scholarly journals Taking Retention Seriously: Rethinking the First Year of College

1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Tinto
Keyword(s):  
Learning Communities ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Shared Learning ◽  
First Year Of College

Efforts on most campuses do not go far enough to promote student retention, especially for first-year students. Add-on classes that are disconnected from one another cannot give students the cohesive environment they need to connect with faculty, staff, and other students. What are needed are learning environments, such as learning communities, that actively involve students, faculty members, and staff in shared learning activities.

scholarly journals Autonomous English Language Learning Beyond the Classroom: Indonesian Tertiary Students’ Practices and Constraints

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 194-213
Author(s):  
Daflizar Daflizar
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Autonomous Learning ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
First Year ◽  
English Language Learning ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
English Major ◽  
Attention To Students

. In response to the interest in learner autonomy in recent years, educational research has been increasingly paying attention to students’ out-of-class autonomous learning activities. This study aims to (1) describe the extent to which Indonesian tertiary students engaged in autonomous English language learning outside the class, (2) explore their perceived constraints in practicing autonomous learning, and (3) examine whether there are any significant differences in the autonomous learning activities between female and male students and between the English major students and non-English major students. Employing the explanatory mixed-method design, a total of 402 first-year students completed a questionnaire, and 30 of whom were interviewed. The questionnaire data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests, and the interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results showed that the students did engage in several out-of-class English learning activities, however many of the activities were more receptive than productive. The interviews echoed the questionnaire results, and the students claimed that they were not autonomous in their learning due to several constraints. The results also revealed that there is no significant difference in the level of practice of autonomous out-of-class activities based on gender but a significant difference was found concerning majors of study. Practical implications for the Indonesian context are put forward.

scholarly journals EFFECTIVELY ASSESSING PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SKILLS

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Strong ◽  
Sue Fostaty Young
Keyword(s):  
Faculty Members ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
First Year ◽  
Solo Taxonomy ◽  
Adoption And Implementation ◽  
Cognitive Transformation ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Learning As A Process ◽  
Core Course ◽  
Ice Model

This paper outlines the assessment dilemmas and challenges that were experienced by faculty members and students alike during initial iterations of APSC 190 (a first-year, professional engineering skills core course in the Faculty of Applied Science at Queen’s University) and how the adoption and implementation of the ICE model of assessment [1], [2], [3] served to address those challenges. ICE, an acronym for Ideas, Connections and Extensions is based on cognitive/transformation theories of learning similar to those put forth by Biggs’ and Collis’ SOLO taxonomy[4], and describes learning as a process of growth from novice toward expert. Unlike SOLO, ICE was intentionally designed for use in the classroom by teachers and students. The simplicity of the model increases its utility and portability to a host of learning activities and furnishes an accessible vocabulary and framework to facilitate communication about expectations for learning. The paper includes an overview of the ICE model, suggestions for implementation and the effects and limitations of the model for use in professional skills courses. Current-use examples are provided that illustrate the model’s utility and its implications for shaping student learning.

Closing the Gap: Preparing Computing Students for Employment through Embedding Work-Related Learning in the Taught Curriculum

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine McKinnon ◽  
June McCrae
Keyword(s):  
Student Feedback ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Employability Skills ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Confidence Levels ◽  
Closing The Gap ◽  
Computing Curriculum ◽  
The Impact

This paper presents the findings from a pilot study which explored the impact of embedding work-related learning activities in the first-year computing curriculum at Glasgow Caledonian University. Students worked in teams on practical projects which were formally assessed and the researchers gathered student feedback using two online surveys (n=159) and focus groups (n=29). The findings indicate that 85% of the students felt that their learning on the module had improved their employability skills but that their confidence levels in most skills were lower at the end of the module. The paper suggests that first-year students' realistic awareness of their own skills gaps leads to more focused learning in their remaining years of study.

Connecting First Year Students to Formal and Informal Learning Experiences

2013 ◽  
pp. 51-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa L. Johnson ◽  
Laura Pasquini ◽  
Michelle R. Rodems
Keyword(s):  
Learning Communities ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
University Of Florida ◽  
Online Learning Communities ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The University ◽  
First Year Seminar

This case study, an honors first year seminar from the University of Florida, USA, demonstrates the benefits and challenges of these developments in education. The case expands the definition of formal, informal, and online learning communities in the context of a first year seminar.

Empirical Research into Students’ Mobile Phones and their Use for Learning

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Bradley ◽  
Debbie Holley
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
First Year ◽  
Education Students ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Video Footage ◽  
Depth Study

This paper reports on empirical research conducted to find out about higher education students’ mobile phone ownership, and the ways in which they are using their mobiles for learning. A survey with a group of first-year students has been followed up by an in-depth study, in which three students were lent Flip Video Camcorders to capture their mobile learning activities and were interviewed to discover more about their practice. The video footage and interview data have been compiled into three rich case studies which help us to better understand students’ practice and attitudes towards mobile learning. The paper focuses on the survey data and the three case studies, which were analysed using grounded theory. The outcomes of this research can inform the work of educators seeking to design effective mobile learning activities that build on existing student practice and extend mobile learning within the blend of learning activities that we offer students.

scholarly journals Content and Language Integrated Learning Methodology in Optional Humanities Courses for First-Year University Students: A Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 89 ◽  
pp. 51-62
Author(s):  
Oleg Tarnopolsky ◽  
Marina Kabanova
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cooperative Interaction ◽  
First Year ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Clear Cut

The article analyzes using Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) for teaching one of the optional humanities disciplines to Ukrainian university students of different majors. The discipline discussed in the article as an example of using CLIL methodology is “The Fundamentals of Psychology and Pedagogy” and it is in the list of optional humanities subjects for the first-year students of Alfred Nobel University in Dnipro, Ukraine. However, unlike the other optional humanities disciplines, the methodology underlying this course is based on teaching the subject in English, instead of Ukrainian, following the CLIL approach widely used in the European education but still little known in Ukraine. The purpose of the paper is to expose and analyze the original methodology developed that conditioned the specific structure of the relevant course, and the specific learning activities used in it. The essence of the developed CLIL theory-based methodology and its practical application are manifested through learning activities that include students’ mini-lectures/workshop-type presentations, brainstorming, case-studies, discussions, and a learning project with its results summarized in students’ essays, abstracts, and summaries written in English. The students collect the information required for completing their tasks not only from the teacher’s lectures and the recommended literature but also (and mostly) by way of doing extensive Internet-search on psychological and pedagogical sites in English. All this makes CLIL in the case under discussion experiential-interactive (through personal experience in extra-linguistic subject-related activities gained in interaction with other students), blended (with the organic combination of traditional in-class learning and out-of-class online information search), autonomous (students’ autonomous learning activities-centered), and cooperative (with those activities being done in students’ cooperative interaction). As the result, students mostly self-construct their knowledge of the discipline by way of using the target language as the tool for such self-construction. This makes the elaborated course a clear-cut case of constructivism in CLIL pedagogy. Subject Classification Numbers: PACS 01.40.-d (Education)

scholarly journals Building Learning Communities in Residential Colleges

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-68
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Muldoon ◽  
◽  
Ian Macdonald ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Regional University ◽  
Traditional Lectures ◽  
The University ◽  
Senior Students

This paper addresses the retention issues presented when large numbers of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and associated disadvantaged educational histories live together on-campus. It reports research in progress on a new approach taken at the University of New England (UNE), Australia, aimed at encouraging the growth of learning communities in colleges through the training and subsequent support of senior students charged with helping first year students negotiate the transition to successful university study. It outlines the issues faced by both the first year students and the senior students, strategies implemented, outcomes to date and plans for further change. UNE is a regional university with 5,000 on-campus students, half of whom live in seven residential colleges. It appears that for these students, traditional lectures and workshops on learning strategies and techniques are not as effective as layered, personal ‘at the elbow’ learning support in a non-threatening, social environment.

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.

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