Development of first-year students' conceptions of essay writing

Findings are presented from a small-scalelongitudinal study of first-year psychologystudents' learning. Three developmentalhierarchies were derived in the analysis of theinterview data, which described differentaspects of the variation in students' accountsof their conceptions of essay writing. Althoughthe findings did suggest that the students madesome development in their conceptions, itseemed that by the end of the study many ofthem were still unable to describe what wasexpected for their essays in a way which fullymapped onto their tutors' accounts. Theeffects of advice given to students about theiressay writing were also investigated. Studentswere given help that seemed relevant todeveloping their conceptions, but there waslittle evidence in the interviews that thismade an impact on their learning and studentsoften described minimal engagement with adviceand feedback. Two case studies are presented togive a more holistic perspective on thestudents' accounts of their essay writing.These cases suggest the limitations of simplecategorisations, as they emphasise the complexand idiosyncratic nature of students'development.     

Evoked prior experiences in first-year university student learning

In this article, we focus on three aspects of students' prior experiences of learning: evoked conceptions of learning, evoked motivation and evoked self-efficacy. We show how, for a first-year undergraduate population, these three aspects of evoked prior experience relate to students' approaches to learning and their perceptions of the learning environment as well as to their previous schooling, their gender and the broad discipline area in which they are studying. In doing so, we confirm that evoked prior experiences are distinct and measurable and can be used to better understand the ways in which students experience learning in higher education.     

英语专业基础阶段听力元认知意识调查研究

以元认知理论为框架,采用Vandergrift等学者的英语听力元认知意识问卷,从实证角度对英语专业基础阶段学生的英语听力元认知意识状况进行了调查,结果显示他们的总体元认知意识尤其是个人知识维度较低,在此基础上分析了其原因并提出了相应对策。     

Dissonance in first-year students’ reflections on their learning

This paper presents the findings of an interview study of first-year engineering students’ approaches to study. Data is presented to illustrate the construct of “dissonant study orchestration” as it is manifested in the everyday academic reality of these students’ learning behaviour. This data is theorised within a student’s-experiences-oflearning framework and patterns of study approach considered atypical of or theoretically undesirable within, the model used to determine them are presented and discussed. Individual-level, qualitatively different patterns of “dissonant” orchestration are articulated. The conclusion to the paper argues that the qualitative distinctions apparent amongst dissonant approaches present particular challenges to academic practitioners whose aim is the improvement of these students’ learning behaviour.     

Struggling with Sexism: Experiences of feminist first-year teachers

This paper documents some of the ways in which a group of five feminist first-year teachers experienced work in the schools of Ontario, Canada and how they struggled to make sense of and change the patterns of gendered social relations within school organisations and classrooms. Using data collected from group discussions, incidents involving male and female teachers, and teachers and students, are explored to reveal the nature and forms of sexism occurring in staffrooms, classrooms and in other school activities.     

A case study of a college-wide first-year undergraduate engineering course

Introductory engineering courses are either programme specific or expose students to engineering as a broad discipline by including materials from various engineering programmes. A common introductory engineering course that spans different engineering programmes raises challenges, including the high cost of resources as well as the lack of background courses of first-year students. This paper presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a first-year common engineering course that uses low-cost materials to expose students to a structured engineering design process. The course is explicitly designed to satisfy the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology criteria for engineering programmes. Our experience with the course shows that not only students are able to follow a structured design process successfully but we also believe that most of the ABET criteria are being delivered through the course.     

Students' perceptions of teaching and learning in first-year university physics

The transition from school to university involves substantial change in the structure and organization of teaching, and in the nature and purpose of learning contexts. This paper, which reports some data from a broader study of learning and teaching in first year university physics, focuses on aspects of the school-university transition. In particular, we report perceptions of first year physics students about how they should learn physics, what it is intended they should learn, and what they believe to be the functions of the various teaching situations in which they are placed.     

Financial circumstances,financial difficulties and academic achievement among first-year undergraduates

Widening participation initiatives led by the government encourage non‐traditional students to enrol in higher education courses usually offered through a franchising arrangement between a Higher Education Institution (HEI) and a local Further Education Institution (FEI). The focus has been on the development of foundation degrees with most collaborative agreements concentrating predominantly on offering these qualifications on the proviso that students must attend the host HEI to complete the final full degree year. This review focuses on an FEI in South Wales which has successfully obtained a franchise to offer BSc provision at honours level in care studies and childhood studies. Delivery of honours provision is a new concept for the FEI in question; issues considered revolved initially around the establishment of an HE ethos and environment within the college together with the additional requirement for implementing guidelines for dissertation supervision and scholarly activity which are not normally a remit of FEIs. A model for the delivery of HE in an FEI had already been established previously but it soon became apparent that provision of honours level required some modification and expansion of this model looking at flexibility of delivery within the traditional inflexibility of an FE teaching contract. The issues surrounding this and their subsequent resolution are discussed in terms of both practice and policy development. The first year of honours provision was outstandingly successful and it is hoped to develop an established model of HE provision in an FEI that encompasses the total progression pathway from sub‐degree to full degree for students who are described as non‐traditional students within the widening participation culture. The outcomes of this review will become the baseline for the development of a comprehensive policy for delivering HE provision in a FEI.     

Motivating first-year university students by interdisciplinary study projects

ABSTRACT

In order to increase student commitment from the beginning of students’ university careers, the Technische Universität Darmstadt has introduced interdisciplinary study projects involving first-year students from the engineering, natural, social and history, economics and/or human sciences departments. The didactic concept includes sophisticated task design, individual responsibility and a differentiated support system. Using a self-determination theory framework, this study examined the effects of the projects based on survey findings from two projects with more than 1000 students. The results showed that the projects were successful in fulfilling students’ basic psychological needs and in promoting students’ academic engagement. Basic psychological needs were found to be significant predictors of academic engagement. These findings suggest that interdisciplinary study projects can potentially contribute to improving higher education as they fulfil students’ basic psychological needs for competence, relatedness and autonomy and enhance students’ academic engagement.     

Outcomes of synergetic peer assessment: first-year experience

Active participation in learning activities and reviewing assessment activity can facilitate learners engaged in these processes. This case study reports student experiences of the process of peer assessment with teacher guidance in a group project for a first-year nursing course with 153 students. Twenty groups of students were assigned roles in exploring one of the two scenarios: one involved analysing diabetes mellitus and the other considered colorectal carcinoma, in each case covering provision of acute nursing care in hospitals and preparing health promotion strategies in a community. Each group also provided comments to the group that worked on the other scenario, based on prearranged assessment criteria. After receiving comments from their peer group, each group was then allowed to revise their drafts prior to final submission. The teacher’s input would be offered, if the peer feedback was inaccurate or insufficient. A survey was conducted to explore the learning experiences, and three semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted to triangulate findings with the survey. The first-year students expressed the need for both peer feedback and the lecturer’s direct guidance.     

The learning and study strategies of Norwegian first-year college students

In this study, we examined the learning and study strategies of 173 Norwegian first-year college students and compared the resulting profiles to those of the American students who established the norms for the selected strategy measure (i.e., Learning and Study Strategies Inventory [LASSI]). In addition, we compared the strategy profiles of students with different levels of perceived ability, gender, and age. It was found that the profiles of the Norwegian students were remarkably similar to the profiles of the American norming sample, with only the Motivation subscale of the LASSI showing a large difference between the two samples. Moreover, students with high perceived ability reported using more strategies than students with low perceived ability, and female students, on the whole, reported using more strategies than males. Finally, the age differences in reported strategy use were rather small among the Norwegian students. The results of this study are discussed in both cross-cultural and practical perspectives.     

一年级学生口语交际能力的培养

小学生在入学之前已经具有初步的听说能力 ,进入小学则是系统的学习语言的开始。我认为 ,一年级小学生口语交际训练要注意规范学生的语言 ,培养良好的听说态度和语言习惯 ,提高口语交际能力。一、培养良好的听说习惯是口语交际的基础。据专家统计 ,在人的语言交流活动中 ,听的方面所占的比重最大 ,占 4 5 % ,说占 30 % ,读和写分别为 16 %和 9% ,由此可见听力的重要性。一年级小学生听力训练要着重培养学生良好的听话习惯。首先 ,要求做到“正确地听”。这主要体现在听话的姿势和态度上 ,即要求学生在听别人讲话时 ,眼睛看着说话的对方 ,集…     

Negotiation of learning and identity among first-year medical students

The demand for medical schools to produce competent doctors to meet health needs in South Africa has increased. In response to this challenge, the Faculty of Health Sciences at a relatively elite university introduced a problem-based, socially relevant curriculum in 2002. The classroom environment is designed to facilitate a learning context where students from diverse backgrounds engage critically and learn from each other. This study draws on data from a larger qualitative case study to describe how a group of ‘black’ students who failed their first semester experienced the school–university transition. Drawing on post-structuralist theory, this article analyses how the students negotiated learning and identity. The argument is made that the students re-positioned themselves in deficit, outsider subject positions in order to survive their first year. This article ends with a consideration of the implications for developing a learning environment which recognises difference and fosters diversity.     

Peer assessment effects on the self-assessment process of first-year undergraduates

Peers carry potential in enhancing students’ self-assessment development, but few studies have explored how peer scaffolding is enacted in the process. This qualitative study explores peer assessment effects on the self-assessment process of 11 first-year undergraduates and the factors limiting peer influence. Drawing on the data from students’ journals, follow-up interviews, observations of in-class formative peer assessment activities and teacher interviews, we ascertained that peers could aid the self-assessment process by enriching student understanding of quality, refining subjective judgement and deepening self-reflection. Yet, peer influence could be reduced by distrust, tensions in feedback communication, competition and lack of readiness for peer learning. Implications for effective use of peers in supporting self-assessment development are discussed.     

Explicitness of criteria in peer assessment processes for first-year engineering students

This article will outline the motives for the implementation of peer assessment as put into action at the first year of the Civil Engineering course of the University of Minho. The implementation of new assessment methods was a consequence of the successful implementation of peer assessment at other engineering courses. During the semester, three assessment moments took place, in which students assessed the work of their peers. Assessment criteria were defined in a negotiation process between students and teacher. The students subsequently graded the work of their colleagues and had to provide a clear justification for each given grade. The aim of this method is to involve students in the subject, enhance their motivation and deepen their learning. Advantages and disadvantages of peer assessment are discussed. The results that have been obtained so far draw attention to the nature of assessment criteria and the corresponding explicitness.     

Comparison between bridging students and traditional first-year students in engineering technology

To stimulate a flexible lifelong learning system students can enter university via lateral entry. Unlike traditional first-year students, lateral entrance students are not well-studied. Therefore this study focuses on comparing first-year students with a specific group of lateral entrants, namely bridging students at the Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven. Using Astin’s Input-Environment-Outcome model resulted in (1) Input variables, namely prior education and initial learning and study strategies, (2) Environmental influence, measured with a questionnaire focussing on perceived transition to university, and (3) Outcome variables, namely dropout and academic achievement. Analyses resulted in similarities for the outcome variables, but differences in terms of secondary education. Regarding the input (LASSI) and environmental questionnaires, for only two of the 13 scales a moderate effect was found (perceived preparedness and test strategies). Consequently, research findings of first-year engineering students can be compared, taking into account their specific differences, to the context of bridging students.     

Ethnicity and engagement in first-year New Zealand law programmes

This paper investigated the extent to which the engagement levels of a self-selected cohort of students enrolled in first-year law programmes at three New Zealand universities varied according to ethnicity. When viewed in the light of factors identified within the international literature as having a bearing on student engagement and, in consequence, academic success and retention, no significant differences were identified in the ways students of Pākehā (European), Māori, Pasifika, Chinese and Indian descent interacted with the law school at which they were enrolled. This was despite some identified differences in students’ backgrounds and motivations for study and in the external factors having an impact on their study. Nevertheless, the identified differences between the ethnicities in relation to personal and external factors can be utilised to enhance and/or improve the engagement of particular groups of students. Overall, the findings indicate a need for law schools to focus on student engagement in first-year programmes with a view to improving the engagement levels of students across all ethnicities.     

Gender-group differences in the learning behaviour of entering first-year university students

This study explores the existence of structural gender differences in the learning behaviour of first-year students on entry to university, based on responses to an extended form of the Approaches to Studying Inventory. The focus is on underlying dimensions of variation, that distinguish between the manner in which male and female students recalled and reported on their most recent experience of studying Science in their final secondary school year. Such differences as emerge are only partially interperatble in terms of classic deep or strategic structures. It is argued that gender-sensitive sources of variation, as manifested, are worth of further investigation and are of potential strategic value to university departments insofar as they are able to locate difficulties that students bring with them early in their undergraduate studies.     

The role of metacognition in the first-year design lab

Educational technology research and development - Metacognition, or the ability to think about thinking, plays a significant role in the performance of first-year design students. Although the...