scholarly journals From students to leaders: evaluating the impact on academic performance, satisfaction and student empowerment of a pilot PAL programme among first year students and second year leaders

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey Scriver ◽  
Amber Walsh Olesen ◽  
Eoghan Clifford
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Future Research ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
National University ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Performance Satisfaction ◽  
The Impact

This paper evaluates the pilot year of the CÉIM PAL initiative at the National University of Ireland Galway through analysis of examination results, student surveys and the reflections of two students who participated as first year students in the pilot year and subsequently as student leaders in year two. The paper considers the impact of attendance at sessions on academic performance, student satisfaction with the programme, and evaluates the extent to which the initiative has assisted students to become more empowered learners as expressed through the development of self-directed learning, growth in educational self-efficacy, and confidence in navigating the learning environment. Recommendations are also made for developing the CÉIM initiative, which may be relevant to other PAL programmes and for determining the direction of future research.

scholarly journals Bridging the gap: blending spatial skills instruction into a technology teacher preparation programme

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diarmaid Lane ◽  
Sheryl Sorby
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Future Research ◽  
First Year ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Base Level ◽  
Technology Teacher ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn recent years, there has been a surge in research in spatial thinking across the international community. We now know that spatial skills are malleable and that they are linked to success across multiple disciplines, most notably Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). While spatial skills have been examined by cognitive scientists in laboratory environments for decades, current research is examining how these skills can be developed in field-based environments. In this paper, we present findings from a study within a Technology Teacher preparation programme where we examined first-year students’ spatial skills on entry to university. We explain why it was necessary to embed a spatial skills intervention into Year 1 of the programme and we describe the impact that this had on students’ spatial scores and on academic performance. The findings from our study highlight a consistent gender gap in spatial scores at the start of the first-year with female students entering the Technology Teacher preparation programme at a lower base level than male students. We describe how we integrated spatial development activities into an existing course and how an improvement in spatial scores and overall course performance was observed. The paper concludes by discussing the long-term sustainability of integrating spatial interventions within teacher preparation programmes while also highlighting the importance of future research to examine spatial skills as a fundamental component of technological capability.

scholarly journals Challenges and Opportunities of Asynchronicity: Task-Based Approach After COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Līga Beļicka ◽  
◽  
Tatjana Bicjutko
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Asynchronous Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Professional Contexts

The fast transition to fully online studies due to the pandemic made the universities around the world question many of their accepted notions on teaching foreign languages in general and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) methodology in particular. Putting stress on the synchronous remote teaching and learning has proven to yield a reductionist perspective missing asynchronicity, the dimension which makes reconsider the whole educational process. With its shift from the sole focus on learning terminology to training skills in authentic professional contexts, the task-based approach has long excelled in meeting the diverse needs of students. Thus, the research question is how well task-based teaching (TBT) solves the problems raised with asynchronous learning in a university ESP course. The research of available literature on TBT yielded the framework for constructing an extended task applicable in the advanced medical English. The case study with 120 first-year students of medicine organised around an informational interview with health professionals demonstrated easy adaptability of the task to the asynchronous nature of the educational process. Personal observations by the course instructor, summaries of student-conducted interviews, and student written feedback proved the responsiveness of the method to the learners’ needs and the potential of the approach in terms of motivation. The emphasis on self-directed learning, however, threatens the systematicity of the acquired language skills, as a more controlled teaching environment would not allow “skipping” any learning step. Additionally, TBT does not solve the problem of the voluminous teaching load.

Exploring first-year undergraduate medical students' self-directed learning readiness to physiology

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reem Rachel Abraham ◽  
Murray Fisher ◽  
Asha Kamath ◽  
T. Aizan Izzati ◽  
Saidatul Nabila ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Low Achievers ◽  
Self Control ◽  
High Achievers ◽  
Self Management ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Learning Readiness ◽  
Directed Learning

Medical students are expected to possess self-directed learning skills to pursue lifelong learning. Previous studies have reported that the readiness for self-directed learning depends on personal attributes as well as the curriculum followed in institutions. Melaka Manipal Medical College of Manipal University (Karnataka, India) offers a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) twinning program that is of 5 yr in duration. Keeping in mind the amount of time that the curriculum has devoted for self-directed learning, we explored the self-directed learning readiness of first-year MBBS students ( n = 130) using a self-directed learning readiness scale (SDLRS) and explored the correlation between SDLRS scores of high achievers, medium achievers, and low achievers with their academic performance in physiology examinations. Students were requested to respond to each item of the SDLRS on a Likert scale. Median scores of the three scales of the SDLRS were compared across the three groups of students using a Kruskall-Wallis test. SDLRS scores of the students ( n = 130) were correlated with their marks in theory papers of first, second, and third block-end examinations using Spearmann's correlation coefficient. The mean item score for desire for learning was found to be higher followed by self-control and self-management. Data analyses showed significantly high ( P < 0.03) median scores for self-control for high achievers compared with medium and low achievers. Between the groups, high achievers had a higher score for all the three scales of the SDLRS followed by low and medium achievers. SDLRS scores and academic performance of the three groups of students were found to exhibit a weak correlation. This study threw light on the fact that despite having a high desire for learning and ability of self-control, students need to be supported in their self-management skills.

scholarly journals Principles of Organizing Self-directed Learning of First-year Students within the Flipped Classroom Technology

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 80-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Borzova
Keyword(s):  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Classroom Technology ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Russian Language

The quality of professional education depends on the effectiveness of educational technologies. The Flipped Classroom technology is being  successfully tested at the Russian Language Department of Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service within the “Russian Language and  Culture of Speech” course. The article analyzes the experience of teaching with the use of the Flipped Classroom technology; it discusses the  special features of teaching first-year students, and the principles for  organization of self-directed learning process. In flipped learning, self- directed learning is the dominating type of educational activity. Teachers  must prepare their students for self-directed learning in the Moodle electronic educational environment, they must motivate them to independently master  the theoretical material and to do the practical and controlling assignments  and tests. In mixed education, self-directed learning helps to intensify the  educational process; forms first-year students’ self-education skills; develops  such important personal qualities as independence, activity,  consciousness and responsibility. When organizing self-directed learning of students, special attention should be given to the development of practical assignments for testing and control. In teaching the “Russian Language and  Culture of Speech” course, the following interactive and electronic tasks are  used to form skills and abilities in a reproductive, reconstructive, and creative performance: essays, glossary, mutual reviews, business games, projects, etc. Active methods of control and an electronic survey at the end  of the course facilitate the optimization of the self-directed learning process. Considering the special features of mixed education of first-year students,  the author defines the main principles for organizing self-directed learning.  They are continuity and systematicity; regularity and rhythm; intensity and  optimality of workload; interactivity, individualization, feedback and control;  effectiveness of activity; development of self-educational skills and such personal qualities as independence, activity, consciousness and responsibility. 

scholarly journals EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (06) ◽  
pp. 896-902
Author(s):  
Faiza Samad ◽  
Zeba Saeed ◽  
Zainab Hasan ◽  
Muhammad Faisal Fahim
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Clinical Medicine ◽  
Likert Scale ◽  
First Year ◽  
Senior Faculty ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Based Medicine

Objectives: Evaluate perception and barriers of practice of Evidence basedMedicine of first and third year medical students of Jinnah Medical and Dental College Karachi.Study Design: Descriptive, cross sectional. Setting: Department of Medicine, Jinnah Medical andDental College Karachi. Period: Dec 2013 to Oct 2014. Subjects & Methods: Of 100 students,response rate was 71% in each year, first year males were n=20 (28.2%) females n=51 (71.8%)in third year males were n=17 (23. 9%) and females n=54 (76.1%). A student based medicineEBM curriculum was imparted to the first and third year medical students in each of 2 semestersof 18 and 16 weeks duration. A Questionnaire based on Likert scale comprising of 10 questionswas filled out at the end of the course of the first and third years during October 2014. Result:Response rate was 71%, on Likert scale 4 and 5 First year students interest in EBM Classeswas n=61(89.5%) as compared to n=36(50.8%) in third year students. Importance of stepsof EBM for practicing clinical medicine was appreciated by n=60(84.5%) of first year studentsversus 47(66.2 %) in third year students. EBM course helped in understanding importance ofarticles in practice of medicine articles in n=44(61.9%) of first year students as compared to39(54.9%) of third years. Barriers perceived were practice of EBM in the institution was lackingas reported by n=35(49.3%) of first year students and n=47(66.2%) in third year students, alonger duration of course was desired by n=41(57.8%) of first year students the respondentsagreed versus=35(49.3%) of third years, and the course was considered more theoretical thanpractical n=35(48.3. %)by first years and n=48(67.6%) by third year students, p values were notsignificant. Conclusion: More Pre-clinical as compared to clinical medical students recognizedEBM as an important component of undergraduate education. This positive attitude needs tobe nurtured for self-directed learning as is evident in their realization of articles being importantfor clinical practice. The declining interest is due to EBM not being an examination subject,lack of practice of EBM in the institution, and poor electronic resources and lack of vision of theinstitution to embed EBM in the curriculum in to sustain interest as students moved to higherlevels and will remain a barrier till senior faculty give way to innovations in the field of medicaleducation.

scholarly journals Strategies for Determining German Nouns' Gender by College Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Svitlana Kiyko ◽  
Yuriy Kiyko ◽  
Viktor Drebet
Keyword(s):  
Native Language ◽  
Correct Choice ◽  
German Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Gender Categorization ◽  
National University ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Given

The article is dedicated to the study of strategies for determining the gender of nouns of the German language by Ukrainian-speaking first-year-students at the Yuriy Fedkovych National University of Chernivtsi, Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to establish the strategies for determining the gender of nouns on the basis of phonetic, morphological, and semantic criteria and experimentally trace the impact of interlingual and intralingual interference in the process of gender categorization of nouns. The material of the study included 60 nouns, out of which 30 were phonetic equivalents and 30 – semantic ones. Each group contained 10 nouns of the masculine, feminine and neuter gender respectively, with the same number of structurally different nouns among them, which were selected according to semantic, morphological, and phonetic rules of gender identification. To identify strategies for determining the gender of German nouns, two psycholinguistic experiments were held with a month interval. The experiments involved 30 first-year-students at the University of Chernivtsi (German department), who had to decide whether the noun gender specified in DMDX program is correct. Thus, the article in half of the given nouns was set incorrectly in the program. The obtained results indicate that the gender of the noun of the native language significantly affects gender determining of the German phonetic equivalent (85% of all mistakes in determining the gender in Experiment 1 and 47% – in Experiment 2). The students also focus on the suffixes or endings of German nouns when choosing the correct gender. Phonetic or semantic rules for determining gender play a secondary role. The gender of a noun in the native language prevents the correct choice of the gender in the German language, which is twice as often recorded for phonetic equivalents.

scholarly journals A Strategy for Improved Student Success and Learning with E-Portfolios in Economics: A Case Study from the University of South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zurika Robinson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Continuous Assessment ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, more education will be conducted online worldwide. Problem-solving initiates alternative assessments such as e-portfolios and continuous assessments. The Public Economics module for third-year students at the University of South Africa has gone fully online with e-portfolios from 2021. This strategy has been implemented as a follow-up to the research findings of Robinson. The findings suggest that the final marks of Microeconomics have a significant impact on the results of the final-year students in Economics. Other factors such as assignment marks and module repeats played a role. The results reaffirm the importance and influence of Microeconomics as base knowledge for undergraduate and future postgraduate work. In addition, the findings indicate that the more the students tend to repeat or qualify for supplementary examinations, the higher the probability of them not progressing. The conclusion reaffirms the importance and influence of microeconomics as base knowledge for undergraduate and future post-graduate work. The importance of assignments emphasises the use of continuous assessment and thus e-portfolios in Economics. Future research entails further econometric and empirical work on the impact of the e-portfolios on third-year student success in Economics. E-portfolios are beneficial; if kept simple, they can provide students with continuous learning. However, e-portfolios need more lecturer feedback and self-directed learning for students to succeed.

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