scholarly journals The role of guidance in student engagement with chemistry studies

Author(s):  
Piia Valto ◽  
Piia Nuora

During recent years, the Department of Chemistry at the University of Jyväskylä has made an extensive effort to support chemistry students’ first study year. The first-year curriculum includes enhanced study counselling course, intensive orientation course and support for academic study skills via a specific course.  In this study, the effects of the revisions were studied by exploring the chemistry students study continuation and what factors contributed to it.  In 2015 to 2017, data were collected from first-year chemistry students (n = 106), who completed a questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of their first semester. The results show that the percentage of dropout rates after the first year decreased. Students’ current challenges are different than they have been previously, thus putting new demands on their guidance. The results of the study indicate that students value guidance and study counselling especially at the beginning of their studies.

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beauty B. Ntereke ◽  
Boitumelo T. Ramoroka

The ability to read and interpret textbooks and other assigned material is a critical component of success at university level. Therefore, the aims of this study are twofold: to evaluate the reading levels of first-year students when they first enter the university to determine how adequately prepared they are for university reading. It is also to find out if there will be any significant improvement after going through the academic literacy course offered to first-year students. The participants were 51 first-year undergraduate humanities students enrolled in the Communication and Academic Literacy course at the University of Botswana. The data were collected through a reading test adopted from Zulu which was administered at the beginning of the first semester. The same test was administered at the end of the semester after the students had gone through the academic literacy course to see if there was any difference in performance. The findings of this study indicate that there is a mixed and wide variation of students reading competency levels when students first enter the university and that a significant number of first-year entrants are inadequately prepared for university reading.


Author(s):  
Selente Bezuidenhout ◽  
Rob Summers

As HIV/AIDS continues to spread and affect the lives of millions of people, a sense of urgency has developed about the imperative need to stop the epidemic. Education is the key to change knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. There is currently a gap in educationprogrammes targeting youths of ages 18-24 years, for example, those enrolled in tertiary institutions. The aim of the study was therefore to establish the level of HIV/AIDS awareness among undergraduate pharmacy students at the University of Limpopo (Medunsa Campus)/ Tshwane University of Technology Schools of Pharmacy. A structured questionnaire was administered to pharmacy students on entry to the programme. Although the students of 2003, 2004 and 2005 obtained mean percentage HIV/AIDS awareness scores in the range of 70%-80%, they had inadequate knowledge of some transmission routes, events that occur when HIV invades the body, the “window period” and some symptoms. These knowledge gaps should be addressed by universities by integrating HIV/AIDS policies and education fully into all aspects of their planning, operations andteaching.


Author(s):  
A.V. Shishkin ◽  
◽  
L.A. Bekhovykh

The article shows the role of the student scientific society in attracting students to research work at the university. On the example of the student scientific society "Geosphere" of the Department of Geodesy, Physics and Engineering Structures of the Faculty of Environmental Engineering of the Altai State Agrarian University, a mechanism for involving first-year students in research work is presented. The structure, organization, directions and forms of work of the circle, the main projects being implemented, are also given, an assessment of the results of its activities and the most significant achievements are given. The positive role of the student scientific society in increasing the effectiveness of research work of students at the university is noted.


Author(s):  
С.А. Лысуенко

В статье обсуждаются вопросы, связанные с особенностями профессионального выбора выпускников общеобразовательных организаций. Представлены результаты исследования, позволяющие определить роль осознанной саморегуляции активности молодых людей, оказавшихся в ситуации профессионального выбора (на примере студентов педагогического вуза). В исследовании приняли участие 302 студента первого курса, обучающихся по направлению подготовки 44.03.01 «Педагогическое образование». В качестве инструментария были использованы методика «Мотивация учения студентов педагогического вуза» С. А. Пакулиной и М. В. Овчинникова и опросник «Стиль саморегуляции поведения» В. И. Моросановой. Данные, полученные в процессе исследования, были структурированы, обработаны и проинтерпретированы с применением математических методов. Было установлено, что студенты первого курса, совершившие при поступлении в вуз профессиональный выбор с учетом своих интересов и склонностей, обладают сформировавшейся потребностью продумывать способы своих действий и поведения для достижения намеченных целей, а план их действий отличается детализированностью и развернутостью. Также им свойственны самостоятельность при проектировании способов достижения индивидуальных целей, гибкость в случае возникновения непредвиденных обстоятельств, развитая адекватная оценка себя и полученных результатов. По итогам исследования был сделан вывод о том, что наличие сформированной системы осознанной саморегуляции произвольной активности у индивида, находящегося на этапе выбора профессии, позволяет совершить более правильный профессиональный выбор, что, в свою очередь, является одним из условий актуализации профессионально-личностного потенциала. The article discusses issues related to the peculiarities of the professional choice of graduates of public education organizations. There are results of the study presented, which allow us to determine the role of conscious self-regulation of the activity of young people who find themselves in a situation of having to make a professional choice (on the example of students of a pedagogical university). The research involved 302 first-year students studying in the field of training 44.03.01 «Pedagogical Education». As research tools, the «Motivation of teaching pedagogical university students» methodology by S.А. Pakulina and M.V. Ovchinnikov and the questionnaire «Style of self-regulation of behaviour» by V.I. Morosanova were used. The data obtained during the research were organized, processed and interpreted using mathematical methods. It was found that first-year students who, upon entering the university, made a professional choice more consciously, taking into account their interests and inclinations have a well-developed need to think through their actions and behaviour to achieve their goals and their action plan is detailed. They are also characterized by independence in designing an action plan to achieve individual goals, flexibility in the situation of unforeseen circumstances, an advanced adequate assessment of themselves and the results they achieved. As the main conclusion, the following is formulated: the possession of a developed system of conscious self-regulation of arbitrary activity in an individual who is at the stage of choosing a profession allows him to make an adequate professional choice, which, in turn, is one of the conditions for the actualization of professional and personal potential.


The Fairfield Makerspace is located in the green belt corn growing area in the southeastern portion of Iowa, USA. The town hosts the Maharishi University of Management (MUM), which is unlike any university in the Midwest in that most members of the university community practice transcendental meditation (TM). This practice has led to a general misunderstanding between the university community and those that do not practice TM. MUM opened the Fairfield Makerspace in response to the mistrust between the town and the university. The role of the makerspace is to find commonality between communities in the areas of making and sustainable living. The space was finding its footing as it began their first year of operation. Learning communities are formed through workshops and special meetups called Transformation Tuesdays, where members upcycle items. This chapter explores the Fairfield Makerspace.


Author(s):  
B.M. Trigo ◽  
G.S. Olguin ◽  
P.H.L.S. Matai

This chapter deals with the use of Applets, which are examples of software applications, combined with a specific methodology of teaching, based on Paulo Freire’s education concepts. According to his methods, co-creation between its participants is fundamental for the effectiveness of learning process. In that way, to promote a cooperative learning, the Applet should have interactive features. The Chemistry course of Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, in which students take in the first semester of the first year of the engineering course, was the case study. First, a research with the teachers of the Chemical Engineering Department was carried out, to identify the main problems and difficulties teachers and students face. Then, a topic was selected to be explored with the Applet, which was developed and applied to a small group of students. To identify the success of this experiment a questionnaire was created and the results are presented in this chapter. Some conclusions were drawn and the interactive features of the Applet received a positive feedback.


Author(s):  
Taylor W. Acee ◽  
Meagan A. Hoff ◽  
Darolyn A. Flaggs ◽  
Breana Sylvester

The authors examined three motivational factors (first-year grade expectations, present-focused time perspective, and future-focused time perspective) as predictors of achievement and retention outcomes for students ( N = 844) in their first semester at a predominately Hispanic-serving community college, accounting for student background characteristics. In this correlation research study, instructors administered surveys to students in a required first-year orientation course. Survey data was then merged with institutional data. The results of the multiple regression analysis suggested that first-year grade expectations, present-focused time perspective, age, ethnicity, first-generation status, and academically underprepared status were statistically significant predictors of first-semester GPA and explained 9.0% of the variation, whereas future-focused time perspective, sex, and economically disadvantaged status were not. First-year grade expectations and economically disadvantaged status significantly predicted second-semester retention; the other study predictors did not. This study expands research on malleable motivational factors educators could target to support students in their first year of community college.


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