Examination of University Students’ Perceptions on the Quality of School Life Based on Gender and Faculty

Year 2012, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 225 - 242, 01.03.2012

Murat Özdemir

Abstract

Introduction. The ultimate goal of the school as an organization is to improve students' knowledge, skills and behaviors through educational processes. But, it was claimed in the years of 1960s and 1970s that schools did not perform its duties well (Coleman, 1966; Friedenberg, 1965; Illich, 1971; Kozol, 1967; Silberman, 1971).Fortunately, with the emergence of ‘effective schools movement' in 1970s it was understood that schools might be effective in case they have some distinctive features (Bossert, Dwyer, Rowan, & Lee, 1982; Edmonds, 1979). Some scholars implied that quality of school life (QSL) was one of those features. QSL can be defined ‘as a general sense of well-being resulting from students' involvement in school life and their engagement in the school environment' (Karatzias, Athanasiou, Power, & Swanson, 2001, p. 91). The studies which focused on the influences of QSL indicated that QSL is closely correlated with students' attitudes toward their academic courses (Sosniac & Ethington, 1988), satisfaction with their schools, commitment to their class works and attitudes toward their teachers (Epstein & McPartland, 1976a, 1976b). It is also possible to see several studies on the QSL in Turkish literature (e.gÇokluk-Bökeoğlu & Yılmaz, 2007; Doğanay & Sarı, 2006; Sarı, Ötünç, & Erceylan, 2007; Yılmaz, 2005; Yılmaz & Çokluk-Bökeoğlu, 2006).However, in the processes of literature review it was seen that QSL had not been studied in newly established universities in Turkey. Therefore, this gap in the literature was the main reason of the present study. Çankırı Karatekin University which was founded in 2007 was selected for the research because it is a relatively young university. Purpose.The general purpose of the present study is to reveal participants' perceptions on the quality of school life. In line with this general purpose, two research questions were posed; one is to detect the level of students' perceptions on their quality of school life; and the other is to compare the students' perceptions of the quality of school life according to their gender and faculty which they attend. Method. 308 students from five different faculties and one high school in Çankırı Karatekin University participated in the study. The participants were selected randomly. Research data were collected through the ‘Scale for Quality of Faculty Life-SQFL' which was originally developed by Epstein and McParland, (1976b) and adapted into Turkish culture by Yılmaz and Çokluk-Bökeoğlu (2006). Although SQFL was reported to be a valid and reliable scale, the reliability coefficients were re-calculated in the present study and seen that Cronbach Alpha values of the sub-scales of SQFL were almost similar with the results of Yılmaz and Çokluk- Bökeoğlu's study (2006). Scales were distributed and collected with the help of three Sociology students in the Faculty of Art in Çankırı Karatekin University. Data were analyzed with descriptive techniques and multivariate statistical methods like multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). SSPS 18.0 were used in the processes of analyzing the data.The value of ‘0.001' was chosen as significance level. Findings. Findings of the study showed that the students' perception of the quality of school life is moderate; meaning that it is neither low nor high. It is also seen that perceptions of the quality of school life of girls and boys differed significantly. The findings also indicated that girls are tending to perceive the school life much qualified than boys. Comparative analysis among faculties showed that participants from the Faculty of Forest tend to view their school life much qualified than the participants from the rest of the faculties. Discussions, Conclusions, and Suggestions. The present study revealed that the participants perceive their school life as moderately qualified. This result is similar to the previous studies (e.g. Bilgiç & Sarı; 2010; Doğanay & Sarı, 2006; Sarıet al., 2007). Ainley (1991) insists that if the students' quality of school life is worse, they tend to exhibit some unwanted behaviors in the schools. Parallel with this argumentation, if the students' quality of school life is well, this means that their satisfaction, commitment and motivation levels towards their schools are also high (Goodenow & Gady, 1992; Keys & Fernandes, 1993). Based on the discussion above it can be assumed that the students of Çankırı Karatekin University are moderately satisfied, committed and motivated toward their faculties. But, this claim needs to be proven in further studies. As a result, based on the previous and the present study it is concluded that governments should support the newly established universities, because of the fact that shortage of classrooms, qualified teaching staff, library and facilities for the cultural, artistic and sportive activities might result in decreasing students' quality of school life, which in turn might influence their academic performance negatively. Hence it is suggested to governments to put a law in practice for accreditation in order to set up a new universities based on national and international standards

Keywords

quality of school life , gender , faculty

Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Okul Yaşamının Niteliğine İlişkin Algılarının Cinsiyet ve Fakülte Değişkenlerine Göre İncelenmesi

Abstract

Bu araştırmanın amacı, üniversite öğrencilerinin okul yaşamının niteliğine ilişkin algılarını, cinsiyet ve fakülte değişkenlerine dayalı olarak incelemektir. Tarama modeline dayalı yürütülmüş olan araştırmanın çalışma grubunu Çankırı Karatekin Üniversitesinde öğrenim gören 308 öğrenci oluşturmuştur. Araştırma verileri ‘Fakülte Yaşamının Niteliği Ölçeği-FYNÖ' ile toplanmıştır. Araştırma kapsamında toplanan veriler, betimsel teknikler ve çok-değişkenli istatistik tekniklerinden biri olan MANOVA ile analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmada, katılımcıların okul yaşamının niteliğine ilişkin algılarının cinsiyete ve fakültelere göre anlamlı şekilde farklılaştığı saptanmıştır. Araştırma bulguları, kız öğrencilerin okul yaşamının niteliğine ilişkin algılarının, erkek öğrencilere göre daha yüksek olduğunu göstermiştir. Fakülteler bazında yapılan karşılaştırmalı analizler ise Orman Fakültesi öğrencilerinin okul yaşamının niteliğine ilişkin algılarının, diğer fakültelerde öğrenim gören öğrencilere göre daha yüksek olduğunu ortaya çıkartmıştır.

Keywords

okul yaşamının niteliği , cinsiyet , fakülte

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