Undergraduate Perceptions Research Articles

Examination of the Transitions between Modal Representations in Coding Training

This study aims to determine the perceptions of undergraduates, who are receiving coding training in a faculty of education, on modal representations employed in the training process and identify their transition skills between representations. The research used the quantity search method, non-experimental design, and descriptive search models, calculating the obtained data frequencies by numerical analysis. The study was carried out with the participation of 58 undergraduates in the Computer and Instructional Technology Department of an education faculty in the 2018-2019 academic year. The representational skill-testing used in the study consists of 12 open-ended questions developed by the researchers. The reliability of the test was calculated as .96 with the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient value. Transitions between the representation of mathematics, verbal, flowchart, and code were rankly listed in the test, which was applied in a single session. The obtained data were scored with a grading key and undergraduate achievement was assessed according to the transition between representations. The analysis has revealed that representation transition skills may differ from each other and that coding training, which takes into account these transition skills, should be carried out with flow chart, verbal, mathematical and ultimately code representations, respectively.

Arabian undergraduates perceptions regarding barriers among the geriatric patients for failing to keep dental appointments: A cross-sectional study

Abstract:
 Background: Regular visits to the health care providers can develop a relationship that can extend beyond the physical health alone as the patient is transiting towards older age, adapting to changes in physical health, emotional health, and social connections. Apart from limiting access to health care services, the attitudes, beliefs, comfort level of the treating doctors towards the geriatric patients can motivate or demotivate them to access dental care.
 Aims: To explore the Saudi Arabian undergraduate student’s perception of geriatric patients' and identify potential barriers that prevent the utilization of their dental appointment.
 Methods: A close-ended questionnaire with one question and eight reasons was administered to the 5th year clinical students. The students were requested to specify their agreement with each question on 5 points Likert scale. Among the barriers presented, each reason's approval was expressed as the percentage of the total number of responses. In addition, the gender comparison of mean scores was made, and an independent sample t-test was used to analyze the statements agreed by the students. All analyses were performed using SPSS (Statistical Package of Social Sciences) version 21.0 (IBM, USA) with the probability of statistical significance at 0.05 level.
 Results: Fifty-one students recorded their perceptions on the questionnaire administered during their clinical posting in the fifth year of the geriatric dental education program. It was concluded that students believed that geriatric patients give overwhelming importance to other problems with minor importance to oral health care. In addition, gender comparison was more evident as the percentage expressed was more in females.
 Conclusion: There is a need for more clinical exposure of geriatric patients during their clinical postings. Student’s acquaintance with didactic and clinical settings appears to be a critical element towards positive knowledge and attitude towards the geriatric population.
 Keywords: Geriatric dentistry, perception about geriatric, dental students, geriatric patients

Perception of personalized medicine, pharmacogenomics, and genetic testing among undergraduates in Hong Kong

BackgroundThe global development and advancement of genomic medicine in the recent decade has accelerated the implementation of personalized medicine (PM) and pharmacogenomics (PGx) into clinical practice, while catalyzing the emergence of genetic testing (GT) with relevant ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI).ResultsThe perception of university undergraduates with regards to PM and PGx was investigated, and 80% of undergraduates valued PM as a promising healthcare model with 66% indicating awareness of personal genome testing companies. When asked about the curriculum design towards PM and PGx, compared to undergraduates in non-medically related curriculum, those studying in medically related curriculum had an adjusted 7.2 odds of perceiving that their curriculum was well-designed for learning PGx (95% CI 3.6–14.6) and a 3.7 odds of perceiving that PGx was important in their study (95% CI 2.0–6.8). Despite this, only 16% of medically related curriculum undergraduates would consider embarking on future education on PM.When asked about their perceptions on GT, 60% rated their genetic knowledge as “School Biology” level or below while 76% would consider undergoing a genetic test. As for ELSI, 75% of undergraduates perceived that they were aware of ethical issues of GT in general, particularly on “Patient Privacy” (80%) and “Data Confidentiality” (68%).Undergraduates were also asked about their perceived reaction upon receiving an unfavorable result from GT, and over half of the participants perceived that they would feel “helpless or pessimistic” (56%), “inadequate or different” (59%), and “disadvantaged at job seeking” (59%), while older undergraduates had an adjusted 2.0 odds of holding the latter opinion (95% CI 1.1–3.5), compared to younger undergraduates.ConclusionHong Kong undergraduates showed a high awareness of PM but insufficient genetic knowledge and low interest in pursuing a career towards PM. They were generally aware of ethical issues of GT and especially concerned about patient privacy and data confidentiality. There was a predominance of pessimistic views towards unfavorable testing results. This study calls for the attention to evaluate education and talent development on genomics, and update existing legal frameworks on genetic testing in Hong Kong.

Undergraduates' Perception of (STEM) Education as a Tool for Enhancing Economic Development in Sokoto State, Nigeria

Economic development appears to be a major challenge confronting nations and individuals across the globe in recent times. Economic development is the process by which a nation improves the economic, political, and social well-being of its people. Nigeria which is tagged as the giant of Africa, and also endowed with numerous natural and human resources, is still battling with the menace of economic under development particularly Sokoto state. This paper therefore, examined the perception of undergraduates on (STEM) education as a tool for enhancing economic development. The study employed a quantitative research design, with a sample of 200 undergraduate students of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS). The sampled students were randomly selected from four programs of study. A questionnaire containing (12) items, entitled Perception of Undergraduates on STEM for Enhancing Economic Development (PUSEEED) was utilized in collecting data for the study. The instrument was content validated by 3 experts. The reliability index of 0.82 was calculated for the instrument using the Cronbach Alpha. The result of the study indicated that the undergraduates appreciated the introduction of STEM education as a tool for enhancing economic development and they looked forward to actively participating in the program once it is practically integrated into their programs. It was recommended among others that STEM education should be incorporated into the entrepreneurial programs of Nigerian universities especially in Sokoto state, Nigeria for meaningful economic development.

Challenges and Strategies of University Students in English-medium Instruction (EMI) Classes: A case study

English language has grown to be a lingua franca of the present day world. Therefore, even non- English European and Asian countries have adopted English as a medium of instruction. English has continuously been the medium of instruction in the higher education of Pakistan in spite of having a great linguistic diversity and national language Urdu as the medium of instruction at school level. This study aims to explore the perceptions of undergraduates about EMI, challenges they face in EMI classrooms and solutions they suggest for mitigation of their issues. The qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews reveals that students perceive EMI to be beneficial for higher education, employment and progressive thought. However, they face challenges related to teachers' English proficiency, code-switching, vocabulary and receptive as well as productive skills. They suggest that English-proficient instructors, continuous use of English, language support from university can help them overcome these challenges effectively.

STEM undergraduate students: library use, perceptions and GPA

PurposeThis study aims to examine if differences exist in undergraduate students' library use, perceptions and grade point average (GPA) among science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM disciplines.Design/methodology/approachThe current study used data from the 2018 student survey. Among 2,277 students who completed the survey (response rate = 8%), only undergraduate students (n = 1,265) were selected for this study because the current study aims to examine the differences between STEM and non-STEM undergraduate students.FindingsThe findings from a Mann–Whitney U test revealed that STEM respondents perceived specific library resources (subject and course guide, library instructions and library workshops) as slightly less than non-STEM respondents. The results from ANOVA demonstrated that the mean scores in GPA for STEM respondents who never used online library, journals and databases were lower than respondents who used those library resources, regardless of STEM and non-STEM disciplines.Originality/valueRevisiting the data collected and analyzing specific user groups will be valuable to academic libraries because this study will provide academic librarians with a deeper understanding of specific user needs and perceptions of library resources and services.

FORMATIVE ELECTRONIC ASSESSMENTS DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN IN SECOND PHASE MEDICAL UNDERGRADUATES

Objective: Electronic learning and assessment was embraced in medical education worldwide following the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was done to determine the perceptions of medical undergraduates on formative electronic assessments conducted during COVID-19 lockdown and to estimate the mean marks scored in these assessments.
 Methods: This was a descriptive study done for a period of 3 months on online platform. Six online formative assessments were conducted on Google Forms or Kahoot. A questionnaire was administered as Google Form to collect the perceptions of the participants on perceived ease of use of platform, attitude, and practice adopted in online assessments. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.
 Results: The response rate was 97.7%. Kahoot was perceived to be easier with lesser technical glitches and privacy concerns as compared to Google, while it was equivocal in terms of access assessment links, output storage, display clarity, overall user interface, network issues, need for computer literacy, and eyestrain caused. The participants had a positive attitude regarding the usefulness of online assessments however majority liked the traditional assessments more than the online assessments. While less than one-third (22%) had copy pasted some answers, more than half (54.4%) had referred to internet and more than three quarter (79.6%) had referred to textbooks/power points/notes while attending online assessments.
 Conclusion: The participants felt that Google Forms and Kahoot were comparable online assessment tools except for difficulty in filling, privacy concerns, and technical issues on Google Forms. The usefulness of online assessments was embraced by the participants but they felt that the traditional assessments were to be continued, while attending online assessments some students had referred to the internet or study materials.

Measuring the association between students’ exposure to social media and their valuation of sustainability in entrepreneurship

Currently, university students can read content from various social media sites; however, little is known about the relationship between students' social media exposure and their valuation of sustainability in entrepreneurship and of environmental and social care as drivers of new venture creation. This research seeks to reduce this knowledge gap, evaluating discrepancies among undergraduates according to the intensity of their social media use. An online survey was applied to compare students’ perceptions based on their reading of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. A total of 143 valid responses of students in business and engineering careers in Chile were analysed using the Mann-Whitney test, showing a difference in the perceptions of undergraduates who read social media content once a day or more. The results show that a higher frequency of reading such content is related to higher perceived relevance of environmental sustainability, social welfare, and fair trade; likewise, it is linked with less perceived importance of sustainability as a driver of entrepreneurship. This evidence is relevant in recognizing the potential of social media sites to strengthen the higher education in sustainable entrepreneurship because these channels can be incorporated as a formal source of information for learning and its use is still limited. Future research should explore what specific types of content have the most significant impact on perceptions of sustainable entrepreneurship and promote particular methods for their application in this area.

Undergraduate student perceptions of R and SPSS: An experimental comparison from a one-time lab activity.

Undergraduate student perceptions of R and SPSS: An experimental comparison from a one-time lab activity.

A literature review of whether communication skills specific to psychiatry are being taught to medical undergraduates around the world

AimsThe ability to communicate effectively is an imperative skill for clinicians to master as doctor-patient communication is one of the most essential dynamics in health care. Patients with a mental disorder present a unique challenge for doctors with regards to effective communication due to the nature of their illness.This literature review aimed to determine whether medical undergraduates around the world are taught psychiatric communication skills.MethodIn January 2021, the following electronic databases were searched for articles relating to medical undergraduates, the concept of psychiatric communication skills and the teaching and support of such skill development: ERIC, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SAGE and Web of Science. Combinations of keywords focussed the content of papers and truncation obtained alternative word endings. Generated articles were appraised iteratively for suitability against pre-defined inclusion criteria. The bibliographies of eligible articles were then examined to capture any further relevant studies. Ethical approval was not required.Result1040 citations of potential relevance were initially identified. Following an iterative screening process, 10 articles (from seven different countries) were eligible for inclusion. 70% of papers used the modality of simulated patients to teach psychiatric communication skills and Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) was used to create “virtual patients” for undergraduates to engage with. Discussing sensitive and emotive topics, such as suicide attempts or substance misuse, was less commonly taught compared to conditions such as anxiety and depression. Only 10% of papers explicitly taught medical undergraduates empathy or written communication skills and the importance placed on psychiatric teaching differed between countries.ConclusionThis literature review showed that some medical undergraduates receive psychiatric communication skills teaching, but the format and content of this varies. Increased consideration of incorporating TEL into psychiatric communications skills teaching is pertinent given undergraduates’ reduced face-to-face patient contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, but further work is needed to validate such technology. Written communication skills are rarely taught but are imperative given the high volume of written correspondence in clinical practice. Delivering such teaching is feasible and should be incorporated into undergraduate curricula. Medical educators need to consider cultural differences when developing psychiatric communication skills teaching. Cultural influences not only affect undergraduate perceptions of psychiatry and mental illness, but also a patient's understanding and interpretation of their illness experience. Medical undergraduates may come from various cultural backgrounds, so actively discussing these differences opportunistically may augment the ability of medical undergraduates to be empathetic and establish therapeutic rapport with patients with mental illness.

ISU PENGENALAN TULISAN JAWI DAN KHAT DI SEKOLAH JENIS KEBANGSAAN (SJK) DARI SUDUT PANDANG MAHASISWA

Jawi script and Khat are a Malay heritage and cultural tradition with high artistic value. For centuries both were used as mediums of communication in everyday life in Nusantara especially in the Malay Peninsula before this role was replaced by the Roman script. The effort to revive the Jawi script and Khat by introducing them in Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (SJK) has given rise to issues and opinions from various parties. This study, therefore, was aimed at exploring the perception of undergraduates on the issue. This study was in the form of a survey and utilised the questionnaire method. A total of 326 first semester undergraduates of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) drawn from various faculties and ethnic backgrounds responded to 21 questions in the questionnaire regarding the implementation of Jawi and Khat in Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (SJK) Descriptive analysis of the findings showed eight questionnaire items generating 80% or more agreement which proved that the respondents viewed Jawi script and Khat as a unique artistic element capable of inculcating unity. Although both reflect Islamic and Malay history and identity, Jawi script and Khat are suitable to be introduced in schools since these develop various skills and at the same time enable students to produce and diversify creative works in written form.

Enhancing Students’ Performances by Integrating Social Media in Undergraduate Learning

Use of social media among youth is growing rapidly around the world. This is more common among the young undergraduates. As a consequence of high usage of social media, ability to support learners via social constructed learning has increased. This study focuses on enhancing undergraduate’s academic performance via social media intervention. This was an action research and used mix methods inquiry employed quantitative and qualitative studies. Open face to face interviews, semi structured and structured questionnaires were conducted among 94 (n=94) undergraduates at the Faculty of Information Technology, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Findings of the study will incorporate the new insights of learner on social media adaption in academic work in meaningful ways. The results of open-ended face to face interviews, semi structured and structured questionnaire demonstrate multiple contextual relationships exist in adaption of social media in formal academic setup. Furthermore, perceptions of undergraduates on social media intervention illustrate the prominent relationship between peer groups, instructors, and learning content. Results of the study indicate that the learners are reluctant to adapt to the traditional learning setups and communication modes, but they appreciate the use of state of art social media connections in learning. Findings will further offer better and important information for both learners and academics to uplift communication, collaboration, and development of conducive learning environments.

The Effect of Undergraduates’ Perception on Career Selection in Tourism and Hospitality Industry

The tourism and hospitality industry is struggling with the issue of attracting and retaining quality educated employees. It has led to a shortage of skilled personnel to staff the growing tourism and hospitality businesses, after the COVID 19 Pandemic. The job turnover rate in the tourism and hospitality sector rose due to the contemporary situation in the world. Especially, the promogulated lockdown and travel ban adversely affected the job security of the employees in the tourism and hospitality sector. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the effect of undergraduates’ perception on career selection in tourism and hospitality industry. A total of 120 undergraduates representing three state universities were selected using stratified sampling method for this study. Primary data was collected via structured questionnaire. Quantitative data analysis methods along with the descriptive, correlation and multiple regressions were utilized to analyze the data using SPSS. Results confirmed that personal factors, educational factors and industrial factors impact on the willingness of career selection in tourism and hospitality industry. Moreover, personal factors are most influential to the career selection of undergraduates. Thus, Universities must enhance the opportunities for practical exposures, attitude development, sign memorandum of understanding, updating curriculum to shape the undergraduate perceptions.

The Effect of Undergraduates’ Perception on Career Selection in Tourism and Hospitality Industry

The tourism and hospitality industry is struggling with the issue of attracting and retaining quality educated employees. It has led to a shortage of skilled personnel to staff the growing tourism and hospitality businesses, after the COVID 19 Pandemic. The job turnover rate in the tourism and hospitality sector rose due to the contemporary situation in the world. Especially, the promogulated lockdown and travel ban adversely affected the job security of the employees in the tourism and hospitality sector. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the effect of undergraduates’ perception on career selection in tourism and hospitality industry. A total of 120 undergraduates representing three state universities were selected using stratified sampling method for this study. Primary data was collected via structured questionnaire. Quantitative data analysis methods along with the descriptive, correlation and multiple regressions were utilized to analyze the data using SPSS. Results confirmed that personal factors, educational factors and industrial factors impact on the willingness of career selection in tourism and hospitality industry. Moreover, personal factors are most influential to the career selection of undergraduates. Thus, Universities must enhance the opportunities for practical exposures, attitude development, sign memorandum of understanding, updating curriculum to shape the undergraduate perceptions.

THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY CLINICAL EXPOSURE MODULE IN UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION

Introduction: In traditional medical curriculum basic science subjects were taught in isolation from clinical subjects. Students would thereby find it difficult to retain concepts in basic sciences, recall and co-relate it when clinical setting was encountered. Early clinical exposure is early authentic patient contact in clinical or social setting which helps to enhance the understanding of health or illness/disease and the role of medical professional. The objective of this study was to study the influence of early clinical exposure for a module on jaundice on undergraduate students and faculty perception.
 Materials and Methods: ECE module on jaundice was introduced for study in first MBBS students. Pre-validated questionnaire was used for data collection and student and faculty perception about the module was evaluated.
 Results: Participating students got better score in post-test (6. 03 + 1.701) as compared with pre-test (5.82+1.701) although the results were not statistically significant. 92% students and faculty positively rated and appraised ECE as a teaching learning tool.
 Conclusion: ECE module on jaundice generated interest in students and could help students co-relate basic science concepts with cases. This could lead to improvement in academic performance and better patient care.
 Keywords: Early clinical exposure; student, faculty perception

Uso do Ensino Híbrido na disciplina Teorias de Aprendizagem: uma experiência no Curso de Pedagogia

As mudanças sociais transformaram as relações humanas, as formas de aprender e ensinar. O Ensino Híbrido ou Blended Learning, modalidade de ensino que combina atividades presenciais e on-line, é uma maneira de adaptar-se a este novo cenário social. O objetivo geral deste artigo é apresentar as percepções de licenciandos de Pedagogia sobre a disciplina Teorias de Aprendizagem na modalidade híbrida. O trabalho revela-se de natureza qualitativa, dos tipos: bibliográfica, exploratória e intervenção pedagógica. Na primeira parte da pesquisa, de caráter exploratório, foi aplicado um questionário (questionário 1) a 23 alunos que cursaram a disciplina no período anterior à intervenção. As respostas evidenciaram: i) a necessidade de mudança das práticas; ii) que o uso das Tecnologias Digitais de Informação e Comunicação poderia tornar as aulas mais interessantes; iii) que Teorias de Aprendizagem é uma disciplina importante na formação do pedagogo. A partir da análise destes dados, foi planejada a segunda parte da pesquisa, que se caracterizou por uma intervenção pedagógica nas aulas da disciplina em questão. Estas aulas passaram a ser mediadas por um Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem, o Schoology, na modalidade Híbrida e utilizando metodologias ativas. Participaram da intervenção 21 alunos do 4º período de Pedagogia. Para coleta de dados, foram utilizados os instrumentos: observação, questionário e grupo focal. Os resultados evidenciam que a intervenção contribuiu para a formação dos participantes, considerando o conhecimento construído sobre as teorias de aprendizagem e as práticas caracterizadas pelos alunos como inovadoras e inspiradoras de seu desenvolvimento profissional ou acadêmico.

동영상 및 실시간 온라인 수업에 대한 학부생의 인식 -국어국문학 전공생의 학년에 따른 차이를 중심으로-

동영상 및 실시간 온라인 수업에 대한 학부생의 인식 -국어국문학 전공생의 학년에 따른 차이를 중심으로-

Important academic interventions for promoting resilience: The perception of construction management undergraduates

Academic institutions play a prominent role in nurturing resilience skills in their graduates especially in fields, such as construction management (CM), which deal with a challenging work environment. Although resilience is a well-established topic in the literature, there is still a paucity of research that examines the importance of academic resilience interventions in the CM discipline. To address this research gap, this study aims to analyse the importance of academic resilience interventions (ARI) from the perception of CM students. First, the literature on ARIs in relevant contexts was reviewed followed by a quantitative survey to obtain the viewpoints of undergraduates undertaking CM programs in Australia. This paper is based on the survey data collected from 105 undergraduate students from five universities. Applying an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), three latent variables were found: (1) industry engagement; (2) raising awareness; and (3) readiness and empowerment to represent the identified ARIs. An importance analysis using the 2D quadrant method revealed that the ARI measures labelled “site visits,” “role model,” and “self-assessment” from the industry engagement aspect (factor1), “role-playing” from the raising awareness aspect (factor2), and “case study” from the readiness and empowerment aspect (factor3) are the most important ARIs from the perception of students. An independent-samples t-test revealed that there is no significant difference between the perception of male and female students on the importance of each ARI. The study provides an enhanced understanding of resilience interventions that can be leveraged for improving the CM curricula.

Undergraduate Perceptions of Economic Problems in Mexico

Without question, changes in U.S. policies have impacts beyond its own borders. This work reports an analysis of how university students perceive Mexico’s economic problems and their sources. The perceptions of younger Mexicans about economic problems are important, especially since young people represent 31% of Mexico’s population. A survey developed by the National Survey GEA-ISA was administered to 200 students in May 2019. The results of this survey show that students believe that their family economy today is vulnerable and will not improve next year, and that the economic outlook last year was better than today. Results also indicate that improvements in macroeconomic variables alone are not enough to generate a perceived improvement in the Mexican economy.

A comparison of learning outcomes from two poverty simulation experiences.

Five nationally representative U.S. federal data sources consistently showed the link between poverty and poor health outcomes. To determine the modality effective in teaching students about poverty and health, this study compared the attitudes toward poverty of students participating in the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) and the poverty table-top simulation (Dwell™). In this quasi-experimental study, undergraduate and graduate nursing students and physical therapy students participated in either CAPS or a table-top simulation (TTS) depending on their semester of enrollment in the relevant course. The Undergraduate Perception of Poverty Tracking Survey (UPPTS) was administered before and after each simulation. The analysis included 118 matched pairs. Using MANOVA tests, the authors found no group difference in the overall change of attitude after the simulations (p=.232). However, by the subscale analyses, TTS significantly increased students' willingness to help (p=.008, η2 =0.058) and their empathy toward those living in poverty (p=.039, η2 =0.039). TTS participants had more elements of improvement, but both modalities were found to change participants' attitudes.