The commuter student and student satisfaction

This study examined the variables associated with student satisfaction on a commuter campus. A sample of 38 classes was used and resulted in 782 undergraduates responding to questionnaires. The variables included were: age, student level, student's grade, perception of educational benefits, and satisfaction with college experience. A causal model was built and tested in order to determine the direct and indirect effects of these variables upon student satisfaction. While the student level had a negative influence upon satisfaction, both age and grade had a moderate effect upon student satisfaction. The perception of educational benefits seemed to be the most critical variable in predicting student satisfaction.     

The foreign student as a student teacher

Cultural differences appeared to establish a communications barrier between this teacher and her student teacher. Perhaps Mrs. Bloom's experiences will be helpful to other supervisors who work with foreign student teachers.     

How universities can enhance student mental wellbeing: the student perspective

ABSTRACT

The growing prevalence and severity of mental health difficulties across university student populations is a critical issue for universities and their wider communities. Yet little is known about student perspectives on the stressors in university environments and the steps that universities could take to better support student mental wellbeing. This article reports on a study that collected and analyzed 2776 student responses to the question: What can be done to improve student wellbeing? Students made diverse recommendations that fell into seven categories: Academic teachers and teaching practices; student services and support; environment, culture and communication; course design; program administration; assessment; and student society activities. The findings from our study offer important insight to university educators and administrators about the role they can play in better supporting student wellbeing and preventing the high rates of psychological distress. We argue that the process of seeking and acting on students’ suggestions fosters students’ sense of inclusion and empowerment, and this is critical given that the goal of improving student mental wellbeing can only be achieved through an effective partnership between students and institutional actors.     

College students' ratings of student effort,student ability and teacher input as correlates of student performance on multiple-choice exams

In the class session following feedback regarding their scores on multiple-choice exams, undergraduate students in a large human development course rated the strength of possible contributors to their exam performance. Students rated items related to their personal effort in preparing for the exam (identified as student effort in the paper), their ability to perform well on the exams (identified as student ability), and teacher input that might have affected their exam performance. Students rated most student effort items higher than teacher input and student ability items. Notwithstanding, across all exams, ratings of student ability and teacher input correlated more strongly with exam performance than did student effort ratings. High and low performers on the exams differed significantly on ratings of student ability and teacher input, but were more similar on ratings of student effort.     

Understanding value in the student experience through student–staff partnerships

ABSTRACT

Questions such as ‘what is value in the student experience?’ and ‘how do we measure or assess value in higher education?’ remain an under-researched area. However, in the context of marketisation and competitive forces in higher education, there is a need to unpack what is value in the student experience. In this article, a conceptualisation of value that can be applied in higher education (known as value-in-use) is introduced and applied to a specific and increasingly important aspect of the student experience – student–staff partnerships. Qualitative survey data (n?=?97) and interviews (n?=?35) from ten cases of various manifestations of student–staff partnerships in the Australasian context is presented and assessed in relation to value. The findings highlight that student–staff partnerships may enhance value in the student experience and that value-in-use may be an appropriate lens through which to continue to explore how value is created and measured in the student experience.     

Effects of teacher clarity and student anxiety on student outcomes

A laboratory experiment was carried out with 120 undergraduate students to examine a possible aptitude–treatment interaction between teacher clarity and student test anxiety in relation to two outcome measures, namely student achievement and student motivation, with student intelligence statistically controlled. Students completed measures of intelligence and test anxiety and were randomly assigned to high teacher clarity or low teacher clarity conditions, defined by the presence or absence of specific teaching behaviours in a videotaped lecture with content held constant across conditions. Measures of motivation and self-efficacy for learning the material were completed immediately post-treatment, then one week later participants completed an achievement test based on the material contained in the lecture and assigned homework. Results revealed significant beneficial main effects for high vs. low teacher clarity for both achievement and motivation measures, but no aptitude–treatment interaction between teacher clarity and student test anxiety.     

国家助学贷款制度与高校学生欠费问题思考

学费拖欠问题在提供国家助学贷款前提下仍然存在,原因有多个方面。完善助学政策可以使国家助学贷款的政策惠及高校每一个贫困生,又能使其自觉缴费还款。     

Effects of staff and student tutors on student achievement

In the problem-based curriculum of the faculty of Law, students of the first year are guided by staff tutors or undergraduate student tutors in small tutorial groups. In this study, academic achievement of staff tutor-guided groups are compared with student tutor-guided groups. After an eight-week course students' level of academic achievement was tested by essay questions. Two methods of assessing students' performance are used: expert judgements and propositional analysis. Results of both methods used indicate that no differences in academic achievement occur. Students guided by student tutors perform as well as students guided by staff tutors. Several explanations are proposed to account for these results.     

The influence of student gender on the assessment of undergraduate student work

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of perceived student gender on the feedback given to undergraduate student work. Participants (n = 12) were lecturers in higher education and were required to mark two undergraduate student essays. The first student essay that all participants marked was the control essay. Participants were informed that the control essay was written by Samuel Jones (a male student). Participants then marked the target essay. Although participants marked the same essay, half of the participants (n = 6) were informed that the student essay was written by Natasha Brown (a female student), while the remaining participants were informed that it was written by James Smith (a male student). In-text and end-of-text feedback were qualitatively analysed on six dimensions: academic style of writing; criticality; structure, fluency and cohesion; sources used; understanding/knowledge of the subject; and other. Analysis of feedback for both the control and target essay revealed no discernible differences in the number of comments (strengths of the essay, areas for improvement) made and the content and presentation of these comments between the two groups. Pedagogical implications pertaining to the potential impact of anonymous marking on feedback processes are discussed.     

学生发展理论在学生事务管理中的应用——美国学生发展理论简介

美国大学对学生发展理论的研究有着近百年的历史。美国学生发展理论包括个体与环境、社会心理、认知和价值观和整合型理论四个基本类型。这些理论分别从社会学、心理学、生态学等角度来解释学生成长和发展规律,理论研究的重点逐步从着眼于学生发展的某一特定方面转移到学生的总体发展上。近二三十年来,由于学生群体的不断变化,美国对女性学生、同性恋学生以及其他弱势群体学生的研究逐步增加。学生发展理论深刻影响了美国的学生管理实践,为学生宿舍管理、学务咨询、心理咨询等重要的学生事务管理领域提供了理论指导。     

Evaluating student satisfaction - restricting lecturer professionalism: outcomes of using the UK national student survey questionnaire for internal student evaluation of teaching

Abstract

In the neo-liberal context of a UK university, responding to student feedback in order to raise student satisfaction levels is important in improving National Student Survey (NSS) scores. This article focuses on the impact of a UK university’s new student feedback questionnaire - for individual modules - which used the NSS questions. The research draws on survey data (N?=?101) to identify lecturers’ views and three student focus groups. The outcomes raised issues relating to performativity, professionalism and ‘provision’, the latter defined as the university’s contract with each student, including the aspects that affect the student learning experience but are beyond the lecturers’ control, for example, class sizes and timetables. The results indicate that by recognising the impact of provision university managers may be better able to develop systemic improvements to student experience and (in the UK) a corresponding uplift in NSS and Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) results. The article puts forward a model linking performativity, professionalism and provision to the relationships between university managers, academics and students. This model could enrich understandings of professionalism and performativity, extend the range of issues affecting student experience in SETs and support data analysis in future research studies.     

Gamification and student motivation

The literature suggests that gamified learning interventions may increase student engagement and enhance learning. We empirically investigate this by exploring the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on the participation and performance of over 100 undergraduate students in an online gamified learning intervention. The paper makes a number of contributions. First, by synthesizing the literature the central concepts required for a learning intervention to be considered gamified are mapped and the development of an online gamified learning intervention is described. Second, the effect of gamification on learning outcomes is examined using a pre- and post-intervention survey. We find that gamified learning interventions have a positive impact on student learning. Third, our results show that while generally positive, the impact of gamified intervention*ns on student participation varies depending on whether the student is motivated intrinsically or extrinsically. These findings will be of practical interest to teaching and learning practitioners working in a range of educational contexts, and at all levels of education, who wish to increase student engagement and enhance learning.     

Understanding student behavioral engagement: Importance of student interaction with peers and teachers

Recent theoretical conceptualizations of student engagement have raised questions about how to measure student engagement and how engagement varies not only across schools, but also within school and within classrooms. The authors build on existing research on student behavioral engagement and extend this research to emphasize a continuum of disengagement, active engagement, and passive engagement. They review common approaches to measuring engagement and highlight areas where new theoretical conceptualizations of engagement require new approaches to measurement. The authors analyze how student behavioral engagement changed depending on the context and demonstrate the need of a finer scale of engagement. They find there was not a uniform association of higher behavioral engagement and student interaction with peers, but it was the interaction with other students and the teacher that was predictive of increased engagement. Their work suggests that disaggregating behavioral engagement into disengagement, active engagement, and passive engagement has important research and conceptual implications.     

Connecting teacher and student motivation: Student-perceived teacher need-supportive practices and student need satisfaction

According to Self-Determination Theory (SDT), teacher motivation affects student motivation indirectly via teaching practices that support the satisfaction of students’ basic psychological needs, but studies have not shown evidence of this entire sequence. We tested the complete model: teacher motivation (autonomous, controlled, and amotivation) → perceived need-supportive practices (autonomy support, structure, and involvement) → student need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) → student motivation (autonomous, controlled, and amotivation) → student academic achievement. South Korean 5th and 6th graders (N = 697) and their 35 teachers participated in this study. A multi-level structural equation model showed evidence supporting: 1) a positive link between teacher and student autonomous motivation, and, 2) its mediation by student perceived need-supportive practices and student autonomy and competence. We discussed further conceptual and empirical consideration with the results..     

Predicting student progression: The influence of race and other student and institutional characteristics on college student performance

In this study of college student retention and progression, significant differences were found between black and white student cohorts in terms of their attrition rates, overall progression rates (defined as length of time to graduate), and tendency to follow the prescribed progression pattern (sophomore in the second year, junior in the third year, senior in the fourth year, and graduate after the fourth year). However, multiple regression analyses show that racial differences disappear when the effects of other student and institutional characteristics are statistically controlled. Therefore, colleges and universities would do well to rethink special retention and counseling programs designed especially to serve minority group students.     

The relationship of student characteristics and student performance in science as viewed by meta-analysis research

Relationships of student characteristics to student performance and attitudes were explored by meta-analysis for studies conducted in kindergarten through twelfth grade since 1960. Six student characteristics (general ability, language ability, mathematics ability, socio-economic status, gender, and race) were selected for inclusion in this investigation based on their frequency of use in the literature. Studies in which these student characteristics were associated with student science performance or science attitudes were included in this investigation. Associations of ability and socio-economic status with science performance and attitudes were summarized by correlational analysis. An effect size measure was used to summarize associations of gender and race with science performance and attitudes.     

Student trust in teachers and student perceptions of safety: positive predictors of student identification with school

This study examined the effects of student trust in teacher and student perceptions of safety on identification with school. Data were collected from one large urban district in an eastern state. Participants included 5441 students in 3rd through 12th grades from 49 schools. Students responded to surveys that assessed student trust in teachers, safety and identification with school. Free and Reduced Lunch (a proxy for SES), school level and ethnicity were included as control variables. Two hypotheses guided the study. Hypothesis 1 stated that student trust, safety and identification with school would positively covary. Hypothesis 2 predicted that student trust in teachers and perceptions of safety were school properties that would individually and collectively explain differences among schools in student identification with school. Both hypotheses were confirmed. The results of the hierarchical linear model indicated that student trust in teachers and school safety accounted for 98% of the 22% of variance that exists among schools in student identification. SES, school level and ethnicity were not significant predictors of identification with school. Findings suggest that student trust in teachers and perceptions of safety may significantly contribute to student identification above the effects of SES, ethnicity and school level.     

Help-seeking behaviour of student teachers

Background

Student teachers struggle with a wide range of problems because they are lacking professional knowledge, inexperienced in dealing with colleagues and students, and unfamiliar with school environments. It is essential for the survival of student teachers to establish supportive relationships for professional and personal help. Traditional support mechanisms for student teachers, such as cooperating teachers and university supervising teachers, often fail to provide the needed help. Analysing student teachers' help-seeking behaviour provides an avenue to explore the support they received.

Purpose

The study investigates how student teachers seek assistance. Using a Help-seeking behaviour questionnaire, student teachers' critical problems and their efforts to find assistance are examined.

Sample

The participants were 40 student teachers in a secondary education teacher certificate programme at a university in Taipei, Taiwan. The participants belonged to a class of about 100 student teachers who did their internships at local junior and senior high schools. The participants were teaching in eight subjects, and about two-thirds were female. Every student teacher was assigned a supervising teacher from the university and a cooperating teacher at the placement school.

Design and methods

The questionnaire asked the student teachers to pick a critical problem that they had encountered during the previous week. They were asked to describe the problem, whom they asked for help, how many times and through which communication channel the help was provided. The questionnaire was administered during March and May 2001. Critical problems were sorted into categories. Frequencies and percentages of the help-seeking instances were accumulated for different people and problem categories.

Results

Some student teachers requested help many times; others made a limited number of requests. The number of requests ranged from 1 to 38 per problem, with an average of 12 requests per problem. Among the requests for help (n = 935), only 2% were directed to university supervisors. The student teachers sought help from the cooperating teacher 15% of the time, and 41% of the time they asked student teacher peers for assistance. About 90% of the communication was face to face, 9% was by phone and 1% was by email. The largest number of requests dealt with problems of individual students (19%). The second and third largest problem categories were administration and policy issues (16%) and lack of spare time (15%).

Conclusions

Peer support should be cultivated in teacher training programmes because peer student teachers' help was most frequently sought. Cooperating teachers and university supervising teachers' communication with student teachers can be improved. Various ways of contacting student teachers can be encouraged, but face-to-face communication must still be supported. It is important to keep finding new ways to assess the effectiveness of student teacher support. The results of the Help-seeking behaviour questionnaire can be used to examine the impact of programmes to improve student teaching.     

Predicting student ratings: the relationship between actual student ratings and instructors’ predictions

This study examined the relationship between student ratings and instructors’ predictions of these ratings, taking into account other instructor, student, and course characteristics. Participants in the study were 198 instructors in the School of Education at a major teacher training college in Israel. Data corresponding to one randomly selected course per instructor were collected using student and instructor questionnaires and college records. Results indicate a systematic positive relationship between instructors’ predictions and actual student ratings with respect to overall ratings and the ratings of three dimensions of teaching. Results also demonstrate a systematic trend whereby low‐rated instructors tend to overestimate their student ratings, high‐rated instructors underestimated ratings, and moderately rated instructors gave accurate predictions. Results have implications for using predictions to motivate teaching improvement.     

Teacher attributions of student failure and teacher behavior toward the failing student

The aim of this study was to examine the relation between teacher attributions of student school failure and teacher behavior toward the failing student. A structural equation model was proposed and its ability to fit the data was tested. It was found that teachers tend to behave in ways that indicate more pity and less anger when they attribute a student's low achievement to her or his low abilities, whereas they express more anger when attributing low achievement to the student's low effort. In contrast to previous research that argues in favor of anger as a high ability cue, this study has found that the presence of anger was associated with a teacher tendency to give‐up efforts to help the student improve. This giving‐up behavior was negatively related to the tendency of the teachers to accept some responsibility for the student failure. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.