Stress among higher education students: towards a research agenda

This article has two primary aims. Firstly, it provides a critical review of previous studies into student stress and identifies several important issues that, as yet, have not been explored. There has been no consideration of the effect of students maturing during their studies on the stress that they experience and how they cope with that stress. Secondly, the article highlights limitations in the past and present literature base, where there has been a concentration on a quantitative approach, and focus on a narrow range of subject groups. There is also a need to undertake longitudinal research to investigate individuals’ stress experiences during the period they study at university. Overall the key assertion here is that thus far research into student stress has not offered a complete account and explanation of students’ stress experiences.     

Using the DYSA Programme to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in First-year University Students

With recent increases in the number of students attending universities without a proportional increase in resources, it is likely that there has been a decrease in the quality of life students experience and an increase in the stress they feel. This is of course added to by tuition fees and the need to take out student loans. The writers review research into student stress and highlight the fact that many researchers have noted the need for stress-reduction courses, though this has been a recommendation that has not generally been taken up. A specific stress-reduction programme for school pupils and university students is described. This programme was tested with first-year undergraduates. The students involved all felt that the programme had been valuable. Apart from its clear relevance to the support of university students, this paper raises issues which are of importance to those working with sixth-form students.     

The use of scoring rubrics for formative assessment purposes revisited: A review

The mainstream research on scoring rubrics has emphasized the summative aspect of assessment. In recent years, the use of rubrics for formative purposes has gained more attention. This research has, however, not been conclusive. The aim of this study is therefore to review the research on formative use of rubrics, in order to investigate if, and how, rubrics have an impact on student learning. In total, 21 studies about rubrics were analyzed through content analysis. Sample, subject/task, design, procedure, and findings, were compared among the different studies in relation to effects on student performance and selfregulation. Findings indicate that rubrics may have the potential to influence students learning positively, but also that there are several different ways for the use of rubrics to mediate improved performance and self-regulation. There are a number of factors identified that may moderate the effects of using rubrics formatively, as well as factors that need further investigation.     

The impact of stress in self‐ and peer assessment

While a large amount of interest has been shown in the use of peer and self‐assessment, few studies have considered the effect of stress on the students involved. None have considered whether the resultant stress itself might account for any noticeable improvements in student performance. The research presented in this paper addresses this question. An experimental design measured the effects of type of assessment and gender on student stress levels and performance. Results suggest that females are more stressed by self‐assessment than males and that being subjected to self‐ and peer assessment, while more stressful, leads to improved student performance in summative tasks.     

Phenomenography and the Principles and Practices of Learning

Phenomenographic studies of student learning have shown that students learn in qualitatively different ways and have related qualitatively different learning outcomes. But phenomenography is not, and has never claimed to be, a theory of student learning. This is not to say, however, that there is not a view of student learning which is consistent with these studies. This paper outlines such a view and analyses a number of teaching and learning problems from this perspective. The paper argues that the students’ experiences of teaching and learning situations are fundamental to what they learn.     

The Implications of Cognitive Style for the Management of Student‐Supervisor Relationships

Abstract There has been little research into thesis supervision despite numerous testimonies asserting its critical importance in higher education. From the studies which have been carried out, it is evident that there are two main issues contributing to student dissatisfaction and low completion rates. One is the feeling of isolation expressed by students. The second, and most widely reported, is the nature of the relationship between supervisor and student. This paper describes an innovative programme of supervision which helps resolve the first of these issues. It also reports a preliminary study into the allocation of students to supervisors on the basis of the cognitive styles of both parties. Although, at this stage, there is no clear‐cut evidence to demonstrate the benefits of a ‘matching’ approach, it is suggested that a focus on the interaction between student and supervisor, using qualitative methods, rather than on the individuals themselves, may prove fruitful.     

Explaining student success in engineering education at Delft University of Technology: a literature synthesis

Student success is among the most widely researched areas in tertiary education. Generalisability of research in this field is problematic due to cultural and structural differences between countries, institutions and programmes where the research is done. Engineering education in the Netherlands has not been studied in depth. In this paper, outcomes of studies done outside and inside engineering and outside and inside the Netherlands are discussed to help understand the complexity of student retention issues. Although generalisation is an issue, there are a number of concepts and variables that surface in many of these studies, including students’ background and disposition variables, education attributes, variables concerning educational climate and student behaviour. How these variables are related and how a university can apply the outcomes of research in this field of study are discussed in this paper.     

Barriers to student success in engineering education

In the UK, the USA and Australia, there have been calls for an increase in the number of engineering graduates to meet the needs of current global challenges. Universities around the world have been grappling with how to both attract more engineering students and to then retain them. Attrition from engineering programmes is disturbingly high. This paper reports on an element of research undertaken through an Australian Learning and Teaching Council-funded Fellowship that investigated the factors leading to student attrition in engineering programmes, by identifying barriers to student success. Here, we contrast a review of the literature related to student barriers and success with student perceptions, gathered through a series of focus groups and interviews at three Australian universities. We also present recommendations for action to try to remove barriers to student success.     

Evidence of a Single Second-Order Factor in Student Ratings of Teaching Effectiveness

In student-evaluation research, there has been considerable debate on the number of higher order factors in student ratings of university teaching. Using a distance learning program as the context for research, the study described in this article applied structural equation modeling to investigate the 2nd-order factor structure in student ratings of teaching effectiveness. An a priori model was hypothesized, which consisted of four 1st-order factors and one 2nd-order factor. Data were collected from 2,021 distance students using a multifactor questionnaire. In contrast to all past studies, the presence of a single 2nd-order factor in student ratings was empirically demonstrated through hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis. Implications for future research on the higher order factor structure in student ratings of conventional on-campus courses are also discussed.     

Situational leadership applied to the dissertation process

For more than 40 years, concern has been expressed over the attrition rate of students in Ph.D. programs in American universities. Although there are a number of significant factors at work, attrition of doctoral students in sciences such as anatomy may lead to a dearth of trained teaching anatomists as well as research scientists in the anatomical sciences. Failure to complete the Ph.D. process including the dissertation carries a high cost, not only to the students who fail to complete their programs, but also to society at large due to the expenditure of scarce education resources. A variety of factors have been examined in the various studies, but two stands out of major interest for this article: student personality factors such as perseverance and the level of faculty mentoring/support to the students during the graduate education process. A new approach to providing faculty support based on the needs of the individual student is presented in this article. Situational Leadership® has been developed over the past 40 years by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard and their associates. This leadership model is unique in that when it is applied to the dissertation process, it requires the faculty member to determine the readiness level of the graduate student. Because each student is a unique individual, the faculty mentor assesses each student based on the specific task at hand in order to provide the appropriate style of mentorship each student requires. Anat Sci Ed 1:194–198, 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.     

Institutional Characteristics and College Student Dropout Risks: A Multilevel Event History Analysis

In the past two decades, although access to higher education for American students has improved, student persistence in 4-year institutions is far from assured. There have been a number of research studies on student persistence/dropout in higher education, but most have focused on the characteristics and behavior of students as illustrated by the ??student-centered research tradition??. This study focuses on what institutional characteristics contribute to conditions that reduce student dropout risks. By analyzing longitudinal and hierarchical data, this research proposes and tests a multilevel event history model that identifies the major institutional attributes related to student dropout risk in a longitudinal process. Evidence indicates that institutional expenditure on student services is negatively associated with student dropout behavior. Implications of the results for institutional practices and future research are discussed.     

Current trends and missing links in studies on teacher professional development in science education: a review of design features and quality of research

This review provides an overview of the the current state of research on professional development in science education. An analytical frame was used, based on what is known about PD from educational research. Clarke and Hollingsworth’s model for teacher professional growth was also used to categorise the studies according to their aims and outcomes. Exemplar studies in each category are highlighted. In total, 44 recent studies were selected, all referring to science PD. The results show an increase in the number of PD studies in science education in recent years. Most PD programmes are aimed at enhancing teacher cognitions as well as classroom practice. Most recently, there seems to have been an increase in programmes that also aim at improving student outcomes through PD. All studies applied most of the characteristics drawn from research on what makes PD effective. However, school organisational conditions were not usually taken into account. Moreover, there has been a very little research on the role of facilitators and their impact on the outcomes of a PD programme.     

Propriety, process and purpose: considerations of the use of the telephone interview method in an educational research study

While the use of the telephone has increased as a means of collecting research data in a range of areas, there are few examples of studies where telephone interviews have been conducted to collect qualitative data. The field of educational research is no exception to this. This paper focuses on a study carried out in Higher Education (HE) investigating student withdrawal. It explores the ethics of interviewing by telephone a group of former students; issues that arose in the carrying out of the research, particularly relating to the quality of the data; and the impact of the study’s purpose on its conduct. The paper discusses the value of telephone interviewing to collect qualitative data and offers some practical suggestions for future use.     

Interventions in education to prevent STEM pipeline leakage

The so-called leaking STEM pipeline (dropout in STEM education) has been the subject of many studies. The large interest of scholars in plausible causes of this leakage has resulted in a number of meta-reviews describing factors at system, school and student level related to interest and persistence in STEM education. The STEM pipeline discussion has also resulted in a large number of programmes aimed at enhancing STEM interest and persistence in STEM education. Although these programmes have been widely evaluated, there seems to be no consensus about which interventions are successful in raising interest in STEM or persistence in STEM education. This study reports the results of a systematic review of empirical studies in which the effectiveness of STEM-related interventions are assessed. Initially, 538 studies were found. The quality analyses showed that only a few of these evaluation studies are designed in such a way that it is likely that the found effects are caused by the intervention. Although some potentially effective interventions were found, this review shows that there is still a need for research into the effectiveness of those programmes, especially with regard to programmes preventing talented and initially motivated STEM students to drop out of STEM education.     

A probabilistic approach to student workload: empirical distributions and ECTS

The ECTS, European Credit Transfer System, is now widely used throughout higher education institutions as it facilitates student mobility within Europe and the comparison of study programs and courses. Most European institutions provide students with the number of ECTS each course and module is worth. A full-time student needs to complete 60 ECTS per academic year, which represents about 1500 to 1800 h of study. However, there is a lack of research showing that ECTS metrics have been properly implemented in different degrees and universities. The aim of this paper is to assess the relevance of the ECTS metric as a valid indicator of students’ and courses’ workloads. Detailed workload measurements have been taken in two Spanish universities, with 250,000 work hours monitored from 1400 students. This is the first study published with such a large dataset that includes a range of simultaneous courses and throughout a whole semester. Empirical distribution functions of workload indicators have been obtained. Evidence is provided indicating that nominal ECTS credit hours may be overestimated, that the variability of student workload could be too large for ECTS to sensibly characterize course workload, and that workload statistics of courses with same nominal ECTS are generally not comparable. Although the ECTS metric conception seems to be a valid metric to facilitate mobility between different institutions and higher education systems, in practice, according to this study, it requires revision, at least in the two institutions that have been included in this study. Further studies like the present one are required to test if this is a broader problem that has implications for the comparability of degrees across Europe.     

Social learning spaces and student engagement

Notable gains have been made in understanding the factors that influence the student experience in higher education, particularly in the area of student engagement. While tremendous effort has been focused on identifying educationally beneficial activities for students, we must also consider where these activities are occurring. In recent years there have been technological advances that have paved the way for blended learning environments, however, physical learning environments continue to dominate the functionality of many universities. The development of purpose‐built informal social learning spaces as a strategy to enhance the student experience is becoming more prevalent, although empirical research in this area is lacking. This study explores the role of social learning spaces on the student experience using the student engagement framework within a qualitative research design. Informal interviews with 103 students were conducted within a social learning space. Findings reveal that social learning spaces can contribute to enhanced student engagement by fostering active learning, social interaction and belonging amongst tertiary students. The study also suggests that design is a contributing factor to students' perceptions of social learning spaces.     

The contribution of TIMSS to the link between school and classroom factors and student achievement

Worldwide, the interest of policy-makers in participating in studies from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) has been growing rapidly over the past two decades. These studies offer the opportunity to relate the teaching and learning context to student achievement. This article presents the results of a systematic review of the research literature on TIMSS. Its main purpose is to find out to what extent TIMSS has contributed to insights into ‘what works in education and what does not’, particularly with regard to school and classroom factors. The review was guided by a generic framework developed within the tradition of educational effectiveness research. The review showed that: (a) since 2000, the number of publications which use TIMSS data for secondary analyses aimed at explaining differences in student achievement has increased strongly; (b) a number of studies, especially older ones, did not take account of the specific sample and test design of TIMSS; and (c) there are large differences between countries in school and classroom factors associated with student achievement. In the light of these results, we discuss the benefits and limitations of country and system comparisons.     

How sex education research methodologies frame GLBTIQ students

The ‘bullied’ gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and otherwise Queer (GLBTIQ) student is a fairly recent figure in the sexuality education research literature. GLBTIQ students have previously been problematised by sex education research in a range of different ways and have been the subjects of varying methodological interventions. This paper explores how the different ways in which GLBTIQ students have been constructed by research, have been to some extent interdependent on the research questions behind the inquiries and the methodologies and methods employed to explore them. To achieve this, the paper draws on a Foucaultian view of research as discursive and the GLBTIQ subject as an entry point for considering different research discourses. It reviews constructions of GLBTIQ students in past, recent and emerging research projects through post-structuralist reflection on the key research reports, studies and peer-reviewed journal articles that have shaped the field of contemporary research. Rather than asserting a dichotomy between sex education research that contributes to constructions of the ‘deviant homosexual student’ and studies that contribute to ‘bullying victim’ tropes, the paper considers both the usefulness and limitations of the many different types of inquiries being pursued and the diverse constructions of GLBTIQ students they offer. Future research approaches for particular contexts and audiences are identified.     

Stress in Year 11 Students

Over the past decade, teacher stress has been well studied. However, comparatively little research has been carried out on student stress. This article reproduces a study carried out by Kyriacou and Butcher in 1993 to observe whether the main stressors for year 11 students have changed over the past 10 years. Students at one comprehensive school completed a questionnaire about their own stress, which was also completed by the teachers. The main sources of stress were academic, as was found in 1993; however, coursework featured more in 2002. There were a number of differences between girls and boys and between the students and their teachers.