High Student Ratings Research Articles

Introducing Chinese Hanzi at the beginning of teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL)

Abstract The high dropout rate of students studying Chinese is a concern for educators in teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL). However, very limited studies have been undertaken to investigate the impact of the important part of CFL learning ‘Hanzi’ in the successful teaching and learning of CFL. This paper therefore investigated the rationale and significance of Hanzi’ instruction and the need to integrate Hanzi instruction into teaching of CFL from the very beginning of teaching CFL. Readers will find this paper useful in understanding the importance of Hanzi instruction in teaching CFL, and how to construct a contemporary, international curriculum that can adequately address the fundamental concerns of the teaching and learning of CFL. This paper can be used to initiate a research agenda and inform an initiative thinking for curriculum development, to be used as a signpost to set up a conceptual framework on international curriculum development of CFL.

Is self-compassion negatively associated with alcohol and marijuana-related problems via coping motives?

Alcohol and marijuana misuse is prevalent on many university campuses, with high rates of undergraduate students reporting experiencing alcohol and/or marijuana-related problems, which have been consistently associated with coping-motivated use. While previous studies have found dispositional mindfulness to be negatively associated with coping motives and alcohol-related problems, the present two-part study examines self-compassion, a complementary construct to mindfulness. Study One examines whether dispositional self-compassion is negatively associated with alcohol-related problems via drinking to cope with anxiety and depression, whereas Study Two extends this model by examining whether dispositional self-compassion is negatively associated with marijuana-related problems via coping-motivated marijuana use. Undergraduate students (N = 174 in Study One; N = 165 in Study Two) completed self-report measures assessing their levels of dispositional self-compassion, drinking or marijuana motives, and alcohol or marijuana-related problems. In Study One, mediation analyses showed dispositional self-compassion was negatively associated with alcohol-related problems via drinking to cope with anxiety, but not depression. In Study Two, mediation analyses showed dispositional self-compassion was negatively associated with marijuana-related problems via coping-motivated marijuana use. Future research should investigate whether self-compassion training helps reduce drinking to cope with anxiety, drinking to cope with depression, and/or coping-motivated marijuana use and the associated problems, and how this relationship differs for students who drink to cope with anxiety versus depression.

“Home and Away” A look at Gulf Medical Students’ Influencing Factors, Challenges and Attitudes for Studying Medicine Abroad

Introduction: Higher education is no longer provided solely in the confines of national borders. Now days, the general trend is that students are no more reluctant to cross boundaries and travel to different places for achieving better education. Aim: To explore gulf medical students influencing factors, challenges, and perceptions to study abroad. 
 Methods: Cross sectional prospective study was conducted with self-administered survey which consisted of six sections. The survey was distributed by email to gulf medical students studying in four countries (United Kingdom, Ireland, Kingdom of Bahrain, and Jordan). Data were tubulated on Excel and analysed with SPSS V.22.
 Results: Total responses received that met inclusion criteria were 94 with mean age of 20.89 (68.08% females). 51% of participants were from Kuwait, and 57% of participants were studying in European universities. Broadening personal experience was the main influencing factor to study abroad, and word of mouth from parents and students studying abroad were the main individual influences. Financial issues were the main challenges for studying abroad. Surgical specialities were the desired specialities for future career accounting for 44.7%.
 Conclusion: Understanding the underlying reasons behind a student’s decision to study abroad plays an important part on structuring scholarship and allocating resources. The high rate of students regretting studying abroad and at the same time the high rate of recommendation for other to study abroad indicate that personal satisfaction is a key factor, however, studying abroad does not suit everyone.

Preparing Latinx early childhood educators

ABSTRACT This study explores common themes in recruitment and retention practices of Latinx undergraduate and graduate students that emerged across interviews of faculty in leadership positions at Institutes of Higher Education (IHE). In-depth interviews were conducted of six faculty holding leadership positions in their early childhood education programs (i.e. program chair or ECE coordinator). Faculty were selected after initial identification of the IHE as serving high percentages of Latinx students and achieving high retention rates of Latinx students. Findings include IHEs implementation of key practices faculty believe as effective, including use of culturally sustaining pedagogy and accommodation for specific challenges and barriers that Latinx students may face. These findings add to a growing base of recruitment and retention practices for IHE faculty to consider when improving and developing programs that could attract and retain Latinx students into the early childhood education field.

Exploring the personal and professional factors associated with student evaluations of tenure-track faculty.

Tenure-track faculty members in the United States are evaluated on their performance in both research and teaching. In spite of accusations of bias and invalidity, student evaluations of teaching have dominated teaching evaluation at U.S. universities. However, studies on the topic have tended to be limited to particular institutional and disciplinary contexts. Moreover, in spite of the idealistic assumption that research and teaching are mutually beneficial, few studies have examined the link between research performance and student evaluations of teaching. In this study, we conduct a large scale exploratory analysis of the factors associated with student evaluations of teachers, controlling for heterogeneous institutional and disciplinary contexts. We source public student evaluations of teaching from RateMyProfessor.com and information regarding career and contemporary research performance indicators from the company Academic Analytics. The factors most associated with higher student ratings were the attractiveness of the faculty and the student’s interest in the class; the factors most associated with lower student ratings were course difficulty and whether student comments mentioned an accent or a teaching assistant. Moreover, faculty tended to be rated more highly when they were young, male, White, in the Humanities, and held a rank of full professor. We observed little to no evidence of any relationship, positive or negative, between student evaluations of teaching and research performance. These results shed light on what factors relate to student evaluations of teaching across diverse contexts and contribute to the continuing discussion teaching evaluation and faculty assessment.

Factors that influence transition from high school to higher education: A case of the JuniorTukkie programme

Background: This article reports on the academic and non-academic factors that influence new students’ successful transition from high school to higher education. The study was inspired by the universal concern about the low retention rates among students in higher education in general, and the high annual dropout rate of students from South African institutions in particular. In 2013, the dropout rate stood at 35%.Objective: The objective of the study was to find out which factors. academically as well as non-academic factors influenced the JuniorTukkie group in their successful transition from high school to higher education.Method: My research involved a case study of members of the JuniorTukkie (JT) empowerment initiative (between 2009 and 2013), and both quantitative (online questionnaires) and qualitative (focus group interviews) data was collected.Results: The findings revealed that combinations of academic factors such as personal skills, academic skills, academic support, career counselling intervention, hard work, and perseverance to a large extent account for the successful transition from high school to higher education. Similarly, non-academic factors such as interpersonal relationship skills, positive emotions, religion, and peer acceptance contributed to students’ successful transition. Financial affairs – from a student’s financial status to various sources of financial backing – are other vital determinants in the transitioning endeavour.Conclusion: The study illustrated that the specific challenges associated with new students’ transitional experiences demand the strategic intervention of initiatives (such as JuniorTukkie), which assume responsibility for the implementation of programmes to address all academic and non-academic transitional factors.

Immersion in the Profession: Experience of Career Guidance Work at Medical University

Higher medical education places high demands to the quality of applicants’ knowledge, assumes the awareness of their choice of future profession. As practice shows, often this choice is made by high school students at the level of momentary desires, current hobbies, intuition or under the pressure of social stereotypes, parents, teachers or friends. Not having a full understanding of the specifics and functional content of the chosen profession, they eventually become disillusioned with the chosen profession and lose all interest in it. Modern requirements to the preparation of medical personnel put forward the need to improve the methods of career guidance and close interaction of universities with the population, authorities and health management. The purpose of career guidance at medical university is the formation of good-quality contingent of students for the preparation of qualified medical personnel taking account of the needs of the regions. The University tries to assist youth in professional self-determination, development, social and psychological adaptation, future work. The article summarizes the experience of Kursk State Medical University in career guidance in medical school, offers a model aimed at improving the professional orientation of young people. This model assumes professional immersion at the pre-University, University and postgraduate stages of work. Professional immersion allows to realize multistage professional formation, to estimate risks, to see difficulties and to outline points of application of personal efforts. By means of professional immersion it is possible to attract to medical work the most prepared youth having a medical orientation, steady motivation to future professional activity, possessing the necessary level of professionally important qualities. The effectiveness of the proposed model is confirmed by high rates of students’ satisfaction with the content of education, studying at the University, and future profession.

The potential for multi-site literacy interventions to reduce summer slide among low-performing students

Despite the evidence that summer learning loss or “slide” can have devastating cumulative effects on student performance in school, there are few examples of system-wide interventions that can prevent summer learning loss at scale in urban contexts with high rates of low-performing students. This study reports on the first year of a city-wide effort to reduce summer literacy loss in Detroit, Michigan, through a multi-site collaboration between the city Parks and Recreation Department, the local public school district, and several unique program providers. Results from this pilot study suggest that short-duration, high-intensity tutoring may help to prevent learning loss in literacy among a population with high rates of socio-economic disadvantage and low initial performance, regardless of specific program methodologies. This study has implications for other large cities seeking to prevent summer slide by building on existing municipal and district infrastructure.

Early Childhood Experiences of Black Children in a Diverse Midwestern Suburb

This paper is an extension of a study focused on a small, suburban school district approximately 15 miles outside of Chicago, Illinois, situated in a uniquely diverse community with a host of racial, socioeconomic, linguistic identities. Despite the fact that 95% of its 2016–2017 kindergarten class had some form of preschool experience, gaps were observed in kindergarten readiness between Black and White students, leading to achievement gaps in later years. Consequently, the district has directed its focus on enhancing the levels of equity among its students. The original mixed-methods study explored potential factors of this readiness gap, including the types of services rendered by early education providers and access to high-quality early childhood education in the community. This paper narrows its focus to the experience of Black early learners in this district, particularly as it relates to their preschool experiences and special education rates. Qualitative interviews illuminated the following themes: (1) low levels of readiness and disproportionate special education service identification of Black students; (2) minimal socioeconomic and racial diversity in the community’s private preschools; (3) few opportunities for special education services or financial support at private preschools; (4) high rates of minority students attending home-based childcare instead of formal preschool; and (5) differing approaches to family engagement and curriculum between the private schools and the district center. More research and community engagement is needed to fully explore the population of Black students with special needs and those who are not receiving formal childcare prior to enrolling in school.

Implementation of a medication education training program for student pharmacists employed within an academic medical center.

To describe the implementation of a student pharmacist medication education training program (the REWARDS Method), to determine if training was effective in preparing employed student pharmacists to provide medication education, and to assess medication education completion rates. Hospital readmissions are often attributable to poor transitions of care (TOC), and medication education prior to discharge may improve TOC. To expand upon existing medication education efforts, the Johns Hopkins Hospital Adult Inpatient Pharmacy (AIP) designed and implemented the REWARDS Method, a training program to prepare employed second- and third-year student pharmacists to provide medication education. The REWARDS Method includes 6 distinct steps, which incorporate student self-directed and pharmacist-facilitated learning. Students were trained to provide patient education targeting 4 classes of high-risk medications (anticoagulants, inhalers, insulin, and naloxone) on multiple inpatient units served by the AIP. A total of 43 hours of pharmacist time was needed to complete training for the 10 employed student pharmacists. A survey was used to assess preparedness for completing medication education. Survey responses indicated that participants were sufficiently to exceedingly prepared to perform medication education. The division's completion rate for patients requiring education was 79% in 2017, compared to 86% in 2018 (p = 0.006). The REWARDS Method is an effective training program that successfully incorporated employed student pharmacists into medication education efforts. Our study demonstrated high rates of students successfully completing training and an increase in the rate of patient education completion.

Students’ Perception of the Effect of Cognitive Factors in Determining Success in Computer Programming: A Case Study

The reliance on science and technology by both countries and corporate entities is increasingly evident as the evolving trend of digitization not only pervades every facet of life but also assumes a dominant role. Correspondingly, the significance of producing competent computer science and information technology (IT) graduates becomes highly imperative. Already, in most developed and developing countries, there has been an increasing demand for these competencies such as network engineers, programmers, and other IT-related specialists. Although these competencies are equally valuable, programming skills constitute the core of the strength of every other IT-related competence. Nevertheless, programming is reported in the literature to be one of the most difficult courses to students. Moreover, the level of performance in programming is said to be significantly low with an attendant high rate of students’ dropout. There is a concerted research effort toward addressing the challenge of poor academic performance by attempting to answer the question of what factors affect academic performance in general. However, there is scanty literature on the factors that affect the ability to understand the concept of programming in specific. This paper, therefore, reports a case study investigation of students’ perception of the effect of cognitive factors as the determinant of success in computer programming. The findings showed that performance in introductory programming is impacted by a range of interrelated cognitive factors including self-efficacy and the love for technology.

Poll Everywhere E-Learning Platform, Test Anxiety, and Undergraduates’ Academic Performance in Mathematics: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

The high rate of mathematics education students’ academic performance in universities has become unbearable. In an attempt to proffer solution to this menace, this study assessed Poll Everywhere eLearning platform, test anxiety, and undergraduates’ academic performance in Mathematics in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research one control group and one treatment group. The population of this study comprised all the fulltime regular undergraduates offering Education Mathematics in the Department of Science Education, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria. Accidental sampling technique was adopted in selecting a sample of 328 undergraduates who are owners of smartphones from the population. Test-Anxiety Inventory and Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) were used as data collection instruments. The null hypotheses were tested using independent t-tests and simple linear regression. Findings revealed that Poll Everywhere eLearning platform has a significant effect on students’ test anxiety and academic performance in Mathematics respectively; there is a moderate negative and significant relationship between students’ test anxiety and their academic performance in Mathematics. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that Poll Everywhere eLearning platform could be used for the effective teaching and examination of learners in Mathematics and other science-related disciplines. This can be done through the design and integration of course modules to the Poll Everywhere online platform.

The Predictive Validity of Teachers’ Personality, Cognitive and Academic Abilities at the End of High School on Instructional Quality in Germany: A Longitudinal Study

The present study investigated to what degree teachers’ personality traits, cognitive abilities, and academic abilities (high school GPA), which were assessed at the end of high school as well as grades from the first and second state examinations of teacher education, predict later instructional quality. The study combined ratings of instructional quality from 3,768 German secondary school students and their 113 teachers with up to 10 years between assessment of teachers’ personality traits, cognitive abilities, as well as academic abilities at the end of high school and student ratings of instructional quality. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that agreeableness, high school GPA, and the second state examination grade predicted teachers’ instructional quality.

Teacher vs student responsibility for course outcomes

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is primarily to identify factors that accounted for the differences in course evaluation and course performance in two sections of the same course taught by the same instructor. Potential contributors to these differences included critical thinking, grade point average (GPA) and homework time in the course. Secondarily, the authors also examined whether season of the year and academic status of students (1st year through 3rd year) might have contributed to differences in course ratings and exam performance. The data in the study included some strictly quantitative variables and some qualitative judgments subsequently converted to quantitative measures.Design/methodology/approachThe outcome variables included student objective exam scores and course ratings on the University’s eight-item rating form. Variables that may have contributed to performance and course evaluation differences between the two groups included student effort in the course, GPA and critical thinking.FindingsThe higher-performing section obtained significantly higher scores on course exams than the lower-preforming group and also rated the course significantly higher (average of 4.15 across the evaluation items) than the lower performing section (3.64 average in item ratings). The two performance groups did not differ on critical thinking and GPA, but did differ significantly in hours spent per week outside of class in studying for the course.Originality/valueAlthough many studies have examined the predictive validity of course ratings, instructors are typically held responsible for both high and low student ratings. This particular action study suggests that it may be student effort rather than instructor behavior that has the stronger impact on both student performance and course evaluations.

Modelling an interplay of adoption determinants with respect to social Web applications used in massive online open courses

One of the major problems of using massive online open courses (MOOCs) commonly reported in the literature is the high dropout rate of students. Active participation in creating, sharing and managing content, simultaneous work on the same artefact, synchronous and asynchronous interaction and variety of functionalities that stimulate productivity in performing assignments are some of the benefits of employing social Web applications in MOOCs that have the potential to boost students’ motivation, thus addressing the aforementioned issue. Successful implementation of social Web applications in MOOCs is largely influenced by their acceptance by students. The aim of this paper is to examine the psychometric characteristics of the research framework which reflects the interplay of adoption determinants with respect to two representatives of social Web applications meant for collaborative work. An empirical study was conducted in which students of one Croatian higher education institution served as representative sample of users. Data were collected by means of the post-use questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the proposed research framework and associated hypotheses were examined by means of the partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are presented and discussed.

Utilization of Instruction Materials as Tools for Effective Academic Performance of Students: Implications for Counselling

The study investigated the utilization of instructional materials as tools for effective academic performance of students. Survey research method was used and the study sampled the total number of 100 respondents in five selected secondary schools. A questionnaire constructed by the researcher and re-structured by two experts was used for data collection. The reliability was confirmed with the use of split-half method with 0.63 alpha level of significance got. The questionnaire was stered to the respondents with the assistance of the school heads. The findings revealed inadequate use of instructional materials in most schools and majority of the teachers did not take cognisance of the importance derived from the use of instructional materials while teaching. Those that adopted the utilisation, did not use them appropriately. No wonder the high rate of students’ failure in external examinations. Based on the findings, the professional counsellors in the state should sensitize all heads of schools and teachers through seminars and workshops on the importance and good utilisation of instructional materials. Among other recommendations, the government should endeavour to release enough funds.

The Investigation of Student Dropout Prediction Model in Thai Higher Education Using Educational Data Mining: A Case Study of Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla Uni-versity

The student’s retention rate is one of the challenging issues that representing the quality of the university. A high dropout rate of students affects not only the reputation of the university but also the students’ career in the future. Therefore, there is a need of student dropout analysis in order to improve the academic plan and management to reduce students drop out from the university as well as to enhance the quality of the higher education system. Data mining technique provides powerful methods for analysis and the prediction the dropout. This paper proposes a model for predicting students’ dropout using the dataset from the representative of the largest public university in the Southen part of Thailand. In this study, data from Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University was collected from academic year of 2013 to 2017. The experiment result shows that JRip rule induction is the best technique to generate a prediction model receiving the highest accuracy value of 77.30%. The results highlight the potential prediction model that can be used to detect the early state of dropping out of the student which the university can provide supporting program to improve the student retention rate

Immersive Versus Nonimmersive Approaches to TESOL: A Classroom‐Based Intervention Study

The critical importance of second language (L2) input, output, and interaction in TESOL notwithstanding, the decision between immersive (L2‐English only) versus nonimmersive approaches is considered “the most fundamental question facing second language acquisition (SLA) researchers, language teachers, and policymakers” (Macaro, 2014, p. 10). This intervention‐based study asked which approach—immersive versus nonimmersive—facilitates acquisition of English as a second language. A longitudinal 15‐week study in a U.S. university context contrasted an immersive control condition with a nonimmersive treatment condition at two levels of proficiency (low‐intermediate B1 and high‐intermediate B2/C1). Examination of student learning outcomes revealed no significant differences between the treatment and control groups in overall course grades, seven measures of paragraph‐level writing and three evenly spaced exams in the low‐intermediate class, and five measures of genre‐based writing and two presentational speaking assignments in the high‐intermediate class. Analyses of standardized course evaluations revealed an association between higher student ratings and participation in the treatment groups, specifically regarding the extent to which the researcher‐practitioner facilitated discussion. In a reflective journal, the researcher‐practitioner noted general fidelity to condition, no qualitative differences in the quality of student performance, and possible differences in the speed of assignment completion and willingness to use the first language.

How Medical Students’ Compassionate Values Influence Help-Seeking Barriers

Theory: Despite high rates of psychiatric illnesses, medical students and medical professionals often avoid psychological help. Stigma may prevent medical students from seeking psychological help when experiencing distress, which may hinder their job performance and mental health. Compassionate values—preferred principles that guide attitudes and behaviors to focus on the wellness of others—may be a relevant predictor of medical students’ perceptions of psychological help. The present study examined the association between medical students’ compassionate values, help-seeking stigma, and help-seeking attitudes in a convenience sample of medical students. Hypotheses: Rating compassionate values as more important than self-interested values will be associated with less stigma, which in turn will be associated with more positive help-seeking attitudes. Method: There were 220 medical students in their 2nd year of medical training who were recruited in-class and through e-mail between January and March of 2017 at Des Moines University. Students were provided an anonymous online link to a survey composed of validated measures assessing values, psychological distress, and stigma and attitudes related to psychological help. Results: The survey response rate was 41%, leaving a final sample of 91. For every 1 SD increase in the relative importance of compassionate values over self-interested values, help-seeking stigma decreased 0.40 SDs, and help-seeking attitudes increased 0.23 SDs. Conclusions: Prioritizing compassionate values more strongly than self-interested values is associated with medical students’ perceiving psychological help-seeking more positively.

Implementing backward design to improve students’ academic performance in EFL classes

This study is based on implementing backward design to improve students’ academic assessment, so public high school students can take part of meaningful contexts where they show what they learned at the end of a class term. Taking in consideration, backward design is a great tool to be applied for public high schools where most of the classes are textbooks centered, provoking students’ frustration due to the lack of English knowledge from schools. There is a high rate of students failing courses because students are placed in English levels where they do not belong to or they come from other institutions where they did not learn English. Backward design lets teachers be creative and use skills and methodologies according to students’ needs and be very reflexive in the way of designing it. In this study, pairedT_Test is applied to compare scores from the same level, but using different ways of testing. In conclusion, the experimental group (G2), in which backward design was applied, got better results than the controlled group (G1), who did not apply it. In this case the independent variable which mean and scores are high. Results show backward design is very meaningful not only for students, but also for teachers. It is true that running appropriate action plans, selecting the best resources and conducting a final assessment through a performance task, gave the opportunity for students to gain more confidence on the language and apply it in a real context.