scholarly journals Understanding Pre-Service Teachers’ Familiarity and Interest in Phonics and Potential Implications

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Wendy Tada
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Key Points ◽  
National University ◽  
Survey Results

The aim of this study was to better understand pre-service teachers’ familiarity with and interest in phonics and how these factors might influence the development of future phonics courses. For this study, 86 first year undergraduate students attending a national university for teacher education completed a survey in 2017. Participants from one class submitted a journal after attending three lessons introducing phonics. The survey results showed that most participants did not learn phonics before entering university, and admitted they had trouble reading new English words. Furthermore, according to the journal comments, participants gained an awareness of their own pronunciation skills, and an understanding of the key points of phonics and how it can be taught using songs. 本研究では、フォニックスに関する教育実習生の学習経験と関心、及びこれらの要素が将来のフォニックスコース開発にどのような影響を与えるかをより把握することを目的とした。本研究に関して、2017年にある国立教育大学で86名の1年生の学部生が調査を行いました。また、あるクラスからの参加者が、フォニックスを紹介するレッスンに3回参加した後、日誌を提出しました。その調査結果によると、ほとんどの参加者は大学入学前にフォニックスを習得しておらず、ほとんどの参加者は英語の新しい単語を読むのに問題があると認めました。さらに、その日誌のコメントによると、自分の発音スキル、フォニックスの要点、及び歌をどのように使って教えているかという認識が得られたと結論づけることができました。

scholarly journals The Prevalence and Frequency of Authorial Identity among Undergraduate Students in Fiji

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Jasbir Karneil Singh ◽  
Ben K. Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
First Year ◽  
Esl Students ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Authorial Identity ◽  
National University ◽  
Authorial Voice

Expressing an authoritative voice is an essential part of academic writing at university. However, the performance of the authorial self in writing is complex yet fundamental to academic success as a large part of academic assessment involves writing to the academy. More specifically, the performance of the authorial self can be complex for English as a Second Language (ESL) student-writers. This research investigated the extent to which ESL first-year students at the Fiji National University perform their authorial voice using interactional metadiscourse in their academic writing. The study employed a quantitative analysis of corpus produced by 16 Fijian ESL undergraduate students enrolled in an EAP course. The research found that the ESL authorial voice was predominantly expressed through boosters and attitude markers, with relatively little usage of other interactional metadiscoursal elements such as hedges, engagement markers and self-mentions. Further, the research showed that this particular cohort expressed their authorial voice and identity through boosted arguments and avoiding language that directly mentions the authorial self. The study concludes that the ESL authorial self for this cohort manifests itself in a selected range of selected interactional metadiscoursal elements, requiring the need to raise the awareness of self-reflective expressions for ESL students. The study also encourages further exploration of ESL authorial identity construction in academic writing at undergraduate level and beyond.

scholarly journals One Week, Many Ripples: Measuring the Impacts of the Fall Reading Week on Student Stress

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 163-172
Author(s):  
Heather Poole ◽  
Ayesha Khan ◽  
Michael Agnew
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Negative Experience ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Student Stress ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Lower Ratio

More and more Canadian post-secondary institutions are introducing a fall break into their term calendars. In 2015, a full week fall break was introduced at our university in order to enhance academic performance and improve mental health amongst students. Our interdisciplinary team surveyed undergraduate students at our university about their experience of the fall break, collected standardized measures of experienced stressors and perceptions of stress before and after the break, and hosted several focus groups to develop a detailed narrative of students’ experience. Stress can also be assessed through non-invasive hormone measures. We collected saliva samples to profile metabolic hormones, cortisol, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), from first-year male engineering students in order to document possible changes in their stress levels before and after the week-long break. This group was compared to male engineering students at a similar university that does not hold a fall break. Students exhibited a lower ratio of cortisol to DHEA after a fall break than those that did not experience a break. Our survey results indicate that the majority of students thought the fall break was a positive experience. However, self-reports of stress show a more complex picture, with many students reporting increased perceived stress after the break. Additionally, a portion of students reported that the fall break was a negative experience. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first of its kind to use a mixed-methods approach to examine the impacts of a fall break.

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 FROM AN EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT - DISCOVERY - FOR STUDENTS OF THE FAST-TRACK PROGRAM AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION: APPLYING FUTURISTIC APPROACH TO EDUCATION

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thu Le Hang
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Fast Track ◽  
First Year ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
National University ◽  
Experimental Project

This article reports on an experimental project for first year students of the Fast-track program, Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. This project is designed and implemented based on the conceptual framework of the 21st century learning model, with Futurism as underlying approach. The article shares the initial findings at the Pre-project stage, regarding learners’ interest and expected investment, required generic skills and competences, as well as expected learning outcomes.

scholarly journals Undergraduate paramedic students’ perceptions of a community volunteer placement

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Johnston ◽  
Joe Acker ◽  
Alexander MacQuarrie
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
First Year ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Community Placement ◽  
Community Volunteer ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
First Year University

ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore first year university paramedic students’ perceptions of volunteerism during a community placement.MethodsIn this exploratory study we employed a cross-sectional methodology utilising a convenience sample of first year undergraduate students. Administering a paper-based survey, we measured students’ perceptions of their experience of a 50-hour placement as a volunteer within a community organisation.ResultsOf the 191 students available to participate in the study, 88 completed the survey yielding a 46.1% response rate. Survey results were positive overall and indicated that students view volunteering in a community placement as a good experience. The majority of students signalled that they had a positive impact during their placement and were inclined towards future volunteering including as paramedic volunteers.ConclusionOur results suggest that paramedic students positively perceive volunteering during a community placement and may be predisposed to future volunteer opportunities.

Using Mnemonics to Facilitate Learning of Japanese Script Characters

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Manalo ◽  
Julie Trafford ◽  
Satomi Mizutani
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Pass Rate ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
Educational Setting ◽  
Alphabetic Language

Extra tutorial sessions on the use of pictorial mnemonics to facilitate memorization of Japanese hiragana and katakana script characters, as well as vocabulary words and kanji characters, were offered to university first year undergraduate students taking a beginners’ Japanese language course. 27 students, most of whom were experiencing some difficulties with the course, volunteered to attend. Although the improvement in actual marks that the students evidenced subsequent to attending the sessions did not prove to be statistically significant, a significant improvement in pass rate was found. Furthermore, the students rated the sessions highly in terms of their helpfulness, and the majority indicated that they believed the sessions helped their performance in the course assessments. It is concluded that mnemonic strategies can effectively be employed in facilitating retention of the script of a foreign, non-alphabetic language within a real educational setting. 初心者対象の日本語コースを取っている大学１年生に、日本語のひらがなとカタカナ、及び語彙と漢字の記憶を促進するため、絵を用いた連想法を使った追加授業が提出された。２７名（そのうちのほとんどは、コースにおいて何らかの困難に直面している）が自主的に追加授業に出席した。追加授業出席後、学生の実際の小テストの点の向上には有意差は認められなかったものの、合格率の向上においては有意差は確認された。さらに、追加授業に出席した学生は授業が役立ったと高く評価し、大多数が追加授業がコースの成績の成果に貢献したと思うと述べた。本論は、実際の教育現場で英語のアルファベットを用いない外国語の文字を教える際、連想法を効果的に使用することができると結論づけた。

scholarly journals Roles, relationships and emotions: Student teachers’ understanding of feedback as interpersonal

2021 ◽  
pp. 003452372198937
Author(s):  
Caroline Elbra-Ramsay
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
First Year ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
Undergraduate Programme ◽  
Phenomenological Case Study ◽  
International Teacher

This paper reports the findings of a small-scale study seeking to investigate how student teachers, within a three-year undergraduate programme, understand feedback. Feedback has been central to debates and discussion in the assessment literature in recent years. Hence, in this paper, feedback is positioned within the often-contradictory discourses of assessment, including perspectives on student and teacher feedback. The study focused on two first year undergraduate student teachers at a small university in England and considered the relationships between their understanding of feedback as a student, their understanding of feedback as an emerging teacher, and the key influences shaping these understandings. A phenomenological case study methodology was employed with interviews as the prime method of data collection. Themes emerged as part of an Nvivo analysis, including emotional responses, relationships and dialogue, all of which appear to have impacted on the students’ conceptual understanding of feedback as indelibly shaped by its interpersonal and affective, rather than purely cognitive or ideational, dimensions. The paper therefore seeks to contribute to the wider feedback discourse by offering an analysis of empirical data. Although situated within English teacher education, there are tentative conclusions that are applicable to international teacher education and as well as higher education more generally.

Correlating entrance data and first year academic performance of students enrolled in the Integrated Master in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Porto

2021 ◽  
pp. 030641902110156
Author(s):  
TMGP Duarte ◽  
AM Lopes ◽  
LFM da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Institutional Factors ◽  
First Year ◽  
Female Type ◽  
The University ◽  
First Year University ◽  
Over Time

Understanding how the academic performance of first year undergraduate students is influenced by home, personal and institutional factors is fundamental to delineate policies able to mitigate failure. This paper investigates possible correlations between the academic performance of students at the end of high school with their achievements at the end of first year university. Data for students in the Integrated Master in Mechanical Engineering (MIEM) program within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto are analysed for the period 2016/2017 to 2019/2020. The students’ performance is measured by two metrics and the students are structured as a whole and by groups, according to their gender (Male/Female), type of secondary school (Public/Private), living place (Away/Home) and the rank of MIEM in their application list of options (Option 1/Option 2–6). The information is organized statistically and possible correlations between the data are investigated. The analysis reveals limited correlation between the two metrics, meaning that all students may exhibit good or poor results at the end of first year in MIEM, independent of their status at entrance. An unanticipated pattern is exhibited for the group Option 2–6, since it shows that, despite entering into MIEM without top application marks, the students in this group can perform as well as the others. This behavior is consistent over time.

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