scholarly journals INTEGRATING LEARNING OBJECTIVES IN A MULTI-SEMESTER SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION DESIGN PROJECT FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS DURING A PANDEMIC

Author(s):  
Libby Osgood ◽  
Nadja Bressan

Project selection for first-year design courses can be complicated by the limited skill level of students in their first semester of an engineering program and the scalability required for multiple sections and large classes. Additionally, the project must address the course's learning objectives and provide a sense of authenticity to help students understand the role of engineers in society. Afirst-year design course can be seen by students as the ‘introduction to engineering,’ enabling them to decide whether to pursue engineering as a profession or not. In addition to the already taxing demands imposed on a project for a first-year design course, students at the University of Prince Edward Island completed a design project encompassing two engineering courses andcontributed to a scientific research study on bat conservation. Partnering with researchers in the Atlantic Veterinary College, students designed, built, and installed bat houses equipped with sensors to remotely collect temperature, humidity, and the presence of individual bats within the colony. Constructing 21 bat houses promoted conservation efforts of bats across the province and taught students the critical role of engineers in a sustainable society. This paper presents a discussion on project selection for first-year design courses, how the learning objectiveswere met for two first-year design courses during a pandemic, and describe the community partner's role\ throughout the design project.

Author(s):  
Christopher B. Williams ◽  
Janis P. Terpenny ◽  
Richard M. Goff

The creation of an appropriate, meaningful design experience for a first-year engineering design course is challenging as the instructor must balance resource constraints with broad learning objectives and a diverse, and often very large, enrollment. In this paper, the authors present the task of developing a design project for a first-year engineering course as a problem of design. Following a structured design process, the authors articulate the requirements for a successful first-year design project including: learning objectives that are appropriate for a multi-disciplinary group of first-year students and common budgetary and time constraints. Several project alternatives are generated and evaluated in a conceptual design phase. In their description of the embodiment and detail design phases, the authors present the implementation of the selected project concept: ROXIE (“Real Outreach eXperiences In Engineering”). The ROXIE project, a service-learning themed project, tasks first-year students with serving as design consultants to not-for-profit community partners. Through this partnership, students are able to practice principles and tools of design methodology and project management. Preliminary survey data and excerpts of student reflection essays are provided as a means of supporting the instructors’ project selection.


NASPA Journal ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Beil ◽  
Carol A. Reisen ◽  
Maria Cecilia Zea ◽  
Robert C. Caplan

This longitudinal study predicted retention from academic integration, social integration, and commitment to remain in college in a sample of first-year students at a residential, private research university. When assessed separately, first-semester reports of commitment mediated the effects of both academic and social integration on retention six semesters later.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Daker ◽  
Sylvia U. Gattas ◽  
H. Moriah Sokolowski ◽  
Adam E. Green ◽  
Ian M. Lyons

AbstractMath anxiety is widely considered a potential barrier to success in STEM. Current thinking holds that math anxiety is directly linked to avoidance of and underperformance in STEM domains. However, past evidence supporting these claims is limited in important ways. Perhaps most crucially, it is possible that math anxiety predicts STEM outcomes merely as a proxy for poor math skills. Here, we tested the link between math anxiety and subsequent STEM outcomes by measuring math anxiety, math ability, and several covariates in 183 first-semester university students. We then tracked students’ STEM avoidance and achievement through four years at university via official academic transcripts. Results showed that math anxiety predicted both a reduction in how many STEM courses students took and, separately (i.e., controlling for one another), lower STEM grades. Crucially, these associations held after controlling for math ability (and other covariates). That math anxiety predicts math-related academic achievement independently of Math Ability suggests that, contrary to current thinking, math anxiety’s effects on academic performance likely operate via mechanisms other than negatively affecting math ability. Beyond this, we show evidence that math anxiety can account for associations between math ability and STEM outcomes, suggesting that past links between math ability and real-world outcomes may, in fact, be at least partially explainable by attitudes toward math. These findings provide clear impetus for developing and testing interventions that target math anxiety specifically and suggest that focusing on math ability without additional attention to math anxiety may fail to optimally boost STEM outcomes.


Author(s):  
Devi Siti Afiah

The goals of this research are (1) to know what students’ responses toward WH question tehnique; (2) to know whether the WH Question can improve students’ math in English. This research used the descriptive qualitative method. The writer described and analyzed the students’ mistakes in speaking skill using local materials. The research was carried out at the first year students of math department in 2016/2017 academic year. It was strated from September 2016 to January 2017. The population was the first semester students of math department in academic year of 2016/2017. The number of population were 21 students. The results of this research were (1) the tudents gave good responses toward the WH Questions learning, and (2) the WH questions improved the Math students’ ability in learning English. Keywords: Speaking, Local-wisdom, WH-questions


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilie Darrigues ◽  
Benjamin W. Elberson ◽  
Annick De Loose ◽  
Madison P. Lee ◽  
Ebonye Green ◽  
...  

Neuro-oncology biobanks are critical for the implementation of a precision medicine program. In this perspective, we review our first year experience of a brain tumor biobank with integrated next generation sequencing. From our experience, we describe the critical role of the neurosurgeon in diagnosis, research, and precision medicine efforts. In the first year of implementation of the biobank, 117 patients (Female: 62; Male: 55) had 125 brain tumor surgeries. 75% of patients had tumors biobanked, and 16% were of minority race/ethnicity. Tumors biobanked were as follows: diffuse gliomas (45%), brain metastases (29%), meningioma (21%), and other (5%). Among biobanked patients, 100% also had next generation sequencing. Eleven patients qualified for targeted therapy based on identification of actionable gene mutations. One patient with a hereditary cancer predisposition syndrome was also identified. An iterative quality improvement process was implemented to streamline the workflow between the operating room, pathology, and the research laboratory. Dedicated tumor bank personnel in the department of neurosurgery greatly improved standard operating procedure. Intraoperative selection and processing of tumor tissue by the neurosurgeon was integral to increasing success with cell culture assays. Currently, our institutional protocol integrates standard histopathological diagnosis, next generation sequencing, and functional assays on surgical specimens to develop precision medicine protocols for our patients. This perspective reviews the critical role of neurosurgeons in brain tumor biobank implementation and success as well as future directions for enhancing precision medicine efforts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Willems ◽  
Liesje Coertjens ◽  
Vincent Donche

To date, little understanding exists of how first-year students in professionally oriented higher-education (HE) programs (i.e., those that provide vocational education to prepare students for a particular occupation) experience their academic transition process. In the present study, we first argued how the constructs of academic adjustment and academic integration can provide complementary perspectives on the academic transition of first-year students in (professional) HE. Next, we examined what first-year students in professional HE contexts perceive to be the most important experiences associated with their academic transition process in the first semester of their first year of higher education (FYHE). To this end, we adopted the fundamentals of the critical incident technique and asked 104 students in a Flemish (Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) university college (which offers professional HE programs, such as nursing) to complete “reflective logs” with open questions at the start of the second semester of their FYHE, wherein they reflected on three critical academic experiences during their first semester. An inductive, cross-case content analysis of the collected narratives showed that students reported on nine themes of academic experiences, which relate to five adjustment themes (dealing with the organization of the study program, organizing study work, committing to the study, following class and taking notes, and processing learning content outside class) and four integration themes (feeling competent, feeling stressed, feeling prepared, and feeling supported). Further analyses showed that although some of the nine themes of academic experiences appear to be more important at different times in the first semester, they all seem to be meaningful throughout the whole semester.


Author(s):  
Deborah E. Bordelon ◽  
Colleen M Sexton ◽  
Ann M Vendrely

Building a general education program from scratch for a population of first generation and underserved students provided both a challenge and opportunity. Faculty who had limited previous experience teaching and assessing first year students engaged in study of the best practices and research. Faculty designed a four-year general education curriculum that began with a robust First Year Seminar (FYS) course, the focus of this study. This required three-credit hour interdisciplinary humanities course (FYS) was designed to embrace the understanding of what it means to be human, including understanding oneself in relation to the natural world and to others. Full time faculty from all disciplines were selected through a competitive process to teach the FYS course with embedded High Impact Practices (HIPs). Four years of teaching FYS has provided qualitative and quantitative data on the effectiveness of the design, the role of faculty, and application of HIPs. Through the course assessment process and data analysis, faculty have expanded their repertoire of pedagogical strategies to engage the first year student, and as a result, positively influenced teaching in their other courses. This report offers insights on strategies for course design, the role of faculty, and the power of selected HIPs that may be replicated at other institutions.


Author(s):  
A.V. Shishkin ◽  
◽  
L.A. Bekhovykh

The article shows the role of the student scientific society in attracting students to research work at the university. On the example of the student scientific society "Geosphere" of the Department of Geodesy, Physics and Engineering Structures of the Faculty of Environmental Engineering of the Altai State Agrarian University, a mechanism for involving first-year students in research work is presented. The structure, organization, directions and forms of work of the circle, the main projects being implemented, are also given, an assessment of the results of its activities and the most significant achievements are given. The positive role of the student scientific society in increasing the effectiveness of research work of students at the university is noted.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise Katherine Kalokerinos ◽  
Ella Moeck ◽  
Koen Rummens ◽  
Kristof Meers ◽  
Merijn Mestdagh

Lay wisdom suggests feeling negative in advance of an outcome – anticipatory negative emotion – shields against the blow of bad news. However, evidence is mixed, with different lines of research finding that anticipatory negative emotion is helpful, harmful, or has no effect on emotional outcomes. We set out to reconcile the competing findings by examining effects over a longer, but more granular, time-scale. First-year students (N=101) completed 9 days of experience sampling (10 surveys/day) as they received their first-semester exam grades, and a follow-up survey 5 months later. We investigated the association between anticipatory negative emotion and three negative emotional outcomes: (1) reactivity immediately after receiving grades, (2) recovery across the following week, and (3) recovery after 5 months. Anticipatory negative emotion was associated with increased reactivity and negative emotion 5 months later, suggesting that being emotionally ready for the worst has psychological costs.


Author(s):  
С.А. Лысуенко

В статье обсуждаются вопросы, связанные с особенностями профессионального выбора выпускников общеобразовательных организаций. Представлены результаты исследования, позволяющие определить роль осознанной саморегуляции активности молодых людей, оказавшихся в ситуации профессионального выбора (на примере студентов педагогического вуза). В исследовании приняли участие 302 студента первого курса, обучающихся по направлению подготовки 44.03.01 «Педагогическое образование». В качестве инструментария были использованы методика «Мотивация учения студентов педагогического вуза» С. А. Пакулиной и М. В. Овчинникова и опросник «Стиль саморегуляции поведения» В. И. Моросановой. Данные, полученные в процессе исследования, были структурированы, обработаны и проинтерпретированы с применением математических методов. Было установлено, что студенты первого курса, совершившие при поступлении в вуз профессиональный выбор с учетом своих интересов и склонностей, обладают сформировавшейся потребностью продумывать способы своих действий и поведения для достижения намеченных целей, а план их действий отличается детализированностью и развернутостью. Также им свойственны самостоятельность при проектировании способов достижения индивидуальных целей, гибкость в случае возникновения непредвиденных обстоятельств, развитая адекватная оценка себя и полученных результатов. По итогам исследования был сделан вывод о том, что наличие сформированной системы осознанной саморегуляции произвольной активности у индивида, находящегося на этапе выбора профессии, позволяет совершить более правильный профессиональный выбор, что, в свою очередь, является одним из условий актуализации профессионально-личностного потенциала. The article discusses issues related to the peculiarities of the professional choice of graduates of public education organizations. There are results of the study presented, which allow us to determine the role of conscious self-regulation of the activity of young people who find themselves in a situation of having to make a professional choice (on the example of students of a pedagogical university). The research involved 302 first-year students studying in the field of training 44.03.01 «Pedagogical Education». As research tools, the «Motivation of teaching pedagogical university students» methodology by S.А. Pakulina and M.V. Ovchinnikov and the questionnaire «Style of self-regulation of behaviour» by V.I. Morosanova were used. The data obtained during the research were organized, processed and interpreted using mathematical methods. It was found that first-year students who, upon entering the university, made a professional choice more consciously, taking into account their interests and inclinations have a well-developed need to think through their actions and behaviour to achieve their goals and their action plan is detailed. They are also characterized by independence in designing an action plan to achieve individual goals, flexibility in the situation of unforeseen circumstances, an advanced adequate assessment of themselves and the results they achieved. As the main conclusion, the following is formulated: the possession of a developed system of conscious self-regulation of arbitrary activity in an individual who is at the stage of choosing a profession allows him to make an adequate professional choice, which, in turn, is one of the conditions for the actualization of professional and personal potential.


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