scholarly journals Exploring Rural Engineering Students’ College-Choice Process at Two Land-Grant Universities

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 28-44
Author(s):  
Rachel Worsham ◽  
Ashley Clayton ◽  
Joy Gaston Gayles

This qualitative case study examines the college choice decisions of rural students enrolled in engineering majors to understand what conditions and experiences led rural students to pursue engineering at their institution. We found four themes that help illuminate rural engineering students’ college choice journeys (1) The Inextricable Nature of College, Major, and Career Choice (2) “The Smart Person Thing to Do:” The Power of Prestige, (3) “Are You Sure You Don’t Want to Change your Major?” Dissonance Between Aspirations and Expectations, and (4) School and Community as Crucial Resources in College and Major Exploration. These findings have implications for those working with rural high school students seeking engineering degrees and admissions processes at four-year colleges and universities.

Author(s):  
Sankara Pitchaiah Podila ◽  
Nazia Sultana

Liking and Disliking towards a subject is a common feature among the high school students. Some students feel easy about some subjects and tough about some other. The response was taken from 2743 students, studying 8th to 10th classes (Rural: 869 and Urban: 1874) in Government High schools of Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. The study found that High percent of rural students are Poor in almost all the subjects, except Natural Science compared to the urban students. In both cases, Telugu subject is easy for them. High percent of rural students disliking all the subjects compared to the urban.


Guiding rural students on the path towards a STEM career requires a tripartite approach that addresses career decidedness, career thoughts, and vocational maturity. The authors provide an overview of a guided career exploration model employed by Project Engage. Through guided career exploration, rural students are introduced to the multitude of career possibilities in STEM as well as the knowledge and skills needed for those careers. Additionally, this chapter reviews the outreach component of Project Engage. Outreach to students from local high schools serves both as a recruitment tool and as a means to motivate rural students to pursue STEM as a college major. Finally, the authors present data from surveys regarding the effectiveness of the outreach activities on engaging high school students in STEM.


2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phitsamay Uy

In the world of K–12 education, the growing numbers of dropouts are a major concern. This article examines the dropout rates of Chinese and Vietnamese high school students. Using logistic regression analysis, this article examines the influence of ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) on dropout rates. The distinct contribution of this analysis lies within the intraethnic comparisons within the Asian American student population and its use of longitudinal data. The results of the study support existing research that gender and SES are related to dropout rates. Moreover, an interesting interaction between ethnicity and SES exists.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rochelle Alison Duke

<p>Portfolio learning has been utilised in education for many years and a natural development in today's digital environment has been the move from paper to electronic portfolios (e-portfolios). The development of e-portfolios in New Zealand has also been driven by two forces- the emerging view that e-portfolios can be an effective way to support constructivist approaches to learning and help develop students into 'lifelong learners' ; and the beliefs about today's digital environment and the way in which students should and do operate within this. In many ways, e-portfolio research is a relatively young field of study and much of the research that has been conducted has occurred in the tertiary environment and related to the perceptions of the instructor or technologist. In an attempt to add depth to current e-portfolio research, this study made use of a mixed-methods, descriptive case study approach in order to focus on the perceptions of a group of high school students and the way in which they experienced using the e-portfolio application MyPortfolio for the first time. Key findings of this study focus on the way in which students experienced using MyPortfolio and the fact that although it is often claimed that e-portfolio tools can be effective in helping developing reflective thinking in students, overall, the students in this study predominately saw MyPortfolio as a tool to organise and process knowledge rather than something that could help them to engage in 'deep learning'. The experiences and perceptions of the students in this study also challenged ideas about how much students want to use ICT within the school environment and this study suggests that increased use of ICT can lead to students missing the social interaction that usually occurs within the classroom. In a similar vein, the students in this study also challenged the idea of the 'digital native' and their experiences suggest that, as with any area of learning, students' skills with using ICT varied greatly. The way that the students in this study made use of MyPortfolio also demonstrates the fact that although e-portfolio tools such as MyPortfolio offer students the opportunity to engage in reflective learning, they do not necessarily undertake this naturally. Finally, the findings of this study highlight the role of the teacher in supporting effective use of ICT for learning.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-141
Author(s):  
Anida Fadhilah Jati ◽  
Endang Fauziati ◽  
Agus Wijayanto

A conducive learning situation is essential in learning English. However, one problem that usually disturbs the learning situation is the appearance of disruptive behavior. Students' disruptive behavior is an inappropriate behavior conducted by students during the learning process which turns the classroom into unconducive. Exactly, there are several factors contribute to the occurrence of disruptive behavior in the English lesson, especially on senior high school students. Thus, the current study was a case study aimed to investigate several causes of students' disruptive behavior in English teaching-learning process in the classroom. The subjects of this study consisted of an English teacher and a class of twelfth-grade students in a small town in Indonesia. The data were collected using observation and interview. The result of this study showed that students' disruptive behavior in the English classroom was caused by internal factor and external factor. Feeling boredom, feeling anxiety, and seeking attention were internal factor that became the occurrence of disruptive behavior. While fatigue was the external factor that causes the emergence of students' disruptive behavior in the English teaching-learning process in the classroom.             Keywords Disruptive Behavior, English Classroom, Senior High School Students, Teachers’ Management


Author(s):  
Muhamad Taufik Hidayat

Teacher’s personal trait is critical because it may ominously affect students’ motivation in learning. However, some teachers remain unaware of its significance. It was evident in the students’ statements stating that they often had to learn with moody teachers who, as a result, ruined their learning motivation. The present study aims to explore the students’ perspectives on the EFL teacher’s personalities that influence the students’ motivation. To achieve the objective, the study utilized case study design in which the data were collected through semi-structured interview conducted to six senior high school students. The data were then analyzed by following Miles and Huberman’s (1994) framework. The results showed that all respondents shared agreement on the teacher’s personalities that they prefered. They felt happy and motivated when they learned with humble, friendly, kind, caring, patient, and humorous teachers. The results of this study may help the EFL teachers consider their personality as one of the vital aspects that could affect the students’ learning motivation. EFL teachers should pay more attention to their attitudes towards the students. In addition, the results suggest that policy makers should formulate rules that encourage teachers to not only focus on their hard skills but also their soft skills such as good personalities.  


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