An evaluation of health information and wellness priorities among socioeconomically disadvantaged students

2016 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela A Morris-Paxton ◽  
Johanna M Van Lingen ◽  
Diane Elkonin
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
First Year ◽  
Positive Thinking ◽  
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged ◽  
Wellness Education ◽  
The Impact

Objective: A critical evaluation of a salutogenic, wellness education programme was conducted with a group of first-year socioeconomically disadvantaged higher education students, in order to assess the value they placed on health information and wellness priorities. Methods: This study took a mixed-methods approach utilising a quantitative–qualitative design. Quantitative analysis regarding the values placed by the students on 22 aspects of health-related information and qualitative analysis of their health priorities drew on findings from a semi-structured researcher-generated questionnaire, administered pre-, post- and 15-week post-post-intervention. Setting: The setting was a higher education institution in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Participants were 34 first-year consumer science students, who engaged in a year-long, salutogenic wellness programme. Results: Findings revealed an increase in the participants’ value of health information for a number of wellness variables. Future planning, positive thinking and nutrition ranked high among wellness priorities, the reasons for which were disease prevention, as well as the impact of various aspects of health on participants’ future success. Conclusion: A holistic, salutogenic, wellness education programme increased student values for information with regard to a number of health variables.

scholarly journals Impact of first-year seminar on student engagement, awareness, and general attitudes toward higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bothaina A. Al-Sheeb ◽  
Mahmoud Samir Abdulwahed ◽  
Abdel Magid Hamouda
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
First Year ◽  
Content Type ◽  
College Of Law ◽  
First Year Seminars ◽  
Campus Resources ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Year Seminar

Purpose This study intends to add to the existing body of literature on the impact of a newly implemented first year seminar in the College of Law and Business. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects the course have on students in regard to three aspects: student awareness and utilization of resources, interaction patterns, as well as, general interests and attitudes toward higher education. Design/methodology/approach The methodology of the assessment included analysis of a survey that has been conducted by the end of Spring 2014 semester. A quasi-experimental design was implemented to measure the impact of the intervention on students’ awareness and utilization of resources, interactions, general interests, and attitudes toward higher education. Through the SPSS application, the Mann Whitney U Test, and χ2 tests were used to check for significant differences while comparing the means or frequencies for both groups. For the three questions, the authors have used the 90 percent confidence level and the standard significance level p-value of 0.05 or less for statistical analysis. Findings The results indicated that the course had a highly significant positive impact on student attitudes and awareness of campus resources but had less significant impact on student interactions and utilization of resources. The results in this study reveal a positive impact for the first-year seminar course on student satisfaction and attitudes toward higher education as well as their awareness of campus resources. However, in terms of the course impact on student interaction, results conveyed that students who have participated in the first-year seminar course show a slightly better interaction rate with instructors, academic advisors, and close friends than those in the control group. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this study was that the sample was small. Nonetheless, it has provided valuable insights into the understanding of the social and academic impact of first-year seminars on student engagement; through the use of comparison groups, this study increased the validity of prior research. Practical implications The first-year seminar course evaluated in this study demonstrated the potential to support and enhance student social and academic engagement during the first year of college. Based on the results in this study, the study team recommended some revisions to the current first-year seminar model (UNIV P100 Skills for University Success). The team proposed three models for subsequent first-year seminars at this university. Originality/value This study adds to the existing literature by examining the impact of a newly implemented first-year seminar course at the College of Law and Business at this university on both academic and non-academic aspects from the students’ perspective. These aspects were selected as retention and GPA effects have been widely explored; therefore, the focus is on the less studied emotional and social factors associated with student success and retention. The results from this study can act as a guide for universities intending to introduce a first-year seminar course as it gives clear guidelines on design, content, and course implementation, which can be useful in enhancing general student motivation and attitudes toward academic study and higher education in general.

A Case Study of the Integration of Self, Peer, and Group Assessment in a Core First-Year Educational Psychology Unit through Flexible Delivery Implementation

2011 ◽  
pp. 101-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rozz Albon
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Collective Knowledge ◽  
Flexible Delivery ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Learn Collaborative

This chapter provides a case study of one lecturer’s approach to innovativeassessment in a first year unit of university study of 188 students. Manyinsights are provided into the training, preparation, and assessmentexperiences of self, peer, group, and lecturer assessments bound togetherby technology for flexible delivery. The dynamic and complex forms ofassessment support the coproduction of knowledge sharing to harness thesynergy of collective knowledge. Specifically, this chapter presents theauthor’s use of theory used to inform selected assessment strategies.General issues surrounding group assessments, and the impact of graduateattributes and technology on assessment, introduce the case study andreinforce the fact that assessment drives the learning. The author hopesthat by sharing her insights, higher-education practices can better meet theneed for students to learn collaborative and team skills required for thefuture world of work.

Does working to pay for higher education really harm French academic results?

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 591-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliane Bonnal ◽  
Pascal Favard ◽  
Kady Marie-Danielle Sorho-Body
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Drop Out ◽  
First Year ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Student Profiles ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Academic Results

Purpose This paper is the first of its kind to look at first-year undergraduates in France. The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of holding down a job on the probability of students dropping out of higher education or passing their first year. Design/methodology/approach Given the existence of relevant unobserved explanatory variables, probit models with two simultaneous equations have been estimated. The first equation will enable us to explain paid employment or working hours, and the second academic outcomes that allow for dropout. Findings The results show that being employed means students are more likely to drop out during their first year and less likely to pass. The latter finding is comparable with results for subsequent academic years although the impact is greater for first-year undergraduates. The more intensive the work, the greater the adverse effects of employment. Originality/value By refining the research, this negative impact of employment is not verified for all the student profiles. For some of them, e.g., those with honours at the secondary bachelor, employment does not harm their academic results.

scholarly journals Gender, risk-taking and entrepreneurial intentions: assessing the impact of higher education longitudinally

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eda Gurel ◽  
Melih Madanoglu ◽  
Levent Altinay
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intention ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intentions ◽  
First Year ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Impact Of Higher Education ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis longitudinal study assesses whether higher education has the same impact on the entrepreneurial intentions of women and men with regard to their propensity to risk-taking in particular.Design/methodology/approachA self-administrated survey instrument was used to collect data from students studying business and engineering at five selected universities in Turkey. The survey was carried out in two intervals: first year and fourth year of studies. A total of 215 student participated in both waves.FindingsThe findings indicate that the impact of education is stronger for women than for men as the relationship between gender and entrepreneurial intention is moderated by education and risk-taking propensity in that the entrepreneurial intention of women with high or low risk-taking propensity increases when they acquire higher education. In particular, the boost is more noticeable for women with low risk-taking propensity. On the contrary, the effect of education is negative for men with both high risk-taking propensity and low risk-taking propensity.Practical implicationsThis study has identified that the impact of education is different for women and men. Based on these findings, Turkey could offer gender-specific entrepreneurship education in higher education for individuals who could then exploit their entrepreneurial capacity and thus contribute to the social and economic well-being of the country.Originality/valueThis paper makes two distinct contributions. First, this is one of the few longitudinal studies in the literature which demonstrates the differences between females and males in terms of their entrepreneurial intention and shows how risk-taking and education influence entrepreneurial intention. Second, it offers new insights into entrepreneurship research from a developing-country but emerging-economy context.

scholarly journals Using smartphones and tablets in higher education contexts: an exploratory study within a teacher education programme

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-13
Author(s):  
Davide Parmigiani ◽  
Marta Giusto
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Teacher Education Programme ◽  
The One ◽  
Search For Information ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This study aimed to analyse and explore the potential opportunities offered by mobile devices to improve the higher education scenario. In particular, the study was conducted within a teacher education programme. The students attended a course called Educational Technology, which focussed on the use of mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) inside and outside the classroom. We examined the impact of mobile learning on students’ university activities and the changes in the organisation of their studying activity, their learning strategies and their interaction/cooperation levels. After the course, we administered a questionnaire that highlighted some findings concerning the differences between smartphones and tablets in supporting these aspects. We found that both types of devices improved the interaction/collaboration among students and the search for information, which was useful for studying. However, the organisation of studying and the learning strategies were supported only by tablets and for specific aspects of learning. This exploratory research suggests, on the one hand, some possible solutions to improve the quality of university activities, and on the other, it underlines some difficulties that will be analysed more thoroughly in further studies.

scholarly journals Reflections on the Impact of Social Technologies on Lecturers in a Pathway Institution

2015 ◽  
pp. 131-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna M Velliaris ◽  
Craig R Willis ◽  
Paul B Breen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
New Technology ◽  
First Year ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Social Technologies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Over Time

Education has evolved over time from face-to-face teaching to computer-supported learning, and now to even more sophisticated electronic tools. In particular, social technologies are being used to supplement the classroom experience and to ensure that students are becoming increasingly engaged in ways that appeal to them. No matter how educationally beneficial, however, new technology is affected by its users. To investigate this, lecturers at the Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT)—a Higher Education pathway provider—were surveyed to determine their perception and application of social technolog(ies) in their personal, but predominantly ‘professional' lives. Utilising a qualitative and autoethnographic approach, one author provides an insight into their own attitude toward social technologies, coupled with responses to three open-ended questions. Thereafter, the same questions were posed to EIBT academic staff to understand their willingness or reluctance to use social technologies in their practice as part of their first-year pathway course(s).

scholarly journals Control programs for strongyloidiasis in areas of high endemicity: an economic analysis of different approaches

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dora Buonfrate ◽  
Lorenzo Zammarchi ◽  
Zeno Bisoffi ◽  
Antonio Montresor ◽  
Sara Boccalini
Keyword(s):  
Strongyloides Stercoralis ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
First Year ◽  
Preventive Chemotherapy ◽  
United States Dollar ◽  
Base Scenario ◽  
Case Base ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Implementation of control programmes for Strongyloides stercoralis infection is among the targets of the World Health Organization Roadmap to 2030. Aim of this work was to evaluate the possible impact in terms of economic resources and health status of two different strategies of preventive chemotherapy (PC) compared to the current situation (strategy A, no PC): administration of ivermectin to school-age children (SAC) and adults (strategy B) versus ivermectin to SAC only (strategy C). Methods The study was conducted at the IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria hospital, Negrar di Valpolicella, Verona, Italy, at the University of Florence, Italy, and at the WHO, Geneva, Switzerland, from May 2020 to April 2021. Data for the model were extracted from literature. A mathematical model was developed in Microsoft Excel to assess the impact of strategies B and C in a standard population of 1 million subjects living in a strongyloidiasis endemic area. In a case base scenario, 15% prevalence of strongyloidiasis was considered; the 3 strategies were then evaluated at different thresholds of prevalence, ranging from 5 to 20%. The results were reported as number of infected subjects, deaths, costs, and Incremental-Effectiveness Ratio (ICER). A 1-year and a 10-year horizons were considered. Results In the case base scenario, cases of infections would reduce dramatically in the first year of implementation of PC with both strategy B and C: from 172 500 cases to 77 040 following strategy B and 146 700 following strategy C. The additional cost per recovered person was United States Dollar (USD) 2.83 and USD 1.13 in strategy B and C, respectively, compared to no treatment in the first year. For both strategies, there was a downtrend in costs per recovered person with increasing prevalence. The number of adverted deaths was larger for strategy B than C, but cost to advert one death was lower for strategy C than B. Conclusions This analysis permits to estimate the impact of two PC strategies for the control of strongyloidiasis in terms of costs and adverted infections/deaths. This could represent a basis on which each endemic country can evaluate which strategy can be implemented, based on available funds and national health priorities.

scholarly journals Irreparable Global Spread of Pathogens and International Trade – Infection Monitoring

2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 147-154
Author(s):  
Václav Kouba
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Information System ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Health Information System ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
The Impact

Abstract There is no systematic monitoring of global spreading of pathogens through international trade carried out by any organisation regulating world-wide trade in animals and their products. A critical evaluation of the impact of international trade provisions on global pathogen spread is missing as well. Data related to this kind of analysis are no more internationally collected. However, information on animal infection occurrence is of paramount importance for decision-making on animal health import conditions based on pathogen introduction risk assessment considering first of all the epizootiological situation in exporting countries. Actual international animal health information system covers just a small part of known animal infections and provides much less information on their occurrence and epizootiological characteristics than before (except for a few selected emergency infections). It provides the importing countries zero or insufficient data for objective risk assessment to avoid pathogen introduction through international trade. Illegal export/import is not recorded in any information system. The globalisation era trade requires much more efficient information system, including monitoring of global spread of pathogenic microflora through trade, as the basis for more effective international preventive and control anti-epizootic measures. There is an urgent need to re-establish animal health information system within the United Nations Organization as its inseparable component for follow-up execution of animal health technical assistance and global anti-epizootic programmes.

To Flip or Not to Flip?

2019 ◽  
pp. 17-37
Author(s):  
Ricardo Castedo ◽  
Lina M López ◽  
María Chiquito ◽  
José Daniel Cabrera Martín
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
The Other ◽  
First Year ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Contrast Group ◽  
The Impact

The use of flipped classroom in higher education has increased in recent years, but there are still few quantitative data on student achievement. In this chapter, a flipped classroom methodology has been applied during two consecutive academic years in an engineering degree. During the first year, one group was taught with traditional lecture (used as contrast group) while the other used the flipped classroom. In the second year, both groups were taught with the flipped methodology. The main objectives were to measure the impact of learning focusing on possible gender differences and on active students to increase the students' involvement and to study how the students view this new experience. The results show that the developed methodology has a direct impact on learning improving the final grades and decreasing their dispersion. The students tend to attend more to class and to exams with this methodology.

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