scholarly journals Evaluating Psychosocial Mechanisms Underlying STEM Persistence in Undergraduates: Scalability and Longitudinal Analysis of Three Cohorts from a Six-Day Pre–College Engagement STEM Academy Program

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. ar41
Author(s):  
Sophie Kuchynka ◽  
Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand ◽  
Richard S. Pollenz
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Analysis ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Science Identity ◽  
First Year ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Attitudinal Changes ◽  
The University ◽  
Matched Comparison ◽  
Undergraduate Persistence

In a previous report, we validated that a cohort of first-year undergraduates who participated in a weeklong pre–college engagement STEM Academy (SA) program were retained in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at a higher rate than a matched comparison group (MCG). In addition, SA students yielded increases in science identity and sense of belonging to STEM and to the university. Here, we report the ability to scale the size of the SA program to accommodate more students and replicate the previous findings with two additional cohorts. Longitudinal analysis of the 2015 and 2016 program cohorts demonstrate that both groups were retained to STEM disciplines and the university at higher rates than a MCG. To assess what underlying psychological mechanisms lead to increases in science identity and university belonging, we tested three exploratory models. These models indicate that positive changes in university and STEM belonging indirectly predict an increase in science identity. Further, positive changes in perceived family support indirectly predict increases in university belonging. Thus, through the evaluation of three different cohorts, we found robust evidence that the SA program increases sense of belonging and science identity, and these attitudinal changes promote undergraduate persistence in STEM.

scholarly journals Evaluating Psychosocial Mechanisms Underlying STEM Persistence in Undergraduates: Evidence of Impact from a Six-Day Pre–College Engagement STEM Academy Program

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. ar36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand ◽  
Richard S. Pollenz
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Intention To Leave ◽  
Science Identity ◽  
First Year ◽  
Stem Retention ◽  
The University ◽  
Matched Comparison

The persistence of undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines is a national issue based on STEM workforce projections. We implemented a weeklong pre–college engagement STEM Academy (SA) program aimed at addressing several areas related to STEM retention. We validated an instrument that was developed based on existing, validated measures and examined several psychosocial constructs related to STEM (science identity, self-efficacy, sense of belonging to the university and to STEM, career expectancies, and intention to leave STEM majors) before and after the program. We also compared students in the SA program with a matched comparison group of first-year students. Results show that SA students significantly increased in science identity and sense of belonging to STEM and to the university, all predictive of increased STEM retention and a primary aim of the program. Relative to the matched comparison group, SA students began their first semester with higher STEM self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and science identity, positive career expectancies, and lower intention to leave STEM. The SA cohort showed 98% first-year retention and 92% STEM major retention. The SA program serves as a model of a scalable, first-level, cocurricular engagement experience to enhance psychosocial factors that impact undergraduate persistence in STEM.

scholarly journals Sense of belonging and first-year academic literacy

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 116-142
Author(s):  
Steve Marshall ◽  
Mingming Zhou ◽  
Ted Gervan ◽  
Sunita Wiebe
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Academic Literacy ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
First Year ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Literacy Course ◽  
The University

In this article, we analyze a broad range of factors that affect the sense of belonging of undergraduate students taking a first-year academic literacy course (ALC) at a multicultural, multilingual university in Vancouver, Canada. Students who fail to meet the university’s language and literacy requirements are required to pass ALC before they can enrol in writing courses across the disciplines. Consequently, many of those students feel that they have yet to be accepted as fully legitimate members of the university community. We present data from a two-year, mixed-method study, which involved asking students in surveys and interviews about their sense of belonging, as well as analyzing their reflective writing samples for issues related to their sense of belonging. We found that the participants’ perceptions of sense of belonging are multilayered and context-dependent, relating to changes in time and space, classroom pedagogy, and other social, cultural, and linguistic factors. Implications for higher education are discussed.  

Jaroslav Heyrovský, 1890-1967

1967 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 167-191 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
First Year ◽  
Main Stress ◽  
Vice Chancellor ◽  
West Bohemia ◽  
University College London ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The University ◽  
Mathematics And Physics

Jaroslav Heyrovský was born in Prague (in the Old Town, Křižovnická 14) on 20 December, 1890. He was the fifth child of Klára (born Hanlová) and JUDr. Leopold Heyrovský (1852-1924). His father was Professor of Roman Law of the University, which was at that time called the Czech Charles- Ferdinand University. His textbook The history and system of Roman law , went through five editions. He was a free thinker and advocate of Czech autonomy, a friend of T. G. Masaryk. His great grandfather JUDr. Ferdinand Heyrovský (1769-1839) was Mayor of Rokycany in South-West Bohemia. After attending the primary school Jaroslav went in 1901 for eight years to a secondary school, called the Akademicke Gymnasium. Even though the main stress in education at that time was on Latin and Greek, young Heyrovský showed a keen interest in the natural sciences. Mathematics and physics were his favourite subjects. In 1909 he passed his final examination (maturity examination) and matriculated in the Philosophical Faculty of the Czech University in Prague. In his first year he took courses in chemistry, physics and mathematics and was most deeply impressed by the lectures of B. Brauner on inorganic chemistry, as well as those of F. Záviška and B. Kučera on physics. He admired British natural scientists and in particular the recent achievements of Sir William Ramsay aroused his interest. He was therefore thankful when his severe father (who was a Rector, i.e. Vice-Chancellor, of the University at that time and was rather feared as examiner by the students) gave him permission to continue his studies in London. In 1910 he matriculated at University College, London. There he followed with great attention the lectures of Sir William Ramsay, and William C. McC. Lewis on general and physical chemistry, of F. T. Trouton and A. Porter in physics and L. N. G. Filon in mathematics.

Investigating “Sense of Belonging” in First-Year College Students

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marybeth Hoffman ◽  
Jayne Richmond ◽  
Jennifer Morrow ◽  
Kandice Salomone
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Intervention Strategies ◽  
Institutional Policy ◽  
Empirical Measure ◽  
First Year ◽  
Students At Risk ◽  
First Year College ◽  
First Year College Students ◽  
Departure Decisions ◽  
The University

A great deal of emphasis in higher education is centered on questions such as, “Why do students leave college and how can we get them to stay?” Although researchers have pointed to the import of “sense of belonging” in departure decisions, a measure of students' subjective sense of affiliation and identification with the university community has not been developed. The following is an empirical measure of “sense of belonging” which sheds light on factors that contribute to retention. Gaining greater clarity regarding factors important to the development of “sense of belonging” can help institutional policy planners evaluate the effectiveness of retention programs on their campuses, design more effective intervention strategies, and identify students at risk for departure.

scholarly journals Does ‘African mathematics’ facilitate access to mathematics? Towards an ongoing critical analysis of ethnomathematics in a South African context

Pythagoras ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 0 (65) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Horsthemke ◽  
Marc Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Political Correctness ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Critical Position ◽  
Cultural Specificity ◽  
African Context ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

Mosibudi Mangena, the Minister of Science and Technology, said in an address to the Annual Congress of the South African Mathematical Society at the University of the Potchefstroom, November 2, 2004: “There is one thing we need to address before anything else. We need to increase the number of young people, particularly blacks and women, who are able to successfully complete the first course in Mathematics at our universities.” How is this to  be achieved? A popular trend involves a call for the introduction and incorporation of so-called ethnomathematics, and more particularly ‘African mathematics’, into secondary and tertiary curricula. Although acknowledging the obvious benefits of so-called ethnomathematics, this paper critically analyses three aspects of ethnomathematics that have been neglected in past critiques. Our focus is not on the relationship as such between ethnomathematics and mathematics education. Our critique involves (1) epistemological and logical misgivings, (2) a new look at practices and skills, (3) concerns about embracing ‘African mathematics’ as valid and valuable – just because it is African. The first concern is about problems relating to the relativism and appeals to cultural specificity that characterise ethnomathematics, regarding mathematical knowledge and truth. The second set of considerations concern the idea  that not all mathematical practices and skills are necessarily culturally or socially embedded. With regard to the validity and viability of ‘African mathematics’, our misgivings not only concern the superficial sense of ‘belonging’ embodied in the idea of a uniquely and distinctly African mathematics, and the threat of further or continuing marginalisation and derogation, but the implicitly (self-)demeaning nature of this approach. This paper serves as a reminder that a critical position in the deliberations of ethnomathematics needs to be sustained. It warns against the bandwagon syndrome in a society where political correctness has become a prominent imperative. This paper is framed by many unanswered questions in an attempt to inspire and sustain a critical discourse in the ethnomathematics movement.

scholarly journals Dingle & Han 2021 The Effect of COVID-19 on Australian University Students' Mental Health

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve Dingle
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
University Students ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
First Year ◽  
Risky Drinking ◽  
Summary Report ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The University ◽  
First Year University ◽  
Detrimental Impact

This is a summary report of survey data from two cohorts of first year university students at a metropolitan university in Australia: 2019 (i.e., pre-COVID-19) and in 2020 (during the first wave of COVID-19). The results show clear detrimental impact of COVID-19 on multiple measures of stress, mental health and wellbeing, loneliness. The only measure that did not worsen was risky drinking. A sense of belonging to the university and the use of coping strategies were associated with better mental health.

scholarly journals The natives of Smolensk province – first-year students of Moscow university of 1917

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Pushkov ◽  
◽  
S. Zavjalov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
First Year ◽  
Medical Department ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Petty Bourgeoisie ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
Mathematics Department

In 1917 Smolensk province stood on the second place by the quantity of sophomores of the Moscow university next to Vladimir province (139 and 158 students correspondingly). 7 districts out from 11 were represented. Mainly graduators of gymnasia and the Seminary entered the university. For the first time 8 girls became students. Principally the social structure of students included petty bourgeoisie, clergy and peasantry. Most part of students entered physics and mathematics department, much smaller part entered medical department and ones of law and of linguistics and history.

University Entry Scores as a Predictor of Academic Performance in a Health Information Management Program

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Magennis ◽  
Jennifer Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Management ◽  
Health Information Management ◽  
First Year ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The University

The university entry scores for school leavers admitted to the first year of the Bachelor of Applied Science (Health Information Management) degree at the University of Sydney in 1996 were examined to determine whether the Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER) was a good predictor of academic performance, as measured by grade point average (GPA). The study also examined Higher School Certificate (HSC) results in English and mathematics, and preference selection for the health information management (HIM) course to determine whether any of these had predictive validity. The results showed that TER, HSC English and mathematics scores and preference for the course were all poor predictors of academic performance in the student's first year. Low TER was not associated with low GPA and low scores in English and mathematics were not associated with low GPA. There was no significant difference between the performance of those students who listed the HIM course as their first preference and those who did not. These results suggest that there may be no need to establish a minimum entry level for admission to the HIM course, or for prerequisites in English and mathematics. It may be that multiple criteria are required to predict academic success in this course.

Supervision: Supervision and Clinical Practicum in Telepractice

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sena Crutchley
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
First Year ◽  
University Of North Carolina ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
Support Personnel ◽  
Clinical Practicum ◽  
Training Support ◽  
Language Pathology ◽  
The University

This article describes how a telepractice pilot project was used as a vehicle to train first-year graduate clinicians in speech-language pathology. To date, six graduate clinicians have been trained in the delivery of telepractice at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Components of telepractice training are described and the benefits and limitations of telepractice as part of clinical practicum are discussed. In addition, aspects of training support personnel involved in telepractice are outlined.

Thathir Quality Scholarship Program For Students At University level

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-219
Author(s):  
Louay Qais Abdullah ◽  
Duraid Faris Khayoun
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
First Year ◽  
Grant Program ◽  
Scholarship Program ◽  
University Level ◽  
Faculty Of Education ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

The study focused basically on measuring the relationship between the material cost of the students benefits program and the benefits which are earned by it, which was distributed on college students in the initial stages (matinee) and to show the extent of the benefits accruing from the grant program compared to the material burdens which matched and the extent of success or failure of the experience and its effect from o scientific and side on the Iraqi student through these tough economic circumstances experienced by the country in general, and also trying to find ways of proposed increase or expansion of distribution in the future in the event of proven economic feasibility from the program. An data has been taking from the data fro the Department of Financial Affairs and the Department of Studies and Planning at the University of Diyala with taking an data representing an actual and minimized pattern and questionnaires to a sample of students from the Department of Life Sciences in the Faculty of Education of the University of Diyala on the level of success and failure of students in the first year of the grant and the year before for the purpose of distribution comparison. The importance of the study to measure the extent of interest earned in comparision whit the material which is expenseon the program of grant (grant of students) to assist the competent authorities to continue or not in the program of student grants for the coming years.

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