scholarly journals Environmental Values and Technology Preferences of First-Year University Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Alexandra Stöckert ◽  
Franz X. Bogner
Keyword(s):  
Social Aspects ◽  
First Year ◽  
Science Pedagogy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Value Model ◽  
First Year University ◽  
Negative Relationships ◽  
Item Scale ◽  
Interest In Technology ◽  
Social Aspects Of Technology

Environmental and technological preferences correlate. Both are empirically accessible via established instruments such as the Two Major Environmental Value model (2-MEV) with “preservation” (PRE) and “utilization” (UTL), and the technology questionnaire with “interest in technology” (INT) and “social aspects of technology” (SOC). Additionally, “appreciation of nature” (APR) was monitored with a seven-item scale. We used these instruments to assess the preferences of freshmen in five different areas of study (law, economics, science, pedagogy, cultural studies). All subsequent analyses unveiled positive relations between appreciation and preservation, between the two technology subscales, as well as between utilization and social aspects of technology. Negative relationships appeared between preservation and utilization, preservation and both technology factors, as well as appreciation and social aspects of technology. In all subsamples, preservers (individuals with preservation preferences) showed little interest in technology or its social aspects; utilizers scored high in social aspects of technology, whereas appreciators displayed no interest in it. The freshmen’s areas of study seem to predict consistent tendencies to (biocentric) preservation or (anthropocentric) utilization. Moreover, females were more likely to preserve and appreciate nature whereas males preferred utilization along with interest in technology as well as in the social implications of technology. The observed differences can be used to develop new and improve existing educational programs; recommendations are discussed.

A social identity perspective on the social-class achievement gap: Academic and social adjustment in the transition to university

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Veldman ◽  
Loes Meeussen ◽  
Colette van Laar
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Achievement Gap ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
University Students ◽  
Social Adjustment ◽  
First Generation ◽  
First Year ◽  
The Social ◽  
First Year University

First-generation students show lower academic performance at university compared to continuing-generation students. Previous research established the value in taking a social identity perspective on this social-class achievement gap, and showed that the gap can partly be explained by lower compatibility between social background and university identities that first- compared to continuing-generation students experience. The present paper aimed to increase insight into the processes through which this low identity compatibility leads to lower academic achievement by examining first-year university students’ adjustment to university in two key domains: the academic and the social domain. These were examined as two routes through which the social-class achievement gap may arise, and hence perpetuate this group-based inequality. Adjustment was examined both through students’ actual integration in the academic and social domains, and their internally experienced concerns about these domains at university. A longitudinal study among 674 first-year university students (13.6% first-generation) showed that first-generation students experienced lower identity compatibility in their first semester, which was in turn related to lower social, but not academic, integration. Lower identity compatibility was also related to more concerns about the social and academic domains at university. Low identity compatibility was directly related to lower academic achievement 1 year later, and this relationship was mediated only by lower social integration at university. These findings show that to understand, and hence reduce, the social-class achievement gap, it is important to examine how low identity compatibility can create difficulties in academic and particularly social adjustment at university with consequences for achievement.

Using a Social Learning Community to Actively Engage Students’ Participation in a Virtual Classroom

2013 ◽  
pp. 50-70
Author(s):  
Fariel Mohan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
University Students ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
First Year ◽  
The Social ◽  
First Year University

This case describes an experiment to motivate first year university students to use a virtual classroom through social and academic interactions. This approach augments the virtual classroom approach with concepts from social networking to create a social virtual classroom. The aim of the approach taken was to determine if social media included in a virtual classroom can actively engage students’ participation in social networking as well as be used as a tool for learning. Results from the experiment indicate that using a social virtual classroom encouraged social networking among the students. The social virtual classroom was also highly used for learning. The blend of social and academic in the virtual classroom engaged the students in creative ways that was not anticipated. A survey was conducted at the end and seventy-seven percent of the students agreed that the social aspect of the virtual classroom was intrinsically motivating.

The Construction of a Citizenship Model Through the Teaching of History

2019 ◽  
pp. 500-516
Author(s):  
Elisa Navarro-Medina ◽  
Nicolás De Alba-Fernández
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
First Year ◽  
Empirical Verification ◽  
The Social ◽  
Purpose Of Education ◽  
History Of ◽  
Education Today ◽  
Basic Purpose ◽  
Spanish Universities ◽  
First Year University

References to education today necessarily encompass the type of citizens we are forming in the classrooms. Curricular proposals, regardless of their educational stage, reiterate that the basic purpose of education is to make people aware of their reality, foster their critical thinking, and ensure they participate in the political, social, and cultural system of which they are part. However, this declaration of intentions, which is widely legislated but rarely subject to empirical verification, is even more evident in certain subjects such as the History of Spain. In order to explore whether the curricular proposals put forward by History are truly educating citizens, the authors interviewed 50 first-year university students representing various areas of knowledge from seven Spanish universities. The results have identified a citizen profile that does not align with the social and civic model described by legislation, which has prompted us to suggest certain improvements pursuant to the purposes of History as a subject taught at school.

Networking and Other Social Aspects of Technology Use

2020 ◽  
pp. 110-123
Author(s):  
Rachel Kowert ◽  
Emese Domahidi ◽  
Thorsten Quandt
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Social Networking Services ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Social Aspects Of Technology

From the first multiuser dungeons and rudimentary chatrooms to the vast lands of online gaming and incredibly popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, the Internet continues to provide many ways to connect socially. This chapter provides a historical context to the discussion of the social aspects of technology use and their various functionalities to provide users with a sense of social connectedness or embeddedness. The aim of this discussion is to highlight the idiosyncrasies of the different social networking services available today in terms of their ability to connect or disconnect individuals. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of future considerations for research in this area in terms of how to better understand the impact and utility of social technology in everyday life.

Questioning the ontology of sociomateriality: a critical realist perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 1073-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Tunçalp
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Realm ◽  
Realist Perspective ◽  
Social Aspects Of Technology

Purpose – The author join Orlikowski (2007) in seeking the “reconfiguration of our conventional assumptions and considerations of materiality.” In her sociomaterial approach, Orlikowski combines what is social and what is material into a “sociomaterial assemblage” in considering material and social aspects of technology. However, the author thinks this conflation creates a number of analytical and phenomenological problems for the understanding of technology in organizing. Rather than considering materiality with a primacy, the author argue that the proposed approach may reduce what is material into a social essence and makes materiality of a technology impossible to perceive separate from the social aspects. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical examples of “Information Search” and “Mobile Communication” in Orlikowski (2007) are further employed to discuss the grounds of the criticism. Findings – The author propose a critical realist perspective to technology both as social and material recursively. Research limitations/implications – The analysis is primarily ontological and meta-theoretical. In future, extensive reviews can be performed on what questions have been asked and what questions have been omitted by researchers employing different versions of sociomaterial perspective. Practical implications – The perspective offered by this paper enables asking new questions and necessary empirical leverage to analyze how one technology becomes materialized and successful in the social realm and not the other. The author also discusses strategic conditions of how one successful technology can be replaced by another. Social implications – Understanding the state of the art in theory in understanding material and social aspects of technology would help us develop novel strategies to contest, complement and adapt to material and social issues of technologies. Originality/value – This paper is among the few critical papers that meta-theoretically question the relatively recent sociomaterial turn in organization studies and information systems fields.

Using a Social Learning Community to Actively Engage Students’ Participation in a Virtual Classroom

2013 ◽  
pp. 691-705
Author(s):  
Fariel Mohan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
University Students ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
First Year ◽  
The Social ◽  
First Year University

This case describes an experiment to motivate first year university students to use a virtual classroom through social and academic interactions. This approach augments the virtual classroom approach with concepts from social networking to create a social virtual classroom. The aim of the approach taken was to determine if social media included in a virtual classroom can actively engage students’ participation in social networking as well as be used as a tool for learning. Results from the experiment indicate that using a social virtual classroom encouraged social networking among the students. The social virtual classroom was also highly used for learning. The blend of social and academic in the virtual classroom engaged the students in creative ways that was not anticipated. A survey was conducted at the end and seventy-seven percent of the students agreed that the social aspect of the virtual classroom was intrinsically motivating.

The Need to Belong and the Relationship Between Loneliness and Health

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 194-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freda-Marie Hartung ◽  
Britta Renner
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
First Year ◽  
Health State ◽  
Need To Belong ◽  
First Year University ◽  
Perceived Social Isolation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Humans are social animals; consequently, a lack of social ties affects individuals’ health negatively. However, the desire to belong differs between individuals, raising the question of whether individual differences in the need to belong moderate the impact of perceived social isolation on health. In the present study, 77 first-year university students rated their loneliness and health every 6 weeks for 18 weeks. Individual differences in the need to belong were found to moderate the relationship between loneliness and current health state. Specifically, lonely students with a high need to belong reported more days of illness than those with a low need to belong. In contrast, the strength of the need to belong had no effect on students who did not feel lonely. Thus, people who have a strong need to belong appear to suffer from loneliness and become ill more often, whereas people with a weak need to belong appear to stand loneliness better and are comparatively healthy. The study implies that social isolation does not impact all individuals identically; instead, the fit between the social situation and an individual’s need appears to be crucial for an individual’s functioning.

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