Student Aid Research Articles

Availability and accessibility of academic library resources and services for prison inmates in the distance education programme

The modern objectives of libraries could facilitate the provision and use of prison library services and resources. The purpose of the research was to investigate how academic library resources and services are available and accessible to prison inmates in distance education programme. The descriptive survey design was employed in the collection and analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data. The study was conducted at the Nsawam Maximum Prison involving fifty-seven (57) student inmates in the distance education programme of the University of Cape Coast and two (2) Prison Library staff. The study found that facilities and information resources in prison libraries do not meet the learning and research needs of inmates in the higher distance learning programme. The study suggests that academic libraries should come to the aid of prison students with collaborative efforts to extend their resources and services to them.

Students of color experiencing barriers in the financial aid process at an urban community college: A critical race policy analysis

AbstractThe financial aid process extends beyond once a student submits the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application. Scholars have found that the financial aid process can be cumbersome, especially for minoritized students. What is unclear in the literature are the additional hurdles students encounter to obtain financial aid. I conducted interviews with community college students and financial aid staff at an urban community college to better understand these difficulties in the process. I employed critical race policy analysis and whiteness as property to contextualize how financial aid is structured to deter Students of Color from accessing financial aid benefits. The findings allude to communication issues between financial aid staff and students, and students seeking assistance with their financial aid from other campus departments.

Paying for the Prestige: Differences in College Investment between Asian American and White Families

Much research has focused on the relative success of Asian Americans in U.S. higher education, particularly their high rates of enrollment and graduation compared to White Americans. In this research, we investigate one factor that may influence these outcomes: whether Asian American families invest more financially in their children’s college education. Using data from the 2015–2016 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, we find that Asian American families contribute more not only absolutely but also proportionate to their incomes. This is not due to their greater financial resources but is related to Asian American students’ attendance at more selective institutions. Asian American families may adopt college investment strategies that place more value on selective institutions, perhaps because of perceived intrinsic value, high esteem in their social networks, limited information about other institutions, and/or because they anticipate that such experiences more easily translate into desired occupations.

Application of the Minkowski Distance Similarity Method in Case-Based Reasoning for Stroke Diagnosis

A Stroke is a cerebrovascular disease characterized by impaired brain function due to damage or death of brain tissue caused by reduced or blocked blood and oxygen flow to the brain. Expert systems can be used as learning aids for medical students to diagnose stroke. Medical records of stroke cases can be reused as a reference for diagnosing stroke when there are new cases, known as the case-based reasoning (CBR) method. This study implements the Minkowski distance similarity method in CBR to calculate the similarity value between cases, where each similar case has the same solution. This study uses the Minkowski distance similarity method in CBR to obtain the most optimal value of r and the most appropriate threshold value in the expert system for stroke diagnosis. The diagnosis process is carried out by inputting the patient's condition, symptoms, and risk factors. Then the system will calculate the similarity value and take the case with the highest similarity value as the solution, providing that the similarity value must be greater than or equal to the threshold value. Based on system testing, the best accuracy value was achieved by applying a threshold value of 75 with an r value of 3 or 4, with an accuracy rate of 88,89%, a recall value of 88%, and a precision of 100%.

Investigating Online versus Face-to-Face Course Dropout: Why Do Students Say They Are Leaving?

Despite more focused attention in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, high online attrition remains both a concern and a mystery; gaps in our knowledge exist as to why students so often do not complete online courses. Pre-pandemic, and using a sample of 780 students who dropped out of fully online courses (or the same course face-to-face) from a large university system in the Northeast U.S., students were explicitly asked about their specific reasons for course withdrawal. All students enrolled in a fully online course (or a face-to-face section of the same course) at the City University of New York (CUNY) in fall 2015 were invited to take the online survey from which this study data was taken. Results indicate that there were distinct differences in the patterns of reasons given by online and face-to-face students: although the perceived quality of the instructor/instruction was deemed important to student persistence in both modalities, it seemed to be of greater importance face-to-face than online. Furthermore, issues related to time were found to be more prominent reasons for dropping for online learners than face-to-face learners. Findings from this study shed new light on the impetus for online attrition, with implications for online policy and course design in a post-pandemic era.

Undue Burden the Medical School Application Process Places on Low-Income Latinos

Undue Burden the Medical School Application Process Places on Low-Income Latinos

The racial wealth gap, financial aid, and college access

AbstractWe examine how the racial wealth gap interacts with financial aid in American higher education to generate a disparate impact on college access and outcomes. Retirement savings and home equity are excluded from the formula used to estimate the amount a family can afford to pay. All else equal, omitting those assets mechanically increases the financial aid available to families that hold them. White families are more likely to own those assets and in larger amounts. We document this issue and explore its relationship with observed differences in college attendance, types of institutions attended, degrees attained, and education debt using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). We show that this treatment of assets provides an implicit subsidy worth thousands of dollars annually to students from families with above‐median incomes. White students receive larger subsidies relative to Black students and Hispanic students with similar family incomes, and this gap in subsidies is associated with disadvantages in educational advancement and student loan levels. It may explain 10 percent to 15 percent of white students’ advantage in these outcomes relative to Black students and Hispanic students.

EXPLORING THE USE OF CHATBOT AS A MEDIA IN MOTIVATING THE STUDENTS TO LEARN SOLAR SYSTEM AND ENGLISH

The fact that teachers only rely on books as a learning aid for students is unfortunate, especially for elementary school students. They have high desire to explore and love to play with their imaginations. Therefore, an easy and practical technology is an alternative. Through a chatbot, educational materials comprising images, videos, and texts can motivate students in learning English. This study aimed to create a Chatbot AI Zeno to motivate the students in primary school to learn Solar System and English. The research method used in this study is the Research and Development method (R&D).The chatbot design is by the Rapid Application Development (RAD) method, to create the application fast and iteratively. The research subjects in this study were 30 grade 6 elementary school students at Tanjung Barat 04 Jakarta. Data collection techniques used questionnaires, interviews, documentation, and tests. The questionnaire consisted of questions about students' perceptions of chatbot design, about understanding of the material presented on Zeno the Solar System Patrol Man chatbot, and the students' perceptions about it. The results of the chatbot testing received positive responses from the teachers, and the students. Based on the evaluation, 90% of students reported feeling motivated and assisted in their learning while using the chatbot. Thus, the conclusion is that the Zeno chatbot can motivate and aid the learning process.

Content Accuracy and Recency of TPACK-Based Physics Textbooks on Work and Energy Materials to Improve Science Literacy of High School Students

TPACK-based textbooks are reference books containing a collection of material from certain branches of knowledge that are presented comprehensively using a combination of pedagogic technologies and content that are applied according to the learning context. Scientific literacy is the scientific ability possessed by students to solve various kinds of problems and explain scientific phenomena scientifically. Work and energy are physics materials closely related to students' daily lives. The method used for this research is to use research and development research and development methods. Based on the results of the latest and contextual material validation on the suitability of the material with the latest scientific developments, validator one scores four, and validator two scores 4. The 100% percentage results that meet the criteria are very valid. From the results of the validation assessment in terms of the average rating of each validator for the two validators, an average percentage result of 87.49% is obtained with very valid criteria. This shows that the TPACK-based physics textbook on the subject matter of work and energy is appropriate to be used as an Electronic School Book aid for students in understanding and mastering material about work and energy.

Russian as a non-native and foreign language in modern higher education: methods, tutorials, individual learning strategies

The article highlights the methodological techniques and technologies that are relevant to the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language and allow teaching the language of a specialty from any level to the required one. The methodological basis of the Russian language, which has gained a foothold in the Russian Federation in the status of a native, second native, non-native, second, and foreign Russian language, motivates RFL teachers to develop and implement modern technological methods that make it possible to build the system of education for this contingent in a Russian university as efficiently as possible.Elements of hybrid learning, actively implemented in universities of all profiles, make it possible to flexibly use methodological developments to form individual strategies for achieving the main educational goal and personal results. Nevertheless, the lack of uniform departmental recommendations and the documented final level of proficiency in Russian at the university and postgraduate levels of education complicates the process of creating unified textbooks and teaching aids for foreign students of each individual profile.The experience of working with educational materials, created in universities, shows the need for their wide dissemination through the implementation of the idea of common departmental libraries. We offer a model of a modern contextual manual, using up-to-date pedagogical and technological solutions for joint testing in universities of different profiles.

Post-secondary funding and the educational attainment of indigenous students

This paper uses cutbacks to a post-secondary funding program for Indigenous peoples in Canada to understand how changes in the costs of higher education affect the educational attainment and labour market outcomes of Indigenous groups. I exploit exogenous variation in exposure to student aid across cohorts and ethnicities to show that increasing the costs of post-secondary education not only affects post-secondary attainment but can also lead to a sizable decrease in high school graduation rates. After reductions in targeted student aid in the late 1980s, high school graduation rates declined by five percentage points on Indian reserves. I suggest that this finding is consistent with a model of human capital acquisition in which the return to a high school degree is low. In this framework, some students complete high school in order to attend a post-secondary institution. When post-secondary education is no longer affordable, some students may no longer find it worthwhile to complete high school. In the long-run, the program cutbacks had lasting adverse effects on labour supply.

MARI BELAJAR MENGURUS MASA DAN WANG (MBMMW) COURSEWARE FOR TABIKA KEMAS: TOWARDS PROMOTING ACTIVE LEARNING AMONG YOUNG CHILDREN

Nowadays, the use of web-based multimedia courseware encompasses all learning stages, especially among children. As an effort to assist teachers in promoting active learning among the children, Mari Belajar Mengurus Masa dan Wang (MBMMW) courseware is developed based on Tabika KEMAS core syllabus for mathematics focusing on money and time management. Proper interactive contents that include various activities and videos were provided in the courseware as the teaching and learning (T&L) aid for teachers, parents and students. Since there are limitations of current educational materials on money and time in Tabika KEMAS, MBMMW courseware is developed to assist both teachers and students in providing impactful T&L experience. This could later boost the students’ understanding and learning performance while allowing students to accomplish active learning with teachers and parents. By implementing cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML) and user experience (UX) recommendations, MBMMW courseware was carefully developed via ADDIE Model. Functionality tests have been conducted to ensure the operations of the menu, buttons and links displayed in the courseware. Moreover, user evaluation for MBMMW has been performed towards understanding the initial acceptance of MBMMW courseware among the users. Results have mostly shown positive reactions from the users, thus acknowledging the usability of MBMMW as an interesting and fun active learning aid for presenting fundamental knowledge about money and time.

Perceived Causes of Candidates’ Weaknesses in Rigid Motion

The West African Examination Council chief examiners’ reports repeatedly indicated that B.E.C.E. and W.A.S.S.C.E. candidates have been exhibiting weaknesses in locating points, plotting points and reading rigid motion graphs, hence the need for the conduct of this study to determine the factors responsible for students’ weakness in rigid motion. This qualitative study employed a case study design using a sample size of sixteen (16) comprising five B.E.C.E. candidates, five W.A.S.S.C.E. candidates and six experienced mathematics teachers who have taught mathematics for at least seven years. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were employed in the selection of the sample size. Interview guide was used to collect data for the study and the collected data was analysed thematically. It was found that little or late exposure of students to the topic, lack of teaching and learning materials and rote learning or memorization were contributory factors to students’ weakness in rigid motion. It was therefore recommended that the mathematics curriculum be structured in a way that students will gain the needed exposure in rigid motion and other graph related topics as early as possible. Also, schools, Ghana Education Service, the government, philanthropists and all stakeholders in education should come to the aid of teachers and students by providing graph boards, laptops and projectors for teachers and also providing graph books for students to enable them have frequent practice in rigid motion and other graph related topics.

How do technologies meet the needs of the writer with dyslexia? An examination of functions scaffolding the transcription and proofreading in text production aimed towards researchers and practitioners in education.

Technological reading and writing tools can help students with dyslexia improve their writing, but students do not use reading and writing functions as much as expected. However, research addressing relevant technological functions is scarce. This study explored the needs of writers with dyslexia and how technological writing tools developed for three Nordic languages meet these needs. Snowball sampling was used to identify different technological features, spellchecker, word prediction, auto-correction, text-to-speech and speech-to-text functions available in nine widely used programmes were investigated. The results indicated that students with moderate spelling difficulties can now achieve accurate spellings using the most sophisticated spelling aids; however, most of these features require time and attention, and this can disturb writing fluency and hamper text production. The implication of this study is that the underlying conflict between spelling accuracy and writing fluency must be actively managed, which necessitates competence in the use of technological tools for both students and teachers in school. Also, further development of tools for scaffolding transcription must consider the dilemma of achieving both writing fluency and spelling accuracy. Further, the accuracy of the aid for students with severe spelling difficulties remains unclear and must be investigated.

PENERAPAN METODE REWARD AND PUNISMENT DALAM MENINGKATKAN PRESTASI PESERTA DIDIK PADA MATA PELAJARAN AL QURAN HADITS

Application of Reward and Punishment in Increasing Student Learning Achievement in Al-Quran Hadith Subjects at Madrasah Aliyah Negri 01 Ogan Ilir, Thesis, Department of Islamic Religious Education, Faculty of Tarbiyah Sciences, Al-Quran Islamic Institute, Al-Ittifaqiah Indralaya.
 The aim of this research is to find out and reveal how reward and punishment are applied in improving student learning achievement in the Al-Quran Hadith subject at Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 01 Ogan Ilir. In this research the author used qualitative research, qualitative descriptive methods. The results of this research show that the application of rewards and punishments in improving students' learning achievement in the Al Quran Hadith subject at Madrasah Aliyah Negri 01 Ogan Ilir was carried out to motivate students in ongoing learning, teach a sense of responsibility for what has been done, and get used to discipline. There are two forms of reward, namely non-material such as smiles, thumbs up and applause. Material rewards include giving candy, pencils, drawing paper and stars. Meanwhile, the form of punishment is preventive punishment, namely by implementing rules and regulations and repressive punishment, namely giving punishment to students. For example, if a student says something impolite, he or she is given a sanction of saying istighfar 10 to 100 times and his/her goodness star/achievement star is taken away. Another violation is that if you do not want to follow the teacher's directions, you will be given a sanction from standing in front of the class while studying or even being expelled from the class. If you are late, you will be punished by praying alone while standing in front of the class.

The impact of federal administrative burdens on college enrollment

Government programs impose eligibility requirements to balance the goals of improving welfare while minimizing waste. We study the impact of eligibility monitoring in the context of Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) submissions, where students may be subject to “verification” requirements that require them to confirm the accuracy of the data. Using a matching on observables design we do not find that students flagged for verification are less likely to enroll in college, which contrasts prior research. Verification reduces grant aid received but average changes are small, raising questions about the benefits of this administrative process.

Co-Curriculum: What Students Say

Co-Curriculum: What Students Say

California

The analysis reveals that California’s 2023 educational budget reflects a continued commitment to investment in education. With a growing emphasis on equitable access and quality education, the state government has made significant efforts to address the needs of both K-12 and higher education institutions. For the K-12 sector, the research highlights budget funding towards supporting English Language Learners, improving classroom resources, and expanding access to performing and visual arts. Additionally, the budget supports before/after and outside-of-school expanded learning programs. The study identifies increased funding for public universities and colleges in higher education, aiming to enhance affordability, expand student aid programs, and strengthen housing resources. The research also uncovers several challenges within California’s educational budget, such as a severe shortage of qualified and skilled academic workforce brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

An offline Practicum Workshop as An Aid for Students’ Chemistry Laboratory Practical Skills: A Case Study

An offline Practicum Workshop as An Aid for Students’ Chemistry Laboratory Practical Skills: A Case Study

Decision Support System for Financial Aid for Underprivileged Students using the TOPSIS Method

The distribution of Financial Aid for Underprivileged Students is considered not to be on target due to the unmeasured selection process. So a decision-making system is needed that can select beneficiaries objectively. This research was conducted to assist the school in determining students who deserve this assistance. The purpose of this research is to build a decision-making system for selecting beneficiaries from poor students by applying the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method. The formulation of the problem is how to build a decision support system using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method in selecting students who receive financial aid for underprivileged students. The method used goes through several stages, namely: determining alternatives and criteria, building a normalized decision matrix, building a weighted normalized decision matrix, determining positive and negative ideal solutions, determining the distance between ideal solutions, and determining preference values. There are 7 criteria used, namely social protection card recipients, total income, number of dependents, parental status, distance, class, and report card scores. The results showed that the highest preference value for each alternative was in alternative A3, with a score of 0.6665. While the lowest preference value is in alternative A20 with a score of 0.0719, From the results of the study, it was concluded that the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method can be used in making decisions on the selection of beneficiaries of poor students based on preference value rankings.