Academic Self-perception Research Articles

Exploring the perceptions of the educational environment in online acupuncture learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students have had to adapt to a "new normal" of online education at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. This poses a considerable challenge to the conduct of online acupuncture courses. Here, we provide our experience and guidance for conducting an online experimental acupuncture course during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to compare the different perceptions of undergraduates to the educational environment between online and face-to-face learning approaches. This study included senior undergraduates majoring in acupuncture during the academic years 2015 (face-to-face) and 2020 (online only) for the Experimental Acupuncture course. A survey was conducted at the end of this course. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was used to assess students' perceptions. The results of students' responses to online learning were compared with those assessed for face-to-face learning. In total, 56/70 (80%) students in 2015 and 49/54 (91%) students in 2020 completed the questionnaire, respectively. Total DREEM scores were higher in the online learning group than in the face-to-face learning group (160.3 ± 21.9 vs 147.6 ± 17.9, p = 0.007), with improved students' perceptions on four out of five dimensions (social self-perception, learning, atmosphere and academic self-perception). The positive aspects of their online learning experience included the acquisition of new knowledge and skills. The significant limitations of this course included the lack of practical classes. Students' perceptions regarding the Experimental Acupuncture program were satisfactory for both online and face-to-face learning approaches, but even better with online learning. Online learning may be encouraged in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) education. However, a combination of face-to-face and online methods is likely to be required to maximize the benefits. We hope that our online Experimental Acupuncture program practices may assist in the development of online curricula for acupuncture during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pre-medical students\u2019 perceptions of educational environment and their subjective happiness: a comparative study before and after the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic necessarily changed pre-medical students’ educational environment into an online format—and students’ subjective happiness (SH) is highly impacted by their educational environment. This study investigates changes in pre-medical students’ perceptions of their educational environment and their SH before and after the pandemic, as well as explores the predictors related to their SH.MethodsThe Korean version of the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire and single-item measures of SH and professional identity (PI) were used. The t-test was employed to analyze the differences of the SH, PI, and DREEM subscales scores before and after the onset of COVID-19. Cohen’s d was used as effect size and correlations between SH and different subscales of DREEM were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation. The multiple regression analysis was performed to reveal associations between predictors and SH.ResultsA total of 399 pre-medical students completed the survey both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The DREEM scores and all subscales scores significantly increased but each presents a different effect size. Students’ Perceptions of Learning (SPL: Cohen’s d = 0.97), Students’ Perceptions of Teaching (SPT: Cohen’s d = 1.13), and Students’ Perceptions of Atmosphere (SPA: Cohen’s d = 0.89) have large effect sizes. Students’ Academic Self-Perceptions (SASP: Cohen’s d = 0.66) have a medium effect size and Students’ Social Self-Perceptions (SSSP: Cohen’s d = 0.40) have a small effect size. In contrast, no significant change was noted in the SH and PI. Both PI and SSSP impacted SH before COVID-19, but after the pandemic, SH was impacted by SPL, SPA, and SSSP.ConclusionsStudents’ overall perception of their educational environment was more positive after the onset of COVID-19, but their social self-perceptions improved the least. Additionally, SSSP is the only predictor of SH both before and after the pandemic. The findings of this study suggest that educational institutions must pay attention to students’ social relationships when trying to improve their educational environment. Furthermore, so as to increase students’ SH, development of both educational environment and PI is essential.

AME+Cyber: Evaluating the online delivery of a holistic cyber-related talent development program

The present study used an explanatory mixed-method design to examine the effects of the Achievement Motivation Enhancement (AME)+Cyber enrichment program and teachers’ perception of procedures and outcomes in the context of emergency remote teaching, including online and hybrid formats, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three teachers implemented the program with 57 students in grades 9 through 12. To evaluate the program, we combined change score analysis of pretest and posttest data on academic self-perception, self-regulation, goal valuation, cyber-related interest, as well as descriptive interpretative analysis of interview data. We found the online learning format was more effective than the hybrid format for the affective and cognitive outcomes. Qualitative findings suggested pedagogical concerns and struggle with online learning due to emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, centered around a lack of student engagement and interaction that appropriate levels of training and practice could remedy. Implications and future research suggestions are discussed.

Educational Aspirations and Expectations of Adolescents in Rural China: Determinants, Mental Health, and Academic Outcomes.

Educational aspirations and expectations of adolescents have implications for educational and psychological outcomes. This study aimed to determine factors associated with educational aspiration–expectation discrepancies and to examine the associations between the discrepancies and psychological and academic outcomes in rural left-behind children and non-left-behind children aged 14–16 in mainland China. Cross-sectional data from a self-report survey were collected in 2020 among 606 rural students (mean age = 14.85 years) in two public middle schools in Songzi county, Hubei Province. Participants filled in questionnaires measuring their socio-demographic information, educational aspirations and expectations, academic performance, parental and friends’ aspirations, academic self-perception, academic self-regulation, depression, and self-esteem. Results showed that more than half of the participants reported that they felt they were not likely to attain the level of education to which they aspired. Parental migration, academic performance, mother’s educational aspirations for children, and close friends’ educational aspirations were the main factors associated with students’ educational aspiration–expectation discrepancies. Both left-behind children and non-left-behind children whose aspirations exceed expectations were more likely to report lower self-esteem, higher depression, lower academic self-perception, and poorer self-regulation than those without a discrepancy. These findings have implications for families, schools, and policymakers through informing the development of interventions that target positive development in rural youth.

The Expected vs Actual perception of students entering clinical environment: A pilot study

Students’ perceptions regarding the learning environment can be used in improving the quality of the learning environment. This study aims to evaluate the differences between expected and actual learning environment perceptions of students after going through a clinical rotation. This pilot study is an observational descriptive study that was conducted in the Medical Faculty of Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia on students that have completed pre-clinical education and have entered clinical rotation in January – March 2020. This study used the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire. The data was collected from 59 students and was analyzed using SPSS 23.0. The total actual DREEM score was better than the total expected DREEM score. In the Students’ Academic Self-Perceptions (SASP) domain, there was a decrease in the actual DREEM score. Meanwhile, there was an increase in the Students’ Percepstions of Teachers (SPT) domain which was statistically significant. The actual DREEM score in the Students’ Perceptions of Learning (SPL) domain also showed better results in males than females (P < 0.05). Quality improvement and continuous innovation are very important in medical education.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Undergraduate Psychiatry Teaching, Educational Environment, and Learning Processes.

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in the way undergraduate medical education is conducted including psychiatry teaching. In view of sparse data on how the perception of the undergraduate educational environment (EE) is affected by the pandemic, we sought to compare the ratings of EE and learning processes (motivation, engagement, equipping, appreciation of psychiatry) between the 2020 (during pandemic) and 2019 (before pandemic) cohorts of students, and examined how the perception of the EE would influence overall experience within the psychiatry rotation.Patients and MethodsThe DREEM (Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure) was administered to fourth-year medical undergraduate students undergoing a psychiatry rotation in 2020 during the pandemic and these ratings were compared with those of the preceding cohort in 2019. Students also completed five additional items evaluating various learning processes and overall rating of the posting. Relationships between the DREEM scores, learning processes, and overall effectiveness of rotation were assessed using correlation and mediational analyses.ResultsAltogether, 84 (response rate 93.3%) and 269 (response rate 89.7%) medical undergraduates participated in the study from 2020 and 2019 cohorts, respectively. The 2020 cohort had higher scores on the total DREEM (p = 0.032), academic self-perception DREEM subscale (p = 0.002), felt more engaged (p = 0.043) and better equipped (p = 0.003) compared with the 2019 cohort. Overall, DREEM and subdomain scores correlated significantly with specific learning processes. The direct effect of total DREEM and overall rating of psychiatry posting was significant in mediational analyses.ConclusionOur results highlighted that students’ perception of the EE remained positive during the pandemic and impacts overall experience of the psychiatry posting. Undergraduate psychiatry training should continually seek to enhance the EE so as to optimize learning through better engagement and equipping of the learners even during the pandemic.

Comparison of educational environments in different sized rural hospitals during a longitudinal integrated clerkship in Thailand.

The longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC) curriculum model focuses on patient-centered care and continuity of clinical and cultural learning between medical students, patients, clinicians, and a system of care. In rural settings, participating medical students are expected to have an interest in rural medicine and an involvement in the community. Many schools in the USA, Canada, and Australia have implemented LICs in undergraduate programs in different ways. However, a few published reports in Asia are available. This is the first report of a modified rural LIC in Thailand. The objective was to assess the educational environment of a rural LIC using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire and to compare students' response on the basis of year of study and different sizes of hospitals. A cross-sectional study was conducted. The study population comprised 75 clinical-year students in 2020. The modified LIC was implemented as part of integrated multidisciplinary rural clerkships for fourth-year students, and for fifth-year students undertaking clinical placements. Clinical clerkships in rural settings took place over 12 weeks for fourth-year students and over 14 weeks for fifth-year students. Practical exposure included the clinical areas of internal medicine, psychiatry, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, and family medicine, in outpatient and inpatient settings. The DREEM questionnaire was used to evaluate students' perceptions of learning climate. Data analysis was performed to determine the different size of hospitals and other factors associated with a favorable educational environment. The response rate to the questionnaire was 96%. The overall DREEM score average was 137.7/200. Students' perceptions of learning and of teaching had mean scores of 30.1/48 and 35.7/44, respectively. Students' academic self-perceptions scored 18.7/32. Students' perceptions of atmosphere scored 30.4 of 48, and social self-perceptions scored 18.3/28. The academic subscale had the lowest percentage of scores regarded as confidence in knowledge gain. The factors associated with positive educational environment were staff as principal preceptors and large hospitals. LIC implementation in a community health system is a model for expanding clinical clerkships. Good infrastructure of the host hospital and enthusiastic preceptors are the key success factors. Staff supervision is essential to encourage student learning, especially in academic environments. Large hospitals have better infrastructure to support learning processes than small hospitals.

Evaluation of learning environment among Nursing undergraduates in state universities, Sri Lanka

BackgroundThe learning environment is a vital part of the undergraduate curriculum which enable to delivery of quality education in the stipulated time. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the learning environment among BSc. Nursing undergraduates in Sri Lankan state universities.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 161 final year BSc. Nursing undergraduates in six state universities. Socio-demographic characteristics were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was used to evaluate the learning environment in Perception of learning (SPL), Perceptions of teaching (SPT), Academic self-perceptions (SASP), Perceptions of the atmosphere (SPA), and Social self-perceptions (SSP). Based on the SPL, SPT, SASP, SPA, and SSP domains, the overall score of learning environment was ranged from 0 to 200 and then the overall score was classified into four categories such as poor (0–50), many problems (51–100), more positive than negative (101–150) and excellent (151–200). One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and t-test were used to determine the difference in the subscales and the overall scale.ResultsThe mean age of the students was 24.9 ± 0.9 years. The overall score of the learning environment was 127.1 ± 14.3. Student’s Perception of learning showed the highest mean score of 31.1 ± 3.9 while the social self-perception showed the lowest score (mean 16.4 ± 3.1). A significant group effect was observed in SPL and SPT subdomains among state universities while no significant group effect was observed in other subdomains. Furthermore, participating in extracurricular activities, travelling time to the faculty, and gender were observed as associated factors for the learning environment among BSc. Nursing undergraduates in state universities.ConclusionsAlthough the overall learning environment of BSc. Nursing undergraduates in state universities in Sri Lanka was within more positive than negative category, none of the university reaches to the excellent category. Therefore, each university should have improved their subdomains of learning environment to reach excellent category through addressing the gaps of curricular and extracurricular activities in the future.

Medical Students’ Perception of the Educational Environment at College of Medicine: A Prospective Study with a Review of Literature

Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) inventory has been exhaustively used to evaluate the education environment (EE), especially in the health sector to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the program. This study was designed to investigate the medical students’ perceptions about the education environment (EE) of the College of Medicine (COM), Jeddah. This cross-sectional study was carried out on medical students and conducted between May and August 2020. A predesigned DREEM questionnaire written in English containing five subdomains was adopted to achieve the purpose of the study. A total of 220 students responded to the dispensed survey with a mean age of 21.97 (SD = 1.28). Male and female students represented 64.5% and 35.5% of the respondents, respectively, while most of them were in the fourth year of medical college (109, 49.5%), and the majority belonged to phase II (basic sciences) of the college (144, 65.4%). The overall total DREEM score for EE was 129.64 (SD = 31.81; 64.82%), and all the five subdomains of DREEM scored above 60% with the highest score by students’ academic self-perception (SASP) (21.22; 66.31%) and the lowest by students’ perception of learning (SPL) (30.16; 62.83%). Also, SASP2 was the highest scoring item with a mean of 3.13 (SD = 0.96), while SPA8 was the lowest with a mean score of 1.99 (SD = 1.38). We also compared our study with the available literature for contextual interpretations. The students’ assessment for EE of the medical program was positive; however, we identified a need for an improvement plan for six-weak scoring areas and one of the weak domains of DREEM i.e., students’ perception of teaching (SPT).

English

BACKGROUND A warm, optimally supportive, challenging, and competitive environment is widely regarded as an essential pre-requisite for best possible learning. Students’ satisfaction on educational environment influences their learning approach and outcome. The Dundee ready educational environment measure (DREEM) is a globally accepted valid tool to assess educational environment during undergraduate medical education, in which students are scored for 50 items with a total global score of 200. This study was undertaken, as there had been paucity of relevant data from north-east India, with the aim of assessing students’ perception of their educational environment in paraclinical training during second professional MBBS course. METHODS This was a cross-sectional survey-based study conducted during the months of September and October, 2017 involving 168 second professional MBBS-students of third and fifth semesters of Government Medical College of north-east India. DREEM questionnaire was used to assess the educational environment, as perceived by the students, during paraclinical training. RESULTS This study showed that the mean global score involving all the domains was 119.58 ± 46.95, suggesting a ‘more positive than negative’ educational environment prevailing in the institute during paraclinical training. The individual domain scores for their - perception of learning was 29.90 ± 5.32, perception of teachers was 27.68 ± 4.13, academic self-perception was 18.96 ± 3.78, perception of atmosphere was 26.93 ± 6.40 and social self-perception was 16.11 ± 3.34, suggesting that the training was moving in right direction across all the domains of educational environment, though was not optimally perfect. CONCLUSIONS The present study revealed a suboptimal perception of undergraduate medical students in all the domains of educational environment in paraclinical phase. The overall educational environment during paraclinical teaching moving in a satisfactory direction though was not excellent. Social perspectives of the educational environment need to be further improved. KEYWORDS Educational Environment, DREEM Inventory, Paraclinical Training, Students’ Perception, Global Score

Perception of the Online Learning Environment of Nursing Students in Slovenia: Validation of the DREEM Questionnaire.

At the time of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, several measures were in place to limit the spread of the virus, such as lockdown and restriction of social contacts. Many colleges thus had to shift their education from personal to online form overnight. The educational environment itself has a significant influence on students’ learning outcomes, knowledge, and satisfaction. This study aims to validate the tool for assessing the educational environment in the Slovenian nursing student population. To assess the educational environment, we used the DREEM tool distributed among nursing students using an online platform. First, we translated the survey questionnaire from English into Slovenian using the reverse translation technique. We also validated the DREEM survey questionnaire. We performed psychometric testing and content validation. I-CVI and S-CVI are at an acceptable level. A high degree of internal consistency was present, as Cronbach’s alpha was 0.951. The questionnaire was completed by 174 participants, of whom 30 were men and 143 were women. One person did not define gender. The mean age of students was 21.1 years (SD = 3.96). The mean DREEM score was 122.2. The mean grade of student perception of learning was 58.54%, student perception of teachers was 65.68%, student academic self-perception was 61.88%, student perception of the atmosphere was 60.63%, and social self-perception of students was 58.93%. Although coronavirus has affected the educational process, students still perceive the educational environment as positive. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement in all assessed areas.

Attitude of undergraduate medical students towards teaching learning process during their course in a teaching hospital of South Kerala

Background: Student’s perception of the learning environment where they study has shown significant impact on their behavior level and academic level. The aim of the study was to find out the student’s perception of their learning environment in an Indian medical school of South Kerala and to study differences in perceptions between years of study, gender.Methods: In this study we used the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) inventory which was administered to undergraduate medical students of first (N=100), second (N=92), third (N=62) and fourth years (N=75) of Travancore Medical College, Kollam. Scores obtained were expressed as mean±standard deviation (SD) and analyzed using one-way ANOVA and post hoc test was used.Results: A total of 400 students were studying in our medical college. Among them 330 students became participants of the study. Males comprised of 116 (35.2%) and females 214 (64.8%). Students less than 21 years was 200 (60.6%) and above 21 years 130 (39.4%). Final year MBBS students scored well when compared with the first years and second years. Post hoc analysis also showed same results. Significant relation between Student’s Perception of Learning, SPoT (value=0.001); Student’s Academic Self-Perception, SPoA (p value=0.022), SPoA (p value=0.010); and SSSP (p value=0.016) between batches has been observed. There was significant difference between males and females in the perception of atmosphere and was found to be statically significant.Conclusions: In this study the student’s perceptions of educational environment showed that the student’s enthusiasm improved as they move across years and was statically found to be significant. In the sub category student’s perception on atmosphere there was significant difference between males and females and it was statically found to be significant (p value less than 0.05).

Adolescent sleep quality: An exploratory study of sleep complaints and impacts for boarding students from regional and remote communities in Years 7 to 12

This exploratory study investigates aspects of sleep quality and some of the potential impacts that sleep complaints for 168 male boarding students from regional and remote communities in Years 7 to 12. An online self-report questionnaire was used to examine the relationship between sleep quality and participants sense of academic self-perception, motivation and regulation, resilience, as well as indicators of non-specific psychological distress, life satisfaction, behavioural and emotional wellbeing. Results found general parity between participants overall scores for sleep quality and norms on the sleep/wake problems scale. However, it emerged that over the previous seven days only a small proportion of participants were satisfied with their sleep every night, with the majority reporting feeling tired or sleepy during the day. This and other findings are discussed in relation to current national sleep recommendations for adolescents, as well as with consideration to the promotion of healthy adolescent development and optimal academic performance, behavioural and cognitive functioning, and emotional regulation. Implications for boarding school routines are discussed with an emphasis on time allocated to sleep, and actual time spent asleep, by adolescent boarders. Strengths and limitations of this study are presented.

A Bioecological Systems View of School Experiences of High-Ability Students From Rural India

Using Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory, this study investigated the school experiences of nine high-ability students from three secondary schools in rural Western India. Analyses of semistructured interviews revealed several interconnected systems of influences on the school experiences of participants. Intrapersonal aspects such as positive academic self-perceptions, constant pursuit for academic excellence, and mixed feelings about being formally identified as gifted directly affected school experiences. In the participants’ immediate environment, school aspects such as teacher–student relationships, teaching methods, and curricular content had the most prominent influence on their school experiences. Interactions between family and the school systems had direct and mixed influences on participants’ school experiences. Besides the adversities of rural education, participants emphasized the unique strengths of rural settings in India including the role of extended families, strong rural attachment, and positive relationships with school, teachers, and community that positively contributed to their school experiences. Implications for rural gifted education in India are discussed.

The Downstream Effects of Teacher Well-Being Programs: Improvements in Teachers' Stress, Cognition and Well-Being Benefit Their Students.

Quality interventions addressing the important issue of teacher stress and burnout have shown promising outcomes for participating teachers in terms of decreased distress, improved well-being and increased commitment to their jobs. Less is known however about whether such interventions also benefit students. The present study investigated the downstream effects for a completer sample of 226 primary and high school students after their teachers (n = 17) completed one of two 8-week stress reduction interventions. The relationships between change in teacher self-reported distress and burnout after completing the interventions, and change in students' self-reported well-being, academic self-perceptions, and perceptions of classroom environment were explored. A secondary aim of this study was to assess whether changes in teachers' cognitive flexibility mediated the relationship between teacher and student self-report outcomes. Results of correlational and multi-level mediation analyses showed that changes to teachers' self-reported distress and burnout affected multiple facets of students' well-being and the academic environment. Specifically, reductions in teachers' self-reported distress and burnout were related to students' improved perceptions of their teachers' support in the classroom. Reductions in teachers' personal and work-related burnout correlated with greater increases of academic self-perception in students. Contrary to predictions, cognitive flexibility in teachers did not mediate the relationship between these student and teacher measures. These findings indicate important downstream benefits for students and highlight the broader value of stress-reduction and well-being programs for teachers.

Educational Environment in Public and Private Medical Colleges of Peshawar: Undergraduate Medical Students’ Perception

Objective: The objective of our study was to explore student’s perception of the educational environment in their respective medical colleges
 Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at two medical colleges (one public sector and one private-sector medical college), both affiliated with Khyber Medical University, Peshawar from January 2020 to March 2020. DREEM was used to measure the educational environment of both public sector and private sector medical colleges.
 Results: The overall mean score with standard deviation was 113± 22 SD for private medical college and 109 ± 25 SD for public sector medical college, which means more positive than negative perception. Private sector college overall score was better than public sector college but with no significant difference. Private sector medical college score was better in all DREEM subscales except Students’ Academic Self-Perception in which public college scored 18± 5 and private college scored 16± 5.
 Conclusion: There is a significant margin for improvement for all domains of the educational environment in both public and private sector medical colleges, especially the low scores in the domain of Students’ Social Self Perceptions need attention.

Impact and perception about distant online medical education (tele-education) on the educational environment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of medical undergraduate students from India.

Introduction:The impact of online medical education using videoconferencing platforms on the education environment during the present COVID-19 pandemic is not known. The objectives were to evaluate the impact of online teaching using videoconferencing platforms on the education environment, satisfaction, and perception of the medical undergraduate students to online teaching.Methods:This prospective observational survey undertaken at a medical college included voluntarily participating medical undergraduate students from first (2nd semester), second (4th semester), and third year MBBS (6th and 8th semesters). The education environment was evaluated using the validated Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). The perception of the students was evaluated using questionnaire with five point Likert scale response.Results:The response rate in our survey was 77.5% (465 out of 600 students). The mean DREEM score of medical undergraduate students was 132.3 ± 19.8. Domains of DREEM evaluated were students’ perception of learning (30.1 ± 6.3), students’ perception of teachers (29.7 ± 4.6), students’ academic self-perception (21.3 ± 4.9), students’ perception of atmosphere (32.5 ± 6.2), and students’ social self-perception (18.7 ± 3.5). Two hundred and fifty five students (54.8%) were extremely satisfied and quite satisfied with the online teaching–learning modalities. Two hundred and fifty eight students (55.5%) rated online learning methods to be very useful and quite useful during the lockdown period.Conclusion:The educational environment at our medical college was positive and students had a positive perception and attitude toward the role of the videoconferencing platforms for learning (telemedicine) during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Academic attitude and subjective norms effects on international doctoral students’ academic performance self-perceptions: A moderated-mediation analysis of the influences of knowledge- seeking intentions and supervisor support

This study aimed to examine the relationship between international students’ academic attitude and subjective norms on the one hand, and academic self-perception on the other hand in the context of student’s perception of their knowledge- seeking intention and supervisor support. We gathered survey data from 415 international doctoral students from six top-tier universities in China (male = 61.4%; female= 38.6%; age range = 26 to 46 and above). The students were from the following regions: Asia 45.5%, Africa 40%, Europe 9.4 %, and America 5.1%. These students’ majors were engineering and technology (39.8 %), business, management, and economics (33.7%), and social sciences (26.5 %). Moderated-mediated analysis indicated higher knowledge-seeking intention to mediate the relationship between students’ academic attitude and subjective norms, and their academic performance self-perceptions. Higher self-rated supervisor support scores moderated the influences of academic attitude and subjective norms on the students’ academic performance self-perceptions. Student development and support programs should seek to support international students’ knowledge- seeking behaviours and supervisor access, enhancing their success with doctoral studies.

Perceived stress and learning environment among nursing students: A cross-sectional study

<h2>ABSTRACT</h2><h3>Background</h3> A negative learning environment is associated with the development of stress among nursing students. <h3>Aim</h3> To examine stress and learning environment among nursing students. <h3>Methods</h3> A convenience sample of 340 nursing students from a School of Nursing, Sri Lanka, participated. A sociodemographic questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale 10 (PSS-10) and Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) were used. In data analysis, descriptive statistics, Spearman's correlation test, Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis H test were used. <h3>Findings</h3> The majority were female students (91.5%). The mean scores of PSS-10 and the DREEM were 20.09 ± 5.33 and 133.04 ± 12.97, respectively. The majority were moderately stressed (78.50%) and rated the learning environment as "more positive than negative" (92.4%). The students held the highest and the lowest positive perceptions towards the domain of "academic self-perception" (Mean 22.44 ± 2.93; 70.13% of maximum score) and "atmosphere" (Mean 29.80 ± 4.85; 62.08% of maximum score), respectively. There was a significant association between stress and learning environment (r = −0.111, p < 0.05). Reason for selecting nursing as a career choice showed to influence the perception of stress (H = 23.278, p=<0.001) and learning environment (H = 9.304, p = 0.026). Gender (U = 3214.50, p = 0.010) and academic year (H = 57.312, p = <0.001) influenced the perception towards learning environment. <h3>Discussion</h3> Although we identified a positive perception towards learning environment among nursing students, the learning environment was associated with the development of stress. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Perceived stress is a significant issue among nursing students. Therefore, stress reduction programmes are recommended. The students held a positive perception towards their learning environment, notably for academic self-perception. Reason for selecting nursing as a career choice is an important factor which influences the level of stress and perception towards learning environment among nursing students.

Academic self perceptions in a national Danish sample: Predictive power and development from grade 4 to 9

Research on students’ understandings of their academic performance often faces limits with respect to sample diversity, statistical power, breadth of participant information, and ability to continuously track the development of participants. Government registry data do not face such limitations. We validate a brief measure of academic self-perceptions contained within the Danish Well-Being Survey, a self-report measure administered annually to all Danish public-school students (grades 4 through 9) and linked with rich registry data regarding these students, their families, schools, and communities. We then perform exceptionally well-powered analyses of the influence of academic self-perceptions on the pursuit of further academically-intensive education (N = 35,227) and of the development of academic self-perceptions during late childhood and adolescence (N = 284,024).