scholarly journals Front loading the curriculum: early placement experiences enhance career awareness and motivation

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine De Hollander ◽  
Teneale McGuckin ◽  
Kelly Sinclair ◽  
Fiona Barnett ◽  
Rebecca Sealey
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Early Career ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Exercise Science ◽  
Negative Experience ◽  
Career Awareness ◽  
Sport And Exercise ◽  
Early Placement

Deciding which career path is right for undergraduate students can be challenging and positive outcomes are linked to early work placements.  The aim of the current study was to explore the student experience following the introduction of early career-based awareness-raising and reflective learning opportunities in first-year sport and exercise science-based students.  Students met with the first-year coordinator to discuss career progression and career aspirations. From this meeting, students were allocated a placement.  Following the placement visit, students submitted a reflection piece addressing their experiences at the placement site with six themes identified including: 1) positive experience; 2) degree selection; 3) exposure and reinforcement of practices; 4) career awareness; 5) supervisor impact; and 6) negative experience.  The provision of early placement for students in an observational capacity appears to be beneficial to first year experience to assist in consolidating their choice of degree.  

Improving Academic Performance of Sport and Exercise Science Undergraduate Students in Gross Anatomy Using a Near-Peer Teaching Program

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Borges Viana ◽  
Mário Hebling Campos ◽  
Douglas de Assis Teles Santos ◽  
Isabela Cristina Maioni Xavier ◽  
Rodrigo Luiz Vancini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Gross Anatomy ◽  
Peer Teaching ◽  
Teaching Program ◽  
Exercise Science ◽  
Sport And Exercise

scholarly journals Mental Health and Academic Success of First-Year College Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tammy Jordan Wyatt ◽  
Sara B Oswalt ◽  
Yesenia Ochoa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
College Students ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
College Health ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Mental Health Issues

The prevalence and severity of mental health issues are increasing among college students, and such issues pose a threat to health and academic performance. Responses from 66,159 undergraduate students about mental health and academics from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II were examined using regression analyses. Differences in mental health diagnoses were found by classification with first-year students reporting higher rates of self-injury and seriously considering suicide. Upperclassmen reported higher rates of academic impact from mental health factors. Findings indicate one’s first-year of college as the prime time to promote awareness of and strategies to prevent mental health issues or negative academic effects; implications for first-year experience programs are discussed. 

scholarly journals Adaptation Challenges Faced by Pakistani University Entrants

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-51
Author(s):  
Fareeha Javed
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Environmental Adaptation ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
University Culture ◽  
The University

This paper reports on a study conducted to explore the challenges faced by Pakistani university entrants in adapting to university culture. Several studies have been conducted on first-year experience and challenges faced by students in adaptation to university culture globally. However, this was the first study conducted on this topic in the Pakistani context. Key adaptation categories studied were: academic, social, linguistic, and environmental adaptation. The data was collected through a quantitative questionnaire dispensed to 180 first year undergraduate students enrolled in a public-sector university in Pakistan. The findings revealed that many of the adaptation challenges faced by the Pakistani university entrants in this study are similar to those in the Western contexts and other international settings. However, this study also found that some demands of the university culture pose bigger challenges to the Pakistani university entrants.

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 Promoting student engagement and academic achievement in first-year anatomy and physiology courses

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole B. Reinke
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
First Year ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Exercise Science ◽  
Anatomy And Physiology ◽  
Sport And Exercise ◽  
Physiotherapy Students

Students from three undergraduate programs at James Cook University, Queensland, Australia, studying combined first-year anatomy and physiology courses, showed different academic achievement in physiology. Physiotherapy students were more active and social when completing learning tasks and achieved significantly higher grades in physiology compared with students enrolled in Sport and Exercise Science and Occupational Therapy programs. To promote academic engagement and achievement by all three groups, discussion questions, case studies, and study guides were included. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using these modified resources to promote active learning, enhance academic social interactions, and provide a supportive learning environment. The occupational therapy students showed increased academic achievement (from 57.9 to 66.5%) following implementation of the new resources, but there was no change in the already high-performing physiotherapy students (73.1%) and, more concerningly, the sport and exercise science students (from 54.6 to 56.7%). Fewer sport and exercise science students had prior learning in chemistry (30.4% of participants) and also spent little time outside class studying (8 h/wk), compared with the physiotherapy cohort (70.0% chemistry; 13 h/wk studying). Findings of this research demonstrate that creating a supportive and active learning environment are important factors in promoting the learning of physiology for some cohorts. Background knowledge, academic self-regulatory skills, and the experience of teaching staff are factors that must be considered when endeavoring to increase student academic achievement. Future studies should examine the effect of students’ academic self-regulation and the use of remedial chemistry classes when learning physiology.

Assistance in handling large-enrolment, introductory General Chemistry courses

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Pavelka ◽  
Avik Ghoshdastidar ◽  
Mitchell J. Huot ◽  
Ian S. Butler
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
General Chemistry ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Post Secondary Education ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
The World ◽  
Mcgill University

AbstractThe post-secondary education system in the Province de Québec is quite different from that in the rest of Canada and in many other countries throughout the world. The introduction of a 2-year Collèges d’enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) program in 1967 has led to a reduction in the number of years that Quebec students have to spend in both high school and at university. The CEGEP program combines the last year of high school with the first year of a traditional 4-year university program meaning that students living in Quebec must do a 3-year undergraduate degree at the universities, while all other students must do a 4-year degree. Moreover, since almost 50 % of 27 000 undergraduate students at McGill come from other parts of Canada and internationally, this has led to enrolments of about 1000 students in the basic science courses. We present here an overview of how the introductory General Chemistry courses at McGill University are currently being handled so that the students have a meaningful first-year experience.

scholarly journals Collaborative testing in Sport and Exercise Degrees: A comparison of first and third year students' perceptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 155-173
Author(s):  
Jonathon Headrick ◽  
◽  
Brooke Harris-Reeves ◽  
Talei Daly-Olm ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Collaborative Testing ◽  
Assessment Approach ◽  
Student Cohorts ◽  
Formative Experiences ◽  
Sport And Exercise

Collaborative testing is recognised as an effective assessment approach linked to positive student outcomes including enhanced test performance and reduced assessment anxiety. While collaborative testing approaches appear beneficial to university students in general, it is unclear whether students from different year levels benefit to the same extent. Therefore, the overarching aim of this study was to compare the perceptions and performances of first and third- year undergraduate students taking part in collaborative testing on multiple occasions during a semester. It was predicted that first-year students would perceive the collaborative testing opportunities as more beneficial than third-years given their limited formative experiences with university assessment. Further, it was expected that students would generally perform at a higher level on collaborative versus individual tests in line with previous work. Student performance and perceptions of collaborative testing were collected on two occasions within a semester over a period of two years in both a first-year and third-year course. Quantitative and qualitative results revealed that first-year students were more receptive and perceived more benefits relating to collaborative testing than third-years despite the fact both cohorts generally performed at a higher standard on the collaborative versus individual components. These findings suggest that while collaborative testing is considered beneficial to most, if not all, students, the benefits appear to be greater for first-year student cohorts.

Understanding of ‘Equality, Justice and Equity’ among First Year Undergraduate Students of BPKIHS

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-88
Author(s):  
Sumit Sharma ◽  
D R Shakya ◽  
S Adhikari ◽  
V A Chetri ◽  
R R Singh
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Health Science ◽  
First Year ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Knowledge And Attitude ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
In The Beginning

Background: Understanding of ‘Equality, Justice and Equity’ at the beginning of medical education will have a great bearing in future career. Objectives: To assess understanding of ‘Equality, Justice and Equity’ among the first year undergraduate students of BPKIHS who were in the beginning of health science/ medical education Methods: This is an academic institute based study carried out among the first year undergraduate students (BSc.- Nursing, BSc.- Allied, BDS and MBBS) of BPKIHS, based on convenient sampling. This included the responses of 181 subjects giving written informed consent. The ‘semi-structured proforma’ and the pretested ‘Bioethics Awareness, Knowledge and Attitude’ questionnaire were used to collect the responses. Results: We had 55% female subjects, more from urban settings (65%). Many students were aware about Bioethics and willing to be a part of Bioethics group. Half of the participants felt the need to discuss their patients’ information with their colleagues. More of them (38%) were not sure not about charging more for service on the rich to compensate for the poor while one fifth (22%) favored and one fifth (20%) disagreed. Most of the participants believed that patient’s wishes should always be adhered to. A few respondent students (4%) also believed that doctors and nurses should refuse to treat violent patients. Majority of the participants had heard of taking informed consent and agreed unentertaining patient’s questions during their posting. Conclusion: There should be various modes of enhancing the teaching learning opportunities for the medical students to learn about ethics and ethical principles including ‘Equality, Justice and Equity ‘and to enhance their positive view.

scholarly journals A Crisis in Civic Conscience in the United States? Knowledge and Understanding of the U.S. Bill of Rights among a Group of Undergraduate Students Citizens of the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Porter E Coggins ◽  
Janet A. Heuer ◽  
Michael A. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Focus Group Discussion ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Honors Students ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Bill Of Rights

Three groups of undergraduate student citizens of the United States at a regional public university were surveyed regarding their knowledge of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States. Additionally, the findings of a focus group discussion of Honors students regarding this same topic are presented and discussed. A fifteen-statement questionnaire was administered to 66 First Year Experience (FYE) undergraduate students, 50 senior students, and nine Honors students. Ten of the statements were quotes from the Bill of Rights amendments and five statements were foils which were not among the Bill of Rights amendments. A focus group discussion with the Honors students revealed several themes including those of rights and responsibility for educational curricula on the Bill of Rights. Analysis of the data indicated that these three groups did not present evidence of deep knowledge of the Bill of Rights by amendment number. We interpret the general lack of knowledge of the Bill of Rights as a warning regarding of the lack of value of the Bill of Rights and citizenship by state and federal governments and raise a concern of the possibility of a growing crisis in civic conscience of the citizenry of our country unless significant educational-policy countermeasures are taken. 

scholarly journals Fostering Retention in Online Higher Education: Students’ Perceptions of an Intervention Addressing their First-Year Experience

2020 ◽  
pp. 389-397
Author(s):  
Marlon Xavier ◽  
Julio Meneses
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Advising ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Continuous Assessment ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Online Higher Education ◽  
Intervention Measures

Dropout represents one of the greatest challenges faced by online higher education. This paper presents an institutional intervention aimed at fostering retention and success of first-year undergraduate students at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), an online and open University, through measures addressing learning design and academic support. Secondly, through analysing in-depth interviews with first-year students, the paper explores their perception of intervention measures and their possible advantages or risks. Results indicate that time-related factors represent the major issue for persistence and continuance. Intervention measures such as personalized course packages which prevent overlapping of submission deadlines; flexibility in continuous assessment; and personalized support and academic advising were valued highly by most students. Future retention interventions in open universities are also discussed.

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