Investigation of Variables Affecting Nursing Students' Adaptation to University Life

Students who starts university in a new and often different city suddenly find themselves in a different academic and social environment. This new life differs from their past experiences in terms of educational experiences, human relations and social life. This descriptive study investigates the adaptation levels of first year nursing students of two different public universities in Izmir, Turkey at the beginning of the academic year and aims to determine the factors affecting their adaptation. The research data were obtained from 125 students enrolled in the nursing department of these universities by using a questionnaire. The data collection tools consisted of socio-demographic form and the University Life Scale. Numbers and percentages, ANOVA, and independent sample t test were used in the analysis. 75.2% of the students included in the study were female, and their mean age was calculated as 9=18.9±1.10. 55.2% of the students voluntarily chose the nursing department. The rate of students who made a university selection for the first time was 97.6%. The students were found to have the highest mean score in the "adaptation to the university environment" subscale and the lowest score in the "academic adaptation" subscale. The mean scores of adaptation to the university environment, adaptation to relationships with the opposite sex, and total adaptation were found to be higher for the students who opted for the profession willingly than those who did not and this difference was found to be statistically significant (220.202±36.43, p<0.05). The findings indicate that willful selection of the profession, the level of education of the mother, profession of the father, parents' living together, economic status, and living with the family are the variables that affect the adaptation of the students to the university life. Preparing university adaptation programs by taking the individual, social and cultural characteristics affecting the adaptation into account and tailoring the guidance and consultancy services based on student needs may facilitate successful adaptation.

DYNAMICS OF STUDENTS’ PEDAGOGICAL DIAGNOSTICS PROCEDURE SUBJECTIVE ASSECCEMENT THROUGHOUT UNIVERSITY ADAPTATION PROCESS

The author has studied medical students’ anxiety level throughout university adaptation process. The anxiety level assessment of students with different academic activities in pedagogical diagnostics system was done. The author considers students' contentment dynamics with their own results of knowledge control throughout adaptation process. It is shown that adaptation process causes students' emotional discomfort in pedagogical diagnostics procedure. High academic activity students get more likely increased anxiety level. On the contrary, low academic activity examinees with low motivation are more confident in pedagogical diagnostics system. After adaptation period students' anxiety level decreases significantly. High academic activity examinees become more confident in pedagogical diagnostics system. On the contrary, low academic activity students get more emotional discomfort in knowledge control system, because of self-organization skills lack and inadequacy of school knowledge base. The author suggests to take into account the obtained data to organize the educational process.

Expectation of internal control and parameters of empathy as determinants of university adaptation

There is a necessary for self-regulation of a personality during change of leading sort of activity and adaptation to new one. The article considers means which is able to contribute for increase of social adaptation at University. The interconnection between socio-psychological adaptation of students at University and parameters of empathy has been discovered by empirical way. This connection has been examined on analytical, structural and functional levels by using both methods of qualitative and statistical analysis, based on system approach to the research. It was used such methods of interrogation as `Assessment of the level of empathic abilities` by V. V. Boyko; `The methodology of diagnosis of socio-psychological adaptation` by C. Rogers and R. Diamond; `Adaptation of students to University` by M. S. Yurkina. The selection including 233 people was divided into levels by degree of manifestation of expectation for internal control for consideration of features. It includes low level (external control), medium level (optimum) and high one (internal control). It was determined that internal locus of control has an impact on increase of adaptation to University life. It was figured out that there is a manifestation of self-control in individuals who get predominance of conative parameters of empathy. Increase of adaptation is able to be achieved by using combination of the system elements such as an augmentation of facilitate empathic impacts, decrease of inhibitory ones and transformation of neutral effects of empathy on socio-psychological adaptation. Attention was also paid to the research of the structural complex both in general and in its individual manifestations. The structural analysis let to reveal basic and system-forming features of examined connection. Thus, conditions for the average manifestation of expectation of internal control have been found and it was determined that this phenomenon takes on base significance because its middle values promote for integration of system ingredients and increase of system system ability to adaptation process. In such a way it has been proved that harmonization of personality structure is possible being achieved due the increase of self-control and correction of empathic means as a mechanism of responsiveness.

The first University E-learning Study Programme Based on the Adaption of the EUPC: Portuguese Implementation Study

BACKGROUND: The training curriculum has been developed by a European project (UPC-Adapt) cofounded by the European Commission. Eleven partners adapted the Universal Prevention Curriculum to suit the European context. AIMS: The aims of the implementation study were to adapt the EUPC into a standardised university course delivered by distance learning by Universidade Aberta (UAb) and develop a process evaluation study focused on this adaptation process. METHODS: The methodology was inspired by the WHO guidelines for the evaluation of prevention and treatment programmes and combined with qualitative research strategies and methods (observation and qualitative content analysis). PARTICIPANTS: It features distance learning, without geographical borders or physical barriers, which is particularly important for prevention professionals working in the far-flung Portuguese-speaking environment. RESULTS: Enrolment has been difficult, probably for three reasons: i) people tend to believe that they know everything about prevention, ii) the prevention of substance use might be too narrow a field, and iii) there is no perceived need for a specific qualification in order to do prevention work in Portugal. CONCLUSIONS: EMCDDA staff with proficiency in Portuguese had access to the training course and followed the development of the e-activities and the interaction within the virtual community as part of the evaluation protocol. The course represents the first real e-learning-based university adaptation running in a standard regime in Europe, and UAb (Portugal) has joined Charles University (Prague) in making effective use of programmes and materials based on the original UPC curricula in the university context.

Internet portal as a component of forming the image of a modern university

Formation of positive public image is one of the main tasks of modern universities. In contemporary reality higher educational institutions are in a competition with each other and use different means to attract school graduates, investments and to find local and foreign partners. It was stiffer competition that has led to forming the notion of a university public image. Public image is an invaluable asset of universities which defines together with other components competitiveness and is a key factor in a university adaptation to external conditions, promotion in global educational environment. To become successful a university has to uphold the external reputation, implement the policy of transparency and availability. The article describes the main components of forming positive public image of universities, identifies peculiarities of an internet portal as one of the components of forming public image for boosting the position in international ranking including Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. The comparative analysis of main webometrics indicators of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University in February 2019 and in July 2019 was conducted. The results of monitoring the official portal of Grinchenko University carried out with the help of Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google My Business, Majestic SEO were described. To increase webometrics indicators a survey on modernization of Grinchenko University portal was conducted. The results of the survey of students and academic staff on design, structure, navigation, the portal usage frequency, usability on different devices were analyzed and considered for further modernization. The visualization of the survey results was provided with the help of instrument for business analytics Power BI which has got such advantage as design of interactive reports with key indicators of activity. After the upgrade of the portal for provision of optimal representation of the university, it was reevaluated with the help of Google Analytics which has testified an increase of indicators levels that will contribute to positive public image of Grinchenko University.