Investigating Malaysian distance learners’ perceptions of their English proficiency courses

The paper describes a study that investigated Malaysian distance learners’ perceptions of their English proficiency courses. The approach used in this study was primarily a quantitative approach based on questionnaires, with a qualitative component based on semi‐structured interviews included to add depth and scope to the study. The questionnaires used were adapted from Entwistle and Ramsden’s Course Perception Questionnaire. ANOVA and factor analysis were used for analysing the questionnaire data. The interview data were analysed qualitatively by identifying main themes and patterns. While the analysis of the questionnaires and the interview data generated roughly comparable results, there were some interesting differences. The main difference was that the interviews demonstrated that the majority of the 13 distance learners interviewed would prefer more support and guidance rather than greater freedom as evident in the questionnaire data. The results of the interviews provide a useful supplement to the quantitative data and give us a better understanding of the factors that influence learners within a distance learning environment.     

Secondary school students’ perceptions of, and the factors influencing their decision-making in relation to, VET in schools

This paper addresses the issue of Vocational Education and Training in Schools — an issue that has recently attracted significant political attention particularly in light of current national skills shortage in Australia. Specifically, it investigates secondary school students’ perceptions of VET in Schools [VETiS]. It also explores the factors influencing their decision-making in relation to VETiS — that is, why one might choose, or choose not, to enrol in a VETiS course of study. In view of the findings presented, the paper argues that VET, and more particularly VETiS, is experiencing an “image problem” — one underscored by the need for curriculum design and delivery reform — and suggests that there is much work still to be done on the VET agenda.     

An investigation of Taiwanese high school students’ science learning self-efficacy in relation to their conceptions of learning science

Background: Past studies have shown significant associations between students’ conceptions of learning science and their science learning self-efficacy. However, in most of the studies, students’ science learning self-efficacy has often been measured by a singular scale.

Purpose: Extending the findings of these studies, the present study adopted a multi-dimensional instrument to assess Taiwanese high school students’ science learning self-efficacy and investigate the relationships with their conceptions of learning science.

Sample: A total of 488 Taiwanese high school students (265 male and 223 female) were invited to participate in this survey.

Design and method: All the participants responded to the Conceptions of Learning Science (COLS) questionnaire regarding ‘Memorizing’, ‘Testing’, ‘Calculating and practicing’, ‘Increase of knowledge’, ‘Applying’ and ‘Understanding and seeing in a new way’ and the Science Learning Self-Efficacy (SLSE) instrument, including ‘Conceptual understanding’, ‘Higher-Order cognitive skills’, ‘Practical work’, ‘Everyday application’ and ‘Science communication’.

Results: The path analysis results derived from the structural equation modeling method indicated that, of all five SLSE dimensions, the ‘Understanding and seeing in a new way’ COLS displayed as a positive predictor, while the ‘Testing’ COLS was a significant negative predictor. The ‘Applying’ COLS item can only positively contribute to the SLSE dimensions of ‘Higher-Order thinking skills’, ‘Everyday application’ and ‘Science Communication’.

Conclusions: In general, students in strong agreement with learning science as understanding and seeing in a new way or the application of learned scientific knowledge are prone to possess higher confidence in learning science. However, students who consider learning science in terms of preparing for tests and examinations tend to hold lower science learning self-efficacy.     

Coping with mismatched courses: students’ behaviour and performance in courses mismatched to their learning styles

Although learning styles are considered as an important factor in education, students often have to learn in courses that do not support their learning styles. A challenge for technology facilitated learning is therefore to assist and help students to cope with courses that do not match their learning styles by training and developing their less preferred skills. In this paper, the interactions between students’ learning styles, their behaviour, and their performance in an online course that is mismatched regarding their learning styles were analysed. The results show which learners need more help in mastering mismatched courses, help in getting a better understanding about how students with good performance record and poor performance record learn with respect to their learning styles, and provide information about how to identify learners who might have difficulties in learning based on their behaviour.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

ESL students’ perceptions and experiences of standardized English writing tests

The present study interviewed 16 international students (13 from Mainland China and 3 from Taiwan) in a Canadian university to explore their perceptions and experiences of two standardized English writing tests: the TWE (Test of Written English) and the essay task in LPI (English Language Proficiency Index). In Western Canada, TWE is used as an entrance test for international students who speak English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) whereas LPI is required, in many post-secondary institutions, for all incoming ESL/EFL students and some native-English-speaking students whose final English mark from high school is below a certain level. As international students, all participants in the study passed TWE but many took LPI repeatedly before passing it. At the time of the interviews, five still had not passed LPI. Relevant findings illustrate that many participants passed TWE by relying on memorization of writing samples whereas they failed LPI because they lacked skills in constructing their own texts. The participants’ complaints about culturally biased essay prompts in LPI and a lack of understanding of what is expected of LPI also raise questions about the validity of the test from the students’ perspectives. The study generates pedagogical implications for standardized writing tests involving ESL undergraduates from various cultural backgrounds.     

Students’ assessment preferences, perceptions of assessment and their relationships to study results

The purposes of this study are to gain more insight into students’ actual preferences and perceptions of assessment, into the effects of these on their performances when different assessment formats are used, and into the different cognitive process levels assessed. Data were obtained from two sources. The first was the scores on the assessment of learning outcomes, consisting of open ended and multiple choice questions measuring the students’ abilities to recall information, to understand concepts and principles, and to apply knowledge in new situations. The second was the adapted Assessment Preferences Inventory (API) which measured students’ preferences as a pre-test and perceptions as a post-test. Results show that, when participating in a New Learning Environment (NLE), students prefer traditional written assessment and questions which are as closed as possible, assessing a mix of cognitive processes. Some relationships, but not all the expected ones, were found between students’ preferences and their assessment scores. No relationships were found between students’ perceptions of assessment and their assessment scores. Additionally, only forty percent of the students had perceptions of the levels of the cognitive processes assessed that matched those measured by the assessments. Several explanations are discussed.     

Rajabhat and traditional universities: institutional differences in Thai students’ perceptions of English

This research explores the perceptions students at three traditional university campuses and four Rajabhat university campuses in Central-Western Thailand have of English. The students were surveyed on (1) their backgrounds, (2) their thoughts about English in general, (3) their thoughts about their own ability in English, and (4) their thoughts about their current English teachers. The researchers found that traditional university students had better backgrounds in English. Additionally, most students at both types of institutions thought positively about English and their teachers, but didn’t think so positively about their own English ability. However, the differences in students’ responses were small and therefore any implications from the institutional differences in students’ perceptions are limited.     

Students’ meaning-making and sense-making of vocational knowledge in Dutch senior secondary vocational education

Meaning-making and sense-making are generally assumed to be part of students’ personal vocational knowledge development, since they contribute to both students’ socialisation in a vocation and students’ personalisation of concepts, values and beliefs regarding that vocation. However, how students in vocational education acquire meaning and make sense of vocational knowledge is not explained. Furthermore, examples of what these processes entail in the context of vocational education are lacking. A multiple case study was performed to explore students’ meaning-making and sense-making in classroom interactions in Dutch senior secondary vocational education. Our results show that meaning-making is a process in which students interpret vocational knowledge by explicating and clarifying this knowledge. Sense-making is perceived to be a process in which students concretise vocational knowledge by testing and justifying this knowledge. A research model was developed to describe how students make meaning and sense of vocational knowledge in interaction with practitioners.     

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’ perceptions of parental bonding styles and their academic burnout

This study investigated how parental bonding style affects academic burnout in Korean adolescents. Participants were 447 middle school students, who completed the Parental Bonding Instrument and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey. MANCOVA results confirmed that adolescents reporting the optimal bonding parental style, for both mother and father, have lower scores on three subscales of academic burnout (Exhaustion, Cynicism, and Inefficacy) than do their counterparts who report the affectionless control parental style. We discuss the possible implications for reducing students?? academic burnout rates.     

Opening or closing doors for students? Equity and data use in schools

Ensuring equitable opportunities and outcomes for all students is a top priority of many educators and policymakers across the globe. Data use can be an important lever for achieving equity, but how this can occur is not well understood. In this article, we draw upon knowledge gained in a decade of in-depth qualitative research to examine the ways in which data use helps to open or close doors for students. We discuss data use practices that influence equity goals: (1) accountability-driven data use and data use for continuous improvement; (2) using data to confirm assumptions and using data to challenge beliefs, and (3) tracking and flexible grouping to promote student growth. Along each of these dimensions, there are active decision makers, complex processes of data use at play, and a great deal of variation both within and across contexts. Ultimately, educators and policymakers are faced with critical choices regarding data use that can profoundly affect students’ daily educational experiences and trajectories.     

Students’ intention to take online courses in high school: A structural equation model of causality and determinants

Offering an online integrated high-school course or subject for the first time involves many challenges. Better understanding the factors that affect students’ willingness to participate in the experience could provide support for better implementation of such a strategic initiative. In addition, it is important to understand how personal factors can influence the success of such an endeavour. This study develops a comprehensive structural equation model that captures most causal factors related to offering a high-school course online for the first time. A sample of public and private secondary school students (Grades 10, 11 and 12) in Abu Dhabi were administered an online survey regarding offering free online courses. The instrument was reviewed by other experts in curriculum, information technology and teaching and learning. The final instrument contained dimensions related to student perception of ease of use of e-learning, usefulness, self-efficacy, skills, style, student self-reported performance in certain subjects, use of social media, school support, teacher support, general support, access to the internet, and preferences behavioural intentions to use e-learning. The analysis provides a structural equation model with acceptable statistical fits and with many significant causal relationships. The paths representing direct and indirect effects of the construct predictors on intention to use provided statistical evidence of the validity of the 13 component predictors. Results show significant links between intention to use e-learning, perception of easiness, perception of usefulness, and other factors such as user characteristics and support. Use of social network affect intention to use e-learning indirectly thorough other variables. Limitations and implications of the study in general and as it concerns Abu Dhabi are highlighted.     

‘Hard science’: a career option for socially and societally interested students? Grade 12 students’ vocational interest gap explored

ABSTRACT

A key theme in science education research concerns the decline in young peoples’ interest in science and the need for professionals in hard science. Goal Congruity Theory posits that an important aspect of the decision whether to pursue hard science for study or as a career is the perception that hard science careers do not fulfil social (working with people) and societal (serving or helping others) interests. In this qualitative study, we explore grade 12 students’ perceptions about the social and societal orientation of hard science careers. Furthermore, we investigate the variation in students’ social and societal interests. Six focus groups were conducted with 58 grade 12 students in Flanders. Our results indicate that a number of students hold stereotypical views about hard science careers’ social orientation, while others believe cooperation with others is an important aspect of hard science careers nowadays. Furthermore, our results show that students believe hard science careers can be societally oriented in the sense that they often associate them with innovation or societal progress. Finally, our results indicate that students may differentiate direct versus indirect societal orientation. These findings contribute to literature regarding social and societal interests and students’ perceptions of hard science careers.     

Physical education teachers’ perceptions about the effectiveness and acceptability of strategies used to increase relevance and choice for students in physical education classes

School physical education (PE) aims to develop students’ knowledge and skills for lifelong participation in physical activity (PA). Unfortunately, many PE teachers report that motivating students is a significant challenge. The purpose of this study was to explore PE teacher perceptions about the effectiveness and acceptability of three self-determination theory-based motivational strategies on students’ PA, motivation, and learning during PE lessons. Thirteen PE teachers from five schools in Western Sydney, Australia, participated in this study. We carried out semi-structured post-lesson interviews with PE teachers to gather information about the perceived effectiveness and acceptability of the three intervention strategies and whether these were sustainable teaching methods: (1) explaining relevance; (2) providing choice; and (3) complete free choice. Analysis of interview data revealed that teachers believed each strategy successfully enhanced student PA, enjoyment, motivation, and student learning. The findings also showed that our motivational teaching strategies were acceptable when embedded within certain PE contexts. Overall, the results have implications for future pre-service and in-service PE teaching practice.     

The relationship between students’ perceptions of portfolio assessment practice and their approaches to learning

This study focuses on students’ learning approaches in the context of a competency‐based program on Applied Sciences, with portfolio assessment as its core mode of assessment. The study examines students’ perceptions of these assessment practices and the relationships to their learning approaches. Additionally, differences in perceptions and learning approaches between first‐year students and second‐year students, who already have one year of experience with the portfolio assessment practice, are investigated. A total of 110 students completed two questionnaires at the end of the academic year: the Revised SPQ (Study process questionnaire) was used to measure their approaches to learning and the AEQ (Assessment experience questionnaire) was used to measure their perceptions of the assessment practice. The results indicate that, when implementing portfolio assessment, feedback is essential. Moreover, it seems not to be the assessment design, but rather how it is implemented, and how students’ learning is stimulated through the assessment, that influences the quality of learning.     

Teachers’ organisational practices and their perceptions of the benefits of support by withdrawal for mathematics in Irish primary schools

This study was designed to ascertain the organisational practices of learning support teachers and their perceptions of the benefits, if any, of support by withdrawal for mathematics in Irish primary schools. The study reports on the views of a sample of 137 teachers who have postgraduate qualifications in learning support/special education from six designated centres for professional development in this area. As an organisational model for learning support in mathematics, small group/individual withdrawal was the most popular way in which additional support was organised, with 94% of the survey respondents in this study operating this system to some degree. Furthermore, key findings also highlighted that teachers perceived the following as advantages to out-of-class support: learning benefits; enhanced learning space; benefits for certain types of pupils; time benefits; positive contrast with mainstream class; assessment benefits; and greater use of concrete materials. In contrast, only 41% of teachers reported that they provide an in-class service for pupils and class teachers. Barriers to collaboration for in-class support are identified and teachers’ responses to these outlined. The study found large differences between teachers in the amount of support they provided to class teachers, the amount of non-contact time they had for planning and collaboration, and in the range of practices used to carve out time for collaboration. The implications of these findings are then discussed.