Open to critique: predictive effects of academic outcomes from a bridging/foundation programme on first-year degree-level study

Bridging/foundation programmes are often provided by tertiary institutions to increase equity in access and academic performance of students from under-served communities. Little empirical evidence exists to measure the effectiveness of these bridging/foundation programmes on undergraduate academic outcomes. This research identifies the predictive effect of academic outcomes achieved within a bridging/foundation programme, targeted towards indigenous and ethnic minority students, on first-year degree-level outcomes. Overall performance within the bridging/foundation programme was positively associated with increasing Grade Point Average (GPA), ‘Core 4’ GPA and passing all courses in first year. However, mixed associations were identified between feeder bridging/foundation courses and their intended first year course counterparts. These findings support the continued provision of bridging/foundation education; however, curricular reform within the bridging/foundation programme was required. Key developments included: restructuring course delivery; increasing constructive alignment across the curriculum; increasing cultural content within western science-orientated courses; introduction of cross-curricular assessment and use of additional innovative teaching and learning activities. Additional challenges remain for degree programmes to explore how they can change in order to better support indigenous and ethnic minority student success within first-year tertiary study.     

Programme Quality Assessment by the Implication of Variable Entry Qualifications on Students' Performance

Since its inception 30 years ago, the then Department of Engineering Science, Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM) was given the responsibility of preparing all the students in the first year engineering programmes by giving enough knowledge in basic science and mathematics. The nation's vision to become a fully‐industrialised economy by the year 2020 required all institutes of higher learning (IHLs) in Malaysia to increase their intake of students in the science and technology courses, especially in engineering. However, at the upper secondary education level, students have the freedom to choose between the science‐based or non‐science combination of subjects. This has led to a dearth of science‐based students enrolling in IHLs. Because ITM believes that it is possible to educate individuals from various backgrounds, the engineering courses are open to students with a variety of academic qualifications. Special bridging courses were designed and created for such students since late 1996. The success or failure of the new courses can be assessed after the students have gone through the proper first year engineering courses which consist of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. This paper reports on a pilot study on the pioneer groups of students with variable entry qualifications to assess the effectiveness of the courses. The study involved the analysis of the students’ examination results as a performance indicator, and it was found that the bridging programme for non‐science students needed to be redesigned. It is also proposed that to improve the quality of the programme, and hence students’ performance, a regular review be conducted, student support activities be continued and to expand the use of self‐study materials.     

Prior learning in biology at high school does not predict performance in the first year at university

Students in their first year of university face a number of transition issues that can make realising their academic potential difficult. In the sciences, first-year courses cover a large amount of material across broad subject areas, which can make them troublesome for students without background knowledge, and students need to adapt to typically large class sizes and develop active, independent learning skills. We expected a student's prior learning to be important to their academic performance in a large, first-year introductory biology subject and analysed the relationships between students' results in this course with their senior high school results in related subjects over three years from 2007 to 2009. We predicted that students with prior learning in biology would have higher results than those without it, but that chemistry might also be important, given the biochemical nature of much of the course content. Students who completed biology at the senior high school-level did perform better than those who had not, but only if they also completed chemistry. Prior learning in biology was of no benefit to students in first-year biology, except when combined with chemistry, suggesting that potential differences in biology curricula between high school and the first year at university may need to be addressed.     

基于PSO-BP网络的学习成绩预测研究

智慧课堂背景下对学生学习成绩的预测是制定更具针对性学习方案的关键,文章采用PSO-BP网络对目标课程学习成绩进行预测,同时和BP网络对目标课程学习成绩的预测结果进行对比。结果表明,PSO-BP网络对目标课程成绩预测精度高,但对目标成绩预测不宜采用等级法。此研究对目标课程成绩预测,更好地优化教学资源具有一定的参考价值。     

略论“电子显微分析”课程教学

该文认为,电子显微镜是研究物质微观结构关键技术,因此"电子显微分析"课程是生物,医学,材料,化学和物理等相关研究专业硕博研究生的核心课程之一。由于课程对学生基础理论要求较高,知识点复杂,枯燥不易学,如何让学生掌握该课程内容,成为教学难点。实践表明:将课程中的理论知识与仪器设备操作,以及实际的数据分析相结合,有助于学生对知识点的理解,提高学习的积极性,达到提升教学成果的目的。     

Effects of childhood setting and interaction with nature on academic performance in introductory college-level courses in the environmental sciences

This study explored the relationships between student background and academic performance in college introductory environmental science (ES) courses at a large U.S. research university with the premise that this analysis may inform teaching practices, curricula, and efforts to increase retention. We surveyed over 700 students across eleven introductory ES courses and used multiple linear mixed-effects regressions to model the data. We found that students who grew up in rural settings or who had frequent childhood interactions with natural environments earned higher grades, on average, than students from urban settings or with fewer childhood interactions with natural environments. Our results indicate that students reporting frequent childhood interactions with forests, for example, were projected to earn grades up to 1.5 letter grades higher in these courses than students with no such interactions. In addition, students with frequent childhood interactions with nature were likelier to report that such interactions helped them in their ES course, suggesting that these students may recognize the value of these experiences. Greater interest in the subject matter also correlated with higher ES course grades, whereas amount of prior ES coursework did not. We discuss the possible implications of these correlations for ES academic performance and educational practice.     

变被动实践为主动实践：谈食品化学实验教学改革与创新人才培养

食品化学实验既是《食品化学》课程的有机组成部分,也是锻炼食品专业学生实践能力的重要环节。2008年江南大学《食品化学》课程建设国家精品课程获批立项以来,《食品化学》课程小组针对实践教学部分进行了深入思考和探讨,形成以“变被动实践为主动实践”为主要特色的教学改革理念,确定调整实验教学内容的设置,降低基础实验的比例,增加综合性实验和自主设计实验,调动学生的积极性,开阔教师的教学思路,实现学生实践能力和理论联系实际能力的提高,为工科学生实践环节的教学,特别是食品科学与工程专业学生的实践教学提供有益借鉴。     

MOTIVATIONAL BELIEFS AND LEARNING STRATEGIES IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

Students enter college chemistry courses with different sources of motivation, appropriate or inappropriate assumptions about their probability of success and how to study. This study is theoretically aligned with self-regulated learning research. Clearly, academic performance is closely related to student motivational beliefs and learning strategies. This study investigated the motivational beliefs and learning strategies of 2 years of college students in the second semester of organic chemistry. Responses to the Motivational Beliefs and Learning Strategies Questionnaire indicated that student self-efficacy was highly correlated with academic performance (semester grades). Gender differences were quite pronounced. Male academic performance was associated with intrinsic motivation as well as the importance placed on the learning task. Test anxiety was negatively associated with male grades. Extrinsic motivation was negatively correlated with female grades. Responses to students’ sense of control over learning, the value of the learning task, and self-efficacy were significantly higher for males compared to females. Faculty who attend to these different patterns may influence beliefs as well as learning strategies. Correcting erroneous assumptions about how to learn chemistry may help students shift both their attitudes and their learning practices. The notable gender difference suggests that female chemistry students may especially profit from focused faculty intervention.     

Student use of PeerWise: A multi-institutional,multidisciplinary evaluation

This study explores the relationship between engagement with an online, free-to-use question-generation application (PeerWise) and student achievement. Using PeerWise, students can create and answer multiple-choice questions and can provide feedback to the question authors on question quality. This provides further scope for students to engage in discussion about the question with their peers. Data on PeerWise use and examination performance were collected from over 3000 students across six large undergraduate courses (in physics, chemistry and biology) over three academic years in three research-intensive UK universities. A reliable and valid measure of overall PeerWise activity was created and a multilevel model developed describing the relationship between PeerWise activity and student performance in end of course examinations. Using this approach, a significant positive association was found between students’ engagement with PeerWise and their academic attainment in end of course exams, even controlling for prior ability. The implications of these findings for educators are discussed.     

Evidence of English language proficiency and academic achievement of non-English-speaking background students

The increasing number of international students enrolled in Australian universities over the last decade has met with a corresponding concern that many non-English-speaking background (NESB) students experience considerable difficulty in their courses. Consequently, concerns about admission procedures have been raised regarding how English language proficiency (ELP) is determined for NESB students (both domestic and international). In addition to standardised ELP tests, some universities accept other forms of evidence, such as the completion of English-medium courses. This large-scale quantitative study analysed data on 5675 undergraduate and postgraduate students available from one university's database over a three-year period to ascertain if its ELP requirements were sufficient to ensure the academic progress of adequate numbers of these students. The best evidence for potential academic success was found to be standardised tests while students submitting other forms of ELP evidence tended to have more difficulties.     

Students' perceptions of academic dishonesty in the chemistry classroom laboratory

Although the literature on both academic dishonesty and scientific misconduct is extensive, research on academic dishonesty has focused on quizzes, exams, and papers, with the virtual exclusion of the classroom laboratory. This study examined the distinctions undergraduate chemistry majors made between academic dishonesty in the classroom laboratory and scientific misconduct in the research laboratory. Across the spectrum of undergraduate chemistry courses, from the introductory course for first‐semester chemistry majors to the capstone course in instrumental analysis, we noted that students believe the classroom lab is fundamentally different from a research or industrial lab. This difference is so significant that it carries over into students' perceptions of dishonesty in these two environments. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 47–64, 2004     

Investigating Academic Success Factors for Undergraduate Business Students

Student academic performance is of major interest to all stakeholders of higher education institutions. This study questions whether or not statistical analysis of information that is readily available in most universities' official records system can be used to predict overall academic success. In particular, this study is an attempt to understand factors that affect academic success for business students by examining gender, age, ethnicity, and performance in two required core knowledge courses as predictors of academic success for a large sample of undergraduate students at a Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business–accredited business school. The results suggest that student performance is significantly related to some basic demographic variables, but the strongest predictors of overall academic success are the grades the students receive in core knowledge courses that are typically taken in the earlier semesters of business students' plans of study.     

Impact of Personality on Choice of Instructional Delivery and Students’ Performance

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to investigate how college students’ personality characteristics relate to their choice of instructional delivery (online or face-to-face) and whether this choice mediates the relationship between personality and academic performance. One hundred eighty-eight undergraduate students were given a choice between taking the same general education course online or face-to-face. Students completed the Big Five Inventory (BFI) upon the conclusion of this course. Using a Bayesian regression course modeling framework, we found that Conscientiousness and Agreeableness were related to the choice of instructional delivery. Students scoring higher on Conscientiousness and lower on Agreeableness tended to choose the online environment. Conscientiousness also was a direct predictor of academic achievement regardless of the course environment. These results suggest that in order to find the best fit between student and the learning environment, it is important to identify personality characteristics indicative of success in online and traditional face-to-face courses to help students to become more efficient learners and assist faculty in designing quality courses to meet students’ needs.     

Sources of academic stress: the case of first year Jewish and Arab college students in Israel

This study examined socioculturel and gender group differences in perceptions of major sources of academic stress in first year college students, in addition to the relationship between reported academic stress and college achievement. Data were collected via a self-administered student stress inventory given to a sample of 184 Jewish and 209 Arab college undergraduates studying in a major Israel university. They evaluated the personal stressfulness of each of 53 potential sources of academic stress along a 6-point Likert-type scale covering a wide range of potential academic Stressors (academic curriculum and course requirements, course evaluation procedures, college instruction, social milieu and cultural factors on campus, college administration and bureaucracy, physical conditions and accommodations, economic factors, organismic and interpersonal factors, student expectations, daily hassles and constraints). Arab, lower-status, and female students were hypothesized and found to be more stressed than their respective Jewish, upper-class and male counterparts, respectively. Cultural group background was found to be the most salient background predictor of student stress, followed by social class and gender, with each exerting independent (noninteractive) effects. Although group differences were observed in mean ratings, there proved to be a strong correspondence in the hierarchy of perceived Stressors across sociocultural and gender subgroups. As a whole, students appeared to be most stressed by pressures originating from course overload and academic evaluation procedures and least stressed by a variety of personal, familial, and social factors. Furthermore, student stress and achievement factors were found to be inversely correlated, with little evidence for the contention that stress differentially debilitates the academic performance of students as a function of gender or sociocultural group membership. The findings also lend some evidence to the cross-cultural generalizability of major stressors in academia.     

“Deaths in Prison Custody” Capstone Course: Engaging Final-Year Law Students In Service Learning and Public Value

Capstone service learning courses are designed to overcome the negative effects of fractioned knowledge by enabling students to consolidate and apply what they have learned over a program of study. They also promote a scholarship of engagement. This article documents the learning experiences of students on a Deaths in Prison Custody capstone service learning course. Though such a criminal justice course requires significant staff input and involves some loss of educational control, it has many benefits including enhanced learning, meaningful service, public value, and civic engagement. The focus on this article is on student learning experiences. It outlines how the pragmatic focus of such a course made knowledge and student learning relevant and actionable. It also describes how the deliberately unstructured design of the course, together with its emphasis on pubic value, encouraged autonomous and self-directed learning, prompting the students to take greater ownership of their learning.     

Online course selection: using course dashboards to inform student enrollment decisions

This article explores the potential of course dashboards as a front-end strategy for decreasing online course dropout rates. Scholarship has addressed course attrition once students are enrolled in online courses. However, supporting academic success by assisting students in the making of effective decisions about which online courses to take has received relatively little attention. Students in undergraduate-level online courses from varied disciplines rated the utility of course information types and three course dashboard prototypes. Qualitative feedback was also collected. Various types of information related to the time investment necessary to successfully complete the course were given priority. With regard to information displays, students preferred moderate-to-high amounts of well-organised information, presented with a careful balance of text and visual images. Comments from past students also favoured course dashboard elements.     

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.     

化学专业药用高分子材料学教学改革初探

药用高分子材料学是高分子科学、药学、临床医学等学科融合而成的一种交叉性学科,目前已进入化学专业本科教学课程体系。针对化学专业药用高分子材料学教学中遇到的相关问题,要从改革课程教学模式入手,提高学生的学习积极性、主动性和创造性,进而提升教学质量。     

Effects of active learning classrooms on student learning: a two-year empirical investigation on student perceptions and academic performance

Recent studies on active learning classrooms (ACLs) have demonstrated their positive influence on student learning. However, most of the research evidence is derived from a few subject-specific courses or limited student enrolment. Empirical studies on this topic involving large student populations are rare. The present work involved a large-scale two-year study that examined the effects of ACL on student perceptions of their learning experience and the relationship with academic performance in a General Education programme. An institutional survey was used to gather more than 35,000 units of student perception data from all 306 courses in the programme. Our empirical findings show that students thought courses that adopted an ACL as the key learning environment were significantly better designed and more encouraging of student creativity and innovation than courses which used regular classrooms; thus, student perceptions were improved. We are also the first to report that this positive effect on creativity and innovation is statistically unaffected by academic performance, with high, middle and low achievers all benefiting from the use of the facility. The results suggest that ACLs are better environments for nurturing innovation for all students, regardless of their academic ability.