L2 writer in a first-year writing class: Activating the support network

As many of yours surely have, my institution, the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), moved at great speed to adapt to the need for online instruction this fall. This has proved a challenge for library instruction, to put it mildly. Our library instruction has almost exclusively been in-person, on-site, and live, and the switch to online and hybrid course delivery has made all of those aspects difficult, especially when it comes to courses offered asynchronously, where students engage with course content at different points in time within a given timeframe.

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Teaching for Critical Consciousness During the Student Debt Crisis

The Radical Teacher ◽

10.5195/rt.2020.844 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 118 ◽

Author(s):

Gregory Bruno

Keyword(s):

Critical Pedagogy ◽

Critical Consciousness ◽

Meaning Making ◽

Debt Crisis ◽

Paulo Freire ◽

First Year ◽

Student Debt ◽

First Year Writing ◽

Writing Class

These teaching notes describe one educator’s experience facilitating dialogue around student debt and college cost in the first-year writing class. Rooted in the work of Paulo Freire, particular attention is paid to the role of critical pedagogy and meaning-making practices in these complex political and economic contexts.

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Gender and Gaming in a First-Year Writing Class

Rhetoric/Composition/Play through Video Games ◽

10.1057/9781137307675_10 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 123-136

Author(s):

Rebekah Shultz Colby

Keyword(s):

First Year ◽

First Year Writing ◽

Writing Class

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Gender and Gaming in a First-Year Writing Class

Rhetoric/Composition/Play through Video Games ◽

10.1057/9781137307675.0017 ◽

2013 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Keyword(s):

First Year ◽

First Year Writing ◽

Writing Class

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What Can Students Tell Us about “Skill Building” in Canadian Writing Studies?

Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie ◽

10.31468/dw/r.829 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 ◽

pp. 314-322

Author(s):

Christopher Eaton

Keyword(s):

Narrative Research ◽

Writing Pedagogy ◽

Writing Studies ◽

First Year ◽

Writing Teachers ◽

Open Spaces ◽

First Year Writing ◽

Writing Class ◽

The One ◽

Skill Building

This paper comes from narrative research that I did with ten former students who reflected on their experiences with writing both in a first-year writing class and beyond. As the participants and I worked together, it became clear that there was the tension between the way they described process and skill building in writing pedagogy. They emphasized that process and scaffolding were integral to their learning, but they equally emphasized the one-off, skills-oriented components of our work. Many conversations in Canadian writing studies have focused on dismantling or resisting the skills narrative, but the tension in the participants’ responses prompted me to think about this differently. The paper explores the tension between skills and process to argue that perhaps skill building has its place in our contexts, and that we as writing teachers and scholars must think about it differently in order to articulate the value of the work that we do. If we can use the skills-oriented components of our courses to open spaces to discuss the less quantifiable elements of our work that often get overlooked (i.e., scaffolding), then we may put ourselves in a better position to advocate for increased resources and funding.

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Factors associated with depressive episode among first year University students in Serbia

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa166.1037 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

S Čanković ◽

D Čanković ◽

I Radić ◽

D Rakić ◽

S Ukropina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Logistic Regression ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

University Students ◽

Depressive Episode ◽

Social Health ◽

Support Network ◽

First Year ◽

Behavioral Factors ◽

First Year University

Abstract Background Some findings indicate that university students are at higher risk of depression despite being a socially advantaged population, showing that 15 to 25% of them develop some type of mental disorder during graduation, and depression is one of the most prevalent. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and its association with gender, material status, social health, and behavioral factors among university students. Methods The research represents a cross-sectional study conducted at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. The research involved 455 first-year students. The average age of participants was 19.3 years (72.1% girls and 27.9% boys). Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to measure depressive symptoms (cut point for depressive episode ≥10). Additional questions were focused on self-assessed material status, social health, and behavioral factors (smoking and alcohol use). The binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between depression and observed independent variables. Results The prevalence of moderate to severe depressive episode among students was 18.0%, with no gender differences. Out of the total, 11.0% of students had suicidal thoughts or thoughts of hurting themselves. Multivariable logistic regression showed that self-assessed poor material status (OR = 2.04; 95%CI: 1.06-3.89), self-assessed poor social health (OR = 8.9; 95%CI:4.87-16.42) and smoking (OR = 2.18; 95%CI: 1.09-4.39) were significant predictors of depression among first-year university students. Conclusions High prevalence of depressive episode among university students call for the action for the promotion of mental health, particularly among those of lower socioeconomic status, and points out the importance of social health and social network in the prevention of mental disorders. Key messages Students on the first year of University should be screened for depressive symptoms. It is important to educate students on how to create a strong support network and to implement intervention programs for improving mental health through fostering healthy lifestyles change.

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