scholarly journals Nutrition Tea Club; engaging students in reading scientific papers.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellie Cameron ◽  
Rania Hamdi ◽  
Aisha Idowu ◽  
Hilda Mulrooney
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Formal Learning ◽  
Noisy Environment ◽  
Research Partnership ◽  
Core Skill ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Academic Year

Many students do not engage with reading the scientific literature, which is a core skill in undergraduate students. The learning environment has an important impact upon learning. It was postulated that taking reading out of the formal learning environment might impact upon students’ willingness to engage with the literature, and confidence in doing so. A staff-student research partnership initiative funded by Kingston University allowed this hypothesis to be tested. Three Tea Club sessions, informal drop-in reading sessions were offered in a student-owned space within the Students’ Union. Refreshments were supplied, aiming for a ‘coffee house’ feel. Although the numbers of students who engaged with the Tea Club were small, evaluations were positive. In particular students valued the opportunity for peer learning. However the chosen environment was too noisy. Future sessions will be offered within a different, less noisy environment with facilities for refreshments, and will be offered throughout the academic year to facilitate student engagement.Keywords: Learning environment, peer support, extracurricular, scientific reading

Student Perspectives on Distraction and Engagement in the Synchronous Remote Classroom

2022 ◽  
pp. 243-266
Author(s):  
Noah Q. Cowit ◽  
Lecia J. Barker
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Role Strain ◽  
Student Perspectives ◽  
Physical Environments ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
Remote Learning

Synchronous remote learning was adopted widely due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. To many educators and students, this was a new medium through which distraction could take place. The research described in this chapter investigates students' perceptions surrounding their engagement and distraction in the synchronous remote learning environment long after the chaos of the 2020 shutdown had eased. Drawing on 32 one-hour interviews conducted during the 2020-21 academic year of undergraduate students in remote classes, data were grouped into three major themes: social presence, cognitive load, and virtual and physical environments. These themes are described in depth in this chapter through discussion of interviewees' quotations. This study provides a nuanced view of students' experiences with synchronous remote learning and contributes to the theory of role strain.

scholarly journals Improving students’ learning environment by DREEM: an educational experiment in an Iranian medical sciences university (2011–2016)

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Bakhshialiabad ◽  
Golnaz Bakhshi ◽  
Zahra Hashemi ◽  
Amirhosein Bakhshi ◽  
Faroukh Abazari
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Educational Environment ◽  
Male Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The One ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Academic Year

Abstract Background Students’ perception of the educational setting is an important source for improving and applying changes to the educational environment. In this study, we reassessed undergraduate students’ perception of the educational environment at two colleges of RUMS-Iran in the academic years of 2011 and 2016. Methods In the present prospective study, the DREEM inventory consisted of seven courses for undergraduate paramedical and nursing-midwifery students (n = 982). After the first stage, educational seminars and workshops were set up for academic members and faculty staff on deficiencies and the ideal climate for optimizing the educational environment. The results of students’ responses in 2011 were compared with those assessed in 2016. For the data analysis, the independent t-test and the one-way ANOVA were utilized. Results In the academic year of 2010–2011, the DREEM inventory scored 115.33/200 (57.66%); it also scored 123.47/200 (60.7%) in the academic year of 2015–2016 (p ≤ 0.01). There was an interesting feeling about the first-year education, and female students felt a more positively perceived learning environment during all courses than male students at both stages of the study. There were significant positive differences (2 to 7%) in all domains of the components of DREEM in all courses between the academic year of 2010–2011 and the academic year of 2015–2016, showing that the DREEM score had changed and increased (p < 0.05), in the latter case. Conclusions Positive differences were observed in DREEM scores between the two stages of the study. DREEM helped reduce the areas of deficiencies in students’ perception of many aspects of the educational environment. It also helped identify problematic areas in the improvement. In addition, DREEM could be used to optimize and make modifications to the educational environment.

scholarly journals Pronunciation Errors of Letter “G” in English Language Made by Saudi Undergraduate Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huda Alqunayeer
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Academic Year

The primary goal of the present study is to identify the problematic areas in the pronunciation of the letter “g” in English written words made by Saudi female learners of English as a foreign language, and the reasons for the weakness associated with mispronunciation of English written words which contain this letter. The population of the study was the female students (90 students) and their English language teachers (12 teachers) at the Qassim University during the academic year (2014-2015). There were two types of instruments used in this study. The first was a pronunciation test for the student participants in order to investigate the problematic areas of pronouncing “g” in different environments in different words; and the second a questionnaire for the teacher participants to provide comprehensive data about the causes of these errors of pronouncing “g” committed by EFL female students at Qassim University. Ninety female students were included for the pronunciation test and 12 teachers were asked to answer the questionnaire. Simple percentage was used for analyzing the data of recording words (pronunciation test). Results of the students’ recording words revealed that the participants mispronounced “g” before nasals (68%). According to the results of the teachers’ responses to the questionnaire suggested many factors that can cause difficulties for students in terms of pronouncing “g” in English written words. According to them, these difficulties are concerned with reading difficulties, nonstandard spellings, letters that follow “g” (many of them may become combinations), loan words, orthography (no correspondence between the English alphabets and their sounds). The researcher offers recommendations that might help teachers and students to overcome and reduce these mispronunciations of this letter in English written words.

scholarly journals Perceived Academic Competence Among Arab Open University Students (Sultanate of Oman): الكفاءة الأكاديمية المُدركة لدى طلبة الجامعة العربية المفتوحة (سلطنة عُمان)

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (31) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamed Hamood Al-Ghafri, Amal Saleem Mohammed Al-shabibi, Lai
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
University Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Competence ◽  
Business Administration ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
Open University ◽  
Sultanate Of Oman ◽  
Academic Year

The research aimed to identify the level of perceived academic competence among Arab Open University students (Sultanate of Oman) and to identify the extent of the difference of the perceived level of academic competence according to the variables of specialization (Information Technology and Business Administration) and academic level (freshman and sophomore) and the interface between them. The research used the descriptive method and the Perceived Academic Competence scale to achieve the goals of the study and answer its questions, an indicator related to the extent of students' perception and awareness of their ability to achieve academic success. It consists of (9) scales applied to an intentional sample of (94) male and female students of AOU. The research has concluded that the general average of the perceived academic competence of the Arab Open University students in Business Administration and Information Technology for the first and second year amounted to (3.85) and this indicates that the study sample has a high degree of perceived academic competence. There were no statistically significant differences in the level of perceived academic competence according to the variables of specialization and academic year level. The results also indicated that there is no interface between the specialization and the academic year level. Rendering to the results, several recommendations and proposals were presented to improve the academic competence of university students and the general undergraduate students in the Sultanate of Oman and the Arab countries.

scholarly journals The Academic Freedom among the Students at the Hashemite University: الحرية الأكاديمية لدى طلبة الجامعة الهاشمية

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (30) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abd AlKhaleq Muhammad Al-Zyoud
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Academic Level ◽  
Study Results ◽  
High Level ◽  
The University ◽  
Hashemite University ◽  
Senior Students ◽  
Academic Year

This study aimed at exploring the level of academic freedom at the Hashemite University in Jordan from the perspective of the undergraduate students, and whether there are impacts of the students’ gender, academic level, or specialization. The sample consisted of (376) undergraduate students (111 male, 265 female), who are registered at the university for the first semester of the academic year 2019/2020, from all faculties of the Hashemite University. The results showed that 25.5% of participants perceived a high level of academic freedom, 57.2% of participants perceived a moderate level, and 17.3% of them perceived a low level. Significant differences were found due to academic level; academic freedom perceived level among senior students was higher than all other years (freshmen, sophomores and juniors), but no significant differences were found due to students’ gender, or specialization. In light of the study results, the researcher recommends a number of recommendations such as: raising the awareness about the academic freedom among the students, faculty members, and the staff the Jordanian universities, conducting survey studies that measure the level of academic freedom among the students at various Jordanian universities, Supporting the academic freedom of the students at the institutions of higher education through deliberate and planned initiatives.

scholarly journals Pedagogical Stylistics as a Tool in the Classroom: An Investigation of EFL Undergraduate Students' Ability in Analyzing Poetic Language

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Eman Adil Jaafar ◽  
Fatimah Khudair Hassoon
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Literary Language ◽  
Teaching Literature ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Literary Awareness ◽  
Academic Year

This research paper draws on applying the tools of pedagogical stylistics in teaching literature in particular poetry to English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduate Iraqi students. The language of literature is rich with social context, exquisite deviant forms, and vocabulary. This paper aims at examining to what extent pedagogical stylistics can be helpful in increasing students' literary awareness. In addition, to examine how it can help them to interpret and analyze selected poems that have been chosen for them to achieve this goal. For the purpose of gathering the required data a pre-test and a post-test are conducted. Verdonk's (2013) approach is adopted in teaching stylistic tools to the students. The participants were (40) second-year students of the academic year 2018-2017 from University of Baghdad, Iraq. Moreover, a questionnaire is distributed to know students' opinions about studying stylistics. The final results proved that (1-) pedagogical stylistics tools are of great significance to pay heed to the language of poetry or literary language in general, (2-)the questionnaire shows that most agreed on studying stylistics in the classroom. Thus, this study highly recommends that teachers of literary subjects should focus on stylistic tools in teaching literary texts.

scholarly journals Transforming the Learning Environment of Undergraduate Physics Laboratories to Enhance Physics Inquiry Processes

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory P. Thomas ◽  
Al Meldrum ◽  
John Beamish
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Early Years ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Physics Laboratory ◽  
Physics Classes ◽  
Mixed Method Design ◽  
Physics Laboratories ◽  
First Time ◽  
Academic Year

Concerns persist regarding the lack of promotion of students’ scientific inquiry processes in undergraduate physics laboratories. The consensus in the literature is that, especially in the early years of undergraduate physics programs, students’ laboratory work is characterized by recipe type, step-by-step instructions for activities where the aim is often confirmation of an already well-established physics principle or concept. In response to evidence reflecting these concerns at their university, the authors successfully secured funding for this study. A mixed-method design was employed. In the 2011/2012 academic year baseline data were collected. A quantitative survey, the Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Learning Environment Scale (UPLLES) was developed, validated, and used to explore students’ perceptions of their physics laboratory environments. Analysis of data from the UPLLES and from interviews confirmed the concerns evident in the literature and in a previous evaluation of laboratories undertaken in 2002. To address these concerns the activities that students were to perform in the laboratory section of the course/s were re/designed to engage students in more inquiry oriented thinking and activity. In Fall 2012, the newly developed laboratory activities and tutorials, were implemented for the first time in PHYS124; a first year course. These changes were accompanied by structured training of teaching assistants and changes to the structure of the evaluation of students’ laboratory performance. At the end of that term the UPLLES was administered (n = 266) and interviews with students conducted (n = 16) to explore their perceptions of their laboratory environments. Statistically significant differences (p<.001) between the students in the PHYS 124 classes of 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 across all dimensions were found. Effect sizes of 0.82 to 1.3, between the views of students in the first semester physics classes of 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, were also calculated suggesting positive changes in the laboratory inquiry orientation. In their interviews, students confirmed and detailed these positive changes while still noting areas for future improvement.

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