Factors explaining the learning of generic skills: a study of university students’ experiences

ABSTRACT

Although generic skills have received widespread attention from both policymakers and educationalists, little is known regarding how students acquire these skills, or how they should best be taught. Hence, the aim of this study was to identify what kinds of pedagogical practices are behind the learning of eight particular generic skills. The data were collected from university students (N =?163, n?=?123) via Internet questionnaires. The findings from regression analyses showed that teaching practices involving collaboration and interaction as well as features of a constructivist learning environment and integrative pedagogy predicted the learning of generic skills – such as decision-making skills, different forms of creativity, and problem-solving skills. In contrast, the traditional forms of university teaching – such as reading, lecturing, and working alone – were negatively associated to learning generic skills. Overall, this study offers detailed information about the pedagogical practices that nurture learning generic skills in university contexts.     

Undergraduate engineering students’ attitudes and perceptions towards ‘professional ethics’ course: a case study of India

‘Professional Ethics’ has been offered as a compulsory course to undergraduate engineering students in a premier engineering institution of India. It was noticed that students’ perceptions and attitudes were frivolous and ornamental towards this course. Course instructors and institution authorities were motivated to find out the factors contributing to this awkwardness. For this purpose, a questionnaire was prepared and administrated to 336 students registered for the July–November 2014 semester. The study found two factors contributing to students’ indifference towards the Professional Ethics course. First, most of the students did not have self-interest to join the engineering programme, and while pursuing their study, they decided to switch to a different field upon completion of their engineering study. Second, students who desired to be engineers in their future believed that engineering code of ethics is not really referred to in most of the engineering jobs, and therefore Professional Ethics course is only meant for classroom discussions.     

Addressing the discontinuity of students’ and teachers’ diversity: a preliminary study of preservice teachers’ beliefs and perceived skills

The authors of the present investigation provide baseline data regarding preservice teachers’ beliefs about addressing the needs of students whose backgrounds and abilities differ from their own. These data provide the guidance for subsequent in-depth longitudinal investigations about the ways in which preservice teachers’ beliefs inform their classroom behaviors toward the aforementioned students, as well as suggestions for teacher educators about program improvements.     

University students’ perceptions of a holistic care course through cooperative learning: implications for instructors and researchers

The benefits of cooperative learning have been advocated in a wide range of educational contexts in higher education. There is, however, rare information on the contributions of holistic education courses on college students. Using grounded theory methods, this preliminary study was to explore participants’ perceptions of a holistic care course through cooperative learning. The results indicated that five primary categories including learning environment construction, multiple learning processes, cognitive change, solitary learning and transfer, and personal growth emerged as prominent and consistent themes. Moreover, positive and negative feelings about the learning experience, a greater understanding of holistic knowledge, and an enlargement of the experiences of connecting to others were also found. Finally, a pattern of university students’ construction of holistic knowledge was developed, and several research questions were generated. Future implications for research and practice on the holistic curriculum and cooperative learning in higher education were also suggested.     

Relations between students’ perceptions of the teaching-learning environment and teachers’ approaches to teaching: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, a constructivist view of learning has triggered a change in teaching-learning environments (TLEs). Teacher-centred TLEs have been replaced by student-centred ones where the teachers’ approaches to teaching are more learning- than content-focused. Previous research exploring the relationship between student-centred TLEs and the quality of learning has shown contradictory results. Previous studies also indicate that various elements of TLEs may influence students’ learning. This study explored course-level types of elements, enhancing or hindering, related to TLEs, which the course students described. The TLEs of the courses varied because the teachers adopted different types of approaches to teaching. The data for this study were collected through semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students (N = 33) from three compulsory courses. The interviews were designed so that students could describe their perceptions of the course as well as their learning experiences and processes. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that when the teacher employed a consonant learning-focused approach to teaching, the students perceived almost all elements of the TLE as enhancing. When the teacher’s approach to teaching was identified as dissonant, the students perceived several elements of the TLE as hindering. This study revealed that inclusion of student-activating teaching-learning activities is important when designing TLEs, but that it is also crucial to design elements which guide and structure students’ learning.

Abbreviation: TLE: teaching-learning environment     

Design and evaluation of a development portfolio: how to improve students’ self-directed learning skills

In on-demand education, students often experience problems with directing their own learning processes. A Structured Task Evaluation and Planning Portfolio (STEPP) was designed to help students develop 3 basic self-directed learning skills: Assessing the quality of own performance, formulating learning needs, and selecting future learning tasks. A case study with 10 first-year students in the domain of hairdressing was conducted to evaluate STEPP’s use, usability, and perceived effectiveness. Results from student interviews show that usability and use are influenced by several factors. Students with low prior hairdressing skills, a weakly developed personal approach to direct their own learning, and an inclination to update STEPP as part of their weekly routine, use STEPP more frequently than students without these characteristics. Both the supervisor and students who frequently used STEPP perceived its use as a positive contribution to the development of self-directed learning skills. Furthermore, this study provides guidelines for the design of development portfolios in on-demand education.     

Students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom model in an engineering course: a case study

The flipped classroom model is an innovative educational trend that has been widely adopted in the social sciences but not engineering education. In this model, an active instructional approach shifts the educational strategy from a teacher- to a student-centred approach. The purpose of this study is to compare the learning outcomes of engineering students attending a flipped-model section of the Dynamics of Structures course with students attending a traditional, lecture-based section of the same course taught by the same instructor. The results confirm previous research showing that test scores in the flipped course sections were slightly higher than traditional sections. Although the improvement in test scores was statistically insignificant, student statements indicated that the flipped model promoted a deeper, broader perspective on learning, facilitated problem-solving strategies and improved critical-thinking abilities, self-confidence and teamwork skills, which are needed for a successful engineering career.     

‘Shaping the Future’, Black History and diversity: teacher perceptions and implications for curriculum development

ABSTRACT

This study provides an evaluation of history subject leader's perceptions of a project called ‘Shaping the Future’, together with their attitudes towards Black History and diversity. It found that primary subject leaders were less likely to attach importance to these dimensions than their counterparts in secondary schools, whilst only a small minority of subject leaders made use of the project. Nevertheless, the findings provided insights into how some subject leaders used them as threads or within topics in their curriculum. The study argues that this provides a model for developing Black History as a means of understanding the past which is applicable to meeting the needs of all children.     

Student teachers’ perceptions of reading and the teaching of reading: the implications for teacher education

This article reports on research which identified perceptions of reading and the teaching of reading held by trainee teachers and the impact on my provision as a teacher educator. It found that students’ past and present experiences of learning to read and being a reader influenced their perceptions of what reading is and of what it means to teach reading. As a teacher educator, I am not able to give students long experience of seeing children becoming readers, but I am able to give them richer experiences of reading in personally and culturally relevant contexts. This has implications for the nature of subject knowledge required by a student teacher of reading and the curriculum and practice of teacher education.     

A place for arguing in engineering education: a study on students’ assessments

This paper focuses on the issue of how engineering programmes demand and/or promote argumentative reasoning, which is a subsequent aspect of curricular development. This was the main objective of the project on which this paper reports. This is to say that the focus is on assessment as a way to establish to what extent argumentative reasoning is demanded and mobilised in teaching and learning processes. This aim was achieved using a sample of assignments developed in courses in different Bologna undergraduate programmes at the Engineering School at the University of Porto, during the first semester of the academic year 2009/2010. Whereas problem solving in engineering constitutes a structural element in the curricular organisation of the engineering programmes and is strongly related to argumentative skills, it was possible to conclude that students demonstrate and explain extensively, but do not argue, possibly because their teachers do not invite them to do so in assessment situations.     

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.     

Enhancing life skills development: Chinese adolescents’ perceptions

This study explored Chinese adolescents’ perceptions of their own life skills development and the importance they place on such skills. The study also investigated the within‐school and outside‐school influences that may help develop and enhance life skills development. Six focus groups involving 52 high school students were conducted, using a set of predetermined discussion topics. Results revealed students’ awareness of many salient life skills, including those related directly to academic development, ‘learning to learn’, personal and social growth, and future career planning. The students were also able to suggest practical strategies that schools might use to further enhance students’ life skills development. Contextual factors influencing the development of life skills appear to include not only experiences within the school curriculum and the guidance and counseling program, but also talent development opportunities, and family and peer relationships. The implications of the findings are discussed with particular reference to implementing comprehensive school guidance and counseling programs in Hong Kong.     

Rhetorical meta-language to promote the development of students’ writing skills and subject matter understanding

Background: Feedback is one of the most significant factors for students’ development of writing skills. For feedback to be successful, however, students and teachers need a common language – a meta-language – for discussing texts. Not least because in science education such a meta-language might contribute to improve writing training and feedback-giving.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore students’ perception of teachers’ feedback given on their texts in two genres, and to suggest how writing training and feedback-giving could become more efficient.

Sample: In this study were included 44 degree project students in biology and molecular biology, and 21 supervising teachers at a Swedish university.

Design and methods: The study concerned students’ writing about their degree projects in two genres: scientific writing and popular science writing. The data consisted of documented teacher feedback on the students’ popular science texts. It also included students’ and teachers’ answers to questionnaires about writing and feedback. All data were collected during the spring of 2012. Teachers’ feedback, actual and recalled – by students and teachers, respectively – was analysed and compared using the so-called Canons of rhetoric.

Results: While the teachers recalled the given feedback as mainly positive, most students recalled only negative feedback. According to the teachers, suggested improvements concerned firstly the content, and secondly the structure of the text. In contrast, the students mentioned language style first, followed by content.

Conclusions: The disagreement between students and teachers regarding how and what feedback was given on the students texts confirm the need of improved strategies for writing training and feedback-giving in science education. We suggest that the rhetorical meta-language might play a crucial role in overcoming the difficulties observed in this study. We also discuss how training of writing skills may contribute to students’ understanding of their subject matter.     

Cultural differences and students’ spontaneous models of the water cycle: a case study of Jewish and Bedouin children in Israel

The present research aims at pinpointing differences in spontaneous and non-spontaneous mental models of water cycle conceptions of two 4th grade student groups: the Jewish residents of a small provincial town and a group of students from an indigenous Bedouin community. Students’ conceptions were elicited using the Repertory Grid technique as well by being asked to draw “what happens to water in nature?” In later interviews, in addition to answering specially designed open-ended interview questions, the students were also requested to elaborate on their drawings and responses to the Repertory Grid technique. The Bedouin students were found to have richer mental models of water cycle phenomena; their models included more components of the water cycle and were more authentic and connected to other natural phenomena. On the other hand, Bedouin students also employed theological explanations to make sense of water cycle phenomena. These findings, as well as methodological issues relating to spontaneous and non-spontaneous models elicitation are discussed and implications for instruction are offered.     

Toward harmonious East–West educational partnerships: a study of cultural differences between Taiwanese and Norwegian engineering students

The collaboration activities between educational institutions in the East and the West are on the increase as an increasingly globalized economy requires graduates to have the skills to work across cultural divides. Such collaborations are difficult and require patience. One challenge is that students or teachers may have misconceptions about aspects of the other culture that may cause problems. This study sets out to identify what values students in typical Eastern and Western societies associate with a good student, good student behavior, good teachers and good lectures with the purpose to identify discrepancies. This study is based on the results of a pair-wise ranking questionnaire completed by 233 Taiwanese and Norwegian students of both engineering and non-technical subjects. The results confirm some established beliefs regarding culturally related differences. However, several issues were found to be culturally neutral, and cultural differences were identified for several issues that were predicted to be culturally neutral. The results of this study may be useful to educators involved in East–West internationalization.     

Internationalisation and the development of students’ intercultural competence

Universities’ internationalisation rhetoric suggests that students studying on internationally diverse campuses will automatically engage positively with one another and develop intercultural competence. This study examined the extent to which a cohort of first year UK and non-UK students studying on an internationally diverse campus developed intercultural competence. The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) and a locally designed survey were used to assess students’ intercultural competence and to explore their intercultural experiences over seven months. Students began almost exclusively in lower (ethnocentric) stages of intercultural development and most showed little progress despite reporting relatively high levels of intercultural contact, friends from other cultures and positive experiences. Findings suggest that even positive intercultural experiences do not necessarily lead to the development of intercultural competence and that university policy and practice may need to be enhanced if producing graduates with higher levels of intercultural competence is to become a realised outcome of internationalisation.     

Mass communication and journalism faculty’s perceptions of the effectiveness of email communication with college students: a nationwide study

Nearly 700 US journalism and mass communication faculty (all teaching personnel) reported their perceptions of student email use via a web‐based survey. This nationwide study focused on the content of email sent by faculty to students, email’s effectiveness, and email’s effect on student learning. Comparisons were made based on faculty gender, rank, age, and ethnicity. Findings suggest that despite statistical differences, when gender, rank, age, or ethnicity are considered, faculty are not in the habit of sending course materials like syllabi, project instructions, and lecture notes to students personally via email. Moreover, faculty tend to find favor with email communication and its effectiveness as a tool of teaching. The results of this survey coupled with previous research by the authors and other scholars suggest faculty ought to embrace the technology and develop positive ways to incorporate email, as well as other technology, into the educational process.