Perceptions Of School Students Research Articles

Enhancing English Oral Skills among Malaysian Rural School Students through the Implementation of Virtual Reality (VR)

This research aims to determine the perception of rural secondary school students on the implementation of virtual reality (VR) as an alternative to the traditional classroom setting, more specifically in the setting of an oral skill lesson. In addition, the perception of the students includes the general perception, motivation levels, interest as well as the skill development of the students when subjected to a VR classroom and their effects on the mentioned aspects. A total of 39 respondents from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Desa Kencana were involved in this research. This study employed a multi-method research design. Based on the results, it is found that the perception of the respondents was generally quite positive and a majority preferred a VR environment compared to a traditional setting in the context of learning speaking skills. Respondents have stated that the interactivity and new experience presented with the VR environment brings new light to their motivation and interest and they showed a keen interest in learning English compared to traditional settings. However, there are several subjects who view the implementation in a negative light, as would be portrayed in the data findings. In conclusion, both research objectives were answered, and several implications were discovered. Several suggestions are recommended in order to further this topic at the end of the research. In conclusion, this research believes that the implementation of VR would be able to increase the motivation, interest and skill development of ESL learners, specifically in speaking skills and therefore investigate whether VR classrooms appear as a better alternative to our current learning environment.

The Way to Develop a Project Mindset according to Secondary School Students

The 21st century has brought many changes to our lives. The pandemic and the major changes that followed have affected our daily lives. Many competences have come to the fore that were previously secondary in the world of work. These competences include project thinking and thinking in terms of projects. Project thinking is not a stand-alone concept, but a complex set of competences that encompasses a number of other competences. It includes teamwork, communication, time management, insight, flexibility or even agility and time management. A project approach is nowadays not only needed in the world of work, but many school tasks can be defined as projects, leading students to succeed in real life. The aim of this study is to present the project approach and its different dimensions, based on the perceptions of secondary school students and the results of a questionnaire survey. The paper aims to shed light on the different aspects of the project approach, highlighting the areas and directions that need improvement and which could be the key to the future.

Mobile assisted language learning: investigating English speaking performance and satisfaction

With their growing popularity, mobile technologies can be seen as having the capacity to enhance language learning by offering learners a flexible and dynamic learning environment that is not limited by time or location. While the integration of technology in foreign language education has demonstrated overall success, including enhanced language learning outcomes through mobile technologies, it is important to acknowledge that there is also research highlighting potential drawbacks. Therefore, conducting further studies in this area remains crucial for a comprehensive understanding. This is more significant when speaking is considered as a skill of paramount importance compared to others and student satisfaction which can lead to overall success of the course. Therefore, the primary goal of this descriptive study is to investigate the potential advantages and consequences of integrating mobile technologies into blended learning language classes. Within this framework, the study focuses on examining the utilization of a recognized Web 2.0 tool, specifically Voki, to assess its effects on the English speaking proficiency and satisfaction perceptions of preparatory school students in blended learning settings. The results of the study reveal that the implementation of Voki leads to a significant enhancement in students' speaking skills, accompanied by a noticeable increase in their satisfaction levels. These findings suggest that intentional integration of mobile technologies into language education, particularly through the utilization of a Web 2.0 tool like Voki with its multimedia capabilities, holds the potential to serve as a valuable educational asset.

High School Students’ and Parents’ Perceptions of the Nature of Science

Today, only people, who truly understand what scientific knowledge is and how it is obtained, are considered scientifically literate. This understanding expected in today’s scientific areas is called the nature of science (NOS). This study aimed to determine the perceptions of high school students and their parents regarding NOS. In addition, the changes in high school students’ and their parents’ perceptions of NOS according to various variables were examined. The data of the research were collected in the second semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The research involves students and their parents studying in high schools in Konya, a Central Anatolian province of Turkey. The sample group of the research consists of 428 high school students and 428 of their parents. “NOS Questionnaire as Argumentation (NSAAQ)” developed by Sampson and Clark (2006) and translated into Turkish by Çetin et al. (2010) was used. As the results showed, students’ perceptions of NOS did not differ significantly according to gender, grade level, place of residence, and average monthly income of the family. Only in the first dimension (How do you define scientific knowledge?) was there a significant difference between parents in favor of men. However, this difference had a low effect size. On the other hand, the fact that parents with higher education had average score and the existence of a significant linear correlation between NOS perceptions of students and their parents were two noteworthy findings. From this perspective, it can be said that today’s formal education process in Turkey has significant deficiencies in terms of a more advanced understanding of NOS. In summary, it is clear that the desired development has not been achieved in the perceptions of high school students regarding NOS in formal education in Turkey.

A Survey on Perceptions of Playing any Musical Instrument of the Individuals who Receive Amateur Musical Education: A Metaphorical Analysis

Phenomenological study is a type of research that reveals emotional and often intense human experiences. The main purpose of this qualitative and phenomenological study is to examine the perceptions of primary, secondary and high school students who play any musical instrument of playing the musical instruments through metaphors they develop. The study group consists of 314 students studying in primary, secondary and high schools in Çankaya district of Ankara province. A questionnaire form developed by the researchers was used to collect data. The first section of the questionnaire included demographic characteristics of the students. The second section of the questionnaire included a statement for exploring metaphorical opinions: “Playing the instrument is like ... because …” along with the questions related to the organization and terms of the competition. While completing this statement, the students were expected to focus on a single metaphorical concept and write clearly the mental image they develop. The written answers constitute the database of the study. Metaphor-oriented studies are based on two purposes. The former is to describe the situation and the latter is to accelerate and improve the research process. In this study, the latter was selected and metaphors on abstract scientific subjects were used as pedagogical tools. 68.15% of the participants were female and 31.85% were male. In this qualitative study, 9 themes including pleasure, imagination, sharing and recovery, development-effort, life source, entertainment, art, independence and nature-environment were identified. The results of the study revealed that the students who played amateur instruments produced multiple and different metaphors about the concept of playing an instrument. The distribution of the participants’ responses was as follows: pleasure (30.11%), imagination (17.96%), sharing and recovery (12.98%), development-effort (8.84%), life source (8.29%), entertainment (7.73%), art (5,52%), independence (4,70%) and nature-environment (3.87 %).

A Qualitative Analysis of High School Student and Caregiver Perceptions of Food Access and Adherence to Nutrition Guidelines Across Home and Community Settings

ABSTRACT Background Federal nutrition education initiatives (“MyPlate”) intend to facilitate healthful eating behaviors in families; however, little is known about how minoritized students and caregivers perceive adherence to MyPlate guidelines or perceptions of importance of eating in alignment with guidelines. Purpose Study aims included: 1) determine how students and caregivers perceive their dietary intake as it relates to MyPlate in both home and community environments and 2) assess motivations to adhere to MyPlate guidelines. Methods In-person focus groups with 47 high school students and 24 caregiver interviews were conducted and coded using qualitative thematic analysis. Results Meals at home differed from restaurants regarding food group portions. Caregivers highlighted food cost as a major factor when purchasing for specific food groups. Reasons for eating in accordance with MyPlate included: 1) health status/disease prevention, 2) weight status, 3) nutritional balance, 4) increased energy. Discussion Nutrition campaigns may benefit from images that do not put food categories into narrow boxes. Work is needed to address systemic, environmental, and individual factors in food accessibility across settings that affect guideline adherence. Translation to Health Education Practice Findings can support local and federal funding initiatives addressing barriers to healthful eating and provide targeted educational tools beyond MyPlate.

“I Thought It Was Going to Be Trash”: Rural High School Students’ Disability-Related Perception Change Following Paralympic School Day

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the experiences and impact of the Paralympic School Day program on disability-related perceptions of rural high school students. Methods: Ninth- and tenth-grade physical education classes from a rural high school participated in the Paralympic School Day event. Of the 68 who attended the event, 42 students furnished assent and consent to participate. Data from reflective writing responses were analyzed inductively using a three-step approach. Findings: The analysis revealed three interrelated themes: (a) “I didn’t expect it to be fun”: preconceptions and reality of trying parasport, (b) “Anyone can play a sport”: developing new perceptions of disability, and (c) “I never realized how blessed I was”: persistence of ableist framing. Discussion: As a result of participants interacting with and learning from athletes with physical disabilities, they developed an understanding of parasport and a new paradigm through which to view individuals with disabilities.

Primary School Students Perceptions about 21st Century Learning Practices

Primary School Students Perceptions about 21st Century Learning Practices

The perceptions of high school teachers and students towards digital interest and literacy

The increased application of information and communication technology (ICT) in society promotes its use in education to align instructional content with students’ interests and future working lives. To achieve this, the human resources within education institutions must possess the ability to utilize technology and understand the students’ capabilities. This descriptive study was conducted to establish the profile of students’ and teachers’ interests and perceived digital literacy abilities in high schools and their equivalents. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from West Java, West Kalimantan, and Jakarta high schools. The gathered data were processed with a simple quantitative technique. The data analysis collected by the questionnaire indicates that the respondents have a relatively high perception of digital literacy levels (encompassing operational, information, communication, strategic, and creative abilities), with some relatively low aspects, such as expressing opinions and creating things with ICT. Furthermore, it was also found that respondents exhibit a strong interest in using digital devices for learning, with video games, video processing programs, and graphic design software occupying the three least used digital media in schools but most desired by the respondents for integration.

Perception and behavior of high school students towards developing problem solving and creativity skills to solve physics assignments

This study aimed to explore the learning approaches and preferences of high school students in Vietnam when studying physics. A survey was completed by 2,040 students from ten different schools on improving problem-solving and creativity skills to solve physics assignments. The survey included eight topics related to homework, exchange, problem-solving tactics, and an emphasis on real-life applications of physics concepts. The results showed that the majority of students preferred essay-style calculus homework and sometimes exchanged and discussed ideas with their peers. In addition, most students focused on only some of the steps involved in solving physics problems, self-analyzed and expanded their solutions, and related the exercise content to real-life situations. The study also found that students preferred physics exercises with clear facts and suggestive questions, while a quarter of students preferred exercises with specific facts and clear questions. Furthermore, only a small percentage of students had a deep understanding of the ten core competencies outlined in the General Education Program of 2018. These findings have important implications for physics teachers in Vietnam, indicating the need for more opportunities for discussion and encouraging a comprehensive problem-solving approach. The study suggests incorporating more real-life applications of physics concepts into teaching to help students see the relevance of what they are learning.

The Internet Role in The Perception of High School Students of The Tri-City Agglomeration (Gdańsk, Sopot, Gdynia), Poland as A Tourist Attraction: A Survey Study

In connection with the development of modern information and communication technologies, the question arises, what is the importance of the Internet as a source of sightseeing information? The development and use of WWW technology is quite well described on the Internet. A specific gap is the identification of the behavior of the generation that is just entering the market.

Predictors of homesick disposition in Australian rural secondary school students transitioning to university

ABSTRACT Homesick disposition, an individual’s expectation about becoming homesick in the future, has been identified as an important predictor of homesickness. Homesick disposition can be detected and measured even before the separation from home has taken place, making it particularly relevant to understanding feelings and perceptions of rural school students who have yet to relocate and transition to university. A timely detection of homesickness may facilitate prevention strategies for students to feel more confident about going to university. Based on the theory of homesickness , this study uses a quantitative approach with a sample of 620 Australian rural students to examine the relationship between homesick disposition and some factors that have been discussed as its likely predictors in rural students, such as perceptions of control over the decision of transitioning to university, the levels of information managed about university, and the support students perceive they have from their social capital. Results show that rural students’ levels of perceptions of control and social capital are important predictors of homesick disposition.

Metaphoric Perceptions of Anatolian High School and Vocational High School Students towards School

This study aims to reveal the perceptions of Anatolian High School and Vocational High School students towards their schools using metaphors. For this purpose, the following questions were sought. What are the metaphoric perceptions of Anatolian High School and Vocational High School students towards their schools? How are metaphorical perceptions of Anatolian high school and Vocational High School students’ schools conceptualized? What are the likes and dislikes of Anatolian and Vocational High School students about their schools? In this research, maximum diversity sampling was employed to reflect the views of students from different sampling areas and purposeful sampling methods. The study group consisted of students from an Anatolian High School and a Vocational High School in Ankara in the 2016-2017 academic year. The research was conducted with a total of two hundred students, one hundred from each high school. It was found that the students in both groups perceived the school with supervision and rules.

Qualitative process evaluation of the EmpaTeach intervention to reduce teacher violence in schools in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania

ObjectiveWe explored the experiences and perceptions of school staff and students with the EmpaTeach intervention to prevent teachers’ violence against school students.DesignThis qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with 58 and...

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A Letter to My Teacher: Perceptions of Middle School Students and Pre-Service Mathematic Teachers of Their Mentor Teacher

This research was conducted to determine the perceptions of pre-service teachers and middle school students towards mathematics teachers. For this purpose, the perceptions of both the pre-service teachers and students regarding six mathematics teachers were discussed comparatively. The research method is case study. The data of this study were collected through reflective letters of pre-service teachers (f=35) and students of these teachers (f=105) to six middle school mathematics teachers. The collected data were analyzed in the MAXQDA qualitative data analysis program. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that pre-service teachers and middle school students had positive and negative perceptions towards the mentor teacher in the categories of designing the learning-teaching process, attitude and classroom management. When the perceptions of middle school students towards their teachers were examined, it was seen that the positive attitude towards the teacher stanted out. While the students mentioned less about classroom management, it was seen that pre-service teachers talked more about and they were able to evaluate teachers from different perspectives in the context of classroom management. However, it has seen that both pre-service teachers and students have more negative perceptions about the design of the learning-teaching process than positive perceptions. In addition, it was determined that the negative perceptions of the preservice teachers about the mentor teachers standed out, while the students' perceptions of their teachers were more positive.

Middle School Students’ Metaphorical Perceptions of the Concept of Poetry

According to the Turkish Language Teaching Program prepared by the Ministry of National Education in Turkey, poetry texts should be included in Turkish textbooks taught in primary and secondary schools. Students encounter poetry texts in reading and writing activities in Turkish textbooks. It is thought that determining how students perceive the type of poetry they encounter in Turkish textbooks is important for Turkish education. The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of secondary school students about the concept of poetry through metaphors. Since the study aims to determine the perceptions of secondary school students towards the concept of “poetry” and the meanings they attribute to these perceptions, phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research designs, was preferred. The study group consisted of 148 secondary school students studying in a public school. In order to determine the metaphorical perceptions of the participants about the concept of “poetry”, they completed the sentence, “Poetry is like … because …”. The data obtained were analyzed by content analysis method. At this stage, firstly, the invalid ones were eliminated from the data obtained and then these data were coded and divided into eight different categories. Afterwards, the information was presented descriptively in tables. As a result, it was determined that secondary school students’ metaphors related to the concept of “poetry” did not change and differentiate according to the grade level, and it was determined that all of the students attributed positive meanings to poetry. In addition, it was observed that the majority of the students tried to explain the concept of “poetry” with concrete metaphors and attributed very different meanings to “poetry” based on reasoned metaphors. In addition, it has been determined that most of the students see poetry as the interpreter of emotions and the source of life.

Technology Use and its Effects to Academic Performance

This study aimed to determine the perception of senior high school students on the effects of technology use in their academic performance. The study found that students strongly agreed with the positive effects of technology on their ability to research, access educational resources, and participate in online learning opportunities. However, they slightly agreed that technology has increased their motivation to learn and provided more opportunities for personalized learning. On the negative side, students agreed that technology has caused distractions, reduced the quality of their note-taking, and made them more reliant on external sources of information. The study concludes that technology use has both positive and negative effects on student learning, and educators should consider implementing strategies to mitigate negative impacts and leverage positive impacts. Recommendations include encouraging students to use technology as a tool for learning, providing guidelines for technology use in the classroom, investing in technological infrastructure, incorporating technology into lessons, and conducting further research to determine the long-term effects of technology on student learning

Senior High School Students Perception on Sustainability Literacy in Biology Learning

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global partnership's urgent call to action from all developed and developing countries to build a sustainable future. Students play an essential role in achieving this goal because they are the primary objects of formal education who can be involved through concrete actions and appropriate and effective decision-making. In order to achieve this goal, sustainable development capability and capacity, as measured by sustainability literacy, are required. The purpose of this study is to gather information about students' initial perceptions of environmental change subject in relation to students' sustainability literacy. The method used is a descriptive method with a quantitative approach. This study was conducted in February 2023 on 34 students from grade XI in SMAN 1 Bandung who had already completed the subject. Students' sustainability literacy was assessed using a questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was used to examine the data. Finding indicated that the indicator of knowledge was worth 43% within very bad category, knowledge of skills had a value of 44% with a very bad category as well and mindset was worth 55% with a bad category. As a result, it is possible to conclude that students' sustainability literacy is of very bad quality.

Perception and Challenges of Students Towards the Learning of Agricultural Science at Public Senior High Schools in Berekum East Municipal

The purpose of the study was to determine the perception and challenges of public Senior High School students towards the learning of Agriculture in Berekum East Municipal of the Bono Region of Ghana. The study employed a quantitative approach and descriptive survey was the design. A sample size of one-hundred and thirty-seven (137) students were used. The respondents were selected through a simple random technique. A questionnaire was used to obtain information from the participants. The analyses of data were done using descriptive statistics. It was revealed that, most students perceive Agriculture as a difficult course of study and therefore do not want to study it at the senior high school level. Students also perceive that most Agricultural departments are not well resourced making the study of the course unrealistic. The students further perceive that there are limited career opportunities in studying Agriculture. The study also reached that there are numerous challenges faced by Agricultural departments such as lack of resource/research centres, lack of practice fields, inadequate teachers, and unavailability of teaching and learning materials. The conclusions drawn from the study were that, the perceptions of students towards the study of Agriculture was due to misinformation, lack of guidance and counselling and several perceived challenges of studying Agriculture. The study therefore recommended that, guidance and counselling units should be enforced in Senior high schools to offer career counselling and also, Agricultural departments in senior high schools should be well resourced and schools offering Agricultural science should have school farms or gardens for practical work.