scholarly journals Student Perspectives on First Year Experience Initiatives Designed for Pre-service Teacher in their First Weeks of University Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-117
Author(s):  
Kevin Larkin ◽  
◽  
Leonie Rowan ◽  
Barbara Garrick ◽  
Catherine Beavis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Retention Performance ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Pre Service Teacher

Universities throughout Australia are increasingly investing significant amounts of time and money in efforts to improve the quality of first year students’ experiences and, by extension, increase retention, performance and student satisfaction. This paper reports upon a pilot research project conducted at a Queensland university that investigates student understandings of, and reactions to, a range of initiatives put in place to enhance their “first year experience”. The research showed that students had mixed reactions to the initiatives put in place to support them and that staff played a vital role in terms of how students responded to various forms of institutional support. In analysing the results the paper demonstrates the need for ongoing research into how a diverse cohort of students make sense of the first year experience they are offered.

scholarly journals Re-building the first year experience, one block at a time

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trish McCluskey ◽  
John Weldon ◽  
Andrew Smallridge
Keyword(s):  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Retention Performance ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Strategic Initiative ◽  
Design Structure ◽  
University Systems ◽  
Unique Model ◽  
Seamless Transition

For many years, universities around the world have been developing and enhancing the First Year Experience (FYE), with a view to improving retention, performance and student satisfaction.  This feature practice report outlines a strategic initiative, launched in 2018 at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia that aims to transform the experience of Victoria University’s first-year students on an unprecedented scale. This unique model reconceptualises the design, structure and delivery of first year units of study in order to deliver a program that deliberately focuses on students’ pedagogical, transition and work/life balance needs.  This initiative required the disruption and redevelopment of all university systems to ensure students experience a supportive and seamless transition into, and journey through, their first year of study at university.

scholarly journals Investigating Determinants of Student Satisfaction in the First Year of College in a Public University in the State of Qatar

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bothaina Al-Sheeb ◽  
Abdel Magid Hamouda ◽  
Galal M. Abdella
Keyword(s):  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Current System ◽  
College Experience ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Social Engagements ◽  
First Year Student

Purpose. A first-year student’s life is a web of interrelated academic and social experiences. Most universities have rigorous processes to achieve excellence or reach high-quality standards, with “Student Satisfaction” being the central focus of all of higher education aims for excellence. This study examined the influence of various academic, social, and environmental aspects on the overall satisfaction of first-year students. Design. A questionnaire was designed and administered to first-year students, and the resulting data were analyzed using correlation, linear regression, binary logistic regression, and artificial neural networks. Findings. The findings suggested that three of the five factors explored—100-level course satisfaction, a sense of belonging, and citizenship knowledge and skills—were the best determinants of the level of first-year student satisfaction. Originality. This study examined the influence of academic, social, and environmental factors on overall student satisfaction with the college experience. Many studies have focused on how factors such as student attitudes, perceptions, and academic and social engagements impact first-year student success and retention; however, few studies have attempted to explore the influence these factors have on student satisfaction and their overall perceptions of the college experience. Discussion and Conclusion. This study has provided a snapshot of some of the key determinants of the overall student satisfaction of the first-year experience. This study can assist college administrators and instructors in their quality assurance initiatives which may include reviewing the current system, setting college priorities, and planning and allocation of future resources to better achieve higher levels of student satisfaction.

Study time, glasses utilization and age affect quality of life among senior first-year Chinese myopia students

2021 ◽  
pp. 112067212098252
Author(s):  
Ziqian Zhu ◽  
Yan He ◽  
Jiezheng Yang ◽  
Qiaoli Li ◽  
HuanHuan Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Study Time ◽  
First Year ◽  
Normal Vision ◽  
First Year Students

Purpose: To compare the quality of life of senior first-year students with normal vision and myopia, and to explore the risk factors related to quality of life in students with myopia. Methods: In this study, 1103 senior first-year students were enrolled in ten high schools. These students were divided according to the diopter degree, with 916 myopia students and 187 normal vision students. Visual function indexes, such as naked eye vision, were measured and recorded, and social demographic indexes and the National Eye Institute 25-Item Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) was used. The differences in quality of life between the two groups were compared. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore the possible risk factors for quality of life in myopia students. Results: In the NEI VFQ-25, the total quality of life scores of myopia students (77.06 ± 15.66) were lower than those of normal vision students (85.49 ± 12.37). The difference was statistically significant ( p = 0.007). In the correlation analysis, the total scores of quality of life in myopia students were positively correlated with wearing glasses ( p = 0.049), and were negatively correlated with study time ( p = 0.029). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that study time, wearing glasses and age were risk factors affecting quality of life in myopia students. Conclusion: Our results show that senior first-year myopia students have lower quality of life scores than students with normal vision. Study time, wearing glasses and age are risk factors for quality of life in senior first-year myopia students.

Criteria and indicators associated with adaptation to the educational process of first-year students at the university

2021 ◽  
pp. 87-93
Author(s):  
Evgeniya N. Popova
Keyword(s):  
Research Topic ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
First Year ◽  
Higher Education Research ◽  
Adaptation Process ◽  
Adaptive Potential ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Self Development ◽  
The University

The issue of adaptation of modern first-year students to the educational process at the university is one of the current pedagogical tasks. Successful adaptation significantly affects the quality of received education, the degree of formation of personal and professional qualities, contributes to the development of motivation, self-education, and self-development. The purpose of the research is to substantiate the criteria, indicators, and levels of adaptation of first-year students to the learning process at the university. The material for the study was the domestic scientific sources of studying the peculiarities of the adaptation process of students to educational activities in higher education. Research methods: analysis and generalization of psychological-pedagogical and educational-methodical literature on the research topic. We determine as the main criteria for the adaptation of first-year students to the university, the adaptive potential and professionally important qualities of students, consider these concepts, their structure, and their basic properties. On the basis of the analysis and generalization of the existing indicators of the implementation of the adaptive potential, we formulate the author's indicators for determining the level of its development. The degree of formation of professionally important qualities of students are low, medium, and high levels of development of emotional intelligence, negative communicative attitude, intellectual lability, and stress tolerance.

scholarly journals Sourcebook update: intestinal smooth muscle contractility and autonomic control

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip D. Langton
Keyword(s):  
First Year ◽  
Smooth Muscle Contractility ◽  
Gut Motility ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Authentic Inquiry ◽  
Student Teams ◽  
Functional Antagonism ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Design Experiments

This laboratory practical requires first-year students to anticipate the effects of drugs active at cholinergic and adrenergic receptors on gut motility in order to design experiments during an authentic inquiry exercise. Rather than specifying a strict sequence of drug additions that aim to provide ideal demonstrations of pharmacological and physiological antagonism, I have instead designed switches into the drugs provided and set students, working in small teams, the task of identifying the switched drugs, an inquiry activity. To extend the teamwork aspect, laboratory reports were submitted by the student teams rather than individual students. Staff observed that discussions within the teams were stimulated by the inquiry-led nature of the practical. The quality of the laboratory reports submitted by teams were substantially improved over the individual reports submitted in previous years. (Students previously worked in teams, but simply followed a list of prescribed experiments and wrote individual reports.) Although, in conversation, teams of students had an improved understanding of the regulation of gut motility by the parasympathetic and sympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system and could readily distinguish between pharmacological and functional antagonism, no attempt was made to evaluate learning because the revision was triggered by the observed effect of a technical error and was not otherwise planned. It is likely that laboratory practicals, in general, would benefit from inclusion of inquiry.

scholarly journals Selective Planning of the First Year Experience in Higher Education: A Sweden-Australia Comparative Study of Support

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
Michael Christie ◽  
Sorrel Penn-Edwards ◽  
Sharn Donnison ◽  
Ruth Greenaway
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
Fourth Generation ◽  
First Year ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Satellite Campus ◽  
First Case ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The University

Literature on the support of the First Year Experience (FYE) in institutions of Higher Education provides a range of modelled approaches. However, we argue that institutions still need to selectively plan which approach/es and attendant strategies are best suited to their particular contexts and institutional policy and practice frameworks and how their FYE is to be presented for their particular student cohort. This paper compares different ways of supporting students in their first year in two contrasting universities. The first case study focuses on a first year course at Stockholm University (SU), Sweden, a large, metropolitan, single campus institution, while the second investigates a strategy for supporting first year students using a community of practice at a satellite campus of the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), a small regional university in South-East Queensland, Australia. The research contrasts a formal, first generation support approach versus a fourth generation support approach which seeks to involve a wider range of stakeholders in supporting first year students. The research findings draw conclusions about how effective the interventions were for the students and provide clear illustrations that selective planning in considering the institution’s strategic priorities and human, physical, and resource contexts was instrumental in providing a distinctive experience which complemented the institute and the student cohort. (212 words)

E-Examinations and the Student Experience Regarding Appropriateness of Assessment and Course Quality in Science and Medical Science

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 460-478
Author(s):  
Ananthan Ambikairajah ◽  
Christopher C. Tisdell
Keyword(s):  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Student Experience ◽  
Assessment Methods ◽  
First Year ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Course Quality ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Assessment Requirements

The interest in, and use of, computers and software for assessment is reported to be increasingly popular via electronic examinations (e-exams). We deepen our understanding of the design, reception, and effectiveness of e-exams for history and philosophy of science modules, undertaken by first-year advanced science and medical science students at university. We employ a quasi-experimental research design approach to examine our implementation of e-exams on reported student satisfaction regarding the suitability of the information provided about the assessment requirements, appropriateness of the assessment methods, and overall quality of the associated courses. We report statistically significant increases in student satisfaction regarding the suitability and appropriateness of the assessment methods or requirements. The outcomes of this research highlight new avenues for educators to explore including (a) the innovative use of associated software (Maple TA™) for e-exams and (b) the implications that e-exams can have on the student experience in the context of medium-stakes testing.

scholarly journals A Structural Equation Model for Analysis of Factors Associated with the Choice of Engineering Degrees in a Technical University

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Hervás ◽  
Joan Guàrdia Olmos ◽  
Maribel Peró Cebollero ◽  
Roberto Capilla Lladró ◽  
Pedro Pablo Soriano Jiménez
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Engineering Degree ◽  
First Choice ◽  
The Individual

Many different factors are taken into account by students when choosing a degree and university. Some of these are general considerations, such as the quality of the degree course (ratio of available places/places in first choice, cut-off mark, etc.), while others are subjective factors (e.g., friends doing the same course). This paper presents a partial multivariate model that considers the weight of the different variables linked to this decision, as identified in the bibliography. We analyzed four samples of first-year students (totaln=1790) from different engineering degree courses at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 academic years. All the students involved in the study had chosen this university and their courses as their first option. The overall effect shows that the structural model adjusts reasonably well to the different engineering courses analyzed. Similarly, the individual models for each engineering degree manage to identify the different effects involved. In the case of the engineering degree based on new technologies (ICT), the statistical effects are much greater and more statistically significant than in the other three branches of engineering considered. Social and individual factors were seen to have more impact on the choice of ICT degrees at the UPV.

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