This study explored the educational benefits of institutional efforts to internationalize education as perceived and experienced by domestic and international undergraduate students at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The intent of the study was to (1) understand the ways in which students reported benefiting from the range of programs and activities associated with Internationalization-at-Home initiatives, and (2) ascertain which of the three dominant internationalization frameworks (Global Competency, Academic Capitalism, and Academic Colonialism) likely inform the institutional practices experienced by these students. Using a social-constructivist approach, this qualitative study employed an inter-related set of data collection instruments and processes including a web-based survey, focus group interview, and document analysis. Senior undergraduate students from the faculties of Arts and Science, Applied Science and School of Business, participated in the study which was carried out in 2007. Four themes emerged from the analysis of data generated by the web-based survey and the focus group interview. Expressed as benefits to either the students and/or to the institution itself, these themes include: (1) a broadened knowledge and understanding of other nations, cultures, and global issues; (2) networking and the development of social and emotional skills; (3) the generation of revenue; and (4) contributing to the reproduction of Western knowledge. Overall, these themes collectively speak to the institution’s internationalization goals, and a measure of commitment to more than one internationalization goal, with less than a half of the student participants reporting that developing global competence was the main benefit derived. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2008-01-28 22:42:16.612

This piece is an empirical study of how students experience and conceptualise internationalisation of higher education at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa. The central question of this empirical study is, how do students experience and conceptualise internationalisation of higher education at Wits? The conceptual framework presents Wits within three domains, which are the Official, Pedagogical and Social, as the context within which the university operates. Using a qualitative methodology – phenomenography – that aims to explore the qualitatively different ways in which a group of people experience a specific phenomenon, in this case internationalisation of higher education, four main constructs about internationalisation have emerged from students’ accounts: (I) internationalisation as Wits is striving to be a top global university; (II) internationalisation as the presence of international students; (III) internationalisation as an issue of mutual respect and acceptance, and (IV) internationalisation as enhancing the students’ learning experience. The argument is that, though students converge on these conceptions, their differences regarding the emphasis and significance points to a scenario of unbalanced institutional mediation, with strong mediation within the logic of dominant pedagogical practice in the university, constrained by forms of weak mediation in the social domain.

The combination of theory and practice in all forms of teacher training has always been a topic of debate in policy and research. Research examining university training of preschool teachers in Sweden highlights problems in the application of theory in practice in preschool teacher training. Specifically, the kind of problem identified is the lack of opportunities given to students to apply the knowledge gained through the university courses during their internships at the preschools. As a result a “gap” is created between the theory learnt and the application of this theory into practice, which in turn limits the opportunity for professional development. The meaning of professional development is to improve the knowledge and skills that the students have about their profession. The aim of this study is to understand student perspectives in relation to the combination of academic vs. practice-oriented coursework in preschool teacher training in Sweden. Specifically, this study examines the preferences of undergraduate preschool education students in Sweden regarding academic vs. practice-oriented courses, as well as if and how these courses contribute to their professional development. Final year student of a preschool education program at a college in southern Sweden completed an online survey to assess their perspectives on academically oriented and practice-oriented courses of their program. Students, regardless of whether or not they had previous experience working in early childhood education and care, reported that practice-oriented courses helped them with their professional development. Student also declared that the theory learnt through their academically oriented courses generally proved to be applicable in practice. Two types of future research are proposed in order to capture a wider variety of student perspectives about their training program as preschool education teachers.

This thesis has conducted interpretive qualitative research to investigate the impacts and limitations of LMS Moodle in distance students’ learning process from distance students’ perspectives. The qualitative data was collected from mediated semi-structured interviews with distance students participating in a Master program at Linnaeus University. Through empirical findings and analysis, the positive experiences and limitations of using Moodle in facilitating distance learning process have been revealed from distance students’ perspectives. The positive experiences include that LMS Moodle was used by distance students for interacting with other students, teachers and accessing study contents during their distance learning process. Moodle was used to know new classmates, teachers and the new learning system, recruit group members for the collaborative works, communicate with teachers and other classmates, and obtain significant information about courses. Especially, accessing study contents in Moodle easily was critical for distance students' learning. However, there were still some limitations. Distance students preferred Facebook to Moodle for student-student interaction during the process of collaborative works. The interaction with teachers was not adequate and timely for distance students. The limitations also include unsatisfactory Moodle interface design and poor usability of Moodle.   Some suggestions about improving LMS Moodle in different ways had also been acquired from the research. The suggestions from distance students mainly focus on integrating Moodle with other web conferencing platforms for improving the quality of student-student, student-teacher interaction in Moodle, ameliorating the interface design of Moodle, and adding Moodle tutorials. The result will help the development of LMS based on distance students' needs and finally benefit distance students' learning process.

The use of community service to promote learning and civic responsibility in higher education has blossomed since the 1980s. The problem addressed in this study was that although the X University initiated the required community service program in 2004, it had not assessed the effectiveness of the program from students' perspectives. Using Kolb and Kolb's conceptual framework on experiential learning, a qualitative case study was used to evaluate the perceptions of 13 4th-year students who had participated in the required community service program during their 1st-year of study. The research questions were focused on students' perceptions on how community service influenced their attitudes towards philanthropy. Data were coded and themes developed using key words from the interviews. Findings from 1-on-1 interviews revealed 4 themes: support for effective community service programs, students' personal growth and development, giving back to society with gratitude, and students' self-awareness in attitude towards the needy. The study results indicated that, the required community service program made a change in participants' lives and influenced their attitudes towards being sensitive to people with need. It is also likely to make them more philanthropic and affect positive social change. The resulting project consisted of an evaluation report recommending the reassessment of how the program is introduced to 1st-year students. Potential social change impacts include improved student experiences, as well as helping other universities in Kenya to learn from X University's experience to introduce similar community service programs.

The intent of this study was to determine what students perceive as caring behaviors in teachers, whether those views match teachers’ perceptions, whether these vary depending on students’ academic track, and whether teachers are observed to exhibit the behaviors identified by their students as indicative of caring. Eighty-two majority Hispanic high school students and eight teachers completed a four-section survey about caring behavior. These teachers and students were also observed four times in the classroom. The survey contained Likert scale and open-ended questions about teachers’ caring behaviors. It also probed how the students’ own teachers interacted with them daily in the classroom and their personal open-ended opinion about how teachers show that they care or do not care about them. Two groups were studied, specifically Advanced Placement (AP) and Regular students, to find out whether academic placement caused students’ to categorize caring behaviors of teachers differently. Results of the study indicated a significant difference in AP and Regular students’ attitudes about how teachers treat them. Teachers’ perceptions were also compared to students’ perception and differences were found. Differences included how often teachers interact in one-on-one conversations about certain issues with students, such as the need to complete homework assignments. Within these conversations some issues were reported to occur more frequently by teachers than students. On other issues, like disrupting class, there was agreement, but only for specific teachers and subjects. In addition, STEM and non-STEM classes were investigated and it was discovered that these students responded differently about the frequency with which their teachers had conversations with them about specific issues. Differences included disrupting class, not completing assignments, interests and things that are important to students, and plans for college and work. Observations made by this researcher further support the idea that there is similarity in how students define caring behaviors, but what behaviors they experience, like assisting in homework or listening to personal needs, is different. Although trends observed in this study are suggestive, more research is required to support the idea that academic placement and subject make a difference in students’ experiences of caring behaviors in teachers. / text

This investigation examined first-grade teachers' literacy beliefs and practices and its relationship with their students' conceptions about reading and writing. For the first part of the study a sample of 76 first-grade teachers, from two school districts in Puerto Rico, completed the Literacy Orientation Survey (LOS). The combined score of the LOS was calculated and used to categorize teachers according to their literacy beliefs and practices as constructivist, eclectic, or traditional. After matching by years of experience and educational level, a stratified random sample of six teachers, two from each literacy viewpoint (traditional, eclectic, and constructivist), and 48 first-grade students was selected to participate in the second part of the study. A simple random sample of eight students (four low-achieving readers and four high-achieving readers) was selected from the classrooms of each of the six teachers, who represented the three differing literacy beliefs. Individual interviews were conducted with the students, using Wing's (1989) interview protocol, in order to assess their conceptions of reading and writing. The results of this study regarding the nature of teachers' literacy beliefs indicated that most teachers appear to hold traditional literacy beliefs and practices, whereas a very small number of the participant teachers seem to hold literacy beliefs and practices categorized as constructivist. A statistical significant association was found between teachers' literacy viewpoint and students' conceptions about reading and writing. First-grade students whose teachers held a constructivist literacy viewpoint seemed to have more holistic conceptions of literacy, whereas students whose teachers held a traditional or an eclectic literacy viewpoint seemed to have more skills or test-based conceptions of reading and writing. Results indicate that first-grade students' ideas regarding the purposes and nature of reading and writing appear to be compatible with their teachers' literacy beliefs and practices. No significant relationship was found between students' conceptions of reading and writing and their reading ability. Implications for literacy teaching, learning, and further research are discussed.

This study critically explores the perceptions of students on the implementation of the English as a medium of instruction (EMI) policy at a public higher education institution in Oman and its effect on the quality of their learning experiences and academic performance. Although the Gulf has recently witnessed an increase in research on EMI, such research is rather scarce in Oman in particular from a critical approach. Through the focus on students’ perspectives, the study gives a voice to otherwise voiceless students whose insights have been largely ignored by language policy planners. For the study, a critical exploratory methodology was adopted where in-depth qualitative data were collected through a two-phase sequential mixed methods approach that consisted of a questionnaire distributed among 328 students studying in seven different faculties, 14 classroom observations and 14 students’ interviews. The findings suggest that the majority of participants either supported or accepted the EMI policy for pragmatic reasons based on the utilitarian function of English as a lingua franca in Oman and its requirement for future jobs. However, the participants acknowledged that they faced great difficulties in their study which was mainly caused by their insufficient language competence. It was also acknowledged that Arabic as a medium of instruction (AMI) would lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and would most probably lead to better academic performance. Few participants found that the endorsement of EMI negatively influenced their ability to use Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and marginalised the role of Arabic in their society. Overall, the implementation of EMI had a disempowering effect on students with low English language proficiency and had a negative psychological impact on them. Based on the findings, the EMI policy has been contested since it does not provide students with equal opportunities to study at tertiary level. In addition, the quality of education has been compromised in response to assumed market forces. Also, a strict EMI policy does not allow students to enhance their Arabic competence which is relevant for future employment. The pedagogic competence of teachers has also been questioned and gaps in the support system for students with language deficiencies have been identified. The study makes several recommendations that are expected to improve the learning conditions of students studying at tertiary level through EMI. The recommendations include the enhancement of English language teaching (ELT) in schools to better prepare students for their academic study in English. In addition, AMI courses should be offered in all faculties due to its support in gaining profound comprehension of the subject matter and its relevance for students’ future jobs. Teachers should be given the opportunity to develop their pedagogic competence that would allow them to use a student-centred approach in teaching through EMI or AMI. Finally, the college should increase students’ support in their study especially in EMI through creating support centres where they could resort to in case they face any difficulties in their study.

Extensive research has been done on leadership in the school system, but the nature of the concept's variations makes it difficult to grasp what good teacher leadership consists of. Teacher-student relationships are a fundamental part of teachers' professional practice and their significance for school practice cannot be neglected. A large part of the research on teachers' leadership is aimed at how leadership should be conducted through the organization of the classroom, towards an effective study environment. The question that arises in this study is instead how teachers' relational leadership is perceived and valued from the students' point of view. The purpose of the study is thus to investigate the importance of relational leadership from students' perspectives. This is done by interviewing six students from year two at a Swedish high school, and the empirical material is thereafter compared to a pre-constructed ideal type of relational leadership using PeRL. Through this approach, the study intends to contribute to the field of research on teacher leadership by examining and elucidating its relational dimension. Results suggest that teachers' relational leadership is highly important for students, and that students have a slightly different approach to relationships in school compared to research on the field. Furthermore, the study concludes that students must be involved in the discussion about the purpose of education to a greater extent, and that the conversation about teacher leadership should play a more prominent role at the school policy level.

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