Hope,optimism and loneliness among first-year college students with learning disabilities: a brief longitudinal study

The goals of the study were to examine personal resources and social distress during the first month in college among students with learning disabilities (LD) and to compare their experiences with non-LD peer. The sample consisted of 335 first-year undergraduate students falling into two groups: 85 students with LD and 250 non-LD students. Questionnaires assessed hope, dispositional optimism and loneliness. We hypothesised that, after participation in a single-session hope intervention workshop, the hope and optimism levels of both students with LD and without LD would increase, while their loneliness would decrease. However, after a month of facing the academic and social demands of their new college environment, we expected that the hope and optimism scores of students with LD would be lower than their peers without LD and that their loneliness scores would be higher. As hypothesised, both groups reported enhanced hope and optimism, as well as lower loneliness, immediately after the workshop. However, students with LD – but not their peers – returned to baseline levels of hope and loneliness after a month. Loneliness after a month predicted lower hope, after controlling predictors from the beginning of the year.     

The Effects of Mindful Movement Intervention on Academic and Cognitive Abilities Among Kindergarten Children

Early Childhood Education Journal - Evidence suggests that acting mindfully, that is, by stressing the purpose of the action and monitoring its current state, may benefit health, wellbeing, and...     

Staying the distance: students’ perceptions of enablers of transition to higher education

Students’ perceptions during their first semester at university may be critical in the decision to continue or discontinue studies. In this study we consider students’ perceptions of what factors enable successful transition to university. Using qualitative research, students’ perceptions are obtained by in-depth interviews and focus groups that capture the first- and second-order perspectives of existing students at the end of first-year studies. Interview and focus-group themes are used to develop an 80-item questionnaire that is then used to collect data from first-year students (n?=?771) at an Australian university. Key findings from the research are the identification of seven enabling factors that fall into two main groups, student-centred and university-led. Identifying enablers of transition provides universities with the opportunity to assist students in the successful transition to higher education.