Student Voice and Linguistic Identity: Digital Badging as a Tool for Retention of First Year and First Generation Undergraduates

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-198
Author(s):  
Becky Childs
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
First Year ◽  
National Council ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Material Development ◽  
First Generation College ◽  
The University

This article describes the role that linguists can play in the retention of first year and first generation college students through both collaborative and cross-disciplinary work. By drawing on our academic training, linguists can design materials and implement programs both within and outside of our home academic departments that not only affirm students’ linguistic identities and home languages (National Council of Teachers of English 1974; Smitherman 1995), but also simultaneously engage them in overt discussion about the academic discourse community and ways to negotiate multiple linguistic terrains. An example of this type of engagement and material development is discussed in this article, which examines three learning modules that use an electronic badge system. The modules and badges allow students to explore linguistic diversity and discuss the different ways of “being” (including language) that they encounter in their new academic community. Coupled with these three badges for first year students, additional materials have been developed and implemented for student tutors at the university writing center. These materials better contextualize the linguistic diversity that student tutors encounter as they come into contact daily with linguistic diversity, primarily in the form of Southern U.S. English and African American English varieties.

Impact of Short-Duration Research Experiences on STEM Self-Efficacy among Early-Stage, Rural, First-Generation College Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 42-49
Author(s):  
Jandy Hanna ◽  
Hannah Carreon ◽  
Micheal Fultz ◽  
Erica Harvey ◽  
Caitlin Howley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Stem Majors ◽  
Career Plans ◽  
Before And After ◽  
First Generation College

In rural West Virginia, the First2 Network aims to improve STEM persistence by including students in creating solutions to STEM attrition. A research program for rising first-year students in STEM majors is discussed here. The authors assessed students’ STEM education and career plans, identity, efficacy, and sense of school of belonging before and after the program. Students’ STEM identity, efficacy, and school belonging improved after participation.

A Longitudinal Investigation of First-Generation College Students’ Mentoring Relationships During Their Transition to Higher Education

2021 ◽  
pp. 152102512110227
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Hagler ◽  
Kirsten M. Christensen ◽  
Jean E. Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
First Generation ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
Mentoring Relationships ◽  
First Year ◽  
School Membership ◽  
Longitudinal Investigation ◽  
First Generation College

Non-parent mentoring relationships are important protective factors for first-generation college students. Previous research has focused on singular mentoring relationships measured at one time point, failing to capture the breadth and dynamic nature of social networks. The current study is a longitudinal investigation of first-generation students’ mentoring networks during their transition to college at a four-year, predominantly minority-serving commuter university. At the beginning and end of their first year, students (N = 176) responded to online surveys on their mentoring relationship(s), attitudes toward help-seeking, and college experiences. Cumulative support from pre-college mentoring relationships retained across the first year was positively associated with self-efficacy. Support from newly acquired mentoring relationships was positively associated with psychological sense of school membership. Network orientation was positively associated with self-efficacy and sense of school membership. These findings highlight the importance of diverse mentoring networks and demonstrate the utility of collecting longitudinal data on multiple mentoring relationships.

“Listen to the Feedback of Students”: First-Generation College Students Voice Inequalities in Schooling Brought on by the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 152102512110663
Author(s):  
Cassandra R. Davis ◽  
Harriet Hartman ◽  
Milanika Turner ◽  
Terri Norton ◽  
Julie Sexton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
Family Responsibilities ◽  
First Generation College ◽  
Students First ◽  
Return To College ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

In March 2020, the higher-education community faced one of its largest disruptions to date with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing campuses to close their doors to thousands of students. The university-wide closures prompted a collaboration between researchers and college administrators to assess the impact of COVID-19 on First-Generation College Students (FGCS). The team surveyed 659 FGCS across five U.S. universities to assess the ways in which the pandemic exacerbated already existing inequalities students faced in their persistence to graduate from college. The team used the social cognitive career theory as a conceptual framework for analysis. Our findings revealed that when respondents compared their life before COVID-19 with their present state, FGCS were less likely to perceive they had enough money to return to college, felt overwhelmed and lonely by added stress, and were more likely to see an increase in family responsibilities.

Reducing Gaps in First-Year Outcomes Between Hispanic First-Generation College Students and Their Peers: The Role of Accelerated Learning and Financial Aid

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-463
Author(s):  
Christian A. Latino ◽  
Gabriela Stegmann ◽  
Justine Radunzel ◽  
Jason D. Way ◽  
Edgar Sanchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Financial Aid ◽  
First Generation ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
Achievement Gaps ◽  
Accelerated Learning ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
First Year ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
First Generation College

Hispanic students are the most likely out of all racial or ethnic groups to be first-generation college students (FGCS). Hispanic FGCS have been shown to be the least likely to persist out of all racial or ethnic backgrounds. However, there is little literature on this population. To address this, the present study investigated the association of accelerated learning in high school (e.g., Advanced Placement courses and dual enrollment) and financial aid on academic outcomes for Hispanic FGCS and Hispanic non-FGCS at a 4-year postsecondary institution ( n = 2,499). Hispanic FGCS fared worse in first-year grade point average (GPA) and first- to second-year retention than Hispanic non-FGCS. After controlling for academic, nonacademic, and demographic variables, results suggested that accelerated learning reduced achievement gaps in first-year GPA and financial aid reduced achievement gaps in retention rates for Hispanic FGCS. These results suggest that environmental supports (i.e., accelerated learning and financial aid) may be able to improve GPA and retention for Hispanic FGCS.

scholarly journals Academic Library as the Space for the Development of Future Specialists’ Competence

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-30
Author(s):  
Laimute Kardeliene ◽  
Kęstutis Kardelis ◽  
Rima Bakutyte
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
First Year ◽  
Educational Impact ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Professional Qualification ◽  
The University ◽  
Flow Of Information

Abstract The article discloses the value of academic library. This value is deriving from the university purpose to prepare students to be able to deal with the increasing the flow of information in the society (Owusu - Ansah, 2001). Research was carried out in Utena University of applied science. First-year students (n = 140) made 48,3% of the sample, and third-year students (n = 150) - 51,7% of the investigated sample; males - 33,8% (n=98), and females - 66,2% (n=192). The conditions of academic library as student and future specialist empowered environment are validated: communicational, physical, pragmatic. The interpretation of research data disclosed that the academic library as learning environment and as environment which is empower the student to a professional qualification less or more improve future specialist professional, academically and as a personality. The future development of specialist competence effectiveness criteria can be considered as the nature of those experiences, which causes him to preparation for examinations and various settlements, preparation of projects and the search for the global academic community material created a topic of interest. The nature of experiences can reduce the educational impact of library. While improving learning environments are necessary to guide students with higher academic achievement and those who are spending more time in the library view.

Pedagogical Interventions in the First-Year Writing Classroom for First-Generation College Students

2018 ◽  
pp. 153-173
Author(s):  
Jessica Rae Jorgenson Borchert
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
First Generation ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Writing Classroom ◽  
Trio Programs ◽  
First Year Writing ◽  
Pedagogical Interventions ◽  
First Generation College ◽  
Writing Genres

This chapter discusses ways of engaging first-generation college students in the first-year writing classroom. Many interventions exist for helping first-generation college students adjust to and thrive in academic life, such as TRIO programs. This chapter focuses on how instructors in writing classrooms can create pedagogical interventions to encourage and engage these students in academic discourse. To better understand how the pedagogical interventions were received, the author studied contemporary research on multiple ways of engaging first-generation college students in the first-year writing classroom. Along with this research, the author also collected data from students that identified what activities and assignments most engaged them and what they learned from those assignments. From this data and outside research, the author determined three main pedagogical interventions to help first-generation college students succeed, such as peer review groups, creating empathetic spaces, and assigning empathetic writing genres.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document