scholarly journals Belonging in general chemistry predicts first-year undergraduates’ performance and attrition

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1042-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Fink ◽  
Regina F. Frey ◽  
Erin D. Solomon
Keyword(s):  
General Chemistry ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
First Year ◽  
Psychosocial Variable ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Stem Disciplines ◽  
The Impact

Feeling a sense of belonging in a learning environment can have positive effects on student success. The impact of this psychosocial variable on undergraduates’ achievement and retention has been demonstrated in STEM disciplines, especially for women within physical sciences where large disparities in gender representation persist. The current study explores the relationship between belonging and student success in undergraduate chemistry, where greater gender parity has recently emerged. In particular, this research investigates the belonging of first-year students enrolled in a two-semester General Chemistry course sequence. The study begins by examining whether students’ early sense of belonging in the course, indexed by two survey measures (perceived belonging, belonging uncertainty) varies depending on their demographics and academic preparation. The belonging measures are then used as predictors of performance in General Chemistry 1 and 2 and attrition from one semester to the next. Paralleling research in other STEM disciplines, the results show that female students, especially those from underrepresented minority groups, reported lower belonging and higher uncertainty than male students within the first weeks of the course. After accounting for demographics, preparation, and participation in a course supplemental program, the belonging measures predicted performance and attrition for all students. These findings suggest that course-level belonging in General Chemistry can have practical consequences for student success, and early disparities in belonging may have downstream effects on the retention of women and other groups underrepresented in STEM. Strategies for creating an inclusive and engaging environment that supports the success of all students are discussed.

scholarly journals Developing Faculty Communities of Practice to Expand the Use of Effective Pedagogical Techniques

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Hoyert ◽  
Cynthia O'Dell
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
First Year ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Pedagogical Techniques ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Faculty Group

The scholarship of teaching and learning literature is replete with examples of pedagogical techniques that have been demonstrated to be effective in improving learning, motivation, and student success. The extension of these techniques beyond the original context has tended to be slow, difficult, and incomplete. The following paper examines an intervention designed to encourage the exploration and use of a variety of pedagogical techniques by faculty in a traditional, four-year college faculty within the context of the AASCU Re-imagining the First Year Initiative. Small groups of six to eight faculty, joined and created communities of practice. The groups were known as Pedagogical Interest Groups, or PIGs for short. The faculty read about and analyzed a series of pedagogical techniques and committed to introducing at least one technique into their courses to further explore the techniques. When the techniques were successful, the faculty members redesigned entire classes to expand the impact. The communities of practice were successful in encouraging faculty to explore a wide variety of techniques. The average faculty group explored eight different pedagogical techniques. Faculty were able to use the opportunity to experiment with techniques with the support from their colleagues in their PIG. A dozen techniques were explored across the PIGs and dozens of class sections have been completely redesigned. To date, over 2000 students have experienced redesigned courses. Measures of student success, satisfaction, and interest in those sections have increased. The effort has been accompanied by a robust increase in the campus-wide retention rates. ​

I realized what I was doing was not working: the influence of explicit teaching of metacognition on students’ study strategies in a general chemistry I course

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Z. Muteti ◽  
Carolina Zarraga ◽  
Brooke I. Jacob ◽  
Tuli M. Mwarumba ◽  
Dorothy B. Nkhata ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Chemistry ◽  
The United States ◽  
Study Strategies ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Metacognitive Strategies ◽  
First Year ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Chemistry Students ◽  
Explicit Teaching ◽  
The Impact

Many students transitioning from high school to college are faced with challenges of getting acclimated to college life and managing their time and heavy course load that is cognitively demanding. Students planning to major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs in the United States are mostly required to enroll in general chemistry courses as prerequisites. Unfortunately, these courses are among the STEM gateway courses in which many first-year students struggle to get through, or are weeded out. This is partly due to the use of ineffective study strategies that require more than rote memorization, a common learning approach in high schools. One way to prepare first-year college students for STEM trajectories is by teaching them metacognitive strategies early in their study programs to enable early adoption and sustainability of metacognition knowledge and metacognition regulation skills as they progress to the advanced courses. While a handful of studies have investigated study strategies among students in the general chemistry courses as well as the impact of metacognitive activities on student performance in chemistry, very few in-depth qualitative studies investigating the influence of explicit teaching of metacognition on students’ study strategies have been reported. Using open-ended questionnaires, this unique study investigated general chemistry students’ study strategies that they employed prior to a 50 minute metacognition lesson; strategies they reported to have gained from the instruction; and the influence of the metacognition instruction on students’ study strategies and performance in the final exam. Findings indicated more reported use of rote memorization over higher-order study strategies prior to the metacognition instruction, but more reported gains on higher-order study strategies and fewer strategies related to rote memorization immediately after the metacognition instruction. Furthermore, 67% reported a positive influence of the metacognition instruction on study strategies, with 7% lower DFs in the final exam compared to those who reported ‘no influence’. Findings revealed that most general chemistry students were unaware of effective study strategies; thus, there is a critical need to explicitly teach students in general chemistry courses metacognitive strategies.

scholarly journals Empathy or Antipathy? The Impact of Diversity

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 1890-1905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanne Boisjoly ◽  
Greg J Duncan ◽  
Michael Kremer ◽  
Dan M Levy ◽  
Jacque Eccles
Keyword(s):  
Minority Groups ◽  
Personal Contact ◽  
First Year ◽  
State University ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Definitive Evidence ◽  
High Quality Education ◽  
Diverse Student Body ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
The Impact

Mixing across racial and ethnic lines could spur understanding or inflame tensions between groups. We find that white students at a large state university randomly assigned African American roommates in their first year were more likely to endorse affirmative action and view a diverse student body as essential for a high-quality education. They were also more likely to say they have more personal contact with, and interact more comfortably with, members of minority groups. Although sample sizes are too small to provide definitive evidence, these results suggest students become more empathetic with the social groups to which their roommates belong.

scholarly journals Mismatch between student and university expectations of academic achievement

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-106
Author(s):  
Warren Lake ◽  
Hanabeth Luke ◽  
Bill Boyd
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Analytical Analysis ◽  
The Impact

Student perceptions of their studies and learning are important influencers of academic performance and outcome. Here we find that the grades students anticipate obtaining may differ significantly from grades awarded: students’ perceptions of their studies appear to be at odds with the university’s assessment of their academic worth. A previous study introduced students to the concept of self-efficacy and its effects on academic performance and outcome; we demonstrate that students’ self-efficacy can be raised. Importantly, the focus is not on the validity of the concept of self-efficacy as the guiding or defining principle in this research, but rather a means to potentially identify important student perceptions that may influence academic performance. Moreover, the effect, emphasises a mismatch between student and university expectations of the measure of achievement: students overestimate their anticipated grades against grades awarded. By encouraging improved self-efficacy are we emphasising differences between anticipated and awarded grades? Are we diminishing the student’s sense of achievement and therefore negatively impacting on student performance? To resolve this, in this study we shift the focus from the purely analytical analysis of the impact of self-efficacy and highlight assumptions of the primacy of grades as signifier of academic success. Academic success is motivated by a desire for learning as much as for good grades. Furthermore, a student’s academic success reflects a complex of socio-personal influences. These perspectives allow the effects of improved self-efficacy to be formative in the student’s maturing sense of belonging within education. The survey and concept of self-efficacy is now better understood as the vehicle for improved experiences of learning, becoming potent drivers of student success.

A qualitative exploration of young female Muslims’ perspectives of abortion and belonging following the 2018 Irish Abortion Referendum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yumna Agha ◽  
Keith Gaynor
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Young Female ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
National Debate ◽  
The Impact

Background: In 2018, Ireland conducted a referendum, ultimately supporting the legalisation of abortion. Views of religious minority groups can go unheard “by an insensitive majority” in national cultural debates. This study explores female Muslim university students’ perspectives on abortion and the impact of the national debate on their sense of belonging within Ireland. Methodology: Ten female Muslim university students completed semi-structured interviews. The interview comprised seven open questions examining perspectives on abortion and sense of belonging. A thematic analysis was carried out on the data.Results: Seven major themes emerged: (1) Particular Circumstances, (2) Islam, (3) Family, (4) Misuse of new laws, (5) Sense of belonging, (6) Consequences of traditional laws, and (7) Premarital sex. Participants were largely supportive of the legal changes, as it was in-line with their religious beliefs. Participants indicated that sense of belonging would have been affected if their religious beliefs had conflicted with the referendum outcome. Conclusions: Participants were largely supportive of the legalising of abortion in Ireland provided that the new laws were in line with their Islamic beliefs. Despite an increasingly liberal outcome of the 2018 Irish referendum, it was found that young Muslim women’s sense of belonging to Ireland was not affected

The Impact of Paternity Leave Compared to Unemployment on Child Care and Housework Distribution in Spain

2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2110544
Author(s):  
Gerardo Meil ◽  
Jesús Rogero-García ◽  
Pedro Romero-Balsas ◽  
Vicente Díaz-Gandasegui
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
First Year ◽  
Fertility Survey ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Family Obligations ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Paternity Leave ◽  
Foster Father ◽  
The Impact

Paternity leave has been introduced in many countries as a way to foster father´s co-responsibility in family obligations. This study aims \to analyse, for the Spanish case, if (1) the positive effects of the paternity leave are not only limited to the short term, but are maintained at medium and long term; (2) if a similar effect applies in the case of unemployment periods. Based on a subsample of 3388 cases derived from the Spanish Fertility Survey 2018, we perform OLS regression analysis of father´s involvement in childcare and housework. Our analysis shows that longer leaves are related to a greater involvement in care and housework activities, although only in the former, the effect is maintained in the long term. Regarding unemployed fathers, these individuals show more involvement in childcare during the first year, but the effect vanishes later and there is no significant relationship with housework.

scholarly journals Assessing the Impact of Embedding Online Academic and Information Literacy Resources into a First Year Business Course

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Rae ◽  
Margaret Hunn
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Online Resources ◽  
First Year ◽  
Literacy Support ◽  
Online Resource ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Objectives – Literature supports the concept that embedding academic and information literacy support into first year university courses enables students to proceed more confidently with researching and writing their assignments, and thus contributes to student success in their course. A need was identified for academic and information literacy support for a cohort of first year business students as part of the development of online course content for Griffith Online, the institution’s online study degree option. This led to a collaboration between information literacy librarians, learning skills advisers, educational designers, and academic course convenors to develop and implement online resources. This paper will present findings on the impact of these online resources. Methods – Drawing on measures and methods identified in ISO16439 “Information and documentation: Methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries” (International Organisation for Standardization, 2014), in conjunction with the indicators offered by Lizzio’s (2006) Five Senses of Success framework, evidence was collected and combined from a variety of sources over semester 2, 2014, and semester 1, 2015 to assess the impact of the online resource. Inferred evidence was gathered from usage statistics (number of hits on the sites) and from performance measures (comparing student essay grade between those that did and did not use the resource). Solicited evidence was gathered from a survey of students, students in focus groups, and interviews with course lecturers, tutors and other stakeholders. Results – The inferred evidence showed a positive impact on the student success indicators of the sense of resourcefulness, capability, connection, purpose and identity. The solicited evidence suggests that students saw the online resource in a positive light and that staff were happy with the impact it had on students’ work and learning. It is believed that the gathered evidence indicates the Module did achieve the impact objective of a positive impact on the contribution to student success for these first year business students. Conclusions – The evidence has shown that this resource contributed to student success, and that staff and student satisfaction with the resource contributed to increased confidence with student academic skills and information literacy in respect to their assignment task. Assessing the impact of the online resource on student success has helped to demonstrate the value of the library at Griffith University to the wider community. The four-pronged collaboration relationship required for this approach was fostered with stakeholders outside of the library.

A new approach to supplementary instruction narrows achievement and affect gaps for underrepresented minorities, first-generation students, and women

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 846-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia A. Stanich ◽  
Michael A. Pelch ◽  
Elli J. Theobald ◽  
Scott Freeman
Keyword(s):  
General Chemistry ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Underrepresented Minorities ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Supplementary Instruction ◽  
Explanatory Mixed Methods ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The Impact

To help students who traditionally underperform in general chemistry, we created a supplementary instruction (SI) course and called it the STEM-Dawgs Workshops. These workshops are an extension of the Peer-led Team Learning (PLTL) SI. In addition to peer-facilitated problem-solving, we incorporated two components inspired by learning sciences: (1) training in research-based study skills, and (2) evidence-based interventions targeting psychological and emotional support. Here we use an explanatory mixed methods approach to measure the impact of the STEM-Dawgs Workshops, with a focus on four sub-populations that are historically underrepresented in Chemistry: underrepresented minorities, females, low-income students, and first-generation students. Specifically, we compared three groups of students in the same General Chemistry course: students in general chemistry and not the workshops (“Gen Chem students”), students in the workshops (“STEM-Dawgs”), and students who volunteered for the workshops but did not get in (“Volunteers”). We tested hypotheses with regression models and conducted a series of focus group interviews with STEM-Dawgs. Compared to the Gen Chem population, the STEM-Dawg and Volunteer populations were enriched with students in all four under-represented sub-populations. Compared to Volunteers, STEM-Dawgs had increased exam scores, sense of belonging, perception of relevance, self-efficacy, and emotional satisfaction about chemistry. URM STEM-Dawgs had lower failure rates, and exam score achievement gaps that impacted first-generation and female Gen Chem students were eliminated in the STEM-Dawg population. Finally, female STEM-Dawgs had an increased sense of belonging and higher emotional satisfaction about chemistry than women Volunteers. Focus groups suggested that successes came in part from the supportive peer-learning environment and the relationships with peer facilitators. Together, our results indicate that this supplementary instruction model can raise achievement and improve affect for students who are underrepresented in chemistry.

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