University students are a key source of volunteers, and their volunteering reasons are an academic concern. Adopting a push-pull perspective, this study explores why China’s university students participated in long-term volunteer teaching in distant, unfamiliar locations. Data were drawn mainly from documents and interviews with 20 university students participating in year-long volunteer teaching in distant schools. Findings reveal that students’ participation resulted from the interplay of push factors causing them to leave (e.g., helping others) and pull (...) factors (e.g., destinations and projects) enticing them to come. The interplay was exhibited in two patterns: pull factors triggering the emergence of push factors, and the former being used to realise the latter. Such interplay was facilitated by the volunteering organisation’s mission, resources, and efforts to make its projects attractive. The study reflects that volunteering organisation and management in higher education institutions need to rethink how to gear their volunteering missions to suit students’ diverse motivations and develop their organisational features and resources to attract and retain volunteers. (shrink)

This study examines Chinese undergraduates’ perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing in relation to their disciplinary background (i.e., hard vs. soft disciplines), academic enculturation (i.e., length of study in university), and gender. Drawing on data collected from 270 students at two universities in China, it finds clear discipline-based differences in participants’ knowledge of plagiarism and perceptions about its causes; an enculturational effect on perceived acceptability of and condemnatory attitudes toward plagiarism, with senior students being less harsh (...) than their junior counterparts; and complex interactions among disciplinary background, length of study, and gender. Furthermore, it reveals conceptions of (il)legitimate intertextuality (i.e., textual borrowing) differing from those prevalent in Anglo American academia and clearly punitive stances on perceived plagiarism. These results suggest the need to take an educative rather than punitive approach to source use in English academic writing. (shrink)

Academic engagement describes students’ involvement in academic learning and achievement. This paper reports the psychometric properties of the University Student Engagement Inventory (USEI) with a sample of 3992 university students from nine different countries and regions from Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia. The USEI operationalizes a trifactorial conceptualization of academic engagement (behavioral, emotional and cognitive). Construct validity was assessed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega coefficients. (...) Weak measurement invariance was observed for country/region, while strong measurement invariance was observed for gender and area of graduation. The USEI scores showed predictive validity for dropout intention, self-rated academic performance, and course approval rate while divergent validity with student burnout scores was also evident. Overall, the results indicate that the USEI can produce reliable and valid data on academic engagement of university students across the world. (shrink)

Using a parallel mixed-methods design, the current study examined university students’ perceptions of academic cheating through collecting and analyzing both the quantitative and qualitative data. Our quantitative findings corroborate previous research that male students have engaged more in academic cheating than females based on students’ self-reports, and that undergraduate students are less willing to discuss issues on academic cheating as compared with their graduate counterparts. Five themes emerged from the thematic analysis of the qualitative data: flexible (...) definitions for cheating, environmental promotion of cheating, the moral transgression of cheating, cheating as an ambiguous justification, and cheating as a conscious decision making process. The mixed-methods findings indicate that there is no relationship between students’ gender or classification and their endorsements of the qualitative themes. However, non-White students are more likely to endorse the theme “cheating as an ambiguous justification.” Implications for reducing and preventing academic cheating at the university level are discussed. (shrink)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly viewed as a strategic management tool for companies to draw in candidates. In this arena, international responsible rankings such as ‘The Great Place to Work’, ‘Family Responsible Employer Index (FREE)’ or ‘The Best Companies for Working Mothers’ put emphasis on the value of responsible behaviours, not only for surviving in the market, but also to ‘win the war for talent’. Using a sample of Spanish University students, this research aims to analyse the process (...) of selecting responsible organizations to work and whether there is a possible future conflict of interest by students between their own and organizational values. Surprisingly, the university students assessed two opposing situations with the highest values: of looking to change employer and of letting time pass in order to ignore the conflict. The implications of the students’ assessments and the related factors which affect their decision-making criteria are explored in this article. (shrink)

The attitudes and the self?efficacy that characterize learners relative to the Internet have been identified as important factors that affect learners? motivation, interests and performance in Internet?based learning environments. Meanwhile, learners? perceptions of the Internet may shape learners? attitudes and online behaviours. This study investigates university students? attitudes and self?efficacy towards the Internet, and explores the role that university students? perceptions of the Internet may play in their Internet attitudes and self?efficacy. The results indicate that university students (...) demonstrate positive attitudes and adequate Internet self?efficacy and that these students are more inclined to view the Internet as a functional tool?a functional technology. Gender differences exist in university students? attitudes towards, and perceptions of, the Internet; that is, male students demonstrate Internet attitudes that are more positive than those of their female peers. Furthermore, students who perceive the Internet as a leisure tool (e.g. as a tour or a toy) show more positive attitudes and communicative self?efficacy than students who use the Internet as a functional technology. Educators and researchers need to be aware of these differences and to take them into consideration in their instruction. Lastly, this study serves as a starting?point for research that more broadly explores learners? perceptions of the Internet. (shrink)

Many believe that colleges of business have a role to play in improving the level of marketing ethics practiced in the business world, while others believe that by the time students reach the level of university education, their ethical beliefs are so ingrained as to be virtually unalterable. The purpose of this study is to add to the literature regarding university students' ethical value judgments. It utilizes scenario studies to assess base line ethical values of junior level undergraduate (...) business administration students, then techniques are employed to influence students' perceptions of the ethics of various marketing practices, and students' values are reassessed. A total of 667 junior and senior level students majoring in business administration participated in the pre-tests and 525 students participated in the post-tests. The results of the before/after studies indicate that some experimental techniques are more effective than others in affecting change, but it is difficult to affect long-run change in those predisposed to unethical behavior. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of the educational system, including students’ learning styles, which are heavily dependent on self-regulated studying strategies and motivation. The purpose of this study was to discover whether Central European students, in this case the Slovak and Czech students, were able to perform self-regulated learning during online learning under the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve their learning goals and improve academic performance, as well as to propose a few practical recommendations how to (...) develop and maintain students’ self-regulation learning in this new online environment. The methodology was based on a questionnaire survey conducted among 268 students at two Central European universities in February and March 2021. The findings indicate that Central European students seemed to be able to perform their online self-study, especially in regard to personal competencies, meaningfulness and motivation. They reported higher awareness of their strengths and weaknesses in learning, time management, and/or the usefulness of making an effort to study. However, the findings reveal an urgent need for more work to be done in the area of metacognitive strategies, such as reflective and critical thinking, analyzing and evaluating. In this respect, the teacher’s role is replaceable since s/he serves as a facilitator and promotes these metacognitive strategies by providing students with constructive feedback, monitoring their learning, reviewing their progress, and/or providing opportunities to reflect on their learning. There were not any striking differences between the Czech and Slovak students. Nevertheless, Slovak students seemed to be more self-disciplined and goal-oriented in their learning. (shrink)

Group work is a very common practice in higher education when it comes to developing key competences for students’ personal and professional growth. The goals that students pursue when working in teams determine how they organize and regulate their behavior and how they approach the tasks. The academic goals are a relevant variable that can condition the success of the group, as they guide and direct the students towards involvement in the task, the effort they make, and (...) the desire to increase their academic competence, and their learning. Thus, the need arises to create new evaluation instruments to help us understand the importance of academic goals when students work as a team. The purpose of this paper is to corroborate the construct validity of the Questionnaire on Teamwork Learning Goals (QTLG) based on the Achievement Goal Questionnaire (3x2 AGQ) of Elliot, Murayama & Pekrun (2011) in the context of teamwork, and to determine if the model 3X2 offers a better fit to the data than other models, such as: 2x2; Trichotomous; Definition; Valence, among others. The results obtained from a sample of 700 students from 6 Spanish universities confirm that, in the context of teamwork, the 3x2 model fits the data better than the rest of the models subjected to confirmatory analysis, with contrasting evidence of validity and reliability. Therefore, we considered it a useful instrument for studying motivation in the group work context. The QTLG has practical applications, allowing us to explore in detail the academic goals of university students. (shrink)

The vast majority of studies focusing on alcohol consumption among university students are based on US and Canadian samples and employ a quantitative approach. Universities from the US and Canada also have a longer tradition in implementing alcohol policies. The alcohol policies at universities in Slovakia are mostly non-systematic and often not implemented in practice. The objective of this study was to explore Slovak university students’ experiences towards alcohol policy on their campuses using a qualitative approach. (...) Eight focus group discussions were conducted among university students (n=64; 38 female; 2011; Slovakia). The key questions were (1) “Is there a policy concerning alcohol on your campus and what are the consequences of not complying with it?”, and (2) “How should an on-campus alcohol policy be developed and what should it include?” The students knew of few, if any, rules concerning alcohol. Student participation was considered important in policy development and implementation. Slovak universities should be more active in forming alcohol policies. A preventative policy which actively involves students was emphasized as optimal. (shrink)

Religious moderation has been popular and widely promoted to students as a countermeasure to radicalism. However, it runs across several challenges. Not to mention that radicalism has extended its influence within Islamic universities in Indonesia. Many research organisations have found that Indonesian students tend to be radical. Hence, the discussion around religious moderation among students highlights its urgency. With emphasis on the reception of Islamic university students to religious texts, this study proposed the appropriate approach (...) to religious moderation in the context of plural Indonesian society with the reception of Qur’anic verses and hadiths that promoted moderation. It employed a qualitative approach with a purposive sampling technique involving 81 students of Islamic Religious Education of UIN Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang as the research subjects. They were students from four semester IV and VI classes. This study revealed several key findings: firstly, the majority of students equate religious moderation with religious tolerance; secondly, students draw from a range of verses and hadiths that emphasise religious moderation, primarily on tolerance promotion; and thirdly, students’ application of religious moderation based on religious texts manifests through verbal, written and practical approaches. This study presents a model for developing religious moderation rooted in students’ comprehension of religious texts advocating moderation. This study implies using religious texts to promote moderate thought to lessen radicalism and intolerance in the world. Contribution: This study introduces a religious text-oriented approach to enhance the development of religious moderation, thereby refining strategies and methods that have predominantly emphasised aspects of social reality. The religious texts that advocate for moderation are accepted and applied by students in their lives. This contribution is crucial to lessening radicalism and intolerance in Indonesia. (shrink)

There is currently little empirical information about attitudes towards cognitive enhancement - the use of pharmaceutical drugs to enhance normal brain functioning. It is claimed this behaviour most commonly occurs in students to aid studying. We undertook a qualitative assessment of attitudes towards cognitive enhancement by conducting 19 semi-structured interviews with Australian university students. Most students considered cognitive enhancement to be unacceptable, in part because they believed it to be unethical but there was a lack of consensus (...) on whether it was similar or different to steroid use in sport. There was support for awareness campaigns and monitoring of cognitive enhancement use of pharmaceutical drugs. An understanding of student attitudes towards cognitive enhancement is important in formulating future policy. (shrink)

An analysis of the level of emotional and dependency according to sociodemographic characteristic factors in university students in a period of confinement due to COVID-19. 689 female students of the city of Arequipa were included; we used a measurement instrument with 23 items that allowed us to understand the influence of the current situation on the psychological state of the university. The results indicate that there is a low level of emotional dependence, in relation to the variable of (...) the emotional situation being one of the main reasons why single students are less likely to have this dependence as they do not have any type of romantic relationship, since they focus more on their personal goals through their university studies, which shows that they are more independent when taking on challenges and objectives consistent with their academic training, compared to those who maintain a relationship. (shrink)

This study investigated the associations between academic dishonesty, perceptions toward cheating and academic self-handicapping in 572 Greek University students using an online anonymous questionnaire. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was employed to form subgroups of students based on academic dishonesty – related constructs. The results showed that academic dishonesty was higher in males and among Sciences and Economics/ICT majors, and that it was associated with students’ perceptions and a pattern of dysfunctional academic behavior. Moreover, students majoring in (...) Science and Economics/ICT reported higher levels of witnessing a peer cheating, which was positively linked to academic dishonesty. LPA revealed three groups of students with low, medium, and high academic dishonesty-related variable scores. The implications of these findings for understanding how perceptions about cheating and academic self-handicapping are linked to academic dishonesty are discussed. The study also suggests some possible interventions to prevent and reduce academic dishonesty based on the emerged student profiles. (shrink)

The governmental restriction due to COVID-19 pandemic led to Italian Universities moving teaching from face-to-face, to online. This represented an unexpected transition from traditional learning to what can be considered “e-learning.” This, together with the psychological distress that may be associated with the experience of lockdown, might have affected students' performance. It was hypothesised that grit may be a protective factor in such situations. Indeed, compared to their less “gritty” peers, individuals with higher levels of grit are expected (...) to exhibit greater persistence in the pursuit of goals despite setbacks. Within educational contexts, grit is portrayed as a potentially important influence on outcomes such as achievement level, retention and probability of graduation. A longitudinal study was conducted using an online survey in order to assess the moderated mediation effect of grit on students' achievement. One hundred seventy-six undergraduate students from two universities in the north of Italy participated in the survey. The results showed that grit affects students' grades in final exams; perceived self-efficacy in the management of complex problems had a mediation effect on grades, while psychological distress moderated the first part of the mediation process. These novel findings extended our knowledge regarding the role of grit in academic performance investigating for the first time the role of self-efficacy and psychological distress in a learning carried out entirely online. (shrink)

Philosophy courses help students develop logical reasoning and argument skills or so it is widely assumed. To test if this is actually the case, we examined university students’ familiarity with the basic tools for argument. Our findings, based on a sample of 651 students enrolled in philosophy courses at six Greek universities, indicate that students who have prior experience with philosophy are more familiar with the basic tools for argument, and that students who have (...) taken philosophy courses at the university have stronger argument-recognition and argument-evaluation skills compared to university students with no prior experience with philosophy. Moreover, our findings suggest that students get more familiar with the basic tools for argument as their level of engagement with philosophy increases, and that they get significantly better at evaluating arguments when they become graduate students in philosophy. However, our findings also suggest that the majority of students in philosophy classrooms haven’t developed fluency in basic argument-related concepts and skills. To remedy this, we argue that philosophy instructors need to re-think the place that the teaching of argument has in philosophy courses, and the way that they teach students about argument. (shrink)

University students having high entrepreneurial intention while not transferring into actual entrepreneurial behavior is a contradictory issue in need of in-depth research. To explore the successive development mechanism of the entrepreneurial process, this study constructed a moderated mediation model to examine whether entrepreneurial commitment from three dimensions mediated the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and behavior, and whether this mediating process was moderated by family support. A survey was conducted among university students from six major universities in south (...) China using the snowball sampling approach. A total of 469 valid responses were obtained. Structural equation modeling was adopted for data analysis. According to the results of the confirmatory factor analysis, it was found that entrepreneurial intention had both direct and indirect positive effects on entrepreneurial behavior, while entrepreneurial commitment worked as the mediator, and family support moderated the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and behavior. Results indicated that entrepreneurial commitment bridged the path from entrepreneurial intention to behavior, and family support created the boundary effect. This finding highlights the importance of guiding students through entrepreneurial commitment toward entrepreneurial behavior, and pays special attention to the crucial role of family support under the national strategy. (shrink)

The psychological effects of COVID-19 have been documented in the past year, but scarce literature exists on the nature of COVID-19 stressors. Using a random split sample of 1199 young adult university students, results of exploratory factor analyses identified a four-factor structure in the COVID-19 Stressors Questionnaire, which were labeled Resource Constraints, Social Restrictions, Future Uncertainty, and Health Concerns. This model was supported by a confirmatory factor analysis when run on the other split sample of 1139 university students. (...) Higher levels of COVID-19 stress were positively associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms and negatively associated with sleep duration, sleep quality, and the number of exercise days. COVID-19 stress also uniquely predicted poor university adjustment. This study demonstrated the link between COVID-19 stressors and mental and physical health symptoms, thus providing support for conceptualizing the psychological impact of the pandemic as adjustment problems for some individuals. (shrink)

This study examined the relationships between the role of the instructor and university students’ learning outcomes in cloud-based classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of an online survey of 7,210 university students in mainland China revealed that the students’ perceived learning outcomes and learning satisfaction were positively related to instructor innovation and negatively related to instructor performance. Instructional support was positively related to the students’ perceived learning outcomes but not directly related to their learning satisfaction. (...) The students’ academic self-efficacy mediated the influence of instructional support and instructor innovation on their perceived learning outcomes and learning satisfaction. The results contribute to knowledge of the role instructors play in facilitating students’ learning outcomes in higher education and suggest ways to improve the learning environment and learning outcomes, especially in cloud-based virtual classrooms. (shrink)

This study seeks to explore the impact of learning burnout on university students’ English learning effect in the online environment. Through a large sample questionnaire survey, the study uses structural equation modelling to measure the interactions amongst university students’ English online learning burnout, academic self-efficacy, and teacher emotional support, thereby analysing and summarising the characteristics of their impacts on students’ online learning satisfaction. The results from the data analysis show that AEE plays a mediating role between (...) class='Hi'>students’ EOLB and learning satisfaction, and TES plays a moderating role between students’ EOLB and AEE, which all eventually influence students’ online learning effect manifested in aspects such as behaviour, cognition, and emotion. Given the results, the study further provides suggestions for alleviating university students’ EOLB, which can be used to optimise English online teaching design and learning practice. (shrink)

................English....................... The purpose of this study is to reveal university students’ perceptions regarding Holy Qur’an through metaphors. The survey group of study consists of 194 participants who were studying in Theology Department and Social Service Department at Gümüşhane University in the 2014-2015 academic terms. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used together. The study’s data was collected through a form with the phrase “The Holy Qur’an is similar/like…, because...” and some demographical variables. The Content Analysis Technique was used to (...) interpret data. Results of this study determined that 44 different metaphors regarding Holy Qur’an were given by participants. Theme of these metaphors were compiled as 9 categories consisting of directional, life source, explanatory, key, protective, curative, instructive, speech, and other categories. Top metaphors are in the directional, life source and explanatory categories. Key words are metaphor, perception, The Qur’an perception, religious concepts, and religious symbols. Getting data through comprehensive and in-dept analysis can help to have information about concepts of holy books in the human mind. The purpose of this study is to pick out perceptions of university students with regard to the Holy Qur’an through metaphors. For this reason, these questions are searched by researchers: 1) What are the metaphors which used by university students on description of perceptions regarding the Holy Qur’an? 2) How are the metaphors regarding the Holy Qur’an categorized in terms of common characteristics which produced by university students? 3) Are there any links between socio-demographic variables and composed metaphoric categories? One of the qualitative data collection technics, data collecting through metaphors method is used, and is asked open-ended question in the study. Picking up similarities and diversities under thematic topics is quite easy in the method. Therefore, this method has a functional feature in the sociology, psychology and anthropology, and it gives a wealthy and qualified image about matter, phenomenon, event and situation (Yıldırım & Şimşek 2005, 212). The target population of the study consists of students who were taking education at Gümüşhane University. Easily accessible and availability principles pursued in the sample choosing. In the distribution of participants according to the demographical features, females have 61.9 percent (n:120) and males have 38.1 percent (n:74) in terms of gender. Students who graduated from religious vocational high school is 61.3 percent (n:119), and others who from other high schools is 38.7 percent (n:75) in terms of graduated from different high schools. Students in theology department have 68.0 percent (n:132), and students who were educated in the social service department have 32.0 percent (n:62). Research data is gathered through survey form includes “The Holy Qur’an is like/similar to…, because…” sentence and demographical variabilities. Data, gathered from 194 survey forms, is transferred to the Excel and the SPSS program. In an attempt to reliability of study, gathered metaphors is examined by four area expert. Frequencies (f) and percentages (%) is taken into consideration in the process of replacing metaphors to the tables. Data analysis technique is used on the getting relationships and explaining gathered data, while content analysis technique is used on the interpreting of data. The SPSS program is used in the analysis of quantitative data. Obtained data from the surveys and composed categories is associated with descriptive statements in the verses of the Holy Qur’an. In the composed categories demonstrate distribution of produced 44 different metaphors with regard to the Holy Qur’an as 9 categories. According to this, the sample is represented in the categories as 64.4 % (f:125) is in the ‘directional’, 11.3 % (f:22) is in the ‘life source’, 7.7 % (f:15) is in the ‘explanatory’, 3.1 % (f:6) is in the ‘key’, 3.1 % (f:6) is in the ‘protective’, 2.1 % (f:4) is in the ‘curative’, 2.1 % (f:4) is in the ‘instructive’, 2.1 % (f:4) is in the ‘speech’ and 4.1 % (f:8) is in the ‘other’ categories. Distributions of composed categories are represented according to common characteristics as frequencies and percentages in the next tables. In the distribution of produced metaphors in the ‘directional’ category, university students produced 7 different metaphors (f:125). Frequencies of produced metaphors in the category are such that: guide (f:41), advisor (f:25), mentor (f:19), compass (f:16), road map (f:8), route (f:3) and other (f:13). According to the result, it is understood that aspects of guide, advisor, mentor and compass stood mostly out in the category. In the ‘life source’ category, 6 different metaphors (f:22) is developed by participants. Developed metaphors’ frequencies in the category are the following: life (f:4), lifeblood (f:4), weather (f:2), water (f:2), inheritance (f:2) and others (f:7). So, life and lifeblood aspects stood mostly out in the category. In the ‘explanatory’ category, 5 different metaphor (f:15) is developed by participants. Frequencies of produced metaphors in the category are such that: light (f:5), sun (f:3), flashlight (f:2), torch (f:2) and other (f:3). According to the result, it is understood that aspects of light and sun stood mostly out in the category In the ‘protective’ category, 5 different metaphors (f:6) is developed by participants. Frequencies of produced metaphors in the category are such that: saver (f:2), lifeguard (f:1), hereafter-saving (f:1), escapeway (f:1) and branch to catch (f:1). According to the result, it is understood that aspect of saver stood mostly out in the category. In the ‘instructive’ category, 4 different metaphors (f:6) is developed by participants. Frequencies of produced metaphors in the category are such that: reference book (f:1), dictionary (f:1), priceless book (f:1) and life encyclopedia (f:1). In the ‘speech’ category, it is seen that 4 different metaphors (f:6) is developed by participants. Frequencies of produced metaphors in the category are such that: divine message (f:1), speaking truth (f:1), Allah’s dialogue with us (f:1) and final word (f:1). In the ‘key’ category, 3 different metaphors (f:6) is developed by participants. Frequencies of produced metaphors in the category are such that: a key (f:4), the key of heaven (f:1) and the key of salvation (f:1). In the ‘curative’ category, 2 different metaphors (f:4) is developed by participants. Frequencies of produced metaphors in the category are such that: a pill (f:3) and doctor (f:1). In the ‘others’ category, 8 different metaphors (f:8) is developed by participants. Frequencies of produced metaphors in the category are such that: world (f:1), the friend of lonely passenger (f:1), the tree with fruit (f:1), hereafter (f:1), priceless treasure (f:1), miracle (f:1), philosophy (f:1) and mirror (f:1). Participants composed of 44 different metaphors regarding the Holy Qur’an. The metaphors were summed up in the 9 categories as ‘directional’, ‘life source’, ‘explanatory’, ‘key’, ‘protective’, ‘curative’, ‘instructive’, ‘speech’ and ‘other’ To results of the study; guide, advisor, mentor and compass aspects of the Qur’an came into prominence at most in the ‘directional’ category, when life and lifeblood aspects of the Qur’an came into prominence at most in the ‘life source’ category. Light and sunny aspects of the Qur’an came into prominence at most in the ‘explanatory’ category, while saver aspect of the Qur’an came into prominence at most in the ‘protective’ category. Instructive aspect of the Qur’an came into prominence at most in the ‘instructive’ category. Speech aspect of the Qur’an came into prominence at most in the ‘speech’ category, while key aspect of the Qur’an came into prominence at most in the ‘key’ category. Moreover, pill aspect of the Qur’an came into prominence at most in the ‘curative’ category. Whatsoever world, friend of single traveler, tree with fruit, hereafter, priceless treasure, miracle, philosophy and mirror aspects of the Qur’an came into prominence at most in the ‘other’ category. It is inferred that significant relationships between demographic variables and metaphor categories. In terms of major variable; theology students were composed of more metaphor in the ‘explanatory’ and ‘instructive’ categories, while social service students were composed of more metaphor in the ‘life source’ category. In terms of gender variable; females composed of more metaphor in the ‘curative’ and ‘other’ categories, while males composed of more metaphor in the ‘directional category. In terms of graduating high school variable, students who graduated from religious vocational high school composed of more metaphor in the ‘key’ and ‘speech’ categories, when students who graduated from other high school composed of more metaphor in the ‘directional’ category. Whatsoever, in terms of having the Qur’an education in their life status variable, had the Qur’an education in their life students composed of more metaphor in the ‘curative’ and ‘other’ categories, while other group composed of more metaphor in the ‘directional’. Moreover, in terms of perception of subjective religiousness, students who think themselves are ‘religious’ composed of more metaphor in the ‘key’ and ‘other’ categories, while students who think themselves are ‘less religious’ composed of more metaphor in the ‘explanatory’ category. In terms of perception of family religiousness, students who think own family ‘less religious’ composed of more metaphor in the ‘directional’ and ‘life source’ categories, when students who think own family ‘religious’ composed of more metaphor in the ‘key’ category. It can be suggested by the results of this study; perception of the Qur’an can be studied with the different study techniques, or it can be studied in the different research groups with the same technique. Muslims’ perceptions regarding the Holy Qur’an can be examined with intercultural comparative studies. Perceptions regarding the Holy Qur’an can be researched through interviews. Members’ perception regarding holy book that have different religious faith can be comparatively examined. Individuals’ perceptions regarding different religious concepts can be studied through metaphors. .................. Turkish...................Bu araştırmanın amacı üniversite öğrencilerinin Kur’an-ı Kerim’e ilişkin algılarını metaforlar aracılığıyla ortaya çıkarmaktır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu, 2014-2015 eğitim öğretim yılında Gümüşhane Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi ve Sosyal Hizmetler bölümünde öğrenim gören 194 katılımcı oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada nitel ve nicel yöntemler birlikte kullanılmıştır. Araştırma verileri, “Kur’an-ı Kerim……gibidir, çünkü……” cümlesini ve demografik değişkenleri içeren bir form aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Verilerin analizi ve yorumlanmasında içerik analizi tekniği kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada Kur’an’a ilişkin 44 farklı metafor geliştirildiği tespit edilmiştir. Bu metaforlardan ‘yönlendirici’, ‘yaşam kaynağı’, ‘açıklayıcı’, ‘anahtar’, ‘koruyucu’, ‘öğretici’, ‘derman’, ‘kelam’ ve ‘diğer’ olmak üzere 9 farklı kategori oluşturulmuştur. Üretilen metaforların ‘yönlendirici’, ‘yaşam kaynağı’ ve ‘açıklayıcı’ kategorilerinde yoğunlaştığı görülmüştür. Demografik değişkenler ile metafor kategorileri arasındaki ilişkiyi ortaya çıkarmak araştırmanın ikincil amaçlarındandır ve bu yönüyle sonuçlar değerlendirildiğinde değişkenler ile kategoriler arasında anlamlı ilişkiler olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Demografik değişkenler ile kategori ilişkisinde fakülte değişkeni açısından ilahiyat öğrencileri ‘açıklayıcı’ ve ‘öğretici’ kategorilerinde daha fazla metafor üretirken sosyal hizmet öğrencileri ‘yaşam kaynağı’ kategorisinde daha fazla metafor üretmiştir. Cinsiyet değişkeni açısından ise kız öğrenciler ‘derman’ ve ‘diğer’ kategorilerinde daha fazla metafor üretirken erkek öğrenciler ‘yönlendirici’ kategorisinde daha fazla metafor üretmiştir. Lise mezuniyeti açısından bakıldığında da İHL’den mezun olanlar ‘anahtar’ ve ‘kelam’ kategorilerinde daha fazla metafor üretirken diğer lise mezunları ‘yönlendirici’ kategorisinde daha fazla metafor üretmiştir. Kur’an Kursu eğitimi alma değişkeni açısından ise Kur’an kursu eğitimi alanlar ‘derman’ ve ‘diğer’ kategorilerinde daha fazla metafor üretirken Kur’an Kursu eğitimi almayanlar ‘yönlendirici’ kategorisinde daha fazla metafor üretmiştir. Ayrıca öznel dindarlık ve aile dindarlık algılarıyla metafor kategorileri arasında da anlamlı ilişkiler elde edilmiştir. (shrink)

Today’s students are accustomed to a world where information is available on-demand, anywhere and anytime. They bring this expectation to their academic world where they want to work cooperatively and flexibly, using the modern information processing tools and access with which they are familiar. New hardware platforms such as e-Readers and tablet computers have made substantial inroads in the consumer market. E-Readers are becoming more prevalent in universities – replacing the need for physical textbooks, lecturing notes and other (...) academic documents. Many universities are now running pilot programs, while some are already using e-Readers. Tablet computers, apart from their ability to read, edit or create various types of information documents, also offer additional features such as collaborative and social networking services. This empirical research project investigated student perspectives on the educational use of e-Readers and tablets within the University of Cape Town. A questionnaire was distributed to a significant portion of the student population and stratified according to seniority and faculty. Quantitative data was gathered and analysed on themes ranging from awareness to preferences to facilitating conditions around e-Readers within the academic environment. The students sent a clear signal: that they are keen to embrace these new technologies and the advantages they offer. E-Books can be updated automatically and downloaded to e-Readers instantly from almost anywhere in the world. Students feel they would benefit greatly through the use of e-Readers and many believe they are set to replace books completely. Having access to a portable library of information in their backpacks would benefit both students and the environment. However, there are a number of barriers to the comprehensive introduction of these technologies, including the cost of the devices; cost, rights and file format of e-books; the need for a critical mass of textbooks available in digital format and device characteristics such as battery life, and ubiquitous Wi-Fi access. (shrink)

University life is colourful, filled with a plethora of memorable moments both academic and non-academic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, first-year university students’ academic experiences may have differed from their expectations due to being conducted fully online. The COVID-19 pandemic denied first-year students the opportunity to join in-person classes and become involved in university activities in a physical setting. All activities were moved to virtual settings, and students could only contact their classsmates and lecturers via social media (...) platforms. This derailment of expectations may dampen students’ enthusiasm and impact their levels of motivation and happiness. To explore this phenomenon, a study was conducted with 143 first-year psychology students to examine their self-reported motivational and happiness levels before and after seven weeks of online classes. This study included 113 females and 30 males with a mean age of 20.68. Data collected revealed that students’ motivation and happiness levels declined significantly after their online classes. Based on the level of agreement with one item—‘Overall, I am happy with my university life’—48 students agreed, 76 were neutral, and 19 indicated dissatisfaction. This study may assist the university and relevant authorities in understanding students’ perceptions of dealing with academic and life challenges while learning online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, psychological strategies should be considered to enhance first-year students’ motivation and happiness levels when faced with online classes in their new first semester. (shrink)

This study adopted Q methodology to construct a holistic configuration of Chinese university students’ understandings of plagiarism. Twenty-five Chinese undergraduate students sorted 48 statements on plagiarism. Following the Q sorting, eight participants took part in a follow-up interview to justify their sorting. The study identified three distinct profiles of viewpoints on plagiarism: (a) highly condemnatory and punitive with a focus on practical causes, (b) moderately condemnatory with an emphasis on learning, (c) highly condemnatory with a focus on honor (...) and self-accountability. These viewpoints are discussed with reference to the moral, developmental, and regulatory discourses on plagiarism in the literature. (shrink)

This study investigated university students’ perceptions of facilitation strategies, learning motivation, and satisfaction, and the relationships between them in a cloud-based virtual classroom in mainland China. The results of an online questionnaire survey from a sample of 7,210 university students showed that students perceived high levels of facilitation strategies, learning motivation, and satisfaction. Students’ demographic characteristics, such as discipline, university type, gender, and grade, did not significantly affect their perceptions of facilitation strategies and learning outcomes. Instructor-student (...) interaction and instructor innovation were positively related to student learning motivation and satisfaction whereas the relationships between student interaction and learning motivation and satisfaction were weak and had no practical meaning. The findings of this study have implications for creating more effective synchronous online learning environments and achieving desirable learning outcomes. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic forced German universities to adjust their established operations quickly during the first nationwide lockdown in spring 2020. Lecturers and students were confronted with a sudden transition to remote teaching and learning. The present study examined students’ preparedness for and perspective on this new situation. In March and April 2020, we surveyed n = 584 students about the status quo of their perceived digital literacy and corresponding formal learning opportunities they had experienced in the (...) past. Additionally, the students reported the direction of changes in key study characteristics they expected from this new situation. Moreover, they reported the extent to which they believe they will be able to master this new study situation successfully. Two categories of independent variables were considered: context-related variables and person-related variables. Our results show that students did not have many learning opportunities to promote their digital literacy, suggesting that they were not appropriately prepared for this new situation. Results for digital literacy vary by competence area. However, there is a positive correlation between past formal learning opportunities and corresponding digital competences. Master students reported more learning opportunities and higher digital literacy only in one competence area compared to bachelor students. Regarding the expected change of key study characteristics, some characteristics were expected to worsen and fewer to improve. A multiple regression analysis explained 54% of the estimated probability of successful remote learning. Students’ age, state anxiety, positive state affect, general self-efficacy, the availability of an own workplace, past learning opportunities in digital content creation, and the estimated preparedness of lecturers for remote teaching were significant explaining factors. Our results provide valuable insights into the perspective of students on studying during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. We discuss important factors that should be addressed by educational measures in the future. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant negative effect on university students’ mental health worldwide. The pandemic has resulted in individuals experiencing increased levels of anxiety and stress as well as intensified concerns about the future due to a rise in uncertainty. To eliminate the anxiety and stress caused by uncertainty, individuals who have high cognitive closure needs are strongly motivated to achieve certainty and seek answers, even if the decisions they make in the process are inappropriate or even (...) irrational. This study attempts to analyze the influence of anxiety and stress on university students’ academic involution behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic through the mediating effect of the need for cognitive closure. Analyzing the survey data collected from 402 university students from 3 different universities through the mediating effect model and path analysis with latent variable, our results indicate that: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the levels of anxiety and stress experienced by university students. The path coefficient of the perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 to perceived emotions was 0.352, anxiety and stress significantly and positively affect academic involution behavior. For each unit of increase in the scores of anxiety and stress, the scores of academic involution behavior increased by 0.408 and 0.398 units, respectively, and The need for cognitive closure had a complete and partial mediating effect on the relationship between the perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 and academic involution behavior, as well as anxiety and academic involution behavior, respectively. The results of PA-LV showed that the mediating effect values were 0.106 and 0.044, respectively. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet come to an end and so clarifying the relationship between anxiety and academic involution behavior will assist university students to optimize the relationship in their own subjective situations, to establish good learning habits, and reduce psychological distress. (shrink)

In this article a study is carried out to identify the aspects of student satisfaction that allow improving university academic performance through applied educational research with a qualitative approach. Likewise, it is specified that the study problem is: how to enhance academic performance based on the satisfaction of the university student seen as a customer? The theoretical framework states that the way to be able to plan, know, and evaluate the satisfaction of students concerning the service they usually receive (...) in academic terms is considered a relevant factor concerning the quality of education at the national level, such efforts demanding an objective of excellence in education. The study subjects were 06 teachers of the Administration and Marketing career of a private university in Lima. As main results, 02 axes were evidenced: how satisfaction influences university academic performance and the elements to know which motivational strategies improve university academic performance. A discussion of the results was carried out, contrasting what was obtained in the qualitative focus group instrument to affirm or not the delimited category and the emerging categories of the study subjects with the scientific literature. Likewise, in conclusion, we have the reflection to reinforce the importance of student satisfaction to improve student performance in their educational experience at an integral level. (shrink)

The present study examined the effects of mindfulness training on attention regulation in university students and whether the potential benefits of implementation are influenced by the yoga component of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and/or by MBI homework practice. In a non-randomized trial with pre- and post-assessments, n = 180 university students were allocated to either mindfulness training (experimental groups), awareness activities (active control group), or no training (passive control group). Mindfulness was taught through two MBIs, one including yoga and (...) the other excluding yoga. Attention regulation was operationalized via behavioral indicators, namely sustained attention, cognitive flexibility, cognitive inhibition, and data-driven information processing. With the exception of speed in a cognitive flexibility task, the results indicated no systematic or differential advantage arising from mindfulness training, with or without yoga, regarding the aspects of attention regulation. There was no consistent influence of homework quantity or quality. The implications for mindfulness training in academic contexts are discussed. (shrink)

Physical activity is an important habit for overall health and quality of life, but it tends to recede as young adults transition from high school into university. The present study sought to understand, in the case of university students that still practice PA, their motives for PA and their relationships with psychological need satisfaction and characteristics of practice regularity. Participants were 423 university students who reported to practice PA, with ages ranging from 18 to 30 years old. Measures (...) assessing motives for PA, PNS, and PA characteristics were completed. Hierarchical, followed by iterative, cluster analysis was used and four naturally occurring groupings of university students were identified based on their motives for PA: one extrinsic-motives cluster, one all-motives cluster, one intrinsic-motives cluster, and one low-motives cluster. Groupings were compared in terms of the characteristics of their practice regularity and their levels of PNS. Significant between-group differences were observed in the duration of single principal PA sessions, minutes per week practicing main PA, total PA minutes per week, and type of day of the week used for PA. The number of days per week devoted to the principal PA and the number of total PAs practiced were similar across all four clusters. With regard to between-group differences in psychological need satisfaction in PA by cluster, these analyses showed the existence of four clearly distinguishable naturally occurring groupings based on motives for PA, which gives researchers and practitioners the possibility to analyze and implement tailored interventions aimed at promoting PA among university students. (shrink)

The challenges of adapting to this new world require universities to establish new actions that strengthen the preparation of their students. The objective of the research is to identify the degree of burnout that students of the Bachelor of Public Accounting (BPA) and Bachelor of Economics and Finance (BEF) programs of the Technological Institute of Sonora are experiencing. The research methodology is quantitative, non-experimental, with a cross-sectional design and descriptive scope. To collect the information, the Burnout Inventory-Student (...) Survey (MBISS) was used, developed by Schaufeli, Martínez, Salanova, GonzálezRomá and Bakker in 2002 in its Colombian adaptation and validation developed by Hederich and Caballero in 2016. The contribution is to determine the situation of the students of these academic programs in three major aspects: Exhaustion, Cynicism and Academic Efficiency, in such a way that interventions are established that support the academic transition of the student. (shrink)

Academic performance enhancement or cognitive enhancement (CE) via stimulant drug use has received increasing attention. The question remains, however, whether CE solely represents the use of drugs for achieving better academic or workplace results or whether CE also serves various other purposes. The aim of this study was to put the phenomenon of pharmacological academic performance enhancement via prescription and illicit (psycho-) stimulant use (Amphetamines, Methylphenidate) among university students into a broader context. Specifically, we wanted to further understand (...) class='Hi'>students’ experiences, the effects of use on students and other factors, such as pressure to perform in their academic and private lives. (shrink)

Social behavior is closely linked to self-efficacy, which is the individual’s confidence or belief that they can successfully complete a task in a given situation. The advent of social media classified social behavior as online and offline sociality, and has cultivated inconsistency in online and offline social behavior of university students, an issue that has come to prominence in scholarly research. However, the relationship between this inconsistency and self-efficacy is worthy of investigation because this particular confluence of behavioral concepts (...) has been rarely been researched. In this paper, online and offline social behavior is integrated, a typology for university student social activities established, and the correlation between different types of social activity and student self-efficacy investigated, with a specific focus on those with notable inconsistencies in their social performance. The following findings are reported. First, as online social networking has become the dominant form of social interaction, the types of social activity have increased, with one-third of university students showing inconsistent online and offline social behavior. However, different types of social activities have varied effects on the self-efficacy of university students, with differences between general self-efficacy, which is significantly above academic self-efficacy, and social self-efficacy. These effects are also different for students with inconsistent online and offline social performance; those who are active online show higher self-efficacy than those who are active offline. This study shows online social network interactions to be more closely related to student self-efficacy than offline interactions. (shrink)

This study investigated how young Italian people experienced the period of peak spread of COVID-19 in their country by probing their emotions, thoughts, events, and actions related to interpersonal and community bonds. This approach to the pandemic will highlight social dimensions that characterized contextual interactions from the specific perspective of Community Psychology. The aim was to investigate young people's experiences because they are the most fragile group due to their difficulty staying home and apart from their peers and because they (...) are, at the same time, the most potentially dangerous people due to their urge to gather in groups. The research involved 568 university students, 475 females, and 93 males, with an average age of 21.82 years. The collected data were analyzed with the Grounded Theory Methodology, using the Atlas 8.0 software. From the textual data, representative codes were defined and grouped into 10 categories, which reflect the individuals' prosocial attitudes, behaviors, and values. These categories formed three macro-categories, called: “Collective Dimensions,” which includes Connectedness, Solidarity, Italian-ness, Social Problems, and Collective Mourning; “Prosocial Orientation,” which includes Trust and Hope; and “Collective Values,” which includes Values of Freedom, Respect of Social Rules, and Civic-Mindedness. All these macro-categories are indicative of the shared feelings experienced by Italians during the first time of the pandemic. Further practical implications of these results will be discussed, including a consideration of the risk of developing distress and improving well-being, as well as promoting preventive behaviors. (shrink)

This study evaluated the dimensionality and psychometric properties of the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) using a sample of university students in mainland China. Nine hundred and three students from a Chinese university participated in this study. The internal consistency, criterion validity, factorial validity and construct validity of the scale were examined. The Chinese versions of the BSCS demonstrated good internal consistency. The BSCS also showed significant moderate correlations with other construct-related scales. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (...) suggested that only a modified 11-item BSCS with a four-factor structure was a good model fit in the sample of Chinese university students. The implications for research and theoretical development are discussed. (shrink)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities had to shift from face-to-face to emergency remote education. Students were forced to study online, with limited access to facilities and less contact with peers and teachers, while at the same time being exposed to more autonomy. This study examined how students adapted to emergency remote learning, specifically focusing on students’ resource-management strategies using an individual differences approach. One thousand eight hundred university students completed a questionnaire on their resource-management strategies (...) and indicators of successful adaptation to emergency remote learning. On average, students reported being less able to regulate their attention, effort, and time and less motivated compared to the situation before the crisis started; they also reported investing more time and effort in their self-study. Using a k-means cluster analysis, we identified four adaptation profiles and labeled them according to the reported changes in their resource-management strategies: the overwhelmed, the surrenderers, the maintainers, and the adapters. Both the overwhelmed and surrenderers appeared to be less able to regulate their effort, attention, and time and reported to be less motivated to study than before the crisis. In contrast, the adapters appreciated the increased level of autonomy and were better able to self-regulate their learning. The resource-management strategies of the maintainers remained relatively stable. Students’ responses to open-answer questions on their educational experience, coded using a thematic analysis, were consistent with the quantitative profiles. Implications about how to support students in adapting to online learning are discussed. (shrink)

As Internet sources provide information of varying quality, it is an indispensable prerequisite skill to evaluate the relevance and credibility of online information. Based on the assumption that competent individuals can use different properties of information to assess its relevance and credibility, we developed the EVON (evaluation ofonline information), an interactive computer-based test for university students. The developed instrument consists of eight items that assess the skill to evaluate online information in six languages. Within a simulated search engine environment, (...) students are requested to select the most relevant and credible link for a respective task. To evaluate the developed instrument, we conducted two studies: (1) a pre-study for quality assurance and observing the response process (cognitive interviews ofn= 8 students) and (2) a main study aimed at investigating the psychometric properties of the EVON and its relation to other variables (n= 152 students). The results of the pre-study provided first evidence for a theoretically sound test construction with regard to students’ item processing behavior. The results of the main study showed acceptable psychometric outcomes for a standardized screening instrument with a small number of items. The item design criteria affected the item difficulty as intended, and students’ choice to visit a website had an impact on their task success. Furthermore, the probability of task success was positively predicted by general cognitive performance and reading skill. Although the results uncovered a few weaknesses (e.g., a lack of difficult items), and the efforts of validating the interpretation of EVON outcomes still need to be continued, the overall results speak in favor of a successful test construction and provide first indication that the EVON assesses students’ skill in evaluating online information in search engine environments. (shrink)

The digital revolution has made a multitude of text documents from highly diverse perspectives on almost any topic easily available. Accordingly, the ability to integrate and evaluate information from different sources, known as multiple document comprehension, has become increasingly important. Because multiple document comprehension requires the integration of content and source information across texts, it is assumed to exceed the demands of single text comprehension due to the inclusion of two additional mental representations: the integrated situation model and the intertext (...) model. To date, there is little empirical evidence on commonalities and differences between single text and multiple document comprehension. Although the relationships between single text and multiple document comprehension can be well distinguished conceptually, there is a lack of empirical studies supporting these assumptions. Therefore, we investigated the dimensional structure of single text and multiple document comprehension with similar test setups. We examined commonalities and differences between the two forms of text comprehension in terms of their relations to final school exam grades, level of university studies and university performance. Using a sample of n = 501 students from two German universities, we jointly modeled single text and multiple document comprehension and applied a series of regression models. Concerning the relationship between single text and multiple document compr... (shrink)

The study aimed to identify the level of mindfulness and achievement motivation and the relationship between Mindfulness and achievement motivation among university students. To achieve the objectives of the study, the descriptive correlational approach was used, as the study sample consisted of (350) male and female students from Hashemite University students from the College of Educational Sciences and registered in the first semester of the academic year 2023/2024, where the study tools were applied electronically. The study used (...) the Mindfulness scale consisting of (4) dimensions (observation, description, acting consciously, judging internal experience), and the achievement motivation scale consisting of five dimensions was also used: (sense of responsibility, striving for excellence, perseverance, feeling the importance of time, and planning for the future). The results showed that the level of Mindfulness was at an average level, with an average of (3.50) and a standard deviation of (0.628). In contrast, the level of achievement motivation was high, with an average of (3.81) and a deviation of (0.452). The results also showed the existence of a statistically significant correlation between the dimensions of Mindfulness and achievement motivation among university students. (shrink)

Physical activity and sports are extremely essential elements for physical and mental health among adolescents. Around 30% of 16 years old and above in Malaysia have mental health issues. For this purpose, 512 university students from Malaysia were surveyed through social media, with 74% response rate. Structural equation model partial least square was used to examine the effect of PA and sports on mental health. The results revealed that both PA and sports significantly predict mental health among university (...) class='Hi'>students. The model explained 35.8% variance in mental health. The study suggests that PA and sports activity need to be promoted among university students to control prevailing mental health issues in adolescents. (shrink)

This study provides a critical discourse analysis of letters of complaint by Jordanian university students. It aims to investigate the rhetorical pattern in these letters and explore the main strategies students use to express their dissatisfaction about certain issues and persuade the addressee to take action. To this end, permissions were obtained to collect data from two universities in Jordan: Jordan University of Science and Technology and World University of Islamic Studies and Education. The data were analyzed (...) both qualitatively and quantitatively through two analytic frameworks within critical discourse analysis : genre analysis to investigate the rhetorical pattern of complaint letters, and discursive analysis to investigate the main strategies of persuasion. These strategies were then categorized according to Aristotle’s means of persuasion: ‘ethos’, ‘logos’ and ‘pathos’. The analysis showed that written complaint was a distinctive genre with distinctive moves. It also revealed that persuasion by means of pathos was more prevalent than the other two types. Socio-cultural values have been shown to be so powerful in Jordanian society even in neutral situations such as academic context. This study will hopefully contribute to the fields of genre analysis and CDA in cross-cultural communication. (shrink)