Even before COVID-19, literacy graduate coursework was increasingly offered online, replacing the traditional campus-based courses This study investigated how graduate literacy students perceive coursework in an online learning environment. This understanding is important because (a) student perceptions regarding online learning are critical to motivation and learning; and (b) faculty designing courses need to consider student voice in course development. This survey research queried literacy master’s degree candidates their perceptions prior to and after taking online classes, their confidence levels using technology, and about the technological tools that have impacted their learning. Results indicated initial perceptions of online learning changed positively after engagement in coursework, but course design influenced collaboration and engagement. Statistical significance was found in changes in initial perceptions of online learning to a more positive overall feelings toward online learning. The results of this study raise important considerations for implementing online coursework for literacy graduate students.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to compare the ways high school instrumental teachers and high school vocal teachers teach musicianship skills. The study also compares secondary music teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of their teaching of musicianship skills with college students' perceptions of how effectively they were taught these skills. I examined how instructional time, teaching methodology, and availability of small-group and private lessons factor into (1) teacher perception of student understanding of musicianship, and; (2) college students' perception of remembered musicianship education experienced while in high school. I distributed a survey designed to examine the pedagogy of specific musicianship skills. This survey was sent to 75 vocal teachers and 75 instrumental teachers who teach ensemble music classes (band, orchestra, and choir) in urban and suburban areas in Pennsylvania. A similar measure designed to examine college students' remembered perception of the effectiveness of their high school musicianship education was sent to 150 vocal college music majors and 150 instrumental college music majors in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The survey was designed for students and instructors to rate musicianship training using a five point Likert-type scale and a six point Likert-type scale. The skills assessed included: reading notation from treble and bass clefs; sight-reading and sight-singing; recognizing and interpreting music symbols; identifying key signatures and time signatures; working independently on a musical task; and recognizing and performing dynamics, articulations, and common tempo markings. Data were analyzed using a Chi-square test to determine what, if any, significant results negating the null hypothesis are present. / Music Education

The COVID-19 pandemic, known as the coronavirus, was declared as a national pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020 (Cucinotta and Vanelli, 2020). Following the declaration of a national pandemic, institutions across society were forced to respond. Among those most immediately impacted, were colleges and universities. Higher education faculty and administrators transitioned in-person courses to an online format to adjust to the restrictions of coronavirus. As a result, college students around the world experienced a sudden shift to taking an entire semester of courses in an unfamiliar online format. The pandemic served as a catalyst to a trend over the last 2 years to provide access to a growing number of online courses. Given this drastic change and the unprecedented future of higher education during uncertain times, it was imperative to further study the nature of quality in online courses. While research on quality in higher education is extensive, a significant gap in literature exists related to students' perspectives of quality, particularly in online courses. To address this gap, I used the Community of Inquiry framework (CoI) (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, 2000) and related survey to explore aspects that contribute to perceptions of online education quality. The study investigated how undergraduate students at a large public research institution perceived the importance of elements of the CoI Framework. The data analyses included independent sample t tests, one-way ANOVAs, and regression. The results revealed that course pedagogy does affect students' perceptions of online quality. However, student characteristics do not affect students' perceptions of quality for online courses in Higher Education. / Doctor of Philosophy / It is important to understand quality in higher education because of its economic and social value. Gaining a deeper understanding into how students perceive quality is crucial, since they are the main consumer group of higher education. As a result of COVID-19, which was declared a national pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020 (Cucinotta and Vanelli, 2020), all higher education institutions were forced to transition courses to an online format. Due to the prevalence of online courses, quality of online courses became a primary focus for educational leaders. This study sought to better understand how students who are members of a single academic college at a large public university perceive the quality of online courses. The 145 participants in this study completed the online Community of Inquiry survey, which had an estimated 10–15-minute completion time. The survey contained 34 Likert scale questions related to students' experiences in an online course they have taken within the past academic year. This quantitative study utilized the Community of Inquiry framework which creates a deep and meaningful quality learning experience in online courses. (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, 2000). The results of this study revealed that course pedagogy does affect students' perceptions of online quality. This study also found that student characteristics do not affect students' perceptions of quality for online courses in higher education.

Providing students with meaningful written feedback is a difficult task that teachers must perform in an ESL classroom. Although many studies have looked at written feedback in terms of directness, criticism, and suggestions, very few studies have examined praise in the form of written feedback and what students' perceptions of praise are. To determine the effect that praise has on ESL students, we examined student responses to two praise types given student proficiency levels and cultural backgrounds. In this study, 109 students from an intensive English Program participated in a survey that asked for opinions on person and performance praise comments. In addition, three different focus groups were conducted to complement the findings of the surveys. Results showed that students in lower proficiency levels saw praise as valuable and change-invoking. In addition, students of Romance cultures seemed to appreciate praise more than those of Asian cultures. An interaction effect also showed that high proficiency Asian students viewed praise as less kind, valuable, positive, and clear than low and high proficiency level Romance students. In the quantitative data, students didn’t seem to notice the difference in praise type, but comments from the focus groups demonstrated that students noticed a difference between the two and preferred performance praise over person praise. This study can help teachers and administrators develop an informed praise philosophy and recognize which type of praise is best for their particular group of students while examining proficiency level and cultural background.

Since the time of Pythagoras, philosophers, educators, and researchers have theorized that connections exist between music and mathematics. While there is little doubt that engaging in musical or mathematical activities stimulates brain activity at high levels and that increased student involvement fosters a greater learning environment, several questions remain to determine if musical stimulation actually improves mathematic performance. This study took a qualitative approach that allowed 24 high school students to express their direct experiences with music and mathematics, as well as their perceptions of how the two fields are related. Participants were divided into four equal groups based on school music participation and level of mathematic achievement, as determined by their performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). Students participated in a series of three interviews addressing their experiences in both music and mathematics, and took the Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scales (MIDAS). TAKS data and MIDAS information were triangulated with interview findings. Using a multiple intelligence lens, this study addressed the following questions: (a) How do students perceive themselves as musicians and mathematicians? (b) What experiences do students have in the fields of music and mathematics? (c) Where do students perceive themselves continuing in the fields of music and mathematics? and (d) How do students perceive the fields of music and mathematics relating to each other? Contrary to most existing literature, the students who perceived a connection between the two fields saw mathematics driving a deeper understanding of the musical element of rhythm. Not surprisingly, students with rich backgrounds in music and mathematics had a higher perception of the importance of those fields. Further, it became readily apparent that test data often played a minimal role in shaping student perceptions of themselves in the field of mathematics. Finally, it became apparent from listening to the experiences of high school students, there are many growth areas for schools in order to meet the needs of their students.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to give an in-depth description of the perceptions of students educated exclusively in rural, unit schools in East Tennessee. Specific areas addressed in the study included: (a) students’ perceptions and descriptions of their perspective schools; (b) feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the schooling experience; (c) relationships formed with students and adults; and (d) feelings of belonging or ownership; (e) students’ perceptions about the quality of education they have received; and (f) students’ comparisons of their school to other secondary schools. The data were gathered through the process of the long interview with open-ended questions with eighteen juniors who had been educated in rural, unit schools in East Tennessee for the entirety of their educational experiences. The intent of the analysis was to utilize the direct quotes of the students whenever possible to present a clear representation of the students’ individual perceptions or “life-world.” The findings of the study indicated some overall commonalities, specifically in students’ satisfaction with their schooling experiences, the strong relationships developed among the unit school family, a sense of belonging at the schools, and feelings of ownership. The students generally perceived that they had received a high quality education, but had recommendations for improvement. The students also perceived their schools as unique, in terms of the closeness, smallness, pride in their schools, the personal environment of the schools, and a family-like nature. The results of this study should prove pertinent in the field of education and particularly to individuals involved in small school research and unit schooling.

This study involved examining differences and similarities between the learning environment perceptions of students attending the Computer Science department and the Management department at an information technology university in Jakarta, Indonesia. In doing so, the study investigated which types of learning environments were most likely to strengthen student outcomes in computer-related courses and identify ways in which the university could enhance the teaching and learning process.The study examined whether relationships exist between students' cognitive and affective outcomes and four productivity factors: the learning environment; the quality of teacher-student interactions; students' aptitude; and students' motivation to select their chosen subject. To measure the four productivity factors, 422 students from 12 classes were asked to respond to four questionnaires that were modified to suit tertiary-level computing students: (1) the What is Happening in this Class? questionnaire (WIHIC) to measure students' perceptions of the learning environment, (2) the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) to measure students' perceptions of the student-teacher interaction; (3) the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) to measure the students' aptitude; and (4) a scale that was developed to measure students' motivation towards their course. To measure students' cognitive outcomes, information was retrieved from the university database and, to measure students' attitudes towards their computer-related subjects, four modified scales from the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) were used.Each of the instruments was found to be valid and reliable in the Indonesian language for use at the university level in terms of factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and ability to differentiate between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. These instruments ++ / provide a, means by which lecturers can monitor their classroom environments, their lecturer interaction behaviour and their students' logical thinking, motivation and attitudes. Generally, it was found that computer science students perceived the classroom environments more favourably than management students. These findings related to departmental differences at the university level provide insights into how students from different departments perceive the learning environment. Also, the study pointed to departmental differences in students' logical thinking which could influence the types of learning environment that suit students from different departments. Departmental differences in students' perceptions of the lecturer-student interpersonal behaviour suggest that lecturers should take note that the personal relationships which they build and the ways in which they treat students.

This study investigated the relationship between students’ perceptions of learning environments and their attitude to science in Australian secondary schools. It focussed on teacher support and equity in the lower secondary school years of 8, 9, and 10. Teacher Support and Equity are two of the five scales of the What Is Happening In this Class (WIHIC) questionnaire. The scale to measure Attitude to Science was drawn from the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA). Using the statistical package SPSS, gender differences and year level differences were examined for each of the scales. Results showed that the females rated the scales of Teacher Support and Equity more highly than did the males but the males had a more positive attitude to science than did the females. The Year 9 students were considerably less positive than those from years 8 and 10 on all three scales. Of the three scales, Equity received the highest rating across all the groups, while Attitude scored the lowest. Regression analysis showed statistically significant and positive associations between Attitude to Science and the Teacher Support and Equity scales. These results were consistent when tested separately for the male and female students, and for each of the year levels. To gain insights into science teaching and learning from a teacher’s perspective, one primary teacher, two high school teachers, and one pre-service teacher were interviewed. Their comments were found to support the quantitative results in that they agreed that teacher actions or inactions within the learning environment would affect the students’ attitude to science. / They expressed the view that students needed to feel able to ask questions without criticism and receive the help they needed to progress, which corresponded to the Teacher Support scale. They also felt that it was not appropriate for teachers to favour any group of students over any other, thus supporting the concept of the Equity scale. The findings will assist teachers to develop strategies to address the problem of students’ declining attitude to science, a problem that is viewed as a potential threat to the economic future of Australia.

The purpose of this research was to investigate first-year tertiary programming students' perceptions of their learning environment, based on the subgroups of gender and "new arrivals" (immigrant and international students of diverse nationalities, culture and educational backgrounds). The literature provides strong evidence that the nature of the learning environment for females studying computing can be uninviting and may be influential in the low rates of female enrolments and retention compared with males. Studies indicate that the cultural norms and artefacts of computing, the minority status of women in computing courses, attitudes, language, experience and institutional context all contribute to a learning environment that proves unattractive and can be detrimental for some women. In recent years, there has been an increased enrolment by New Zealand educational institutions of new arrival students. Research suggests that new arrival students, who leave their home country to live and study in a foreign land, experience difficulties in their learning environment and often have problems adjusting to living and studying in their host country. This research used a mixed-method design to investigate first-year computer programming students' perceptions of their learning environment at three tertiary institutions in Wellington, New Zealand. A survey, the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI), was completed by 239 students, yielding quantitative data about students' perceptions of their Actual and Preferred learning environment. In addition, 28 students, selected to represent gender and new arrival subgroups, participated in interviews and 11 hours of observation were conducted in programming classrooms. / The findings from the survey indicated that students perceived their learning environment with some satisfaction but they suggested improvements relating to the innovation and individualisation dimensions of their learning environment. The perceptions of the student subgroups, defined by gender and as new arrivals were investigated. Although the findings from multivariate analysis of variance of the CUCEI results did not identify differences between the subgroups the interviews revealed wider equity issues and concerns that highlighted differences amongst students of the sex and origin subgroups. Recommendations, based on the study's findings, include suggestions to improve institutional policy relating to the organisation of teaching practice and some cautions about the further use of the survey. The findings have important implications for creating a more equitable and positive learning environment for all students.