A course syllabus can affect students' perceptions of the motivational climate within a course. Yet, few researchers have conducted experimental studies of students' perceptions of syllabi in courses in which they were currently enrolled. The purpose of the present studies was to assess the extent to which syllabi language and organization…

The relationship of internality-externality and dominance-submissiveness to student preference for course structure and course difficulty was examined for 86 college students. Preference measures were used, which focused on specific dimensions of instruction--structure and difficulty. In contrast to some other research results, internal and…

Increasing emphasis is being given to the construct of course structure in educational research. The Course Structure Inventory (CSI) was designed to measure this construct as a unitary dimension made up of student attitudes toward varying degrees and kinds of structure (ACS). In addition to measuring ACS, the CSI has the added advantage of…

An analysis of aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) for preferences for course structure and of instructor orientation preferences was undertaken for 50 first-year college students. Results indicate that students are more satisfied with instructors who are perceived as student oriented but that students who prefer low-difficulty instruction…

This study investigated predictors of Harvard University (Massachusetts) student ratings of courses. Data were drawn from 33,180 evaluations of 1,114 undergraduate courses in 47 departments. Predictors examined at the student level included satisfaction with the course, perceived course difficulty, whether the course was in the student's major,…