Semi-structured Oral Interviews Research Articles

Participants' reflections two and three years after an introductory chemistry course-embedded research experience

The Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE) is a course-embedded undergraduate research curriculum that aims to introduce authentic research experiences for students in their early college years. A cohort of students who were randomly assigned to the CASPiE laboratory sections was tracked during and two and three years after course enrollment. Students from the traditional laboratory sections were also tracked for control purposes. This paper presents students' perceptions of the laboratory course at the time of enrollment, based on their answers to an online survey, and a comparison to students' later responses to semi-structured oral interviews about their course involvement. We found that students' views of the curricula persisted over the years. CASPiE students thought the curriculum allowed them to learn how to do research and in turn gained confidence to do such work. In contrast, students from the traditional sections thought they did not learn the practice of research in their course. These and related comparisons are presented with evidence from survey results and interview vignettes. The implications of the CASPiE curriculum implementation and its effects over the long term are discussed.

Exploring Learners’ Needs and Expectations: Translating EU Texts in an English Bachelor’s Programme at a Hungarian College

This paper reports on a needs analysis study involving a group of Hungarian undergraduate students of English before taking an EU specialized translation course. The purpose of the study was to explore the students’ needs regarding course content and methodology, to capture their perceptions about the translation process and translation competence, and to compare these with the teachers’ expectations and assumptions as well as with the current course syllabus. The results of the study are hoped to be of assistance to the teacher of the course in selecting and adapting the course content, material and teaching approaches to the immediate needs of the students. Data was collected through questionnaires with the students and a semi-structured oral interview with their teacher. Document analysis was also used to compare the students’ expressed goals, needs, and perceptions with the aims and contents of the course as stated in the course syllabus. The results show that undergraduate students’ needs and perceptions – regarding translation in general and one particular course – are different from the teachers’ assumptions and the aims of the course as expressed in the syllabus. Therefore, exploring undergraduate students’ actual needs and tailoring the course to these needs is a crucial step in syllabus design.

Online-The Future of Newspapers? Germany's Dailies on the World Wide Web

The research project “Online – the future of newspapers?” examined the producers, their products and the users of German online newspapers. The study on online editorial boards was carried out in the form of a standardized mail survey of all 81 daily newspapers with a WWW presence in May 1997 (return quote: 78%). A questionnaire for the users was placed in the Web, where it could be accessed via links to the homepage of 27 online papers (2524 respondents). In addition five individual websites of newspapers were examined (semi-structured oral interviews with the heads of the editorial boards, content analysis). Almost half of the staff in online editorial boards have journalistic duties. Technical duties are of growing importance. The majority of online editorial boards surveyed depend on the editorial decisions of the print editors. The news sections in online papers consist mainly of duplicates of the printed “parent” paper. Articles for the online version are rarely edited. Very few external links and no graphic or sound effects were added. About two-thirds of users would have chosen the print newspaper and just under a third would have preferred the online version if only one of the versions had been available. The case studies show that online publishers and users base their activities and/or expectations on the print newspaper and use or design their product accordingly.

Assessing and validating a learning styles instrument

Abstract How can learning styles best be measured? Reid’s (1984) Perceptual Learning Styles Preference Questionnaire has been widely used in ESL/EFL research to investigate learning styles. Previous research revealed concerns with the reliability and validity of the PLSPQ, leading the researchers to devise a new Learning Styles Indicator (LSI), based on the PLSPQ, and tested on different populations. From the results of this testing arose additional concerns regarding the construction of the PLSPQ/LSI statements themselves. How then can learning styles instruments best be validated? Interviews of graduate students in a Master’s in TESOL degree program revealed that quantitative means alone are insufficient to ascertain the effectiveness and usefulness of a learning styles instrument, particularly in the case of non-native speakers. A triangular approach utilizing a questionnaire, semi-structured oral interviews, and participant observations presents a fuller picture of instrument validation.

Cooperating Teachers' Perceptions of a Collaborative, Standards-Based Secondary Education Program

This study examines the perspectives of cooperating classroom teachers regarding the Professional Block of a Secondary Education Program. A multi-step research design incorporated a survey instrument to ascertain cooperating teachers' perceptions of the importance of the Secondary Education Program standards, and semi-structured oral interviews were conducted to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the program as well as to obtain cooperating teachers descriptions of the collaborative aspects of the program. The review of summative assessment documents provided additional data regarding the cooperating teachers' perceptions of individual student accomplishment of the Secondary Education Program standards.