This study examined the relationship between four class attitudinal variables and how it correlates to class attendance and performance. A questionnaire was administered to 134 undergraduate students at a medium sized college in Taiwan. The data included questions about the participant's rating of the level of difficulty of the course (Difficulty), the topics covered in the course (Topics), their motivation towards attending the course (Motivation), and whether or not the participants felt that the course is practical and useful to their future (Practicality). The results of the Pearson correlation coefficients showed that 4 out of the 15 correlations were statistically significant. These included the negative correlation found between motivation and topics; and practicality and topics. The finding that none of the variables were significantly correlated to course attendance and course performance suggests that the strongest predictor of success of a course was based on the student's level of attendance. This was in accordance with the literature review. The discussion in the conclusion provided some pedagogical implications for what teachers can do in their classrooms to increase class attendance.

Abstract

This study explores the attitudes of students with Confucian values toward blended learning classroom. In the Confucian learning culture, students are viewed as passive learners, reliant on rote memorization, assessment-driven, obedient to authority, and fearful of showing different opinions to the instructor. This style of learning is different than online learning, which encourages independence and require students to take greater responsibility for their own learning. This study comprised of 94 students who took a blended listening course in English from a medium-sized university in Southern Taiwan. A questionnaire was administered at the end of the course and it was found that the participants in this study demonstrated certain characteristics associated with the Confucian-heritage learning culture. Two important factors in helping students with Confucian values succeed in a blended classroom include classroom management and a user-friendly platform which reduces anxiety associated technology. The use of blended learning would be a good choice for such students because it offers a combination of the traditional classroom that students are used to for parts of the semester with the convenience of online learning for the other parts of the semester.