scholarly journals Ghostbusters: Using Learning Analytics and Early Assessment Design to identify and support ghost students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Linden ◽  
Neil Van Der Ploeg ◽  
Ben Hicks
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Learning Analytics ◽  
First Year ◽  
Early Assessment ◽  
Student Behaviour ◽  
Assessment Item ◽  
Assessment Design ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Australian Universities

Ghosting is a student behaviour characterised by enrolling in a subject but never participating. Hence, a ghost student who remains enrolled receives a zero-fail grade. From 2022, the Job ready Graduates Package will require that only genuine students have access to Commonwealth assistance at Australian Universities and an institution may need to refund the fees of what are referred to as non-genuine students. In 2019 and 2020, 382 first-year subjects were monitored to identify disengaged students in weeks 3 and 4 of the session using learning analytics and nonsubmission of an early assessment item. Disengaged students were contacted via phone and 2-way SMS and offered timely and targeted support pre census. The total number of domestic undergraduate students receiving a zero fail has decreased during this time. To further reduce the number of ghost students, once identified as disengaged, an engagement should be mandatory to remain in the subject.

scholarly journals Improving Student Retention by Providing Targeted Support to University Students who do not Submit an Early Assessment Item

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Linden
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
First Year ◽  
Early Assessment ◽  
Retention Model ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Assessment Item ◽  
University Retention ◽  
The University

The Charles Sturt University Retention Team has developed, tested, evaluated, and refined a retention model through 14 action-research cycles from 2017-2021. The project has expanded from a small pilot in one faculty to monitoring the engagement and submission of an early assessment item for over 70% of all commencing undergraduate students across the University. The Retention Model synergistically overlays curriculum design and student support and ensures academics embed best practice transition pedagogy and learning engagement activities into key first-year subjects. By monitoring the submission of early assessment items, the team can accurately identify and proactively contact students who are not engaged in their studies prior to their first census date. Every aspect of this program supports equity student groups that are over-represented at our regional university. This work has significantly improved commencing progress rates across the institution.

scholarly journals Inspiration, Strategies and Insight for Learning Programming Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gajendra Sharma ◽  
Toshika Ojha
Keyword(s):  
Programming Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Learning Difficulties ◽  
First Year ◽  
C Programming ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Subject ◽  
First Programming Language ◽  
Learning Programming ◽  
Programming Courses

This study explores how the first-year undergraduate students in School of Engineering, Kathmandu University learns their very first programming language i.e. C programming. The students were requested to response to an online questioner, where they were asked about their perception about the programming language they are learning, their motivation on learning that particular language and their strategy on preparing for the subject. Student’s concept on C programming and their approach for preparing for the exam are categorized. Our results show what kind of different strategies they use to learn this particular programming language. Additionally, the insights of this paper point that learning theory of programming and practicing programming goes hand in hand in C programming course and the focus here is on learning difficult topics which involves investigating students perceptions and conceptions of causality in relation to learning difficulties (Berglund et al., 2009). This study is intended to be helpful for future teachers and students in programming courses in Nepal.

Riding on a roller coaster: personal reflections of teaching a subject on leadership and intrapersonal development

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet T.Y. Leung
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
General Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
University Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Roller Coaster ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Personal Reflections ◽  
First Year University ◽  
Academic Year

AbstractA university subject on leadership and intrapersonal development was delivered during the academic year of 2012–2013 to the first-year university students. The teacher taught four classes of a total of 268 undergraduate students coming from four different disciplines. The teacher shares her experience in teaching the subject with reference to the stages of forming, storming, norming and performing that the students had gone through. Personal reflections on teaching the subject as well as perceived benefits to the students are also highlighted. The teacher deeply reflects on the essence of university education in the cultivation of the leadership and intrapersonal attributes of the students. In facing the growing trend of “McDonaldization” and commercialization of university education, a general education subject that emphasizes the intrapersonal and interpersonal qualities of the students, and fosters the holistic development of the students is essential in university education.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Delivering Key Points in Biochemistry on improvement of academic performance and attitude of first year MBBS students

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 5631-5641
Author(s):  
Santhi Silambanan, Manikandan A, Kamalam R, Shalini L
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Formative Assessment ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Survey Questionnaire ◽  
Teaching Methodologies ◽  
Medical College ◽  
Institutional Ethics ◽  
Key Points ◽  
The Subject

Introduction: The undergraduate students have difficulty in achieving good academic performance in Biochemistry subject. In spite of using various teaching methodologies the teacher is not able to create interest in the subject as well as improve knowledge. This study was undertaken to assess the efficacy of delivering key points on the improvement in academic performance as well as changing their perception about Biochemistry amongst first year MBBS students.   Methods: The study was conducted by the Department of Biochemistry in Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute in the year 2016. Students of 2015 batch were provided with important points in the proper format which were prepared by the faculty. Formative assessment examination marks were compared with students of previous four batches. Also, the perception of delivery of key points was assessed. Ethics approval was obtained from the institutional ethics committee (IEC-NI/16/AUG/55/63). Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version16.0. p<0.05 was considered significant. No funding was obtained for conducting this study.   Results: There was significant increase in the performance of the students in the formative assessment examinations. The students’ responses were positive in more than 80% in all the items of the survey questionnaire.   Conclusion: There was improvement in the academic performance of the students. They said it was useful for understanding and preparing for the examinations.

scholarly journals Peering into the crystal ball of the disengaged: What happens to students that do not submit an early assessment item?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Linden ◽  
Neil Van Der Ploeg ◽  
Ben Hicks ◽  
Prue Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Early Response ◽  
First Year ◽  
Early Assessment ◽  
Crystal Ball ◽  
System Activity ◽  
Assessment Item ◽  
Response Systems ◽  
The University

Established first year design principles highlight the need to provide early response systems for students who appear to be disengaging with targeted communication regarding available support services. One thousand, one hundred and s students were identified in session 1 that either: did not submit a pre-census early assessment item; or had limited learning management system activity. These students were then offered timely support, including on-the-spot advice and referral to other pre-existing support structures within the University. Students were identified from 77 subjects offered to commencing students, taught across 182 offerings. Of the students identified, 607 chose to defer or withdraw from their studies while 554 students remained. This raises the question, what became of those remaining students?

Post-course subjective outcome evaluation of a subject on leadership and intrapersonal development for university students in Hong Kong

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Lu Yu
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
First Year ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Subjective Outcome ◽  
Perceived Effects ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Academic Year

AbstractTo investigate the perceived effects of a subject on leadership and intrapersonal development offered at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a 48-item Subjective Outcome Evaluation Scale was implemented on a sample of first-year undergraduate students (n=800) in the academic year of 2012–2013. Consistent with our expectation, factor analyses showed that there are three dimensions (program, instructor, and benefits) intrinsic to the scale. Similar to previous findings, results showed that students had positive perceptions about the subject content and teachers, and most of the students perceived the subject as beneficial to their holistic development. Both perceived qualities of the program and instructor were significant predictors of the perceived effectiveness of the program. Perceived qualities of the program, instructors, and benefits predicted students’ overall satisfaction with the program.

scholarly journals Subjective outcome evaluation of a university subject on leadership and intrapersonal development

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Jianqiang Liang ◽  
Moon Y.M. Law
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
First Year ◽  
Perceived Effectiveness ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Subjective Outcome ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Academic Year

AbstractFirst-year undergraduate students (n=890) responded to a 48-item subjective outcome evaluation scale (SOES) after taking a leadership subject at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in the second semester of the 2012–2013 academic year. Consistent with our expectation, factor analyses showed that the scale contains three dimensions (program, instructor and benefits). Results showed that students had positive perceptions of the program contents and the instructors, and most of the students perceived the subject to be beneficial to their development in different areas. As predicted, perceived qualities of the program and instructors were significant predictors of the perceived effectiveness of the program. Perceived qualities of the program, instructors and benefits predicted student’s overall satisfaction with the program.

scholarly journals Embedding the development of graduate qualities of international postgraduate IT students in the disciplinary curriculum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Yu ◽  
Siyu Qian ◽  
Zhenyu Zhang ◽  
Lina Markauskaite ◽  
Jun Shen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Content Management ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
The Subject

There has been a steady increase in international students pursuing postgraduate coursework education in English speaking countries. Like first-year undergraduate students, these international students need assistance transitioning into the new educational environment and preparing for self-directed, collaborative learning throughout their careers. Drawing on the social constructivist pedagogical approaches, we developed learning tasks that foster self-regulation and collaboration among postgraduate coursework IT students, aligning these tasks with the learning outcomes of the subject Information Design and Content Management. This paper presents the rationale and method for the design of the learning tasks, and how these learning tasks to not only align with the subject learning outcomes but also facilitate self-regulation. A study involving preand post-subject surveys and interviews with 133 subject students will provide us with further insights into the effectiveness of the learning task design and the areas for improvement.

Matrix Completions, Moments, and Sums of Hermitian Squares

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihály Bakonyi ◽  
Hugo J. Woerdeman
Keyword(s):  
Linear Algebra ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Complex Analysis ◽  
Measure Theory ◽  
Complex Function ◽  
Complex Function Theory ◽  
Extensive Discussion ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Processing Control ◽  
Developing Area

Intensive research in matrix completions, moments, and sums of Hermitian squares has yielded a multitude of results in recent decades. This book provides a comprehensive account of this quickly developing area of mathematics and applications and gives complete proofs of many recently solved problems. With MATLAB codes and more than two hundred exercises, the book is ideal for a special topics course for graduate or advanced undergraduate students in mathematics or engineering, and will also be a valuable resource for researchers. Often driven by questions from signal processing, control theory, and quantum information, the subject of this book has inspired mathematicians from many subdisciplines, including linear algebra, operator theory, measure theory, and complex function theory. In turn, the applications are being pursued by researchers in areas such as electrical engineering, computer science, and physics. The book is self-contained, has many examples, and for the most part requires only a basic background in undergraduate mathematics, primarily linear algebra and some complex analysis. The book also includes an extensive discussion of the literature, with close to six hundred references from books and journals from a wide variety of disciplines.

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