Student perceptions, beliefs, or attitudes.(Editorial)

Educating a student to think and behave in a positive way is not an easy task. It is not easy, because the inner workings of a student consist of a complex array. To deal with the complexity of this array one can analyze the mind's contents into more easily viewable parts. These parts can be studied in two interrelated dimensions, namely the cognitive and the affective. Students have both thoughts and feelings. Such things as beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions produce the actions in which students engage and the environments in which students work. That is, students' inner workings affect their actions, which affect their environment. This also works in the opposite direction, such that environments impact inner workings, which impact actions, or actions impact the environment that impact inner workings. These three things (i.e., inner workings, actions, and environments) work in unison to produce a person's inner thoughts and feelings, as well as their actions and the environments they choose and alter. Given the complexity of this relationship, it is important to understand the beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of students, as these things will impact their learning and behaviors in school and elsewhere.

Students hold beliefs and attitudes toward a huge variety of things, such as each other, their teachers, their parents, and the learning environment. The perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes of students will impact their interactions with each of these entities. Consider that the students mind set is the framework in which each of these things is interpreted. Therefore, the meaning derived from interactions with other students, teachers, parents, and the various contents of the ...