Associations between occupational therapy students’ academic performance and their study approaches and perceptions of the learning environment

Background Relationships between students’ academic performance and their employed study approaches have been studied extensively. However, research using study approaches and learning environment factors as concurrent predictors of academic performance is sparse. There is a need to disentangle the potentially interrelated influences of individual and contextual factors on students’ academic performance. Objective This study aimed to increase the understanding of the associations between occupational therapy students’ academic performance, and their approaches to studying, perceptions of the learning environment, and sociodemographic characteristics. Method A cross-sectional study was designed, and 174 first-year students completed the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students and the Course Experience Questionnaire, in addition to background information. Data on grades were collected from the data registries of each education institution, and associations were analyzed by multiple linear regression. Results None of the learning environment scales were associated with grades. Adjusting for all variables, better exam results were associated with being female (β = 0.22, p < 0.01) and having higher scores on strategic approach (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) and lower scores on surface approach (β = -0.20, p < 0.01). Conclusion The study suggests that students with a desire for obtaining good grades ought to use strategic study behaviors and avoid using surface approach behaviors. While it is important to ensure good quality of the learning environment for a variety of reasons, the learning environment did not contribute significantly to explain the students’ academic performance.

Using the Course Experience Questionnaire to Assess UAE Students’ Perceptions of their Learning Environment

The quality of the learning environment has a significant impact on students’ ability to achieve their learning goals. Therefore, this paper aims to examine students’ perceptions of their learning environment in an Arab learning context. The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ), as an international benchmark, was used with a random sample of students at a public university in the United Arab Emirates. Participants were 623 students (505 females and 118 males) aged between 20 and 28 years. They were asked to complete the CEQ during their professional development seminars immediately before graduation. The results show strong reliability for the CEQ (Cronbach’s alpha = .90). The students had positive perceptions on the six CEQ subscales, with Good Teaching scoring the highest and Appropriate Workload the lowest. The findings support the use of the CEQ as a benchmark of teaching effectiveness outside the Western World. Despite the widespread use of the CEQ around the world, it is not commonly used in the Arab learning context. Therefore, this paper makes a valuable contribution towards further validating the CEQ as a benchmark of quality in higher education in the Arab world.

Associations between occupational therapy students’ academic performance and their study approaches and perceptions of the learning environment

Background: Relationships between students’ academic performance and their employed study approaches have been studied extensively. However, research using study approaches and learning environment factors as concurrent predictors of academic performance is sparse. There is a need to disentangle the potentially interrelated influences of individual and contextual factors on students’ academic performance. Objective: This study aimed to increase the understanding of the associations between occupational therapy students’ academic performance, and their approaches to studying and perceptions of the learning environment. Method: A cross-sectional study was designed, and 174 first-year students completed the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students and the Course Experience Questionnaire, in addition to background information. Data on grades were collected from the data registries of each education institution, and associations were analyzed by multiple linear regression. Results: None of the learning environment scales were associated with grades. Adjusting for all variables, better exam results were associated with being female (β = 0.22, p < 0.01) and having higher scores on strategic approach (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) and lower scores on surface approach (β = -0.20, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The study suggests that students with a desire for obtaining good grades ought to use strategic study behaviors and avoid using surface approach behaviors. While it is important to ensure good quality of the learning environment for a variety of reasons, the learning environment did not contribute significantly to explain the students’ academic performance.

Marketing Student Perceptions of Academic Program Quality and Relationships to Surface, Deep, and Strategic Learning Approaches

A substantial body of empirical research outside of the marketing education literature indicates that students adopt surface, deep, or strategic learning approaches based on their learning environment, among other factors. Using the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory and the Course Experience Questionnaire, this exploratory research examines upper-level marketing majors’ learning approaches, their perceptions of the overall academic quality of their program of study, and the relationships between those two sets of indicators. Findings from 345 senior-level marketing students indicate the heaviest use of the strategic approach, followed by the deep approach, and then the surface approach. Results also suggest that strategic and deep learning approaches are associated with higher perceptions of the quality of the academic program. Surface learning is the least preferred approach and negatively associated with the perception of academic program quality and satisfaction with academic achievement. Recommendations are offered for reaching strategic learners.

Studentovo hodnocení výuky: validace a adaptace dotazníku CEQ pro podmínky českých vysokých škol

Cílem příspěvku je seznámit s průběhem a výsledky validace a adaptace dotazníku CEQ (Course Experience Questionnaire) a diskutovat jeho využitelnost v aktuálních podmínkách českých vysokých škol. Originální verze dotazníku vznikla na základě intenzivních výzkumů učení studentů koncem 80. let v Austrálii a v současné době je jedním z celosvětově nejužívanějších nástrojů pro hodnocení kvality výuky studentem v terciárním vzdělávání. Vzhledem k aktuální potřebě českých vysokých škol realizovat autoevaluační procesy s použitím validních a spolehlivých nástrojů považujeme ověření psychometrických vlastností dotazníku a jeho adaptaci za jedno z možných řešení. V úvodní části textu je nastíněn kontext a okolnosti vzniku australského originálu včetně teoretických koncepcí, které se staly jeho základem. Proces adaptace a validace byl realizován na Pedagogické fakultě Univerzity Hradec Králové (PdF UHK) a proběhl ve dvou fázích kombinujících kvalitativní a kvantitativní přístup. V prvním kroku proběhla ohnisková skupina se studenty s cílem ověřit soulad mezi pojetím kvality výuky u českých studentů a zaměřením dotazníku. Následně byl přeložený dotazník administrován 661 studentům učitelství z PdF UHK a ověřován z hlediska konstruktové a kriteriální validity a reliability. Analýzy potvrdily originální pětifaktorovou strukturu dotazníku a uspokojivou vnitřní konzistenci všech škál. Výsledky jsou diskutovány a vztaženy ke zjištění zahraničních autorů i ke kontextu příležitostí a omezení pro používání v českém prostředí. V závěru je upozorněno na limity studie a jsou naznačeny další možné směry úprav.