This exploratory mixed methods case study examines the life goals of Finnish social services students (N = 151) and whether they justify their goals with self- or other-focused reasoning. Purpose is understood as reflecting the students' life goals that benefit not only oneself but also others. On the basis of this study, close relationships,…

There are arguably many factors that affect the way a student learns. A recent report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) on student academic experience in the UK states that class size is an important factor in the quality of the student experience and that smaller class sizes provide greater…

Ragging has claimed hundreds of innocent lives and has ruined the careers of thousands of students. A total of 717 cases of ragging were reported in the English print media alone across the country from January 2007 to September 2013. However, the media reports tend to focus on extreme cases and do not reveal the true extent of ragging. Moreover,…

Deciding what degree to study and where are very important decisions to make for a range of practical and economic reasons, and much research has been undertaken in this area. What has not been considered previously is the decision-making processes of students who have completed an associate degree, such as a Higher National Diploma or Foundation…

Competition is reported in the general education literature as having a largely detrimental impact upon student engagement and long-term motivation, yet competition has long been an accepted part of the music education ensemble landscape. Adjudicated ensemble competitions and competition-festivals are commonplace in most Australian states, as…

The study investigated students' perceptions and attitudes toward the use of ePortfolios for reflective practice as a learning and teaching strategy. A mixed-method approach was applied to the study in a first-year food science unit, at a regional Australian university. Data were generated via 3 sources, in order to provide the evidential basis…

The aim of this study was to determine secondary school students' choice of design features for digital textbooks. As a part of the research--which was conducted using a mixed technique--a literature review was carried out to source points to consider in the designing of digital textbooks and experts' opinions were obtained. Based on the results,…

Studying at university can be a very stressful experience. Although the literature provides some information regarding different sources of stress among students, studies have not addressed the issue of changes over the course progression. This study aimed to obtain a deeper understanding of the sources of stress for first-year students and…

The pupils' attitudes toward technology survey (PATT) has been used for 30 years and is still used by researchers. Since it was first developed, the validity of the questionnaire constructs has primarily been discussed from a statistical point of view, while few researchers have discussed the type of attitudes and interest that the questionnaire…

First-year engineering students often struggle to see the relevance of theoretical mathematical concepts for their future studies and professional careers. This is an issue, as students who do not see relevance in fundamental parts of their studies may disengage from these parts and focus their efforts on other subjects they think will be more…

This study explores the library equivalent of the "towels on deck chairs" phenomenon of students reserving library seats: the practice of leaving personal belongings unattended at a library study space for long periods of time, rendering the desk unavailable for use by others. It presents highly inefficient use of high value academic…

The importance of work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences in the development of work ready graduates is well known. Despite the centrality of WIL to graduate employability, the vast majority of studies relating to student feedback tend to focus on the evaluation of learning and teaching in the classroom context. This article reports on the…

This paper explores the alignment of student and instructor experiences when employing ePortfolio activities in a Canadian higher education context. Successful ePortfolio activities are operationalized as exhibiting alignment of expectations between students and instructors, whereas misalignment of expectations is characteristic of a poorer…

This study analyzed the effect of a learning philosophy assignment on students' intellectual development and mastery of first-year biology and second-year biochemistry course content. We used pre- and post-surveys to assess students' cognitive complexity, and compared students' midterm and final exam marks to assess mastery of course content. The…

This article reports on a case study that explored the perspectives and practices of Cambodian EFL students regarding their investment in learning English at the University of Battambang (UBB), Cambodia. The study specifically investigated how the students perceived the role that learning English played in their lives. The study also examined…