Academic Satisfaction and Approaches to Learning Among United Arab Emirates University Students

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between students' academic satisfaction and approaches to learning. A total of 351 undergraduate students participated in this study. Study requirements and instructor treatment as two constructs of satisfaction predicted surface approach, instructor treatment and attitudes towards study predicted deep approach, and attitudes towards study predicted achieving approach. In general, academic satisfaction directly affected students' approaches to learning as examined by structural equation analysis, particularly for deep approach.Satisfaction is the state that reflects an individual's perception of, liking for, and pleasure in certain aspects of the environment (Nord, 1997) including the academic environment. Evidence indicates that students' level of academic satisfaction is related to their values in terms of ability, effort, and motivational goals, whereas dissatisfaction is related to students' perceptions of unfair treatment and difficulties caused by the academic system (Danielson, 1998). In addition, academic satisfaction involves students' perception of quality in their academic programs, study requirements, teachers' treatment and instructions (Belcheir, 1999), and better attitudes toward the subject matter (Walberg & Greenberg, 1997). This situation raises an important question about the connection between students' academic satisfaction and the approaches to learning that students use in the educational context. Approach to learning is a "composite of a motive and an appropriate strategy" (Biggs, 1987, p. 2) used by students to acquire different information and engage in different learning situations. Students' approaches to learning constitute a suf-SOCIAL

Exploring Relationships Between Sexual Orientation and Satisfaction with Faculty and Staff Interactions

“…Input measures included gender (Aldemir & Gulcan, 2004;Baek & Shin, 2008;Cole, 2008 Ellis, 2001;Kim & Sax, 2009;Li & Pitts, 2009;Lundberg & Schreiner, 2004;Luo & Jamieson-Drake, 2009;Sax, Bryant, & Harper, 2005;Sher, 2009;Strayhorn & Terrell, 2007;Unruh, Unruh, Moorman, & Seshadri, 2005), sexual orientation (Longerbeam, Inkelas, Johnson, & Lee, 2007;Maccio & Doueck, 2002), race/ethnicity (Ellis, 2001;Kim & Sax, 2009;Lundberg & Schreiner, 2004;Luo & Jamieson-Drake, 2009), family socioeconomic status (Cole, 2008;Kim & Sax, 2009), high school grade point average (GPA) (Cole, 2008;Sax et al, 2005), SAT score, and citizenship (Aldemir & Gulcan, 2004;Arambewela et al, 2005;Baek & Shin, 2008;Hassan, 2002). The second block contained a quasi-pretest measure for satisfaction, measuring pre-college confidence in being satisfied with the college experience (Inkelas, Brower, Crawford, Hummel, Pope, & Zeller, 2004).…”

“…The fourth block included distal, or between-college, environmental measures used in the regression analysis, and included institutional selectivity (Cole, 2008;Lundberg & Schreiner, 2004), proportion of female faculty (Baek & Shin, 2008), and proportion of White students. Student involvement measures were entered in the fifth block, and included positive diversity interactions (Cole, 2008;Longerbeam et al, 2007;Luo & Jamieson-Drake, 2009), college GPA (Baek & Shin, 2008), involvement in student organizations (Aldemir & Gulcan, 2004;Longerbeam et al, 2007;Lundberg & Schreiner, 2004), time attending class (Aldemir & Gulcan, 2004;Sher, 2009), and time studying or doing homework (Hassan, 2002).…”

Success and Failure in Science Education: A Focus Group Study on Turkish Students

“…There is a lot of research conducted on predicting academic success in science education. These studies reveal that there are many factors that affect success in science, such as fathers' level of education (Anıl, 2009), attitudes (Alomar, 2006;McLean, 1997;Abu_Hilal, 2000;House, 1997;Hassan, 2002;McCoy, 2005;OECD, 2003), students' perceptions of failure in science, parents' level of education, loneliness, leisure time activities, teachers' and students' general attitudes (TIMMS), the quality of teaching context (Burgaz, 2002), school culture (Schoen & Teddie, 2008), parents' economic status (Abbott & Fouts, 2003;Anıl, 2009;Özgüven, 1998;McCoy, 2005), students' health, emotional space, and social environment (Oğuzhan, 1985).…”

Advisor–Student Relationship in Business Education Project Collaborations: A Psychological Contract Perspective

“…Overall, research findings have indicated that there are numerous factors that contribute to student satisfaction in an academic setting. It is considered important to build student satisfaction because students who are satisfied have a positive approach to learning (Hassan, 2002).…”