A Mixed Methods Study Exploring the Relationship of Cognitive and Motivational Factors to Sonography Student Performance

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine relationships between sonography students’ levels of self-regulation and self-efficacy and their performance in a 16-week introductory vascular sonography skills laboratory course. Measures for the study were designed to yield qualitative and quantitative data related to student goals, strategies, and course performance, and were generated by both students and faculty. Qualitative data from the study included student self-reports of self-regulatory strategies and instructor evaluations of student performance, while quantitative data were provided by instructor and student ratings of performance, student self-efficacy ratings, and student reports on their use of deliberate practice. Results showed that many students learning how to perform sonographic examinations encountered motivational challenges that appeared to be tied both to their self-efficacy and their ability to effectively use self-regulatory activities. The findings of the present study suggest possibilities for improving sonography’s curricular models and teaching strategies toward the goal of making sonography instruction more efficient and effective. Advisor: Roger H. Brunin

College Retention Connections With Multiple Influencing Factors

There are many challenges associated with student retention. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) has focused on determining the factors affecting student retention across its campus and distance course delivery formats in order to improve student retention. The purpose in this study was to explore the extent to which age, course delivery, technical ability, and financial background determine retention at SMWC. Retention and attrition models of Tinto and Walleri laid the foundation of this study. Qualitative data on technical ability were collected from 69 students who responded to the survey instrument on Survey Monkey. Quantitative data on retention, age, course delivery, and financial background on students who had graduated over the past 10 years were gathered from the offices of financial aid and the registrar. For quantitative data analysis, the influences of age and financial background on student retention were examined through multiple regression; the influence of course delivery on student retention was examined through 2-tailed t tests for comparing the 2 population means. Qualitative data were analyzed through a narrative approach. The findings of quantitative data analysis were that student age and financial standing were not significant predictors of student retention and that retention for distance course delivery was significantly lower than that of online delivery. The finding for qualitative analysis was that students with higher technical ability showed higher retention across both course deliveries. The social change implications include a better understanding by SMWC\u27s administrators and faculty of course delivery and design in order to improve student retention, thus benefitting the local economy and community by creating a more skilled and employable workforce and a stronger reputation for SMWC

The Flipped Mastery Model in Secondary Mathematics Classroom: A Mixed Study to Determine the Effects on Student Satisfaction, Engagement, and Learning Achievement

Although many studies are on the flipped classroom, they are currently gaps and limited research conducted on flipped-mastery models. This mixed study implemented the repeated-measures design with few qualitative and quantitative studies on flipped-mastery in the secondary mathematics classroom. The purpose of the study aimed to examine the flipped mastery model’s effects on student satisfaction, engagement, and learning achievement. The study site was the researcher’s private school with purposive sampling of twenty-one high school Algebra II students. Pre-posttest unit tests and weekly quizzes assessed student learning achievement. The independent-samples t test results yielded no significant differences between achievement performance for the flipped mastery model and the traditional face-to-face instructional teaching. Qualitative and quantitative studies were used to determine the effects on student engagement and satisfaction. The adapted Student Perception of Instruction Questionnaire (SPIQ) pre-post surveys and observation protocol form determined student perceptions (satisfaction) and student engagement. The independent-samples t test compared the means of student satisfaction and student engagement, resulting in no significant difference between flipped mastery and traditional teaching methods on student engagement and satisfaction. However, researcher observations, student interviews, and comprehensive researcher journal entries revealed more student engagement and satisfaction. The lack of significance of results may be influenced by Covid-19, the small sample size, and the study duration of eight weeks

Making sense of higher education: students as consumers and the value of the university experience

In the global university sector competitive funding models are progressively becoming the norm, and institutions/courses are frequently now subject to the same kind of consumerist pressures typical of a highly marketised environment. In the United Kingdom, for example, students are increasingly demonstrating customer-like behaviour and are now demanding even more ‘value’ from institutions. Value, though, is a slippery concept and has proven problematic both in terms of its conceptualisation and measurement. This article explores the relationship between student value and higher education and, via study in one United Kingdom business school, suggests how this might be better understood and operationalised. Adopting a combined qualitative/quantitative approach, this article also looks to identify which of the key value drivers has most practical meaning and, coincidentally, identifies a value-related difference between home and international students

IMPLEMENTATION OF DISCOVERY LEARNING MODELS TO IMPROVE THE ABILITY OF SOLVING PROBLEMS AND LEARNING ACHIEVEMENTS (Study on Chemistry Subject Class XII Students in Senior High School 1 Tebing Tinggi)

This study aims to describe the application of discovery learning models to improve the solving problem ability, and student learning achievement, and describe the effectiveness of the implementation of discovery learning models can improve student learning achievement. This study uses the Classroom Action Research method followed by true experiments. The subjects of this study were students of class XII MIPA 1 in SMA 1 Tebing Tinggi. Data collection techniques used were observation and test sheets. Qualitative data were analyzed inductively and quantitative data were analyzed quantatively using the average formula and t test. The results of this study conclude that the application of the discovery learning model can improve students' ability to solve problems and student achievement, and effectively improve student achievement in class XII MIPA.1 in SMA 1 Tebing Tingg

Staying the Course: Factors Affecting the Progression of Access Foundation Students at Technological University Dublin

This study examined the factors affecting the progression of Access Foundation students to undergraduate studies, as there is little research on the progression of such students in the empirical literature. Access education has been developed for marginalized students who are traditionally under-represented in higher education. A pragmatic, mixed-methods approach was used to determine the factors that affect the progression of Access Foundation students at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) over three academic years (2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20). Quantitative and qualitative data were collected via a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data was analysed using a range of descriptive and inferential statistics. The grounded theory approach recommended by Strauss and Corbin (1990) was adopted for qualitative analysis. Findings revealed that demographic, psychosocial, environmental, institutional and educational factors play a role in students’ progression from Access education to undergraduate studies. Factors such as housemates, attendance and working during the Access programme were found to be predictors of Access student progression in a binary logistic regression. Additionally, progression rates were higher when there was a higher proportion of mature students in the Access programme. Quantitative and qualitative models of Access student progression were developed

Strengths-based analysis of student success in online courses

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017The purpose of this research was to increase understanding of post-secondary student success in online courses by evaluating a contextually rich combination of personal, circumstantial, and course variables. A strengths-based perspective framed the investigation. Mixed-method data were collected and analyzed sequentially in three phases: two phases of quantitative collection and analysis were followed by qualitative interviews and comprehensive analysis. The study first used logistic regression to analyze existing data on more than 27,000 student enrollments, spanning a time period of four academic years. The second phase of research enhanced the modeling focused on a subset of the total population; students from a single semester were invited to complete an assessment of non-cognitive attributes and personal perceptions. Between the two phases, 28 discreet variables were analyzed. Results suggest that different combinations of variables may be effective in predicting success among students with varying levels of educational experience. This research produced preliminary predictive models for student success at each level of class standing. The study concluded with qualitative interviews designed to explain quantitative results more fully. Aligned with a strengths-based perspective, 12 successful students were asked to elaborate on factors impacting their success. Themes that emerged from the interviews were congruent with quantitative findings, providing practical examples of student and instructor actions that contribute to online student success

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the mental models deployed by undergraduate students in explaining thermally activated phenomena

In this contribution we describe a research aimed at pointing out the quality of mental models undergraduate engineering students deploy when asked to create explanations for phenomena/processes and/or use a given model in the same context. Student responses to a specially designed written questionnaire are initially analyzed using researcher-generated categories of reasoning, based on the Physics Education Research literature on student understanding of the relevant physics content. The inferred students\u2019 mental models about the analyzed phenomena are categorized as practical, descriptive, or explanatory, based on an analysis of student responses to the questionnaire. A qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with students after the questionnaire administration is also used to deepen some aspects which emerged from the quantitative analysis and validate the results obtained

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the mental models deployed by undergraduate students in explaining thermally activated phenomena

In this contribution we describe a research aimed at pointing out the quality of mental models undergraduate engineering students deploy when asked to create explanations for phenomena/processes and/or use a given model in the same context. Student responses to a specially designed written questionnaire are initially analyzed using researchergenerated categories of reasoning, based on the Physics Education Research literature on student understanding of the relevant physics content. The inferred students’ mental models about the analyzed phenomena are categorized as practical, descriptive, or explanatory, based on an analysis of student responses to the questionnaire. A qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with students after the questionnaire administration is also used to deepen some aspects which emerged from the quantitative analysis and validate the results obtaine

Profil Mahasiswa Program Studi Pendidikan Biologi FKIP UMS dalam Melaksanakan Penelitian Skripsi Tahun 2013

Undergraduate thesis is one type of research paper in collage whom are doing by student university in undergraduate. Purpose of this study was to determine the profile of Biology Education Student this UMS in conducting undergraduate thesis in 2013. The method of the research is qualitative descriptive using paper documentation.The strategie was using include models to explain the survey and obtain the data, so the results can describe fully and indepth the various phenomena that happen. Data analysis used descriptive qualitative. Based on the results of the study, the selected areas of research students are education (53.7%), applied (24.7%), and pure (21.6%).The selected student research approach is quantitative (48.4%), qualitative (27.4%), as well as the combination (24.2%). The research method selected students experiment (73.2%), PTK (20,0%), descriptive (4.2%),ex post facto (1,6%),as well as an VES and exploration (0,5%) respectively. Study schools are being focused in educational research, junior high school (82,4%), senior high school (9,8%), university and vocantional high school (3,9%) respectively. Thus, it can be concluded that the students of Biology Education FKIP UMS who graduated in 2013 had a tendency to choose the field of education research, quantitative research approach, the experimental method, as well as the junior high school level are being focused in educational research