Conceptualizing students’ academic hardiness dimensions: a qualitative study

Academic hardiness is a personality characteristic that may differentiate students who avoid challenging academic course work from others who are willing to pursue these types of challenges. Research findings have demonstrated the need to understand and examine the construct in different life stages and cultural settings, and there are additional aspects of the construct that have yet to be identified. The purpose of this study was to explore the possible dimensions of academic hardiness and its components (commitment, control, and challenge) using qualitative methodology. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 primary school children (aged 10–12 years old). They were asked to narrate and reflect on their experience about school failure and low grade in a test in a school lesson. The findings demonstrate that students differ as to the way they face the negative experience, as results showed that a variety of factors were related with students’ academic hardiness. The findings are discussed in relation to the recent literature.     

Exploring teachers’ value orientations in literature and history secondary classrooms

This study explores teachers’ observable value orientations in literature and history classrooms, wishing to investigate how teachers infuse their values into instructional settings through their conceptions of the taught subject, the process of making meaning, and their involvement in the process of value communication.Through consideration of observation, interview and additional data, the common features underlying teachers’ value orientations are identified. One may conclude that although participants avoid the clear involvement in value communication, they search for a balance in defending the humanistic tradition and enacting a more critical and multi-perspective development of students’ sense about values. The taught subject seems to affect the displayed value orientations.     

Academic Intrinsic Motivation and Perceived Academic Competence in Greek Elementary Students with and without Learning Disabilities

The aim of this study was to examine differences in intrinsic motivation and perceived academic competence as well as in their association between 5th‐ and 6th‐grade students with learning disabilities (LD) (n= 40) and their typically achieving peers. Participants were 980 Greek elementary students from the metropolitan area of Athens. As predicted, students with LD showed lower intrinsic motivation and perceived academic competence than students without LD almost across all subscales. Exceptions were noticed in intrinsic motivation concerning curiosity/interest and history subscales as well as perceptions of academic competence in the subjects of history and science. Support was found that among typically achieving students intrinsic motivation was positively and significantly related at a moderate level to perceived academic competence across all subscales, as opposed to students with LD, for whom few correlations were found.     

Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection as a Tool for Measuring Greek University Students' Evolution Knowledge: Differences between novice and advanced students

The primary objective of this research was to compare various groups of Greek university students for their level of knowledge of Evolution by means of Natural Selection (ENS). For the purpose of the study, we used a well known questionnaire the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS) and 352 biology majors and non-majors students from the University of Athens took part in it. A principal components analysis revealed problems with the items designed to assess the concepts of population stability, differential survival and variation inheritable, therefore these items need to be reconsidered. Nonetheless, the results of the CINS for each Greek sub-group showed that the higher the involvement in evolution education, the higher the students' performances on the CINS test. This linear correlation, together with other evidence, supports the CINS authors' claims about the usefulness of the CINS as an assessment of instruction. Unfortunately, Greek university students gave many teleological and proximate answers to many of the CINS items. Comparisons between least and most evolutionary educated university students revealed that the latter gave more evolutionary answers. Oddly, advanced biology majors students did not show an improvement in all the 20 items of the CINS (only in 14 out of the 20 items) compared to novice biology students. They even gave more teleological answers to the concept natural resources are limited than novice biology majors students. Finally, Greek university students' level of knowledge of ENS seems to be closer to Canadian than US students'.     

Exploring the relationship between experienced students' preference for open- and closed-book examinations,approaches to learning and achievement

The relationship between university students' approaches to learning and preference for the open- and closed-book examinations was investigated for 144 Greek undergraduate (56 third- and 88 fourth-year) students attending a Philosophy, Education and Psychology Department. The approaches were explored by the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST). Examination preferences for open- or closed-book exams were assessed by 3 self-report questions. Students who preferred the open-book examination scored lower on “Time management”, “Achieving”, and “Unrelated memorising”. The study provides links between the students' study orchestrations/profiles, assessment preference, and achievement. The deep profile students (mainly 3rd-year students) seem to prefer the open-book exam but appear unorganised in their study in a similar extent to surface-profile students. They also reported low achievement. The study cautiously suggests the influence of the year of study on students' assessment preference. The results are discussed in relation to recent literature.     

“Visual Type? Not My Type”: A Systematic Study on the Learning Styles Neuromyth Employing Frequentist and Bayesian Statistics

The term learning styles (LS) describes the notion that individuals have a preferred modality of learning (i.e., vision, audition, or kinesthesis) and that matching instruction to this modality results in optimal learning. During the last decades, LS has received extensive criticism, yet they remain a virtual truism within education. One of the major strands of criticism is the fact that only a handful of studies have systematically put the LS assumptions to the test. In this study, we aimed to explore whether learners who are visual types will be better at learning sign-words (i.e., ecologically valid stimuli) compared to auditory and kinesthetic types. Ninety-nine volunteers (67 females, mean age = 28.66 years) naive to Greek Sign Language (GSL) were instructed to learn 20 GSL sign-words. The volunteers further completed two LS questionnaires (i.e., the Barsch Learning Styles Inventory and the Learning Channels Inventory) and they also reported what their LS they believed was. No evidence of a difference in learning sign-words among individuals with different LS (as identified by either of the LS questionnaires or by direct self-report) was found, neither using a frequentist nor using a Bayesian approach to data analysis. Moreover, inconsistencies between the way participants were classified based on the different measures and direct self-report were detected. These findings add further support to the criticism of the LS theory and its use in educational settings. We suggest that research and practice resources should be allocated to evidence-based approaches.     

Body image perception, satisfaction and somatotype in male and female athletes and non-athletes: results using a novel morphing technique

Thirty-six adults (24 males, 12 females) were assessed for anthropometric somatotype and body image (perception and satisfaction) by a novel technique using quantitative distortion of a digital still image. Software produced random distortions in nine body regions. The participants manipulated interactive slider controls to adjust each body feature in turn, recreate their perceived image and indicate their desired image. There were no differences in perception between the sexes. However, the ideal-actual differences (i.e. satisfaction) indicated that males desired larger and females smaller features, respectively, in the chest and thighs (P < 0.001) and arms and calves (P < 0.01). When the male-derived data were partitioned by sport (strength, endurance, team-sport and controls), differences were found in the perceived image size in the chest and rib regions (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). Strength athletes perceived these areas to be smaller and the control group perceived these areas to be larger than the true values. Somatotype analysis indicated that the physique associated with minimal dissatisfaction was 2.0-5.0-3.0 for males and 3.0-2.5-3.0 for females. Cluster analysis, combining anthropometric and satisfaction data, revealed seven distinct subgroups distinguished by particular attributes of physical appearance. We conclude that the method is reliable and that body image includes sex-specific, anthropometric, perceptual and personality-related components.     

An Investigation of Factors That Contribute to Student Satisfaction From Online Courses＂ An Example of an Online Accounting Course

Although most courses are offered in the traditional synchronous way where teaching and learning mainly take place in the classroom, the Internet has proven to be an effective tool in learning. The demand of online courses is constantly growing, however, there is a paucity of research of online delivery success factors, especially of accounting courses. The aim of this paper was to investigate＇the factors that contribute to student satisfaction from online teaching and learning of an accounting course. This study was conducted at a university in the United States （U.S.） amongst 80 students enrolled in an online accounting course over a period of two semesters. The quantitative data are based on the students＇ course evaluation forms of the instructor＇s teaching and overall satisfaction with the course. The findings suggest that the students found the asynchronous online teaching and learning interesting and challenging. The factors that mainly contribute to student satisfaction include the instructor＇s preparation for the course and her availability to students, the clear grading criteria, the assignment which they found useful, and the other resources that were available online. They value the least the development of writing skills. Additionally, this study proposes that there is a positive significant correlation between the instructor＇s overall performance and the overall student satisfaction from the course. The instructor＇s performance, availability, and easy to use technology enhance the learning and teaching from online pedagogies.     

Survey Exploring Views of Scientists on Current Trends in Chemistry Education

A survey exploring the views of scientists, chemists and chemical engineers, on current trends in Chemistry Education was conducted in Greece. Their opinions were investigated using a questionnaire focusing on curricula (the content and process of chemistry teaching and learning), as well as on the respondents’ general educational beliefs and their underlying epistemological views. The aim of this work was to investigate the respondents’ opinions and, if possible, to identify the areas where convergence or even consensus occurred. The results showed that some of the items on the research questionnaire produced a high degree of agreement with the respondents’ views, while a few others were exactly the opposite. These items are considered to be representative of more widespread views. In order to explore the diverging opinions, the items on the research questionnaire that showed great variance were analyzed to determine, whether or not there were significant inter-item correlations among subgroups of participants with different demographic characteristics. Postgraduate studies, professional occupation, age/experience, and career within or outside the wide educational sector were among the main factors that significantly influenced the research results. The study did not reveal any single belief framework underlying the opinions of the respondents. Nevertheless, three specific approach frameworks—ACADEMIC, CONSTRUCTIVIST and SCIENTIFIC REALISM—were analyzed to determine which had the highest degree of agreement. It was found that the SCIENTIFIC REALISM framework and the curriculum emphasis characteristic of the context-based CTSE (Chemistry, Technology, Society and Environment) prevailed, as they produced a significantly higher mean score. The ACADEMIC framework followed with a moderate mean score and the CONSTRUCTIVIST framework had a lower mean score.     

Restoring fragmented marble epistyles: Some critical points

The mechanical behavior of fragmented marble epistyles restored with titanium reinforcing bars is studied numerically using the Finite Element Method. The study is focused to the behavior of restored epistyles subjected to bending under uniform load along the free span of the structural element. The restoration method simulated is the one introduced a few years ago by the scientists working for the conservation of the Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis of Athens and is still under development. Attention is focused to the influence of the geometric features of the reinforcing bars as well as to the role of the cementitious material interposed between the marble and the bar. In addition, the contact properties of the marble-titanium, marble-cement and cement-titanium interfaces are also examined. To achieve the goals of the study, six numerical models are constructed considering centrally fractured prismatic marble epistyles of rectangular cross section restored with a single titanium bar, either cylindrical or threaded. The analysis reveals the critical regions, where the maximum stresses and the strain discontinuities appear and makes clear the influence of the geometrical characteristics of the reinforcing bar. Also, the crucial role of the constitutive law governing the mechanical behavior of the intermediate layer of cementitious material is enlightened.