Student Perspectives Research Articles

The role and empirical research of innovation and entrepreneurship education in cultivating college students' entrepreneurial skills and innovation ability

This article aims to explore the role of innovation and entrepreneurship education in cultivating entrepreneurial skills and innovative capabilities among college students, and supports this claim through empirical research. It first introduces the definition and importance of innovation and entrepreneurship education, emphasizing its role in fostering students' innovative thinking, creativity, and entrepreneurial potential. Then, from the perspective of students, it discusses the effects of innovation and entrepreneurship education on enhancing their entrepreneurial intentions, knowledge, and skills.

Dentists' perceptions of providing care to community-dwelling older people.

This study explored the attitudes of New Zealand (NZ) general dental practitioners (GDPs) towards older adults living within the community and the barriers and difficulties caring for their oral health needs. Adults are living longer and retaining teeth. Their dentitions are complex and alongside their dental needs, older adults often experience age-related systemic disease or decline. Ageism and stereotypical views of older adults impedes access to dental care. While there is some understanding of older adults and ageism from the perspective of dental students, there is a paucity of knowledge about dentists' management of this patient demographic. A mixed-methods survey questionnaire collected quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively followed by bivariate analysis. Qualitative data responses to open-ended questions were analysed thematically. A total of 382 GDPs participated (response rate of 24%) and demonstrated positive attitudes and low levels of ageism towards older adults who they enjoyed treating. Confidence was positively related to clinical experience, and most dentists had engaged in gerodontology updates. Barriers to care for older adults were perceived to be beyond their control and mostly related to cost, chronic disease or age-related change. Consent processes could create difficulty and so collaboration with family or caregivers was important. The GDPs displayed positive attitudes and confidence towards older adults who are a rewarding patient cohort. Gerodontology education during training and following graduation is critical to enhance oral health outcomes for older patients.

A focus group study of students’ expectations of digital onboarding tools in higher education

In higher education, the array of roles performed by digital tools has been increasing rapidly. While some areas of higher education, such as teaching, already employ digital tools, the use of such tools in student onboarding has not yet been thoroughly explored. This study sought to develop a better understanding of student perspectives regarding digital onboarding tools through an investigation that built on the technology acceptance model and expectancy–value theory. The goal was to identify what students expect from digital onboarding tools concerning, for example, content and design. To this end, we examined the data from five focus groups using qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that students expect the design of digital onboarding tools to feature websites that are usable on mobile devices and that such a tool should be readily available for their use independently of time and place. Our study also found that digital onboarding tools can influence students’ motivation to study. The learnings for higher education institutions are that digital onboarding tools should enhance easy information gain and provide opportunities that foster early socialization with fellow students.

Data proficiency in MAE education: Insights from student perspectives and experiences

This paper explores how mechanical and aerospace engineering (MAE) students understand and improve their data proficiency throughout their engineering curriculum. Data is essential for engineering students to be proficient in handling, as it is involved in every aspect of engineering. With the growing ubiquity of data and data analysis in all engineering fields, engineering students need to learn and master data skills to be competitive in the current and future job market. However, there is a lack of research on how non-computer science or software engineering majors perceive data proficiency and how they seek opportunities to develop data skills, especially as it relates to specific subdomains. In this paper, we investigate how students perceive data proficiency and how they develop using interview data from N = 27 MAE students at a research institution in the southeastern United States. Using the How People Learn framework, we analyzed the data through thematic analysis methods with a postpositivist approach, considering the bounded context of this study. The results show that MAE students value data proficiency as a crucial skill for their future careers and recognize its importance in making evidence-based engineering decisions. The study also reveals that, even though data proficiency is often a “hidden competency,” MAE students intuitively find various ways to enhance their data skills. These findings may help engineering educators to tailor their instruction to their students’ needs, address misconceptions about data and data proficiency, and prepare a data-literate future engineering workforce.

Parent Involvement in Post-School Transition Services for Senior High School Students With Intellectual Disabilities.

Parents play a key role in the transition process of their children. After high school students with intellectual disabilities leave the school system, they need the cooperation of schools and families to ensure successful employment and independent living. A case study was conducted in a Taiwanese high school special education class, collecting data from 12 participants through interviews, documents and diaries. The results showed that active parental involvement in transition activities, strong parent-teacher partnerships, understanding of students' strengths and support from social resources were key to successful transitions. This study explored the effectiveness and difficulties of parents' participation in the post-school transition of students with intellectual disabilities from the perspectives of teachers, parents and students. Finally, it proposed the need to be the child's significant other, early participation in transition planning and joint involvement of parents and their children.

The perspectives of clinical level medical students on animal-assisted therapy: a study in Ghana

BackgroundThe role of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) in complementary and alternative medicine is well acknowledged. AAT is widely patronized, in developed countries such as USA, Canada, and many European countries, but less so in developing countries in Africa including Ghana. For persons in developing African countries and elsewhere to benefit from AAT, healthcare professionals must be acquainted with it recommend it to their patients when necessary. This study therefore assessed the perspectives of clinical-level medical students on AAT.MethodA semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data in a cross-sectional study from 206 randomly selected clinical-level medical students of the University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana. The data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS (Version 26) and the results were presented in Tables and charts. The association between demographic variables and the knowledge and attitude of the students were determined using ANOVA, while bivariate Pearson’s correlation was used to measure the relationships between continuous variables. Associations were considered significant when p-value < 0.05.ResultsThe knowledge about AAT among the medical students was very poor (0.971 ± 2.407 over 10; 9.7%); almost all of them (≈ 99.0%) had very little or no exposure to AAT in school or at home. The attitude of the students was however averagely positive (3.845 ± 0.748 over 7; 54.9%), with a perceived health benefit of ATT score of 4.768 ± 1.002 (68.1%). The motivation of the students to acquire more knowledge and skills about AAT mostly through lectures and practical sessions (70.9%) was good (4.809 ± 1.221; 68.7%). Female students were significantly more knowledgeable about AAT than their male counterparts (1.5 versus 0.6; p-value = 0.006). No other sociodemographic characteristics had any significant association with knowledge, attitude, and perception of benefit variables. However, a significant positive relationship was found to exist between the students’ knowledge, attitude and perception of animal-assisted therapy (r ≥ 0.236; p-value ≤ 0.001).ConclusionWe conclude that the knowledge about AAT among medical students is inadequate and this is worrying given the beneficial complementary role of AAT in achieving SDG 3. Medical schools and their regulators in Ghana should incorporate complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) lessons in their training curricula. For practising medical doctors, topics on CAM should be discussed during their Continuous Professional Development sessions. With better knowledge, physicians would possibly be more willing and confident in recommending this useful complementary and alternative medicine to patients who may seek other forms of therapy besides conventional medicine or which will augment the orthodox medication the patients may have been using to treat their conditions.

Access to University Mental Health Services: Understanding the Student Experience: L'accès aux services universitaires de santé mentale : comprendre l'expérience des étudiants.

To describe student access to university mental health services and barriers and gaps in support. This multiple cohort study used self-report data from 4,138 undergraduate students who completed the U-Flourish Well-Being Survey at the start and completion of first year from 2018 to 2023. The survey incorporated validated measures of mental health symptoms, barriers to care, and open-text questions about the mental health care experience and perceived gaps. Quantitative analyses summarized utilization patterns and barriers. An interpretive qualitative analysis identified common themes about support services and opportunities for improvement from the student perspective. At university entry, 43% of students screened positive for anxiety and/or depression, 30% reported a lifetime mental disorder and 23% a lifetime history of self-harm. Over first year, 15% of students surveyed accessed university mental health services. Access was more likely in students identifying as older, gender diverse, female, having a prior mental disorder and those who screened positive for anxiety or depression. Common attitudinal and practical barriers reported included thinking problems would resolve (74%), being uncomfortable sharing (73%), and not knowing how to get help (50%). Common stigma barriers included concerns about what family or friends might think. Students expressed that both campus-based well-being and mental health care offered during flexible hours and accessible through online booking were important. Student-tailored mental health literacy may be a sustainable approach to address the attitudinal and practical barriers identified. If such barriers are reduced, an increased service demand would be expected and improved efficiencies needed. A clear Statement of Services, an online singular point of access with embedded triage to signpost students to indicated levels of care, and clearly worked-out care pathways including to community-based services would better align with a stepped care model, improve efficiency and access, and foster realistic expectations around university mental health support.

Therapeutic-Use-of-Self as Relational Pedagogy in Occupational Therapy Education: A Qualitative Description Study.

Amid growing calls for relational teaching approaches in higher education to improve student learning outcomes and student and educator well-being, a need remains for effective relational pedagogies. Therapeutic-use-of-self (TUS) is an occupational therapy skill that centers the client-occupational therapist relationship, yet there is a dearth of research exploring its application as a pedagogy. This presents an opportunity for a widely used occupational therapy skill, TUS, to be adapted as a much-needed relational pedagogy. Objective. We explored the experience of TUS as a relational pedagogy in occupational therapy education from educator and student perspectives. Method. This qualitative description study borrowed from the evocative methodology of collaborative autoethnography. We, six researcher-participants, across two Canadian entry-to-practice occupational therapy programs, engaged in five discussions exploring the relationship between participant stories and contexts. Reflective memoing and reflexive thematic analysis were applied for analysis. Findings. Four themes were described: (a) education as transaction, (b) authenticity in learning, (c) experiencing TUS, and (d) relationship as resistance. Conclusion. With an emphasis on authenticity, empathy, power equity, and critical reflexivity, TUS challenges status quo approaches to education. Although neoliberalism challenges the feasibility of relational pedagogy in higher education, TUS holds promise as a relational and critical pedagogy.

How cooperative mindsets and course climate relate to the perceived impact of digital cooperation on learning in higher education

AbstractThis article in the journal “Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. (GIO)” presents the results of a study examining one underlying mechanism of successful digital cooperation among students in higher education from a student perspective. We investigated whether and how students’ cooperative mindset and the climate in their university courses correlate with how they perceive the impact of digital cooperation on their learning outcomes. Data were collected using a questionnaire in different university courses at three universities, involving students from different study programmes and semesters. We conducted a mediation analysis that included students’ cooperative mindsets, the perception of the course climate, and the perception of the impact of digital cooperation on students’ learning outcomes. We found that students’ cooperative mindsets predicted their perception of the impact of digital cooperation on their learning. The cooperative mindset of students also predicted their perception of the course climate, which, in turn, predicted their perception of the impact of digital cooperation on their learning. Moreover, we found that the effect of students’ cooperative mindset on the perceived impact of digital cooperation on learning was mediated by the perception of the course climate. These findings suggest that highlighting the relevance of digital cooperation for learning outcomes can initiate a positive dynamic shaping students’ perceptions of their course climate and benefits of digital cooperation. Understanding these dynamics is crucial because cooperative group work in digital environments has become an integral part of teaching in higher education.

Supporting students’ transition from college to university: Staff perspectives on developing a coherent tertiary system in Scotland

Scottish policy, funding, and quality systems have been tasked to provide “a more coherent and streamlined tertiary education system from the student perspective that delivers the best learning experience for students” (Scottish Funding Council, n.d.). This paper helps to inform this process, by presenting the findings from the second stage of Quality Assurance Agency Enhancement Theme project: Mind the Gap? College Students’ Experience of University. This stage investigated the perspectives of staff who support students making the transition from college to university. While there is a relatively broad literature covering the student perspective of this transition, the staff perspective is less well understood. This paper uses the themes developed from the first stage of the project – a qualitative research synthesis on the lived experiences of students (Robertson &amp; Cunningham, 2023) – to investigate staff perceptions of this transition. These themes considered are: (1) the responsibility for enabling effective transition; (2) the extent to which alignment between colleges and universities is achievable or, indeed, desirable; and (3) the extent to which college to university transitions genuinely widen participation. This paper reports the findings from a series of focus groups with university academic staff, university student support staff, and college academic staff from three institutions (two universities and one college). Using theoretical thematic analysis, the paper considers how sectoral, academic, identity and social, and logistical factors affect, or are identified in, the practice of the participants and what this means for the development of policy and practice around a ‘coherent tertiary model’.

"I Learned as I Went": an online distance education case study.

Interactions between deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students and instructors in online distance education (ODE) increased exponentially during the COVID pandemic. To understand this phenomena, we conducted a comprehensive literature review about evolving ODE formats customized for deaf student's needs. This literature shows increasing multimodal, multilingual, and interactive features. Next, we examined empirical data from a collective case study implemented to better understand ODE phenomena from the perspectives of DHH students and faculty in higher education. We used 4 data collection strategies: (1) in-depth, semi-structured faculty interviews, (2) observations of teaching-learning interactions, (3) focus-groups featuring undergraduate and graduate DHH students, and (4) curriculum document analyses. We coded the dataset using MAXQDA software and uncovered 10 triangulated themes; 4 focus on instructors, 4 center students, and 2 describe student-faculty interactions. Overall, this qualitative analysis is a particularizing account of our participant's lifeworlds; however, we close with general recommendations for improving ODE practices through research.

Writing to learn: creative LD perspectives for Learning Developers and students

Academic writing is a contested area, even more so in times of large language models and artificial intelligence (AI). This writing is tricky to navigate and master especially for newcomers – staff and students. Learning Developers almost uniquely play with writing as a practice of emergence and discovery. Academic writing is a process: we write to become academic. Students write to join their epistemic communities, and Learning Developers write to give birth to an emergent field. Drawing on recent work by Syska and Buckley (2022) and Abegglen, Burns and Sinfield (2022; 2023), we argue that academic writing is an initiation into and participation in wider professional and academic discourses. We ‘write to learn’ rather than ‘learn to write’. In our practice with students, we know that we need to move beyond the ‘mechanics’ of writing and make the process meaningful, engaging, interactive, and fun. Similarly, Syska and Buckley (2022) have explored what makes Learning Developers ‘tick’ with respect to academic writing – revealing how, counterintuitively perhaps, academic writing can become an inclusive Learning Development space: our ‘happy place’. With this presentation, we opened the discussion on academic writing for building the Learning Development community.

Perspectives of Kurdish EFL University Students’ Towards the Importance and Participation in English Language Extracurricular Activities

English language extracurricular activities are helpful strategies in developing EFL students’ English language proficiency and skills. This study aims to examine perceptions of Kurdish EFL university students about the roles and importance of participation in these activities for improving their English language proficiency and skills. This study is experimental and used survey questionnaires to take the participants’ perspectives towards the importance of practicing and participation in English extracurricular activities, and to detect the participation frequency extent in these activities. The participants were 60 students in English language department/faculty of education from Charmo University. In addition, the data were analyzed via (SPSS) and weighted-mean. The findings in this study revealed that majority of the students had positive attitudes towards the importance of English extracurricular activities in improving their English language proficiency and skills. It was concluded that Kurdish EFL students could enhance their English language proficiency and skills through these activities outside their formal in-class curriculum.

Student perceptions of global citizenship education in the university curriculum

ABSTRACT Given the pressing global challenges facing society, it is imperative that students are well equipped to contribute to solving problems, in an informed, ethical and meaningful way. This is the basis of global citizenship education, which is rapidly emerging in Higher Education policy as an important pedagogical philosophy and set of graduate attributes. We examined UK undergraduate student perceptions of global citizenship education (N = 202). Only 12.87% of students had come across the term global citizenship education, but a content analysis of their definitions demonstrated that they showed generally accurate understanding of the term. A thematic analysis of open-ended responses identified three dominant themes related to student perspectives on the concept of global citizenship education, (1) perceived importance of global citizenship education, (2) challenges within the conceptualisation of global citizenship and (3) perceived challenges with the subject-level implementation of global citizenship education. Implications for Higher Education policy and practice are discussed.

Examining Teacher and Student Beliefs in Poetry Education: A Systematic Review within TESL Contexts

This systematic review investigates the intersection of teacher and student beliefs in poetry education within TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) programs. It synthesizes studies examining how these beliefs influence pedagogical practices, student engagement, and overall learning outcomes in poetry instruction. Utilizing the PRISMA methodology, the review identifies and analyzes 32 peer-reviewed articles published between 1982 and 2024. Findings indicate that teachers' beliefs about poetry significantly shape instructional approaches, often impacting students' attitudes toward the genre. Teachers who view poetry as an essential tool for fostering creativity and cultural understanding tend to implement it more actively in their curricula, enhancing student engagement. Conversely, students often perceive poetry as challenging due to its linguistic complexity, leading to anxiety and disengagement. The review also highlights discrepancies between teacher expectations and student experiences, particularly in assessment-driven environments where poetry is seen as secondary to core language skills. The study concludes that a more collaborative approach to poetry education—integrating student perspectives—can foster more positive attitudes and better align teaching practices with student needs. This research contributes to the broader discourse on literature education in TESL, offering insights into how poetry can be effectively integrated into language instruction to improve both educational outcomes and cultural literacy.

Development of a Virtual Pediatric Holistic Comfort Care Clinic.

Guided by the tenets of Kolcaba's holistic comfort theory, we developed, implemented, and evaluated a simulated online pediatric advanced practice health center. The Pediatric Comfy Care Clinic (PCCC) was created to enhance person-centered diagnostic reasoning and holistic advanced management skills for family nurse practitioner students. Our interprofessional team used a standardized approach to online design and development while integrating essential holistic comfort theory concepts for student engagement and assessment of learning. We explored outcomes of pre- and postclinic quizzes and student reflection data using mixed methods. Significant differences (P<.001) were noted in all postpractice quizzes in each affiliated PCCC module with variable student outcomes on graded clinic encounters. Important student perspectives on teaching and learning in the virtual clinic were noted. A comfort theory-driven, simulated, and digitally enhanced virtual clinic is feasible and valuable with important implications for holistic advanced practice.

Students’ perceptions of teachers and teaching as determinants of primary school completion in Ethiopia

Purpose This study analysed students’ perceptions of teachers’ behaviours, teachers’ management practices and the use of inputs by teachers and whether these are associated with primary school progression and completion.Design/methodology/approach School-level fixed effect analysis is conducted using cross-sectional data collected from 4,000 randomly selected primary school-aged students and their schools.Findings Our findings reveal that students’ perceptions of teachers’ behaviours are associated with the probability of grade progression during primary school, and whether students complete primary school. Particularly important are positive behaviours, like students perceiving their teachers to be engaged and being praised by their teachers while in primary schools. It increased the likelihood of school progression by at least 15%. The use of inputs such as worksheets/written handouts and reading stories/books in the language of instruction were also found to have a statistically significant positive effect on students’ primary school performance. These are important results which hold after accounting for school management, household and child-level factors and regional differences.Originality/value Our findings provide a deeper understanding of the teaching practices which pupils perceive as beneficial to retention. While we are unable to conclude that learning is taking place, our contention is that greater time in school could increase the opportunity to learn. In this respect, beyond its policy relevance in improving educational outcomes, the paper contributes to the limited literature on the student–teacher classroom relationships particularly when looking from the perspective of students’ perception of their teachers’ teaching behaviours in developing countries.

A Study on the Implementation Effect of Curriculum-based Ideological and Political Education in College English Courses from the Perspective of Students

This study conducted a comparative quasi-experiment, mainly using qualitative research methods to conduct text analysis on students’ feedback in college English ideological and political education, supplemented by a questionnaire and interviews, to evaluate its implementation effect from the perspective of students. Research shows that the integration of ideological and political education has a good educational effect on knowledge transmission, skill development, and value shaping. Blending ideological and political awareness into college English courses can resonate with students’ emotions and play a certain role in shaping their values. This study can provide reference for the implementation effect of curriculum-based ideological and political education in tertiary curriculum.

Cheating uncovered: A deep dive into faculty and student perspectives

The paper explored the perspectives of teacher education faculty and students on behaviors that constitute cheating. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used through a questionnaire that sought the respondents’ perspectives on behaviors based on five groups of given scenarios: during the test, test preparation, take-home work, research work, and laboratory report and seatwork. One hundred nineteen participants from the College of Teacher Education at a state university in region 02, Philippines, with 19 faculty and 100 students comprised the population for this study. As a result, cheating can be deliberate or accidental, done either for personal benefit or to aid a friend. Based on these and the emerging themes, the study proposes an alternative definition of cheating that is embedded in the academic setting. Any action or attempt that leads a person or group to evaluate their own or another's performance incorrectly is considered cheating.

Assessing the Role of Social Studies Curricula in Enhancing Tourism Awareness among High School Students: A Student Perspective

Tourism awareness plays a pivotal role in promoting cultural understanding and supporting economic growth, especially in regions with rich heritage and tourism potential. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of social studies curricula in fostering tourism awareness among high school students in the Irbid region of northern Jordan. The research addresses the problem of limited integration of tourism-related topics within the existing curricula, which tend to prioritize general knowledge over specialized subjects such as sustainable tourism and cultural diversity. A total of 979 students were randomly selected to participate in the study, and data were gathered using a structured survey designed to assess how well the curricula promote tourism awareness. The research employed a quantitative approach to examine relationships between tourism awareness and variables such as gender, residence, and academic achievement. The results showed significant gaps in the curricula, with minimal focus on hands-on learning experiences like field trips or interactive projects, leading to generally low levels of tourism awareness among students. Furthermore, the lack of career guidance related to tourism hinders students from exploring potential tourism-related career paths. There were no significant differences in tourism awareness based on gender, residence, or academic performance. The study concludes by recommending a comprehensive revision of the social studies curricula to include more specialized tourism concepts, practical learning opportunities, and career exploration activities. Such changes would enhance students’ understanding of the tourism industry and its importance, preparing them for future roles in this sector.