Grace

Foreign Literature Student Performance Galiher (2006) and Darling (2005), used GPA to measure
student performance because the main focus in the student performance for the particular semester.
Some other researchers used test results or previous year result since they are studying performance for
the specific subject or year (Hijazi and Naqvi, 2006 and Hake, 1998). Many researchers have discussed
the different factors that affect the student academic performance in their research. There are two
types of factors that affect the students‘ academic performance. These are internal and external
classroom factors and these factors strongly affect the students‘ performance. Internal classroom
factors includes students competence in English, class schedules, class size, English text books, class test
results, learning facilities, homework, environment of the class, complexity of the course material,
teachers role in the class, technology used in the class and exams systems. External classroom factors
include extracurricular activities, family problems, work and financial, social and other problems.
Research studies shows that students‘ performance depends on many factors such as learning facilities,
gender and age differences, etc. that can affect student performance (Hansen, Joe B., 2000). Harb and
El-Shaarawi (2006) found that the most important factor with positive effect on students' performance
is Parental Involvement.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE In his widely cited paper, Romer (1993) is one of the first few authors to
explore the relationship between student attendance and exam performance. A number of factors have
contributed to declining class attendances around the world in the last 15 years. The major reasons
given by students for non-attendance include assessment pressures, poor delivery of lectures, timing of
lectures, and work commitments (Newman-Ford, Lloyd & Thomas, 2009). In recent times, students have
found a need to seek employment while studying on a part-time basis due to financial constraints. The
numbers of part-time and mature students has also risen sharply. The use of information technology
also means that information that used to be obtained from sitting through lectures can be obtained at
the click of a mouse. Indeed, web-based learning approaches have become the order of the day. Given
all these developments that either makes it impossible or unnecessary for students to attend classes,
the question that needs to be asked is whether absenteeism affects students‘ academic performance.
Research on this subject seems to provide a consensus that students who miss classes perform poorly
compared to those who attend classes (Devadoss& Foltz, 1996; Durden& Ellis, 1995; Romer, 1993; Park
& Kerr, 1990; Schmidt, 1983). Based on these findings a number of stakeholders have called for
mandatory class attendance. Although the existing evidence points to a strong correlation between
attendance and academic performance, none of the studies cited above demonstrate a causal effect.
The inability of these cross-sectional studies to isolate attendance from a myriad of confounding student
characteristics (e.g. levels of motivation, intelligence, prior learning, and time-management skills) is a
major limiting factor to the utility of these findings (Rodgers & Rodgers, 2003). Durden and Ellis, (1995)
controlled for student differences in background, ability and 10 motivation, and reported a nonlinear
effect of attendance on learning, that is, a few absences do not lead to poor grades but excessive
absenteeism does. Educational services are often not tangible and are difficult to measure because they
result in the form of transformation of knowledge, life skills and behavior modifications of learners
(Tsinidou, Gerogiannis, & Fitsilis, 2010). So there is no commonly agreed upon definition of quality that
is applied to education field. The definition of quality of education varies from culture to culture
(Michael, 1998). The environment and the personal characteristics of learners play an important role in
their academic success. The school personnel, members of the families and communities provide help
and support to students for the quality of their academic performance. This social assistance has a
crucial role for the accomplishment of performance goals of students at school (Goddard, 2003). Besides
the social structure, parents‘ involvement in their child‘s education increases the rate of academic
success of their child.

Elmo

Foreign literacy practices and learning skills among Indonesian and Thai students of graduate education
studies

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kjss.2017.12.006

Abstract

The research aimed to identify the English language competence of Indonesian (N = 73) and Thai (N =
60) students through describing their study skills by documenting their foreign language learning
strategies, and documenting ways they used their competence in English or other foreign languages to
facilitate their learning processes. Participants of the study possessed foreign language skills other than
English. In this case, some Indonesian students were able to speak French and Japanese, and some
Thai students were able to speak Chinese and Lao. However, their foreign language skills were mostly
poor. Only a few students claimed that they were good foreign language speakers. It is believed that
when individuals did not practice their foreign language skills frequently, they lost their skills acquisition as
they were not able to keep their language knowledge in their memory. In terms of language use, they
spoke their foreign language(s) mostly for academic and cultural purposes. In sum, both Indonesian and
Thai graduate students were mostly classified into the receptive type of learners because they tended to
manipulate receptive skills rather than productive ones. For their academic purposes, they only needed to
read and listen. Hence, their writing skills were rarely developed. It is recommended that the students
improve their literacy skills in order to enhance their study skills and a further study be conducted to
gather more valid and accurate data.

Marry joy

Local

Designed curriculum and local culture: Acknowledging the primacy of classroom culture
Kurt D Squire, James G MaKinster, Michael Barnett, April Lynn Luehmann, Sasha L Barab
Science education 87 (4), 468-489, 2003

One of the primary challenges facing designers today is how to design curricular innovations that are
appealing and useful to teachers and at the same time bring about transformative practices. While we
as a learning sciences community are relatively adept at facilitating innovative case examples, we need
more empirical work that examines how curricular innovations become implemented across multiple
classrooms. In this paper we examine a series of four teachers implementing our technology‐rich,
project‐based curriculum. We then analyze and discuss each of the four cases across two themes by (a)
examining how the project‐level question was contextualized to meet local needs and (b) examining the
cultural context that surrounded the implementation of the curriculum. Our interpretations suggest that
contextualizing the curriculum is ultimately a local phenomenon that arises as a result of a number of
factors, including students' needs, students' goals, teachers' goals, local constraints, and teacher's
pedagogical values. These cases illuminate the importance of school and classroom cultures in the
learning process. Ultimately, curriculum designers need to acknowledge that their designs are not
self‐sufficient entities; instead, during implementation, they become assimilated as part of the cultural
systems in which they are being realized. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 87:468–489, 2003;
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/sce.10084

Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES This chapter shows the material used, such as
international and local literatures, articles and studies. Reviewed and read by the researchers to obtain
knowledge and background related to the conduct of the study Foreign Literature According to Jones,
Reichard and Mokhtari(20003) Learning styles are subject area sensitive, that a majority of the students
perceive different discipline require different learning strategies and that they are able to adapt or style-
flex to meet the requirements of the learning task. Many students may have some intuition regarding
how they learn, many may simply not be consciously aware of their learning preferences in general, let
alone learning in different disciplines. Increasing student awareness of their own learning styles may be
quite helpful in increasing control of their learning habits and strategies, which should, in turn, influence
their Academic performance. In this journal, it shows that many students have different learning styles
in acquiring different learning task that was given by their teachers. There are also students who are not
aware how they learn or many students do not know what is their learning preference in common. Let
them explore and know his/her learning styles because it helps the students to perform well or get
highest scores in exams or quizzes. Understanding the different learning styles of students can also help
the teachers not only the students because they can implement better strategies in teaching and for the
students they can used better strategies in studying. Gabe Keri (2002) stated that female students and
male students learn differently. In general, the studies on males and females learning differences have
concluded that more females are relational learners, whereas more males are indep endent learners.
Using Canfield’s Learning Style Inventory (1988) more males indicated a preference for applied learning
styles (i.e., using every-day-life experiences as a basis of learning), whereas females preferred abstract
(i.e., where copious reading assignments are required, learning materials are organized, and instructors
demonstrate knowledge). This journal shows how the male and female students differ from each other
when it comes to learning or studying. The male students prefer an hand-on experience or assignments
that applied to day to day activities. They tend to explore or draw on their personal everyday life
circumstances to inform their learning. While the female students are conceptual learners where they
prefer to organize their materials for school before they start studying and it is also required to have a
reviewer. Every student has their own studying preference and priorities; some prefer to study alone
while others prefer in group study. According to an article from Thomas Edison State College (2014)
there are things to consider when deciding between studying alone or with a group of peers. When
studying alone it minimizes distraction, it allows you to pace yourself and it improves focus. While in
group study, it increases retention, it expands access to information and it boosts motivation. In this
article, it shows that students have their own set of learning style preference and these preference is
known as an effective method which are studying alone and joining a study within a group. Students can
choose which type of study preference that they think will help them in their studies and they should
think the factors to consider in choosing them prefer style. Because one option isn’t necessarily better
than the other. But one might be better for them. Maybe they prefer to study alone but retain more
information if they are part of a study group. Or maybe they enjoy the group dynamic but learn better in
a quiet setting. No matter what they choose or prefer, students must think the best that will fit for
them. According to Derek Thompson (2013) shown that females prefer to work in teams while males
prefer to work alone. And also, females demonstrated less confidence about their own abilities while
males demonstrated more over confidence in their own abilities. In this article, it shows that females
prefer to work or study in a group rather than studying alone because of less confidence about
themselves. While males prefer to work or study alone rather than studying in a group because they are
too confident about their capability.