, and for personal feedback. After one year of operation interviews were held with all those who had used the questionnaire. Their attitude to evaluation of teaching was overwhelmingly positive and differed sharply from the way they perceived their department's and the University's attitude to be. Staff, on the whole, acted on the feedback received from their students by changing the course organisation and content, aspects of classroom teaching or their attitude. Many felt more confident about their teaching as a result of the evaluation, and for many the questionnaires were the only source of feedback and encouragement.     

EVALUATION OF AN EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY SYLLABUS IN A B.ED. (HONS) COURSE

A survey was carried out among all ex‐B.Ed. (Hons) students who are currently teaching in Maltese state primary and secondary schools to investigate the relevance and interest of the topics covered in the educational psychology and human development area of the course. Using a postal questionnaire, 183 respondents (55 per cent of the population) rated each of 45 topics on a five‐point scale in terms of interest and relevance. The t‐test analyses revealed statistical significance in the difference between the mean interest and relevance ratings for the majority of the topics. The relevance of each topic for the primary and the secondary school teacher was also investigated; in only 9 topics was the difference in the ratings for relevance statistically significant. The implications of the findings for the revision of the syllabus are outlined.     

DISTANCE TRAINING IN FUNCTION‐BASED INTERVENTIONS TO DECREASE STUDENT PROBLEM BEHAVIOR: SUMMARY OF 74 CASES FROM A UNIVERSITY COURSE

In this study, 188 master‐level students received training through a distance education course to conduct functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) and behavior support plans with 68 boys and six girls (aged 3–20 years) displaying persistent behavior problems in inclusive preschools, elementary, and secondary schools. In the course, master‐level students’ scores on an FBA knowledge test increased from 13.2% to 68.8% correct. Changes in pupils’ target behaviors were evaluated with a total of 114 AB single‐subject designs and combined data with one‐group pretest–posttest designs. Comparing medians of means, disruptive behaviors decreased by 77.8% and aggressive behaviors by 88.7%, whereas task engagement increased by 91.5% after intervention. Nonparametric Wilcoxon signed‐ranks tests for related samples showed that changes were statistically significant for all groups with sufficient sample sizes. Adjusted effect sizes ranged from d = .5 to 1.6. Results indicate that positive changes in student behavior problems can be attained with function‐based interventions conducted by teams trained through a distance education course.     

THE STUDENT AS A PERSON

This article is a plea that university teachers and administrators never forget that students are also people whose intellectual development is strongly linked to their personal development. Students grow through learning, something which in order to be successful a teacher must understand. Certain disfunctionalities and their remedies are described. Upon completion of his undergraduate studies, a student should have gained a great deal of personal autonomy and be sure of his identity. The role of the university as a place in which knowledge is pursued for its own sake should be cherished for its value as a means of student personal and psychological development.     

COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT ATTRACTION TO AN ENGLISH COURSE: THE ASSOCIATIONS AMONG STUDENT GENDER,THE GENDER OF THE AUTHOR OF ASSIGNED READING,AND THE STYLE OF READING

This article reports the results of a factorial experiment that investigated the reactions of male and female students to a hypothetical English course offered at the community college level. The participants (N = 136) consisted of students enrolled in English 101 courses at four community colleges in a southeastern state. The independent variables were gender of the student, gender of the author assigned, and the type of reading assigned (narrative, expository). The dependent variable was a composite rating of student attraction to the English course. Females rated the course more favorably than males, and testing detected an interaction effect between gender of the student and the gender of the writer. Females preferred female authors, and males were attracted to male authors. There also was an interaction effect between gender of the author and style of writing. Participants preferred female authors and expository style. The findings have practical implications for educational programs, English instructors, and future research.     

STUDENT EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTION: PERCEPTIONS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS,FACULTY, AND ADMINISTRATORS

The purpose of this study was to compare the opinions of students, teachers, and administrators relative to student evaluation of instruction in selected community colleges. While important educational decisions in community colleges are made on the basis of students’ evaluations (as in retention, promotion, tenure, and pay), little has been accomplished in testing the assumptions behind student evaluation of instruction. The student evaluation process assumes that students are honest, serious, and evaluate instruction, not some incidental activity.

A 25‐item Student Evaluation Process Scale was completed by 607 students, 130 faculty, and 45 administrators in five Illinois community colleges. Findings revealed little significant differences in the opinions of students regarding evaluation of instruction based on variables of sex, age, school location, student type (transfer or occupational), and class standing. There were little significant differences in faculty opinion and within the administrative groups based on selected variables. There were significant differences when the opinions of students, faculty, and administrators were compared. Students and faculty tended to agree with those items that questioned the objectivity of student evaluation of instruction. Administrators and students tended to agree with items reflecting the seriousness with which students evaluate instruction. Faculty and administrators indicated that student evaluation of instruction impacted faculty members’ instructional performances. Neither students, faculty, nor administrators supported the concept of merit pay tied to student evaluation of instruction.

The role of student evaluation of instruction in a faculty evaluation system must be investigated. A variety of groups should participate in this investigation.