The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ICT on EFL students’ reading and writing skills, as well as both teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards ICT. 14 articles from varying countries were systematically selected for the purpose of this literature review. The data collected was investigated through content analysis. The results showed that ICT has generally positive effects on students’ reading and writing skills and the motivation to do those tasks. The teachers perceived ICT to be mainly beneficial, but often distracting and difficult to use or control. The students were appreciative of technology and found it helpful in their learning English process. It was concluded that ICT’s positive effects outweigh the negative effects of using ICT in an EFL setting and implementing technology can improve students' reading and writing skills as well as increase their motivation.

This case study focused on students who had matriculated in online courses in the Business Management Program. The setting for the study was a Virginia community college. The purpose of this study was to examine the social, faculty and administrative, and technology influences on students' perceptions of online learning. Students' conveyed experiences and perceptions of the tools and practices faculty used to implement online learning were coded and categorized to generate grounded theory that may be used to govern distance learning implementation. Data were collected through document reviews, semi-structured interviews, and field studies. The interview participants were selected from the 2008 graduates of the Business Management Program. Data from personal memos and field studies were collected through students' comments on individual courses. Interview data included descriptions of all the distance learning courses in which the interviewees had participated. The constant comparative method was used to analyze and code the data into themes that emerged and were applied to establish grounded theories that may prove to be useful in governing the tools and practices of distance learning in higher education. The findings of the study indicated that as the number of online courses that a student successfully completed increased, so did the student's preference of distance learning over the traditional classroom environment. The study also revealed that students were reluctant to participate in distance learning if their first experiences in this method of delivery had been negative; therefore, administrators should be more supportive and evaluative in selecting online faculty. Findings also indicated that even though students enjoyed the time and place flexibility and convenience of distance learning, they still expected instructors to create and implement an environment that cultivated students' social and academic success within the educational environment.

FITNESSGRAM is a battery of fitness tests that assess if a child's fitness level is, according to a health standard, enough to be considered healthy. These tests include the five components of health-related fitness: aerobic endurance, muscular strength and muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Students are not compared to each other, but to health fitness standards specific to their age and gender that indicate good health. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify children's perceptions of FITNESSGRAM and determine if self-administration of this fitness test provides a positive experience for the students. Specifically, this study evaluated (a) students' perceptions of FITNESSGRAM, administered in a self-testing format, (b) children's understanding of the purpose of fitness testing, and (c) what effect participation in FITNESSGRAM had on students' perceptions of their personal health. This study used questionnaires (n = 78), and follow-up individual interviews (n = 45) to identify students' perceptions of FITNESSGRAM. Results using the constant comparative method identified four main categories: (a) administration of fitness testing, (b) the purpose of fitness testing, (c) components of fitness testing, and (d) overall influence of fitness testing. Findings showed that children clearly understood the importance and role of fitness testing, felt successful and were pleased with their results, preferred doing the tests with a partner or by themselves, and thought the fitness test was fun.

The purpose of this study was to generate in-depth understanding and descriptions of secondary students' experiences of safety in the public schools. Quantitative research has demonstrated that students self-report feeling unsafe in school (Utah State University: Center for the School of the Future, 2006). School violence is decreasing, yet many school districts have sponsored and implemented heightened security measures. It seems a contradiction, but amidst heightened security secondary public school students self-report feeling unsafe in school. This study investigated this phenomenon to provide rich and detailed data, utilizing a grounded theory approach to qualitative research and design. The perceptions and experiences of secondary students in public school were described in focus groups comprised of eighth grade students. Five central and unifying themes emerged from the data informing how and why secondary students feel safe and unsafe in school. Results indicated that students feel most safe in schools when students have trusting relationships with school personnel and peers and when school adults adhere to procedures and policies and respond in meaningful ways to student concerns.

Positive behavioral support and social emotional learning (SEL) are important ingredients in fostering student success and mitigating the incidence of aggressive and harmful behaviors. Although schools provide the ideal environment in which to implement these interventions, there are obstacles to doing so. These obstacles include the amount of time and resources an intervention takes, as well as the social validity of the intervention. To determine social validity, those who implement interventions must consider stakeholder groups’ perceptions and buy in towards the intervention. Because students are typically the primary target population, their perceptions of proposed interventions are particularly important. Each month the participating school focused on one of four social skills: showing appreciation, resolving differences, making good choices, and accepting responsibility. Skills were rotated each month. To minimize demands on school resources, Book in a Bag (BIB) was created to provide a SEL intervention that dovetailed with existing classroom activities. BIB includes a monthly social skills lesson paired with a children's book. Each lesson aligns with one of four identified social skills that are integrated into the school-wide social skills program. This study examined student perceptions of Book in a Bag by analyzing student responses to survey questions. Students were asked to rate the degree to which they saw the social skills instruction as %27fun%27 and %27important,%27 as well as the extent to which they and their classmates utilized the targeted social skills. Results indicated that BIB social skills activities were enjoyable for most students. Students indicated that they often used the steps taught. Suggestions for future research and implementation were identified, including tailoring instruction to grade levels, as students’ enjoyment of Book in a Bag varied by grade level.

This research study investigates what 122 secondary students believe makes a good teacher of English as a second language. The students were randomly selected from three different schools in Malmö, Sweden. Six teachers’ views from the same schools will also be examined. The teachers and students answered questionnaires with open-ended and close-ended questions. Many researchers state that there are particular qualities that a teacher should possess to be considered a good teacher by the students. Qualities such as: being understanding, having a certain personality, being a motivator and a supporter, mastering the English language well, and listening to students wishes, are a few of many qualities that are being mentioned. The results indicate that the main quality that a teacher should possess is good knowledge of English. Other qualities that were mentioned were, varying work methods, the teacher’s personality, being supportive and encouraging ect. The students and the teachers opinions in comparison to what the researchers argue are not tremendously different.

I november 2022 släpptes ChatGPT fritt på marknaden, och plötsligt förändrades synen på och kunskapen om artificiell intelligens! Syftet med studien är att synliggöra vilka olika uppfattningar elever på mellanstadiet har om artificiell intelligens (AI). Utifrån en fenomenografisk ansats har 16 mellanstadieelever, på två olika skolor, intervjuats i grupper om fyra vid två tillfällen. Mellan intervjutillfällena har i klasserna genomförts ett riktat undervisningsupplägg om AI och etik, hämtat från Mittuniversitetet. Syftet var att undersöka om elevernas uppfattningar förändrats av en sådan insats i undervisningen. Undersökningen visade att elever främst framställer AI på två olika sätt, AI beskrivs av eleverna som ett fysiskt ting, exempelvis en robot, eller så tillskriver eleverna AI mänskliga egenskaper. Dock visade undersökningen att eleverna bitvis har svårt att definiera vad AI faktiskt är och var AI finns. Resultatet visade också att eleverna kunde se både för- och nackdelar med AI och användande därav, både för den enskilde individen och för samhället i stort. Resultatet visade anmärkningsvärt liten förändring av elevernas uppfattningar mellan för- och efterintervju. Slutsatsen blev att elever har uppfattningar om vad AI är men att den inte alltid är verklighetsförankrad till exempel att man på sikt skulle kunna slippa gå i skolan för att AI löste allt. Detta kan ha med bristande kunskap att göra. / In November 2022, ChatGPT was released on the market, and suddenly the view and knowledge of artificial intelligence was drastically changed. The purpose of this study is to show different perceptions of artificial intelligence among primary school students. Based on a phenomenographic approach, 16 primary school students, at two different schools, were interviewed in groups of four on two different occasions. Between the interview sessions, a teaching sequence focusing on AI ethics, created by Mittuniversitetet, was carried out in the classes. The purpose was to investigate whether the students’ perceptions changed because of the participation in a focused teaching sequence. The study showed that students mainly describe AI in two different ways. AI was described by the students as a physical thing, for example a robot, or the students gave human characteristics to AI. However, the study showed that students sometimes find it difficult to define what AI actually is and where AI is found. The result also showed that the students could see both positive and negative aspects of AI and the use thereof, both for the individual and for the greater society. The result showed remarkably little change in the student’ perceptions between the pre- and post-interviews. The conclusion was that students have ideas about what AI is, but it is not always rooted in reality, for example that in the future you wouldn’t have to go to school because AI would fix everything for you. This may have to do with lack of knowledge.

Previous studies have examined how individuals who are diagnosed with mental (McManus, Stubbings, & Martin, 2006) or physical illness (Duggan, Medway & Bunke, 2004) are stigmatized but no study has directly compared how students perceive a person living with a mental versus a physical illness. The present study explored whether participants desired greater social distance from a student who 1) suffered from schizophrenia, 2) was in remission for cancer, relative to a 3) healthy student. The study also investigated whether participants could objectively evaluate the identical written work of these students differently when they are described according to their illnesses. It was hypothesized that college students would desire the greatest social distance from students with mental illness and the least amount of social distance from students described as healthy. In addition, it was hypothesized that college students would evaluate the work of a healthy student more positively than a student who has a chronic mental or physical illness. It was also hypothesized that college students would evaluate the work of a student described as suffering from chronic physical illness more positively than the work of the student described as having a chronic mental illness. For the procedure, participants were given a vignette about a fictional student and were randomly assigned to a vignette that described the student as 1) suffering from schizophrenia which was controlled by medication, 2) in remission for cancer, or 3) healthy. The participants were then asked to evaluate this student's essay using a grading rubric. Participants then completed the Social Distance Scale (Penn, Guynan, Daily, & Spalding, 1994). Finally, students reported demographic information about themselves. A one-way between subjects Multivariate ANOVA was performed on the data, and significant differences were found among conditions for the SDS but not for the scores on the student's essay. The results suggest that the students were able to remain objective while grading the student's assignment, but required greater social distance from a student with a mental or physical illness.

The purpose of this study is to identify students’ awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of the mandatory reporting policy related to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX). Mandatory reporting requirements are being implemented in higher educational institutions; however, existing literature does not examine students’ perceptions or their knowledge of the specific requirements that apply exclusively to them. This exploratory study examines the perceptions of college students at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia. Drawing on survey data (N = 501) from a large, public research university, the study explores two outcome variables: students’ awareness of the mandatory reporting policy and students’ knowledge of the university’s Title IX and mandatory reporting policy. It is hypothesized that variation across such views may be predicted by several factors, such as rape myth acceptance, knowing a victim of sexual misconduct, knowing an individual falsely accused of sexual misconduct, and demographic characteristics. Most of the students were aware of the university’s mandatory reporting policy, but they were not especially knowledgeable about the specifics. An overwhelming number of students support the use of mandatory reporting on college campuses for sexual misconduct, but fewer individuals stated they are more likely to disclose personal sexual victimization with an enacted mandatory reporting policy. Being knowledgeable about the university’s mandatory reporting policy was positively associated with higher general support of mandatory reporting. In addition, being aware of the enacted mandatory reporting policy also emerged as statistically significant and positively associated with perceptions of disadvantages and advantages of the mandatory reporting policy. Other findings and implications are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine teacher and students' perceptions of teacher-student interpersonal behaviour in regional secondary classrooms. Teachers were then presented with this information so that a comparison between teacher ideal, teacher actual and student perceptions of their classroom could be examined. The results were then able to be used by teachers to reflect on and seek to improve their teaching practice. This study utilised the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) to collect data about the classroom learning environment of Australian regional mathematics and science classrooms. Qualitative information in the form of classroom observations and informal interviews has also been collected from a small subset of the student sample. This qualitative information was collected by the researcher in the dual roles of teacher and researcher. Triangulation of the methods of data collection sought to better validate the data collected, and assess multiple perspectives in the classroom. The study has involved a large sample of students from one country high school in Western Australia. All the mathematics classes from Years 8, 9 and 10 and all science classes from Years 8 and 10 have been included in this study. A particular focus for this study was the inclusion of both streamed and non-streamed classes from the mathematics and science areas. / The value of this research has been enhanced in that the results have been used as a teaching feedback tool for participants involved in the study to examine, reflect and improve on their teaching practice. The research is a real world, authentic example of one instance where results from the study were used immediately on a local scale by participants. A unique feature of the outcomes from this project is that the teacher appears to play a greater role in determining the classroom climate than does the homogeneous or heterogenous grouping of students within a subject.