Architecture students’ perceptions of their learning environment and their academic performance

Scholars have agreed that the way in which students perceive their learning environments influences their academic performance. Empirical studies that focus on architecture students, however, have been very scarce. This is the gap that an attempt is filled in this study. A questionnaire survey of 273 students in a school of architecture in Nigeria provided data for this pilot study. The perceptions of the students were best defined by the involvement of the students in their studies, the perceived support, and conduciveness of the learning environment. The students’ perceptions of their learning environment varied with their years of study, age and gender. Their perceptions of inflexibility of schedule, positive assessment, and fairness influenced the overall grades of students. The results suggests which aspects of learning environment that can be manipulated by architectural educators to improve the performance of their students. The study of the learning environment of architecture students still appears to be relatively unexplored. The value of this study therefore lies in its exploration of the perceptions of the learning environment from the point of view of students.     

Assessing collaborative work in a higher education blended learning context: strategies and students’ perceptions

This study examines students' views on a blended learning module developed and offered at the University of Aveiro. The paper presents the module and the strategies, tools, activities and assessment. In order to examine the effectiveness of the module, data were collected from reflections, postings and questionnaires. Findings document students’ opinions concerning the module, the activities and their learning. Students valued the module but expressed concerns in using the wiki tool, assessing collaborative work and in engaging in peer assessment activities. The results have practical implications for the design of collaborative activities and innovative assessment in blended learning environments.

Bewertung kollaborativer Arbeit in einem gemischten Hochschulbildungs‐Lernkontext: Strategien und Wahrnehmungen der Studenten

Diese Studie untersucht die Ansichten von Studenten auf einem gemischten Lern‐Modul, entwickelt und angeboten von der Universität Aveiro. Das Papier stellt das Modul und die Strategien, Tools, Aktivitäten und Bewertung vor. Um die Wirksamkeit des Moduls zu untersuchen, wurden die Daten von Reflexionen, Notizen und Fragebögen gesammelt. Die Ergebnisse dokumentieren die Meinungen über das Modul, ihre Aktivitäten und ihr Lernen. Studenten schätzten das Modul hatten aber Bedenken beim Wiki‐Tool, bezüglich des kooperativen Arbeitens, Bewertungen und Peer‐Bewertungs‐Aktivitäten. Die Ergebnisse haben praktische Folgen für das Design gemeinsamer Aktivitäten und innovative Bewertungen ?gemischter Lernumgebungen”.

L’évaluation du travail collaboratif dans un contexte d’enseignement universitaire mixte: le strategies et les perceptions des étudiants

La présente étude examine les opinions des étudiants sur un module d’apprentissage mixte (blended) mis au point et assuré à l’Université d’Aveiro. Cet article présente le module et les stratégies, les outils, les activités et l’évaluation. Pour déterminer l’efficacité de ce module, on a rassemblé des données à partir des réflexions, des envois et des questionnaires. Les éléments recueillis illustrent les opinions des étudiants à propos du module, des activités et de ce qu’ils ont appris. Les étudiants ont apprécié le module mais exprimé leur inquiétude quant à l’usage de l’outil wiki, de l’évaluation du travail collaboratif et de l’engagement dans des activités d’évaluation de leurs camarades. Ces résultats ont des retombées pratiques pour la conception des activités collaboratives et d’un mode d’évaluation innovant dans des environnements d’apprentissage mixte.

La evaluación del trabajo colaborativo dentro de un entorno de aprendizaje mixto (Blended Learning) en la enseñanza superior: estrategias y percepciones de los estudiantes

El presente estudio examina las opiniones de los estudiantes acerca de un módulo de aprendizaje mixto desarrollado y propuesto por la Universidad de Aveiro. El artículo presenta el módulo y las estrategías, herramientas, actividades y evaluación. Para determinar la eficacia del módulo se hizo una recogida de datos, basandose en reflexiones, mensajes y cuestionarios. Los resultados ilustran las opinones de los estudiantes acerca del módulo, de las actividades y de lo que han aprendido.Los estudiantes valoran el módulo pero expresaron su preocupación acerca del uso de la herramienta wiki, de la evaluación del trabajo cooperativo y de la dedicación a actividades de evaluación mutual. Esos resultados conllevan consecuencias prácticas para el diseño de actividades cooperativas y la evaluación innovadora en entornos de aprendizaje mixto.     

Undergraduate students’ actorship in studying an educational sciences course in a Swedish context

The study aimed to investigate how students in an introductory educational sciences course experienced and understood their own actorship during the course, in relation to conditions for learning created by the teachers. The analyses were based on students’ answers to an evaluation questionnaire that produced both quantitative and qualitative data. Those students who experienced opportunities to influence the course activities also stated that they had contributed to the development of the course to a greater extent than did those who experienced no such opportunities. There was no correlation between not feeling informed about the conditions for the course and seeking complementary information. The analysis also generated five different categories based on how the students viewed their own actorship, varying from ‘no actorship since it is not meaningful’ to ‘Real actorship exists’. The results are discussed in relation to methodological reflections and as implications for increasing students’ actorship.     

Competition and students’ perceptions in a game-based language learning environment

Although educational games have become quite popular in recent research, only a limited number of studies have focused on the effectiveness of these games. While numerous claims have been made about the effectiveness of games, the studies that examine educational effectiveness often contain flaws resulting in unclear conclusions. One possible solution for these shortcomings is to focus on separate game elements rather than on games as a whole. A second solution is to take into account students’ perceptions of instruction as they are likely to affect students’ interpretations and learning outcomes. This study investigated whether the addition of the gaming element ‘competition’ to a computer-based language learning environment is related to students’ motivation, perceptions and learning outcomes. Additionally, this study probed into the effect of instruction, i.e., the instruction of a gaming or learning environment, on students’ perceptions of the environment, their motivation and learning outcomes. 83 students participated in this study, all working in a game-based learning environment for learning business English conversation skills. The results demonstrate that competition is not significantly related to students’ learning gains and only partly related to students’ motivation. Moreover, the majority of students perceived the environment as a learning environment, even when they were instructed to be playing in a gaming environment. To conclude this paper, the practical and theoretical implications for the fields of instructional design and educational games research are discussed.     

Teachers’ perceptions of boys’ and girls’ shared activities in the school context: towards a theory of collaborative play

The Finnish educational system and curricula lay emphasis on play, collaboration and equality. Modern educational practices allow the learning environment to be enlarged from indoor classrooms to outdoor playful learning environments (PLEs). PLEs have been constructed in schoolyards in Finland with the goal of increasing learning through play in curriculum‐based education and augmenting collaborative play (ColPlay) between boys and girls. In order to better understand and describe such developments, the author set out to ascertain how teachers perceive mixed‐gender play activities in pre‐primary and basic education. Fourteen teachers were interviewed and the obtained data were analysed using the grounded theory as an analytical approach. The research suggests five premises for ColPlay: (1) the most suitable forms of ColPlay are outdoor games and role‐play, (2) gender roles adjust in contemporary play culture, (3) teachers’ pedagogical thinking on ColPlay includes various practices to promote collaborative relationships between girls and boys, (4) teachers have confidence in ColPlay and (5) learning to collaborate with both genders requires practice and reflection. The study offers useful insights for teachers, teacher educators and designers of game content and learning environments.     

Educating for innovation: students’ perceptions of the learning environment and of their own innovation competence

Learning Environments Research - Developing students’ innovation competence is becoming increasingly important in higher education, yet few studies have actually investigated whether current...     

Does students’ heritage matter in their performance on and perceptions of historical reasoning tasks?

This mixed methods study explores how high school students (N = 35) enrolled in a US charter school with a high Latino/a population perform on and perceive (in terms of interest and relevance) document-based type historical reasoning tasks: one about the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and the other about the experiences of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the 1920s. Students wrote essay responses and completed perception inventories about the tasks. We also interviewed 10 focal students to delve more deeply into students’ thinking regarding the tasks and their interest levels in the two topics. We scored students’ responses along the criteria of historical claims, substantiation of claims, use of evidence from documents, sourcing of documents and contextualization. Our hypotheses were that students would perform better on, and be more interested in, tasks that were culturally relevant to them. We found that although students did not perform differently on the two tasks overall, students’ perceptions of the tasks differed, with a significantly greater interest in the task about Mexicans and Mexican Americans. We address the complexity of these findings and discuss implications for curriculum and practise.     

Students’ likes and dislikes regarding student-activating and lecture-based educational settings: Consequences for students’ perceptions of the learning environment, student learning and performance

This paper aims to investigate students’ likes and dislikes of the teaching that they have experienced and its effects on students’ perceptions of the learning environment, student learning and academic performance. The study compares a lecture-based setting to a student-activating learning/teaching environment, considering both instructional and assessment practices. Data (N=578) were collected using the Course Experience Questionnaire (Ramsden, 1991) and by means of a standardised test. While lecture-taught students’ evaluations of the experienced teaching were generally focused and positive, students’ perceptions of the activating methods varied widely and both extremely positive and negative opinions were present. Also the consequences of these (dis)likes in instruction for student learning become clear. Moreover, a significant positive linear effect of students’ (dis)likes in instruction on students’ perceptions of the learning environment (except for appropriate assessment), their learning and their performance was found. This way, the results pinpoint the central role of teaching methods for students’ learning and caution against detrimental consequences of students’ negative appraisal of the teaching methods that they experience. A matching strategy between a student’s teaching tastes and the teacher’s instructional interventions provides the best educational prospects.     

Identifying exemplary science teachers through students’ perceptions of their learning environment

The purpose of this study was to examine students’ psychosocial perceptions of their science classroom learning environment in order to identify exemplary teachers. This mixed-method study used the valid and reliable What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire with over 3,000 middle school students in 150 classrooms in Australia. Exemplary teachers were defined as those whose students’ perceptions were more than one standard deviation above the mean for three of the five scales of Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Task Orientation and Equity. The reliability of the WIHIC scales ranged from 0.75 to 0.87. Eta² showed that the WIHIC was able to distinguish between the perceptions of the students in the classroom. The construct validity of the WIHIC for identifying these exemplary teachers was confirmed through interviews with students and these views are reported in the article.     

Research exploring parents’, teachers’ and educational psychologists’ perceptions of consultation in a changing Irish context

Research and recent policy developments in Eire highlight that there is a growing number of children in Irish schools presenting with special educational needs, leading to an increased need for Educational Psychology services. This research utilised case studies of children who were presenting to teachers with academic, social, emotional or behavioural difficulties. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the perceived effectiveness of consultation as a model of delivery for Educational Psychologists (EPs). Each case comprised a teacher, parent and psychologist, (n = 9) from three different case studies. This research found potential benefits of consultation particularly for children and parents, although the results from this study are difficult to generalise, given the small sample size. This study has practical implications for EPs: by understanding parents’ and teachers’ perspectives this can help EPs in future planning for consultation. Further research should explore children’s perceptions of consultation.     

Teachers’ perceptions of assessments of their mathematical knowledge in a professional development course

The purpose of the project reported in this article was to evaluate how assessing teachers’ mathematical knowledge within a professional development course impacted from the teachers’ perspective their learning and their experience with the course. The professional development course consisted of a 2-week summer institute and the content focus was geometry. We had decided to assess the mathematical learning of the teachers during this professional development course for various accountability reasons, but were concerned about possible negative by-products of this decision on the teachers and their participation. Thus, we worked to design assessment in ways that we hoped would minimize negative impacts and maintain a supportive learning environment. In addition, we undertook this evaluation to examine the impacts of the assessment, which included homework, quizzes, various projects, and an examination for program evaluation. Seventeen grade 5–9 teachers enrolled in the course participated in the study by completing written reflections and by describing their experiences in interviews. We learned that while our original intent was “to do no harm,” the teachers reported that their learning was enhanced by the assessment. The article concludes by describing the various properties of the assessments that the teachers identified as contributing to their learning of the geometry content, many of which align with current recommendations for assessing and evaluating grade K-16 mathematics students.

Streaming in Flemish secondary schools: exploring teachers’ perceptions of and adaptations to students in different streams

A rich body of research on streaming or tracking conducted mainly in the USA and UK suggests that teachers have lower expectations of students in lower education streams and adapt their curriculum and pedagogy in line with such expectations. Recent large‐scale quantitative research conducted in Flanders (Belgium) shows that teachers teaching in lower status technical/vocational streams share a lower ‘study culture’ and perceive their students as less teachable than teachers teaching higher status general education students, which in turn influences students’ educational outcomes. This research builds on these studies by using data from qualitative interviews with secondary school teachers in two Flemish secondary schools to explore teachers’ perceptions of students in different streams and their adaptations in terms of curriculum and pedagogy. In addition, the relationship between students’ educational achievement and stream allocation is analysed using survey data collected in these two Flemish schools. The results further support the findings of research in this area but also suggest that stratification occurs within streams. Furthermore, students from different streams are perceived to value different forms of cultural and social capital, suggesting the prevalence of social class cultures in different streams. The conclusions discuss implications for further research on streaming or tracking in (Flemish) secondary schools.     

Assessing students’ perceptions of their learning environment in science classes in the United Arab Emirates

Learning Environments Research - As part of major education reform efforts underway in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), teachers have been introducing cooperative teaching methods in their science...     

Mapping students’ ideas to understand learning in a collaborative programming environment

Recent studies in learning programming have largely focused on high school and college students; less is known about how young children learn to program. From video data of 20 students using a graphical programming interface, we identified ideas that were shared and evolved through an elementary school classroom. In mapping these ideas and their resulting changes in programs and outputs, we were able to identify the contextual features which contributed to how ideas moved through the classroom as students learned. We suggest this process of idea mapping in visual programming environments as a viable method for understanding collaborative, constructivist learning as well as a context under which experiences can be developed to improve student learning.     

College students’ perceptions of studying abroad and their readiness

This study aims to determine what college students believe is essential on studying abroad and investigates which programs they prefer for outbound study. The trend of globalization and expansion of higher education have resulted in changes for studying abroad programs in numerous Asian countries. In particular, the overprovided undergraduate and graduate education system in Taiwan raises questions on how college students perceive such outbound study. This paper collected survey data from 219 college students at 2 universities in Taiwan to analyze their opinions and levels of readiness on studying abroad programs. This study applied fuzzy methods to transform the data and interpret the results, and the findings showed that gender and college major influence student perceptions on the importance of studying abroad, as well as their readiness to study abroad. Typically, women exhibit more preparedness for studying abroad than their male counterparts. Following the expansion of higher education in Taiwan, more students are considering studying abroad programs for short-term stay in foreign countries. According to the patterns of perception, this study built fuzzy models to explain the consistency of importance and levels of readiness on studying abroad. The results reveal that fuzzy statistics can be used for proper interpretation of the factors influencing students to study abroad and their readiness.     

Relationships between Hong Kong students’ perceptions of the learning environment and their learning patterns in post-secondary education

The present study aims to analyse the complex relationships between the relevant constructs of students’ demographic background, perceptions, learning patterns and (proxy measures of) learning outcomes in order to delineate the possible direct, indirect, or spurious effects among them. The analytical methodology is substantively framed against the studies of Richardson (British Journal of Educational Psychology 76:867–893, 2006, Higher Education 54:385–416, 2007) that utilised a regression-based methodology to infer the possible causal relationships among the relevant learning constructs. A composite research instrument, written in Chinese and derived from the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) and the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ), was used to collect students’ feedback on their perceptions of the learning environment and their learning patterns. Valid responses were obtained from 1,572 students studying at six institutions in the post-secondary education sector in Hong Kong, a new response-context for both the CEQ and the ILS. In adapting the research instruments to a new Chinese response-context, the findings are generally consistent with those reported in other published works (e.g. no relationship between students’ demographic background and their satisfaction with the programme, and a significant relationship between students’ exhibition of undirected learning patterns and low expected performance), but there are also some noteworthy discrepancies. The findings therefore buttress the confidence with which an ILS-based General Theoretical Model of student learning, adapted from Richardson (British Journal of Educational Psychology 76:867–893, 2006, Higher Education 54:385–416, 2007), may be used to conceptualise and interpret the dynamics of variation across different cultural response-contexts. While the CEQ provides some valuable complementary insights, it is an instrument that requires further development in the response-context of the present study.     

A Study in Self‐assessment: tutor and students’ perceptions of performance criteria

This paper reports a study which implemented and evaluated a method of student self‐assessment. The theme of the importance of marking criteria (Orsmond et al., 1996) is developed. Pairs of first‐year undergraduate biology students were asked to complete a poster assignment on a specific aspect of nerve physiology. The study was designed to allow the evaluation of (1) student self and tutor marking for individual marking criteria; and (2) student vs student marking of their poster work for individual marking criteria. A comparison between the tutor and the student self‐assessed mark reveals how important it is to consider the individual marking criteria rather than the overall mark. These results support our findings on peer assessment reported earlier (Orsmond et al., 1996). The results also illustrate the potential pitfalls that exist when making assumptions about the degree of student/student interaction and students’ marking ability. This study supports previous work which showed that self‐assessment is extremely useful in helping students reach their learning goals, i.e. it is a strong formative educational tool and can be used in order to bring about behavioural changes in students with regard to their own learning processes.     

University students’ perceptions of summative assessment: The role of context

We report on a mixed-method study that compared students’ perceptions of summative assessment across two distinct disciplines – education and mathematics, at two research-intensive institutions in the UK. The disciplines chosen represent opposing positions in Biglan’s classification of academic disciplines, as well as having very different assessment practices. Results suggest that these education students prefer to be assessed by methods they perceive to discriminate on the basis of academic abilities. Moreover, they perceive the traditional closed-book examination as inadequate to assess the capabilities which are key to being successful in their subject, which fits some but not all of the general findings in the literature. However, comparing these results with those of an identical study with mathematics students, we find that the perceptions of summative assessment are very different. We account for that difference by suggesting that students’ epistemic beliefs play a role in shaping these perceptions and conclude that, in designing summative assessment in higher education, generalised and centralised forces for change need to be tempered by contextual and disciplinary factors.     

Korean and foreign students’ perceptions of the teacher’s role in a multicultural online learning environment in Korea

This study investigated Korean and foreign students’ perception of the teacher’s role in multicultural online learning environments in Korea. On the basis of a literature review, a survey questionnaire was developed and piloted with 248 university students in Korea. The questionnaire was subsequently modified on the basis of the results of the pilot study, and a final 20-item questionnaire was constructed. Three hundred and eighty-four university students participated in the main study. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used for statistical analyses. The results indicated that students have a particular perception of the teacher’s role in a multicultural online learning environment. Five different types of teacher’s roles—pedagogical, managerial, technical, affective, and differentiating—were identified. The teacher’s affective and differentiating roles, which were not identified as crucial in previous research, were found to be significant roles for both Korean and foreign students.