scholarly journals First-Year Student Transition at the University of the Free State during Covid‑19: Challenges and Insights

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Herkulaas M.v.E. Combrink ◽  
Lauren L. Oosthuizen
Keyword(s):  
Free State ◽  
First Year ◽  
Student Transition ◽  
The University ◽  
First Year Student

scholarly journals The ‘Double Transition’ for First-Year Students: Understanding the Impact of Covid-19 on South Africa’s First-Year University Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-92
Author(s):  
Annsilla Nyar
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Student Transition ◽  
Double Transition ◽  
First Year University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Academic Cycle ◽  
Special Category ◽  
First Year Student

While all students are affected by the advent of the Covid‑19 pandemic, the first‑year student population remains a special category of vulnerability for higher education. This is on account of the way the Covid‑19 pandemic has disrupted their transition into university and complicated the nature of their entry into and through the formal academic cycle. This article uses the notion of a ‘double transition’ as a framework for positioning and locating the first‑year student transition within the context of the prevailing Covid‑19 pandemic. ‘Double transition’ refers to an additional transition coupled with that of the first‑year transition, with regard to the extraordinary situation of students navigating their entry into the unfamiliar terrain of academia while simultaneously navigating the Covid‑19 pandemic. The article provides a circumscribed summary of the effects of Covid‑19 on university students and looks to describe and explain the nature and shape of first‑year transitions in relation to the transition necessitated by the Covid‑19 pandemic. It concludes with four key strategies for supporting first‑year students as the pandemic continues.

scholarly journals Evaluating Empowerment Language During the First-Year Student Transition

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn B. Wilhite
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Environment ◽  
First Year ◽  
Orientation Programs ◽  
Student Transition ◽  
Before And After ◽  
First Year Student

Orientation programs can construct communication pieces that, using language balance, help students begin to define the institutional environment, their role within it, and the experiences they will have before and after enrollment. Additionally, orientation can host conversations about appropriate terms and phrases, as well as ways to define the institution and students themselves. Orientation can also begin a conversation about the institutional lexicon and whether the usage of words is delivering contradictory, confusing, or over-emphasized messages.

scholarly journals Investigating health factors as predictor of early drop-out of first year accounting students at the University of the Free State, South Africa

Afrika Focus ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
Christa Beyers ◽  
Hanli Joubert
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Emotional Health ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
Drop Out ◽  
Free State ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Health Factors ◽  
The University

Introduction: The future of the South African workforce looks bleak given the challenges posed, not only by health factors, including HIV and AIDS, but also the success and throughput rate of first year university students. Methodology: The research in this study was conducted in 2013 using a post-positivist approach and applying an interpretive stance using a mixed method approach, which included a quantitative non-experimental predictive multivariate design as well as focus group interviews to triangulate the findings. Results: We present findings that psychosocial background factors, physical health and emotional health influence success and non-completion rates among first year students at the University of the Free State, South Africa. Conclusion: We argue that early identification of poor psychosocial background, including health factors, can assist in empowering youths helping them to make healthy decisions and deal with stressful situations in a way that will not compromise their academic success.

scholarly journals Systemic Description of the Student’s Language Consciousness: Teacher’s Image

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66
Author(s):  
Andrey A. Yakovlev
Keyword(s):  
Student Teacher ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
First Year ◽  
Teacher Interaction ◽  
Personal Evaluation ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
The University ◽  
First Year Student

The paper discusses the results of a series of experiments aimed at studying how the teacher image changes in the student’s mind with time. The hypothesis of the study was as follows: during the years of study at the university the image of the teacher undergoes significant changes not only due to the student teacher interaction, but also due to the personal evaluation of this activity. This hypothesis was tested by a series of experiments conducted by the methods of free associations and unfinished sentences, the results of which complement each other. The hypothesis was confirmed: a change in the teacher image in the student’s linguistic consciousness is due not only to gaining experience of interaction with the teacher, but also, to a large extent, due to his personal emotional experience. The image of the teacher “consists” of specific features, properties, and characteristics rather than of the actions carried out by the teacher. The image of the teacher in the undergraduate’s linguistic consciousness is more specific and individual and less stereotypical than the same image in the linguistic consciousness of the first-year student. Negative evaluation of images increases with the first-year and fourth-year students, but not dramatically, because positive judgments and attitudes, also found in the answers of the undergraduates, receive greater differentiation. In general, both the modality and the emotions become more diverse in the associations and answers of the fourth-year students during their stay at the university, which indicates a certain development in the images of consciousness under study.

scholarly journals Knowledge of cervical cancer, human papillomavirus and prevention among first-year female students in residences at the University of the Free State

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel Mofolo ◽  
Maarasi Sello ◽  
Moleboheng Leselo ◽  
Naledi Chabanku ◽  
Samke Ndlovu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cervical Cancer ◽  
Human Papillomavirus ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Free State ◽  
First Year ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Unprotected Sexual Intercourse ◽  
Main Campus ◽  
The University

Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in South Africa. One of the major risk factors for the development of cervical cancer is the human papillomavirus (HPV).Aim: To determine the knowledge of first-year female students living in residences on the main campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) regarding cervical cancer and HPV.Setting: Female residences on the main campus of UFS.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on participants between the ages of 18 and 25 years using a non-random convenience sampling method. Seven residences were included. Anonymous self-administered questionnaires were distributed during the eveningmeetings to all first-year female students at the selected residences after an information session.Students had to complete the questionnaires immediately after the meeting.Results: Most of the 373 respondents (85.8%) knew that cervical cancer arises from the cervix, but only 15.4% knew that it was caused by a virus. Of the 62.5% participants who knew that HPV was a cancer-causing virus, most correctly knew that HPV was contracted by unprotected sexual intercourse (81.1%) and that there is a vaccine to protect against HPV (73.1%). However, 62.0% knew that the vaccine was available in South Africa and only 31.0% knew the vaccine was free of charge.Conclusion: The study revealed that students had limited knowledge of cervical cancer, HPVand vaccine availability.

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