Obtaining and Interpreting Students' Attitudes -- Some Methodological Considerations and a Case Study

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Obtaining and Interpreting Students' Attitudes -- Some Methodological Considerations and a Case Study
Language: English
Authors: Sabolic, Dubravko, Beran Samuelson, Melissa, Magzan, Masha
Source: Online Submission. 2022.
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 7
Publication Date: 2022
Document Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Student Attitudes, College Students, Likert Scales, Student Surveys, Economics Education, Business Administration Education, Elective Courses, Engineering, Engineering Education, Computer Science Education, Incentives
Abstract: Obtaining students' attitudes, opinions, feedback, etc., plays an essential role in the higher educational process because it makes it more bidirectional and engaging for the students. Including larger populations in surveys often calls for informational structuring/standardization for subsequent statistical post-processing. Moreover, it brings along some well-known methodological issues (e.g., the central tendency in Likert scale-based surveys). Here we build upon a relatively large student survey case previously presented more extensively in [1]. That survey was devoted to various aspects of economics and business-related education offered on an elective basis to electrical engineering and computer science students. Here we focus on the interference between the intrinsic information (that is, the "true type" student responses) and the processing method that, if not designed carefully, can increase incentives for students to conceal their true type and recourse to the neutral ("central") answers. We also discuss our new practical approach currently tested in a similar population.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2022
Accession Number: ED622738
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Obtaining students' attitudes, opinions, feedback, etc., plays an essential role in the higher educational process because it makes it more bidirectional and engaging for the students. Including larger populations in surveys often calls for informational structuring/standardization for subsequent statistical post-processing. Moreover, it brings along some well-known methodological issues (e.g., the central tendency in Likert scale-based surveys). Here we build upon a relatively large student survey case previously presented more extensively in [1]. That survey was devoted to various aspects of economics and business-related education offered on an elective basis to electrical engineering and computer science students. Here we focus on the interference between the intrinsic information (that is, the "true type" student responses) and the processing method that, if not designed carefully, can increase incentives for students to conceal their true type and recourse to the neutral ("central") answers. We also discuss our new practical approach currently tested in a similar population.