scholarly journals Inquiry-Based Teaching in the College Classroom: The Nontraditional Student

2019 ◽  
Vol 81 (7) ◽  
pp. 479-484
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Kiernan ◽  
Christine Lotter

Science departments in higher education have been adjusting their curricula to include more inquiry-based instruction, and research on inquiry-based teaching at the collegiate level has been increasing. However, more data are needed regarding the effectiveness of inquiry-based pedagogy in improving students' conceptual understanding and attitudes toward science. The investigation described here was focused on nontraditional students taking non-science-major science courses. The goal was to compare students' attitudes toward science before and after taking an inquiry-based or a traditional science course. The hypothesis that the inquiry-based course would significantly generate a more positive attitude toward science was supported. Nontraditional students' perceptions of an effective science curriculum were also explored. Students' perceptions were very positive regarding inquiry-based learning; however, those who had not been previously taught through inquiry-based methods had reserved perceptions of this teaching approach. Regardless of the course they were enrolled in, students agreed overall that an effective science curriculum includes three common themes: connection, interaction, and application.

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Sorge

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship of bonding with nonhuman animals during an interactive, animal-in-the-wild science program (Talking Talons) and the science attitudes of 358 young children between the ages of 8 and 14 Talking Talons utilizes typically wild animals such as raptors, reptiles, and bats in a school-based educational science curriculum. Qualitative data from interviews with students in the program indicated that "bonding with animals" (BWA) and the educators (BWE) within the program were related to increased positive attitudes toward science. The program used quantitative methods to examine these dual relationships—with animals and with educators- on student attitude toward science. The program performed a step-wise multiple regression with "Attitude toward Science" as the dependent variable and "Gender," "Age," and "Bonding with Animals" as independent variables. Both "Bonding with Animals" and "Bonding with the Educator" contributed significantly to prediction of the participants' science attitudes. Altogether 28% of the variance in "Science Attitude" was predicted by both "Gender" and "Age" (10%), "Bonding with Animals" (16%) and "Bonding with Educator" (2%). Bonding with the animals had a large quantifiable relationship with student attitudes toward science.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-60
Author(s):  
Treinienė Daiva

Abstract Nontraditional student is understood as one of the older students enrolled in formal or informal studies. In the literature, there is no detailed generalisation of nontraditional student. This article aims to reveal the concept of this particular group of students. Analysing the definition of nontraditional students, researchers identify the main criteria that allow to provide a more comprehensive concept of the nontraditional student. The main one is the age of these atypical students coming to study at the university, their selected form of studies, adult social roles status characteristics, such as family, parenting and financial independence as well as the nature of work. The described features of the nontraditional student demonstrate how the unconventional nontraditional student is different from the traditional one, which features are characteristic for them and how they reflect the nontraditional student’s maturity and experience in comparison with younger, traditional students. Key features - independence, internal motivation, experience, responsibility, determination. They allow nontraditional students to pursue their life goals, learn and move towards their set goals. University student identity is determined on the basis of the three positions: on the age suitability by social norms, the learning outcomes incorporated with age, on the creation of student’s ideal image. There are four students’ biographical profiles distinguished: wandering type, seeking a degree, intergrative and emancipatory type. They allow to see the biographical origin of nontraditional students, their social status as well as educational features. Biographical profiles presented allow to comprise the nontraditional student’s portrait of different countries. Traditional and nontraditional students’ learning differences are revealed by analysing their need for knowledge, independence, experience, skill to learn, orientation and motivation aspects. To sum up, the analysis of the scientific literature can formulate the concept of the nontraditional student. Nontraditional student refers to the category of 20-65 years of age who enrolls into higher education studies in a nontraditional way, is financially independent, with several social roles of life, studying full-time or part-time, and working full-time or part-time, or not working at all.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 6-6
Author(s):  
Sarah Marrs ◽  
Jennifer Inker ◽  
Madeline McIntyre ◽  
Leland Waters ◽  
Tracey Gendron

Abstract Senior mentoring programs have been established that provide medical students exposure to a community-dwelling older adult mentor. The goal of these programs is to expose students to healthy older adults, increase knowledge of geriatrics, and prepare them to care for an aging population. However, even while participating in a senior mentoring program, health professions students still demonstrate some discriminatory language towards older adults (e.g., Gendron, Inker, & Welleford, 2018). In fact, research suggests ageist practices occur, intentionally or not, among all health professions and within assisted living and long-term care facilities (e.g., Bowling, 1999; Dobbs et al., 2008; Kane & Kane, 2005). There is reason to believe that how we feel about other older adults is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves as aging individuals. As part of an evaluation of a Senior Mentoring program, we found that students’ attitudes towards older adults were not significantly improved (t (92) = .38, p = .70). To further explore this, we collected subsequent qualitative data. Specifically, we asked students to respond to the open-ended prompt before and after completing their senior mentoring program: How do you feel about your own aging? Our findings have revealed just how complex students’ views towards aging and elderhood are, pointing to a need to develop a theoretical framework for how these views are formed. Thus, the results of this qualitative grounded theory study illustrate the stages of development medical students’ progress through as they come to accept themselves as aging humans.


2021 ◽  
pp. 074171362110275
Author(s):  
Stephanie J. Babb ◽  
Katrina A. Rufino ◽  
Ruth M. Johnson

The current study sought to measure how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health and well-being of college students, particularly nontraditional students. Participants ( n = 321) completed a series of surveys assessing their level of depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, insomnia, and well-being. Participants also indicated their nontraditional student characteristics, level of resilience, and additional life stressors due to the pandemic. Statistical analyses found that participants reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and insomnia, with corresponding lower levels of well-being across all students, compared with prepandemic levels. Results showed that while nontraditional students indicated an increased number of life stressors during the pandemic compared with their traditional peers, nontraditional students also demonstrated higher levels of resilience. Nontraditional students appear to be more successful at managing stressful life events due to the increased resilience that comes with age and experience, which can better prepare them to persevere and overcome challenges.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-236
Author(s):  
Yela Purnama Sari ◽  
Herman Lusa ◽  
Ansyori Gunawan

This study aimed to find the effect of using monopoli game media towards learning result on social science major at fourth grade of SDN Gugus 15 Kota Bengkulu. This research is quantitative, using experiment method, with The Matching Only Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design. The instrument used was test sheet in multiple choice form. The test was taken two times, before and after giving treatening to the sample class. The sample in this research was the students in IVB of SDN 76 Kota Bengkulu (control group) and the students in IV of SDN 104 Kota Bengkulu (experimental group). The t value gotten was (3,668) > ttable (1,668). The result of t value was higher than t table, so it can be concluded that there are significant effect of using monopoli game media towards learning result on social science major at fourth grade SDN Gugus 15 Kota Bengkulu.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Ghadah Fahad Alzaidi

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of memory strategies (MSs)in improving students' ability to recall and spell newly learned vocabulary items. The researcheronly considered three types of MSs: grouping, placing new words in to a context and structuredreviewing. In addition, the study used a questionnaire that explored students' attitudes towardsMSs in general, and towards the specific MSs that they have been trained to use, as well as therelationship between MSs and motivation and between MSs and anxiety. intact groups (63 students in total) were selected from level three of the College of Languages and Translation (COLT) at King Saud University (KSU), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two groups were assigned to the experimental group (36 students) and the control group(27students). The control group received traditional instruction that depended on the textbook without any MS training, whereas the experimental group received a combination of traditional instruction and MS training. A pre- and post-test were administered to both groups before and after the experiment to examine students' ability to recall the meaning of vocabulary items and their ability to spell them correctly. The experiment lasted for fourteen weeks through which the participants received seven MS training sessions. The study found out that MS training was effective in improving students' ability to recall the meaning of vocabulary items when needed and their ability to spell them correctly. Moreover, the results showed that the subjects of the experimental group showed positive attitude towards MSs and most of them agreed on the positive effect that MSs had on raising their motivation and reducing their anxiety while learning vocabulary.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Милан Јовановић

In this paper we survey and analyse the results from the project dedicated to the question – do logic courses influence students attitude concerning logic, and if they do, in which way? Our main prediction was that the logic courses do significantly influence relevant students’ beliefs, and that influence (or the change) varies depending on the theoretical direction of the course in question. The method of our empirical inquiry was test-based examination of students’ attitudes towards specific claims. We conduct the testing twice, before and after students have went through the relevant courses, and then compared the tests. Results, although different from hypothesis to hypothesis, do generally support the conclusion that logic courses influence relevant students’ beliefs, and they typically do so in accordance to the theoretical direction of the given courses syllabuses.


Author(s):  
Josiane Mukagihana ◽  
Catherine M Aurah ◽  
Florien Nsanganwimana

A positive attitude correlates to successful learning; while a negative attitude leads to poor learning. The present study aimed to compare the pre-service biology teachers’ attitudes towards learning biology and assessing their attitudinal change before and after being taught by resource-based instructions (RBI) in Rwanda. A survey-research design was used, in combination with a quasi-experimental control group, and the equivalent time-series designs. Pre-service biology teachers were taught at a public university in three separate groups, with one control group and two experimental groups. Each group received a pre-attitude and a post-attitude assessment. In contrast, at a private university, they were taught as a single group, in a series of instructions, starting with the lecture method, followed by animation-based instruction and small- group laboratory activities, in which at each stage, the pre-service biology teachers received the same assessment. The biology Attitudinal Scale showed a Cronbach alpha reliability of 0.625 before its use. The data were analyzed quantitatively; and the results revealed no statistically significant difference between the public and the private pre-service teachers’ attitudes before learning microbiology. After the teaching interventions, the results revealed that both the traditional and the resource-based instructions improved the pre-service biology teachers’ attitudes towards learning biology, as a result of their improved maturity and their anticipated future teaching career.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document