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.     

Unconventional Internet genres and their impact on second language undergraduate students' writing process

The Web has become a vast and appealing source of information for undergraduate students writing academic papers. While some online resources are comparable in quality to the materials housed in a library, newly accessible, Web-specific genres, such as interest groups, often undermine traditional expectations of scholarly authority, rigor, and objectivity. Since many of these genres harbor hidden agendas, their impact is often manipulative. Giving the illusion of rigor, they can present challenges for novice undergraduate second language writers who are unfamiliar with North American academic guidelines, yet few studies have examined the impact of such sites on their writing. In order to assess this influence, unconventional, opinion-supporting Web citations in argumentative essays from 70 undergraduate ESL students were isolated and evaluated. Findings revealed that the students who cited unconventional sources appeared to be unaware of their ideological agendas. Additionally, viewing such sources as objective, they used them to support their own viewpoints.     

The impact of a living learning community on first-year engineering students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of an engineering living and learning community (ELC) on first-year engineering students. A control group of non-ELC students was used to compare the experiences of the ELC participants. Analysis of survey data showed that there was significant differences between the ELC students and the non-ELC students in how they responded to questions regarding social support, academic support, connectedness to campus, and satisfaction with the College of Engineering and the institution as a whole. Particularly, there were significant differences between ELC and non-ELC students for questions related to feeling like part of an engineering community, having strong relationships with peers, belonging to a supportive peer network, studying with engineering peers, and spending time with classmates outside of class.     

The subjective well-being of first-year tertiary students during an induction programme

This article describes the perceptions of first-year students’ subjective appraisal of ttheir wellbeing before, during and after participation in an induction programme at a higher education institution (HEI). Twenty-two first-year students participated in focus group discussions (FGDs) and semi-structured individual interviews. Thematic and interpretative analyses suggested shifts in the students’ levels of well-being: high before, low during, and increased after the induction programme. Low levels of well-being were linked to experiences of fear, feeling disrespected, and disillusionment with university life, leaders, and a perceived loss of autonomy, independency and social-relatedness. An increase in well-being was associated with social integration, support, the ability for self-reflection and perspective taking. Wellbeing is a relational and collective matter which is embedded in broader contexts. Therefore, historical legacies of oppression and inequality should be challenged through constructive debate, involving previously neglected voices intentionally; and creating opportunities for the expression of students’ needs and growth potential     

How first-year students perceive and experience assessment of academic literacies

Abstract

First-year university students’ underdeveloped academic literacies can lead to dissatisfaction and poor performance. University teachers find it difficult to take action without an understanding of students’ perceptions and needs. This study investigates first-year Chinese students’ perceptions and experiences related to assessment of academic literacies in an English-as-a-foreign-language university context. The datasets include student focus groups at two different time points over their first university year, self-reflective essays written by students at the end of the year, and audio records of nine units of teaching in three teachers’ classes. Findings highlight that fostering students’ academic literacies incorporates both linguistic development and epistemological adaptation. Students held mixed feelings towards alternative assessment other than examinations. Their personal learning goals of using English in everyday scenarios dampened their commitment to teachers’ goals of developing learners’ academic literacies. Findings suggest assessment can be an effective ‘card’ played by teachers to nurture students’ appreciation of new learning goals, communicate areas for improvement in learning strategies, and demonstrate their visible progress.     

The writing approaches of university students

University students' beliefs about themselvesas writers and about the experience of learningin writing were investigated as related towriting approaches as measured by the Inventoryof Processes in College Composition (Lavelle 1993). General findings included support forthe deep and surface paradigm as well asvariation in students' conceptions of writing,in their attitudes about themselves as writers,and in their felt need for personal expressionin writing. Implications for instruction andfurther research are included.     

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.     

A technical writing programme implemented in a first-year engineering course at KU Leuven

Technical communication and technical writing are important skills for the daily work-life of every engineer. In the first-year engineering programme at KU Leuven, a technical writing programme is implemented within the project-based course ‘Problem Solving and Engineering Design’. This paper describes a case study for implementing a writing programme based on active learning methods and situated learning in large classes. The programme consists of subsequent cycles of instructions, learning by doing and reflection on received feedback. In addition, a peer-review assignment, together with an interactive lecture using clicking devices, is incorporated within the assignments of the second semester. A checklist of desired writing abilities makes it easier to grade the large number of papers. Furthermore, this ensures that all staff involved in the evaluation process uses the same criteria to grade and for providing feedback.     

论"养其根而俟其实"--由一篇短文引发的话题

“养其根而俟其实”语出韩愈。这里的“根”比喻的是思想修养，“实”比喻的是文章写作。“养其根而俟其实”一语生动而深刻的阐明了思想修养与文章写作二者之间的关系，是一切从事写作的人首先应该明了并须铭记于心的正确的为文之道。     

An exploratory study of first-year students at a historically black university campus in South Africa: their academic experiences,success and failure

Abstract

This article reports on a study focusing on the first-year academic experiences, success and failure of a cohort of students at a historically black university campus in South Africa. It examines their academic experiences and factors which influenced their success and failure at the end of the first year. Views were sought from a sample of 100 lecturers and 500 first-year students using quantitative (survey) and qualitative (questionnaire) data collection methods. The results indicate that on the one hand, academic success for this cohort was influenced by class attendance, completion and timely submission of assignments, and group discussions/group work. On the other hand, academic failure was attributed to late submission of assignments, inability to ask questions and poor communication skills. The results also point to a need to pay serious attention to improving the academic learning environment of first-year students in order to enhance students’ chances of success.     

专门针对SQA-NHD国际本科生的学术用途英语写作课程设计

与普通的大学生不同,来自SQA-NHD国际本科项目的学生是一个特殊的学习群体。由于国内高校英语教学的目的、方法、课程设置和考试制度与英语国家大学有所不同,决定了在为这一类特殊学生开设英语写作课程时需要有专门的设计。基于此,结合教学实践,提出了一项针对国际本科生的学术用途英语写作课程设计,以期培养和锻炼国际本科生的英语学术论文写作能力。     

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.     

The academic writing of community college remedial students: Text and learner variables

Community college remedial reading studentscomposed an informational report from sources,a task commonly assigned in higher educationthat integrally combines reading and writingprocesses. Productivity, use of source text,reproductions, accuracy, and inclusion of keyideas were analyzed as a function of twoexogenous variables, text density (high, low)and domain (health, business), and twoendogenous variables, prior knowledge andgeneral literacy skill. Text densityinteracted with literacy skill forproductivity, and with prior knowledge foraccuracy. Individuals with lower literacy orprior knowledge scores were at a disadvantagewith high but not low density source text. Domain affected productivity, use of source,and inclusion of key ideas: health text wasassociated with superior performance. Domaineffects may be explained by metacognitive ormotivational variables, or differences in thereadability of the source texts. The resultshave implications for instruction aimed atimproving community college students'preparedness for the academic demands of highereducation.     

Prerequisites for the successful group mentoring of first-year university students: a case study

In this article we present a case study on a group mentoring practice proven successful in earlier studies in terms of student self-regulation and collaboration. The purpose of our study was to uncover the factors behind the success by interviewing the mentor teachers. The findings showed that the group mentoring focused on four main themes: (a) promoting social relationships, (b) providing personal support, (c) providing study guidance, and (d) strengthening the agency of students. The findings suggest that the leading ethos of group mentoring was related to a humanistic approach to mentoring. However, successful mentoring also seemed to require both situated apprentice and critical constructivist perspectives in addition to the humanistic approach. It is concluded that the combination of multiple goals and contents in group mentoring is the main contributing factor behind the success of the mentoring model examined. Additionally, the teachers reported a variety of positive impacts of group mentoring on teachers’ work.     

Effects of test media on different EFL test-takers in writing scores and in the cognitive writing process

The effects of computer and paper test media on EFL test-takers with different computer familiarity in writing scores and in the cognitive writing process have been comprehensively explored from the learners’ aspect as well as on the basis of related theories and practice. The results indicate significant differences in test scores among the test-takers who are less familiar with computers, showing that the computer test medium has greatly impacted this group of test-takers’ writing scores. From the perspective of the cognitive process, they are not significantly different in such stages as ‘goal-setting’, ‘generating ideas’ and ‘reviewing’, while their ‘organising ideas’ and ‘translating’ stages were greatly different, owing mainly to the nature of the test medium itself.     

科技论文写作课程在研究生教学中的作用

科技论文写作是研究生课程的重要组成部分。本文结合科技论文写作课程的内容,从端正写作态度,构建学术道德,掌握写作规范,提高写作能力,以及培养创新能力等方面阐述了该课程在研究生教学中所发挥的作用,并指出教学中应注重研究生综合素质的培养。     

Application of English cohesion theory in the teaching of writing to Chinese graduate students

The English cohesion theory proposed by Halliday and Hasan makes great contributions to the understanding of the coherence and cohesion of the English texts. It should be applicable in the teaching of English writing so as to improve the cohesion in the students＇ compositions. The present paper describes apractice of this order among non-major graduate students, and discusses its results. The conclusion is that teaching activities of this kind can indeed improve the cohesion in the students＇ compositions. Finally the paper raises a few concerning problems which remain to be further explored.     

A coding scheme for analysing problem-solving processes of first-year engineering students

This study describes the development and structure of a coding scheme for analysing solutions to well-structured problems in terms of cognitive processes and problem-solving deficiencies for first-year engineering students. A task analysis approach was used to assess students’ problem solutions using the hierarchical structure from a theoretical framework from mathematics research. The coding scheme comprises 54 codes within the categories of knowledge access, knowledge generation, self-management, conceptual errors, mechanical errors, management errors, approach strategies and solution accuracy, and was demonstrated to be both dependable and credible for analysing problems typical of topics in first-year engineering courses. The problem-solving processes were evaluated in terms of time, process elements, errors committed and self-corrected errors. Therefore, problem-solving performance can be analysed in terms of both accuracy and efficiency of processing, pinpointing areas meriting further study from a cognitive perspective, and for documenting processes for research purposes.     

寓言化写作：中国当代大陆留学生文学思潮的现代性价值

中国当代留学生文学思潮和世纪初的留学生文学相比,具有独特的文化意义,它提供了遭受文化冲突的"边缘人"(文化边际人)的心理经验;并且大陆留学生文学因为融合了"经济中心的现代性"的思维定势和心理期待,而尤其表述和象征了20世纪八九十年代的中国在现代化过程中的独特性.