Sense of Belonging as a Predictor of Intentions to Persist Among African American and White First-Year College Students

This study investigates the role of students’ sense of belonging to their university in college student retention. Using individual growth curve modeling, we examined (a) whether sense of belonging predicts intentions to persist, and (b) the effects of an intervention designed to enhance students’ sense of belonging. African American and white first-year students completed surveys three times throughout the academic year. Students were randomly assigned to a group that received an intervention to enhance students’ sense of belonging or to one of two control groups. Sense of belonging was found to predict intentions to persist, controlling for background variables and other predictors of persistence. Overall, sense of belonging and intentions to persist declined over the academic year. However, the decline in sense of belonging was smaller for students in the intervention group. Implications for the development of college retention programs and for existing models of student persistence are discussed.     

Early predictors of first-year academic success at university: pre-university effort,pre-university self-efficacy,and pre-university reasons for attending university

Given the large number of dropouts in the 1st year at university, it is important to identify early predictors of 1st-year academic success. The present study (n = 453 first-year students) contributes to literature on the transition from secondary to higher education by investigating how the non-cognitive factors pre-university effort and pre-university academic self-efficacy influence 1st-year retention at university. In addition, we examined pre-university reasons for attending university and whether these reasons were related to 1st-year retention. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that pre-university effort positively predicted 1st-year retention, whereas pre-university academic self-efficacy did not. With exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, we identified six pre-university reasons for attending university: career perspective, personal development, compliance with the social environment, attractiveness of the institution, recommended by others, and location. None of the pre-university reasons appeared to significantly predict 1st-year retention. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

I just do not have time for new ideas: resistance,resonance and micro-mobilisation in a teaching community of practice

There is growing interest in the role Communities of Practice (CoPs) play in continuing professional development of academics. However, very little research has explored how CoP theory is applied in practice in academic settings. Using the concepts of resonance and micro-mobilisation from social movement theory, we explore academic engagement (and disengagement) in the online aspects of a CoP in a large, multi-campus, multi-disciplinary university business school. Our findings demonstrate that while some found this environment useful and minor patterns of micro-mobilisation emerged, there were challenges in developing resonance using online technologies. Difficulties in finding technologies fit for purpose, concerns about confidentiality online and time jealousy were key issues that need further exploration.     

The role of social identification as university student in learning: relationships between students’ social identity,approaches to learning,and academic achievement

This article describes research exploring the relationship between students’ self-perceptions in the context of university learning (i.e. student social identity), their approaches to learning, and academic achievement. The exploration of these inter-related aspects requires a mix of theoretical approaches, that is, in this research both social identity perspective from social psychology and the student learning research framework are used to explore student identity and learning in the context of higher education. Two structural equation models drawing on both these theoretical frameworks were tested. In the first of these models, deep approaches to learning are positively associated with students’ social identification as university student and positively predict academic achievement. In the second model, surface approaches to learning are negatively associated with students’ social identification and negatively predict academic achievement. The mediational roles of deep and surface approaches to learning in the relationship between student social identity and academic achievement are also explored.     

Why do students leave university? Qualitative research at an Italian higher education institution

In this article, we discuss the results of qualitative research carried out at an Italian university for shedding light on the transition students undergo on entry to university, and for understanding associated difficulties that lead to student drop out. We use Vincent Tinto's and Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical apparatuses for analysing drop out in higher education as a process in which inequalities are expressed and reproduced. The intertwined social and institutional mechanisms, and flawed decision-making processes, that precede entry to university are explored. Particular attention is given to student perceptions of their experiences at university and the factors leading to progressive disengagement and drop out. The empirical material analysed shows that, although access to university is relatively easy within the Italian context, hurdles to the pursuit of a university education are largely hidden. Students who withdraw are those who are unable to embody the codes, rules and functioning of higher education: those who do not manage to internalise the type of disciplined autonomy needed for responding to academic demands. Personal characteristics and background resources are key for enabling students to fit in the academic environment. The ways in which higher education institutions regulate access and structure university life contribute to drop out processes and unequal pathways based on the social background of students. Following Coulon, we conclude by arguing that higher education institutions should develop systemic approaches that commit their structure and personnel to the goal of developing a “pedagogy of affiliation” aimed at fostering—particularly among students from underprivileged backgrounds—the cognitive, social and practical skills needed to prosper in higher education.     

Support,belonging, motivation,and engagement in the college classroom: a mixed method study

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study examined how belonging perceptions, academic motivation, and engagement might mediate the relationship between academic contextual characteristics and achievement using structural equation modeling and qualitative follow-up interviews with college students from a large, Midwestern university. In the first, quantitative phase, two hypothesized models of student belonging and motivation were tested. In line with the Self-System Model of Classroom Support for Motivation (Connell and Wellborn, in: Gunnar and Sroufe (eds.) Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology: Self-processes and Development, 1991), Model 1 hypothesized student belonging and motivation to be directly predicted by supportive classroom environment perceptions, and to directly predict engagement, which was hypothesized to predict achievement. Model 2 elaborated on the traditional self-system model and hypothesized student belonging to mediate the relationship between supportive classroom environment perceptions and student motivation. Quantitative findings revealed support for Model 2. Supportive classroom environment perceptions predicted students’ belonging beliefs, which in turn predicted students’ motivation, engagement, and achievement in the course. The second, follow-up qualitative phase suggested ways in which contextual characteristics might influence student belonging beliefs in the classroom. Taken together, the quantitative and qualitative data illustrate the influential role of classroom contextual characteristics on student outcomes, as well as the role student belonging plays in college student motivation and success.     

Depression and School Engagement among Norwegian Upper Secondary Vocational School Students

There seems to be limited work addressing how depression is linked to elements of student functioning in the school setting other than academic achievement. This study investigated possible correlates of depressive symptoms with school engagement and disengagement. We examined four specific school variables (school motivation, intentions to quit, absence, and truancy) in a sample of 791 adolescents between 15 and 18 years of age in a Norwegian upper secondary vocational school. The results indicated that symptoms of depression could be a risk factor for school disengagement, and particularly for intentions to quit school. However, as only moderate associations were found, it appears that many depressed students manage to keep up their school engagement. This applied to both genders. However, the findings underline the importance of developing effective methods to identify and help depressed students who do have difficulty keeping up school engagement. Implications for practice are suggested.     

Academic attachment: Predicting students' affective reactions to the university

In attempting to develop a predictive model of student attachment to the university, this research concentrates on four variable sets: perceptions of university goals, perceptions of university academic climate, perceptions of university academic environment, and feelings of academic alienation. Using a sample of 460 university students, multiple discriminant analytic results indicate that of these four variable sets, perceptions of the academic climate and feelings of academic alienation exert more influence on students' attachment to the university than do perceptions of university goals and perceptions of the academic environment. These findings are discussed within the context of a model of the university student operating very much as a democratic citizen in the university political system.     

Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable: a narrative account of becoming an academic developer

This article uses a narrative retelling of my journey to academic development to offer a new insight into induction initiatives: alongside a critical commitment to student learning, new academic developers need to build an informed and scholarly ‘idea of the university’. As universities renew focus on teaching and learning, student retention, and success, there is a corollary increase in new academic developers. Newcomers need a full picture of the field; induction that focuses on the narrow institutional context and aspects of best practice is unlikely to fully prepare new academic developers for tensions they may encounter.     

Adjustment to university and academic performance among disadvantaged students in South Africa

Adjustment to the university environment is regarded as an important factor in predicting university outcomes. This study explores the pathways taken by adjustment and other psychosocial variables (help‐seeking, academic motivation, self‐esteem, perceived stress, and perceived academic overload), in relation to the success of economically and educationally disadvantaged students at university. Participants were 194 first‐year students on need‐based financial aid at a South African university; they completed questionnaires that measured these psychosocial variables, and their final first‐year academic results were obtained via the university’s records office. Path analyses showed that adjustment did not function as a pure mediator on academic performance as the dependent variable. Furthermore, the psychosocial factors explained much (59%) of the variance in the students’ adjustment and 20% of the variance in their academic performance. Hence, the psychosocial variables better explained the students’ adjustment to university than academic performance.     

Impact of grade retention and school engagement on student intentions to enrol in higher education in Portugal

Grade retention and inequalities that derive from grade retention can influence student school trajectories and careers. Grade retention can discourage students from education, and increase school failure and dropout. This study explored the relationship between grade retention and student intentions to enrol in higher education. We also studied the role of school identification and behavioural engagement in this relationship. The analysis is based on a sample of 1,089 students (grades 6 to 10) from Portugal, one of the European countries with the highest rates of grade retention. We employed multilevel probit regression modelling with random intercept and fixed slopes to explore both the individual and school level effects of grade retention. The analyses showed that retained students had a lower probability of intent to enrol in higher education and that there was a contextual effect of the number of retained students in the school, on students' probability of intent to enrol in higher education. This association was partially explained at the individual level by students' school identification. Retained students presented lower levels of school identification, which in turn results in lower probabilities of enrolling in higher education. Student behavioural engagement was not associated with grade retention nor student intentions. Our findings suggest the need for interventions that foster students' school identification to overcome the adverse effects of grade retention.     

The interrelationship between student learning experience and study behaviour

This study examined the interrelationship between student learning experiences and study behaviour in explaining academic achievement. The participants were 541 final year students from a university in Hong Kong. Students' learning experiences and study behaviour were measured using the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory. Structural equation modelling demonstrated that different learning experience factors have differential influences on student study behaviour. Students' perception of teaching quality and generic skills development were found to be most influential in terms of motivation and attitude towards study, which were most predictive of academic performance. The implications for curriculum design and instructional practice on university student learning are discussed.     

The Effect of Academic Load on Success for New College Students: Is Lighter Better?

Both students and advisers often assume that a lighter academic load during the first year of college will result in greater student success. This article examines that assumption. Academic load is measured in terms of credit load and course difficulty; success is measured in terms of GPA and retention. The experiences of a sample of first-year students at a comprehensive regional university are examined. While the credit loads for which students register are related to academic ability and prior academic success, the difficulty level of courses for which these students register is not. Variation in student credit loads is reduced because weaker students are required to take developmental courses but do not drop a corresponding number of college-credit courses. Contrary to common assumptions, students who register for more credits tend to earn higher GPAs and have greater retention even after controlling for academic ability, prior academic success, on-campus employment hours, and other background characteristics. Students who register for more difficult courses, however, tend to earn lower GPAs and experience lower retention. Any effect of credit load on retention appears to work through GPA. While much of the effect of course difficulty on retention also works through GPA, course difficulty does have a separate negative effect on one-year retention. While the possibilities that weaker students might be more successful with lighter credit loads or that stronger students might be more successful with more difficult courses were investigated, no significant interactions between prior academic success, academic load, and success were found.     

First-year university students’ academic success: the importance of academic adjustment

Considering the pivotal role of academic adjustment for student success, it is important to gain insight into how several motivational and behavioural factors affect academic adjustment and the extent to which academic adjustment influences student success. This empirical study investigated how intrinsic motivation, academic self-efficacy, self-regulated study behaviour and satisfaction with the chosen degree programme influenced academic adjustment in university and how these variables and adjustment affected three important indicators of student success: grade point average (GPA), attained number of credits (ECTS) and intention to persist. The sample consisted of 243 first-year university students in the Netherlands. Structural equation modelling showed that academic adjustment was influenced by intrinsic motivation, self-regulated study behaviour and degree programme satisfaction, which together explained 72% of the variance in adjustment. Motivational and behavioural variables did not influence GPA and credits directly but through academic adjustment. Furthermore, only satisfaction with the degree programme predicted intention to persist. These results point to the importance of academic adjustment in predicting university GPA and credits and the pivotal role of satisfaction with the degree programme in predicting intention to persist. Universities could integrate the development of self-regulated study skills—the biggest contributor to academic adjustment—in the first-year programme. Moreover, looking at the importance of students’ satisfaction with the programme, communication and collaboration between secondary schools and universities should be enhanced in order to help students to choose a university degree programme that matches their abilities, interests and values.     

Student Constructions of Fit: Narratives About Incongruence at a Faith-Based University

Decades of student persistence and retention literature has brought to light factors of social, academic, and religious fit that influence a student's decision to remain at or depart from an institution. At Christian institutions, increasing student pluralism raises the likelihood that students will not fit religiously. This qualitative study of 21 first-time, full-time students contributes to the existing literature by exploring how students who already feel they do not fit for religious reasons work at constructing a sense of fit at a Christian research university. Many participants coped with religious discontinuity by redefining specifically Christian practices and teachings in terms that were personally palatable: as either general moral lessons that would help them to be a better person or as cultural insights that would benefit them social and professionally in the future. In many cases, university staff were instrumental. Finally, participants worked to construct an acceptable level of fit, or fit threshold, through various combinations of social fit, academic fit, and religious fit, often compensating for one with others. As Christian institutions increasingly invite students from diverse religious backgrounds into their campus community, understanding ways that these students attempt to adapt to religious incongruence will be paramount.     

Adaptability,engagement and academic achievement at university

University entry is a time of great change for students. The extent to which students are able to effectively navigate such change likely has an impact on their success in university. In the current study, we examined this by way of adaptability, the extent to which students’ adaptability is associated with their behavioural engagement at university, and the extent to which both are associated with subsequent academic achievement. A conceptual model reflecting this pattern of predicted relations was developed and tested using structural equation modelling. First-year undergraduate students (N = 186) were surveyed for their adaptability and behavioural engagement at the beginning of their first year. Following this, students’ academic achievement was obtained from university records at the end of Semester 1 and 2 of first-year university. Findings showed that adaptability was associated with greater positive behavioural engagement (persistence, planning, and task management) and lower negative behavioural engagement (disengagement and self-handicapping). Moreover, negative behavioural engagement was found to inversely predict academic achievement in Semester 1, which predicted academic achievement in Semester 2. The educational implications of the findings are discussed.     

Students’ continuity norms in the university and exam calendar: do they affect university academic performance? / Normas de permanencia y calendario de exámenes: ¿afectan al rendimiento académico universitario?

Students’ academic performance is a key factor in evaluating the efficiency and quality of university degree programmes. Not only do personal characteristics and the students’ own performance affect these results, but so does the university’s academic organization. Based on a database that contains the overall results by course and exam period in three different degree programmes from 2007–15, we estimate what external factors influenced the percentages of students sitting for and passing exams. The analysis of the data panel shows that the order of the exams and the students’ continuity norms established by the university to penalize failing grades are two incentives that improve student performance only in the ordinary exam periods. These results also imply first keeping the incentive system at the university and secondly strategically using the exam calendar for the courses with the worst overall results.     

Student engagement: rhetoric and reality

Recently, there has been much interest in higher education literature and policy on the concepts of student engagement and disengagement. While most academic writings recognise the significance of student engagement, they have tended to concentrate on it in relation to academic activities. Increasingly, universities are ‘cascading’ down the need to improve student engagement to schools and ultimately to individual academics. This article asserts that ideas about student engagement in the university context are often fragmented, contradictory and confused. Even the meaning of the term ‘student engagement’ is uncertain. Further, while government and universities urge attention to student engagement, many of their actions, it may be argued, have contributed to greater student disengagement. Relying on the available literature, we argue that the student experience as a whole is the key to engagement and, thus, efforts to re-engage students cannot be successful until a ‘whole-of-university’ approach is adopted.     

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: A Zero Tolerance Professor and Student Registration Choices

College and university faculty and administrators are responsible for constructing academic honesty policies and communicating them to students. This is often attempted through institutional honesty policies and university-wide honor codes. While these approaches have been widely researched, less attention has been given to the role of individual faculty members. That role is examined in this study by addressing student reactions to professors based on their academic honesty policies. In addition to demographic information, data were gathered about student attitudes and beliefs concerning academic dishonesty and their decision to enroll in or avoid a course being taught by a professor with zero tolerance for academic dishonesty. The findings regarding different instructors’ approaches toward academic dishonesty indicate that an intolerant policy will keep dishonest students away, but at a price—it will also detract many honest students.