The Perceptions of the Teacher Certification Students Regarding their Program of Study while at SUNY Brockport in Two Timelines

Abstract

Research has supported the need for curriculum and program reformation, but relatively little work has been done on how programs have been reformed. Furthermore, minimal research attention has been given to the perceptions of the students on their programs of study. This research was designed to examine the perceptions of students on their teacher education programs of study while at SUNY college at Brockport. A total of 78 Students who completed between 1989 and 1996 completed the survey questionnaire which was a measure of their perceptions. They were categorized into two different timelines; timeline -one consisted of those who graduated between 1989 and the spring of 1993 and timeline-two consisted of those who graduated between the fall of 1993 and 1996. Descriptive analysis of data revealed that both programs had an impact on the individual students. When the perceptions of the students from the two timelines were compared, it was found that the students in timeline- two generally rated their program to be more beneficial for their present employment as opposed to those in timeline -one. Therefore, there is a reason to believe that the changes which were effected between the fall of 1993 to 1996 may have been a factor in their perceptions.