scholarly journals Adding Value To The First-Year Experience: Embedding Self And Major Exploration In The College Of Business Curriculum

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Joanne K. Damminger ◽  
Gregory C. Potter ◽  
Robert E. Pritchard

This paper details the First-Year Career Development Program (First-Year Program) a component of a comprehensive multi-year program designed to guide business students through self-assessment and the selection of an appropriate business major and ultimately to prepare them to secure professional career positions. The First-Year Program is designed to integrate student self-assessment and career and business major exploration into the First-Year Experience. A survey of students who participated in the First-Year Program indicated a high level of student satisfaction. It further indicated that participants were more positive about completing their degree programs at the regional university where the First-Year Program is conducted. The First-Year Program was developed collaboratively by Career and Academic Planning Center professionals and College of Business faculty.

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emile Z. Goubran ◽  
Sivarama P. Vinjamury

Purpose: An interactive atlas of histology was developed for online use by chiropractic students to enable them to practice and self-assess their ability to identify various histological structures. This article discusses the steps in the development, implementation, and usefulness of an interactive atlas of histology for students who take histology examinations. Methods: The atlas was developed by digitizing images imported through a video-microscope using actual microscope slides. Leica EWS 2100 and PowerPoint software were used to construct the atlas. The usefulness of the atlas was assessed through a comparison of histology exam scores between four classes before and four classes after the use of the atlas. Analysis of admissions data, including overall grade point average (GPA), science and nonscience GPA, and a number of course units, was done initially to avoid any identifiable differences in the academic competency between the two being compared. A survey of the students was also done to assess atlas usefulness and students' satisfaction with the atlas. Results: Analysis of histology exam scores showed that the average scores in the lab exam were significantly higher for the classes that used the atlas. Survey results showed a high level of student satisfaction with the atlas. Conclusion: The development and use of an online interactive atlas of histology for chiropractic students helped to improve lab exams scores. In addition, students were satisfied with the features and usefulness of this atlas.


Author(s):  
Joshua Wilkin

This study gathered information from first-, second-, and third-year on-campus students to better understand their perceptions of their college experiences and how the creation of a first-year experience program could improve student satisfaction and sense of belonging at an urban mid-sized college. The qualitative data in this study revealed the importance of utilizing students’ perceptions to improve the college experience.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-117
Author(s):  
Kevin Larkin ◽  
◽  
Leonie Rowan ◽  
Barbara Garrick ◽  
Catherine Beavis ◽  
...  

Universities throughout Australia are increasingly investing significant amounts of time and money in efforts to improve the quality of first year students’ experiences and, by extension, increase retention, performance and student satisfaction. This paper reports upon a pilot research project conducted at a Queensland university that investigates student understandings of, and reactions to, a range of initiatives put in place to enhance their “first year experience”. The research showed that students had mixed reactions to the initiatives put in place to support them and that staff played a vital role in terms of how students responded to various forms of institutional support. In analysing the results the paper demonstrates the need for ongoing research into how a diverse cohort of students make sense of the first year experience they are offered.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bothaina Al-Sheeb ◽  
Abdel Magid Hamouda ◽  
Galal M. Abdella

Purpose. A first-year student’s life is a web of interrelated academic and social experiences. Most universities have rigorous processes to achieve excellence or reach high-quality standards, with “Student Satisfaction” being the central focus of all of higher education aims for excellence. This study examined the influence of various academic, social, and environmental aspects on the overall satisfaction of first-year students. Design. A questionnaire was designed and administered to first-year students, and the resulting data were analyzed using correlation, linear regression, binary logistic regression, and artificial neural networks. Findings. The findings suggested that three of the five factors explored—100-level course satisfaction, a sense of belonging, and citizenship knowledge and skills—were the best determinants of the level of first-year student satisfaction. Originality. This study examined the influence of academic, social, and environmental factors on overall student satisfaction with the college experience. Many studies have focused on how factors such as student attitudes, perceptions, and academic and social engagements impact first-year student success and retention; however, few studies have attempted to explore the influence these factors have on student satisfaction and their overall perceptions of the college experience. Discussion and Conclusion. This study has provided a snapshot of some of the key determinants of the overall student satisfaction of the first-year experience. This study can assist college administrators and instructors in their quality assurance initiatives which may include reviewing the current system, setting college priorities, and planning and allocation of future resources to better achieve higher levels of student satisfaction.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Rae ◽  
Margaret Hunn

Abstract Objectives – Literature supports the concept that embedding academic and information literacy support into first year university courses enables students to proceed more confidently with researching and writing their assignments, and thus contributes to student success in their course. A need was identified for academic and information literacy support for a cohort of first year business students as part of the development of online course content for Griffith Online, the institution’s online study degree option. This led to a collaboration between information literacy librarians, learning skills advisers, educational designers, and academic course convenors to develop and implement online resources. This paper will present findings on the impact of these online resources. Methods – Drawing on measures and methods identified in ISO16439 “Information and documentation: Methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries” (International Organisation for Standardization, 2014), in conjunction with the indicators offered by Lizzio’s (2006) Five Senses of Success framework, evidence was collected and combined from a variety of sources over semester 2, 2014, and semester 1, 2015 to assess the impact of the online resource. Inferred evidence was gathered from usage statistics (number of hits on the sites) and from performance measures (comparing student essay grade between those that did and did not use the resource). Solicited evidence was gathered from a survey of students, students in focus groups, and interviews with course lecturers, tutors and other stakeholders. Results – The inferred evidence showed a positive impact on the student success indicators of the sense of resourcefulness, capability, connection, purpose and identity. The solicited evidence suggests that students saw the online resource in a positive light and that staff were happy with the impact it had on students’ work and learning. It is believed that the gathered evidence indicates the Module did achieve the impact objective of a positive impact on the contribution to student success for these first year business students. Conclusions – The evidence has shown that this resource contributed to student success, and that staff and student satisfaction with the resource contributed to increased confidence with student academic skills and information literacy in respect to their assignment task. Assessing the impact of the online resource on student success has helped to demonstrate the value of the library at Griffith University to the wider community. The four-pronged collaboration relationship required for this approach was fostered with stakeholders outside of the library.


2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
April E. Bailey ◽  
Michael T. Marsh

This paper reports experiences of non-traditional students in a specially designed section of seminar course which was primarily designed for first-year traditional business students.  The College of Business’s BSN101, Foundations of Business Administration (FBA), is designed to serves as a course to assist the students with transitioning into the business program.  Typical traditional classes have enrollments of about 80 students. The special section for non-traditional students had seven students, 24 years of age or older, who were returning to undergraduate business school.  This paper reports results of the implementation of the new program design in the FBA classes. Results are important not only to the College of Business, but also to the other Colleges as interest in first-year seminar courses and better serving the needs of non-traditional student increases. Currently, the University Retention Committee and the First-Year Seminar Sub-Committee are exploring the possibility of implementing a first-year seminar courses in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Human Services to be recommended to the Provost.  Data collected for the experimental section in the study reported here will support decision-making regarding new seminar courses.


10.28945/2670 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney Turner

This paper reports an analysis of IT software skills of some Victorian students on entry to first year tertiary studies in Business along with an analysis of their performance in “Office” type application assignments. The assumption that youth of today are IT literate on exit from school is questioned. Despite survey results suggesting a high level of skill in word processing and, to a lesser extent in spreadsheets, results on assignments in these areas may suggest students perceive their skills as being better than their actual performance. In crowded curricula, where there is pressure to include ever more material at the expense of more traditional topics, word processing and spreadsheet applications are sometimes suggested for removal. The study reported here finds little evidence that these topics should be removed from the curriculum at this stage.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne Schrum ◽  
Angela Benson

Recently a large corporation joined with a large southeastern university’s College of Business MBA program to create a distance MBA program uniquely suited to the corporation's high level workers’ needs to obtain the degree while they continue working. This corporation invested significantly in the design and development of this tailored program which includes online and face-to-face components. This paper reports on research on the first year of this pilot program from the faculty, administrative, and student perspectives. Conclusions are given and suggestions are made for further research.


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