Remaining motivated is vital to enable continued focus and success for university students. This study examined motivational factors as a driver for success for first year students at a selected public university in South Africa. The study adopted a phenomenological qualitative research design and participants included 312 first year students from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg who were purposively selected from the 2020 first year Bachelor of Education cohort. Data were collected by means of open-ended survey questions in the first and sixth week of lectures. Alderfer’s Existence, Relatedness and Growth (ERG) theory (1969) and Vroom’s (1964) theories of motivations were used as the analytic framework. The qualitative findings indicated significant reliance by students on external motivating factors as compared to internal motivating factors. In practice, university structures could strengthen orientation programmes for first year students at the university as these programmes would be an external motivator to enable student success.
{"title":"Motivational Factors as a Driver for Success for First-Year Students at a Selected Public University in South Africa","authors":"M. Moosa, Peter J. O. Aloka","doi":"10.5204/ssj.2415","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2415","url":null,"abstract":"Remaining motivated is vital to enable continued focus and success for university students. This study examined motivational factors as a driver for success for first year students at a selected public university in South Africa. The study adopted a phenomenological qualitative research design and participants included 312 first year students from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg who were purposively selected from the 2020 first year Bachelor of Education cohort. Data were collected by means of open-ended survey questions in the first and sixth week of lectures. Alderfer’s Existence, Relatedness and Growth (ERG) theory (1969) and Vroom’s (1964) theories of motivations were used as the analytic framework. The qualitative findings indicated significant reliance by students on external motivating factors as compared to internal motivating factors. In practice, university structures could strengthen orientation programmes for first year students at the university as these programmes would be an external motivator to enable student success.","PeriodicalId":43777,"journal":{"name":"Student Success","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44827143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
To address the demands from their courses, students with insufficient language proficiency who cannot attend the standard subject-specific academic language development program are directed to an alternative discipline-specific program – the Language Development Tutorial in Block mode, at the University of Technology Sydney. This practice report evaluates the effectiveness of the alternative program, and the transferability of disciplinary learnings to a subject and assessment level. The findings reveal that most students were satisfied with the program and agreed that it had helped to improve their confidence, discipline-specific language and literacy skills, subject content understanding, and ability to complete their assessments. Students who completed the program were also more likely to achieve higher subject results than those who did not attend/complete it. The findings reinforce the need to provide alternative discipline-specific support where subject-specific support is not viable. More in-depth investigation in future iterations will improve the program’s impact.
{"title":"The Effectiveness and Transferability of a Block-Mode Discipline-Specific Academic Language Development Program.","authors":"Joseph Yeo, Gemma O'Donoghue","doi":"10.5204/ssj.2489","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2489","url":null,"abstract":"To address the demands from their courses, students with insufficient language proficiency who cannot attend the standard subject-specific academic language development program are directed to an alternative discipline-specific program – the Language Development Tutorial in Block mode, at the University of Technology Sydney. This practice report evaluates the effectiveness of the alternative program, and the transferability of disciplinary learnings to a subject and assessment level. The findings reveal that most students were satisfied with the program and agreed that it had helped to improve their confidence, discipline-specific language and literacy skills, subject content understanding, and ability to complete their assessments. Students who completed the program were also more likely to achieve higher subject results than those who did not attend/complete it. The findings reinforce the need to provide alternative discipline-specific support where subject-specific support is not viable. More in-depth investigation in future iterations will improve the program’s impact.","PeriodicalId":43777,"journal":{"name":"Student Success","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43572038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Inclusive education in Australia has resulted in a concerted push for the differentiation of pedagogical teaching approaches by educators across Kindergarten to Year 12 (K-12) learning environments. Such approaches have been shown to meet a diverse range of learner needs found in today's classrooms. While progress is evident at the primary and secondary levels of education, implementing effective inclusive practices in higher education appears stagnant. Utilising the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in a fully online pre-service teacher training unit, multiple means of representation of the learning content and multiple means of engagement were explicitly incorporated into the online unit design. This approach aimed to proactively support the engagement of all students in an online teaching and learning environment. This study provides preliminary evidence that the application of UDL principles resulted in higher levels of student engagement and lower rates of student attrition.
{"title":"Rethinking Higher Education Unit Design: Embedding Universal Design for Learning in Online Studies","authors":"T. Garrad, Huw Nolan","doi":"10.5204/ssj.2300","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2300","url":null,"abstract":"Inclusive education in Australia has resulted in a concerted push for the differentiation of pedagogical teaching approaches by educators across Kindergarten to Year 12 (K-12) learning environments. Such approaches have been shown to meet a diverse range of learner needs found in today's classrooms. While progress is evident at the primary and secondary levels of education, implementing effective inclusive practices in higher education appears stagnant. Utilising the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in a fully online pre-service teacher training unit, multiple means of representation of the learning content and multiple means of engagement were explicitly incorporated into the online unit design. This approach aimed to proactively support the engagement of all students in an online teaching and learning environment. This study provides preliminary evidence that the application of UDL principles resulted in higher levels of student engagement and lower rates of student attrition.","PeriodicalId":43777,"journal":{"name":"Student Success","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43595728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This work reports the effect of a revised attendance policy on attendance and course outcomes for two populations of students: introductory general chemistry students and upper-level chemistry majors. Initially, the attendance policy highlighted students’ responsibility for the material covered in class. This was changed to a policy with a specified reduction in the course average for excessive absences. Attendance and final exam scores were tabulated for each group. Implementation of the new policy increased attendance and final exam scores for introductory students, but it had no effect on attendance and final exam scores for upper-level majors. This result suggests that introductory students would benefit from course policies with specific expectations for attendance.
{"title":"Attendance Matters! Supporting First Year Students’ Success with a Structured Attendance Policy","authors":"L. Comeford","doi":"10.5204/ssj.2420","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2420","url":null,"abstract":"This work reports the effect of a revised attendance policy on attendance and course outcomes for two populations of students: introductory general chemistry students and upper-level chemistry majors. Initially, the attendance policy highlighted students’ responsibility for the material covered in class. This was changed to a policy with a specified reduction in the course average for excessive absences. Attendance and final exam scores were tabulated for each group. Implementation of the new policy increased attendance and final exam scores for introductory students, but it had no effect on attendance and final exam scores for upper-level majors. This result suggests that introductory students would benefit from course policies with specific expectations for attendance. ","PeriodicalId":43777,"journal":{"name":"Student Success","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47822831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Students’ persistence and success remain significant issues for universities worldwide, but Tinto (2017a; 2017b) argued that universities need to listen to perspectives of students themselves in identifying what causes them to persist and succeed. This article reports on such perspectives of Indigenous Emirati, Muslim women at one public university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Data collection from original doctoral research involved an initial, customised survey completed by 22 Emirati women with subsequent interviews conducted with a further 21 female students. Data for the purpose of this article were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings are presented within Tinto’s framework: goals; sense of belonging; self-efficacy; responses to curriculum; and their impact on students’ motivation. Tinto’s framework provides a valuable insight in understanding the women’s experiences, and their statements around persistence and success have important implications for understanding women’s progression in higher education in a society where male authority remains significant.
{"title":"Lessons from The Gulf: Female Indigenous Emirati Students’ Persistence and Success at University","authors":"Beverley McClusky, W. Allen","doi":"10.5204/ssj.2292","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2292","url":null,"abstract":"Students’ persistence and success remain significant issues for universities worldwide, but Tinto (2017a; 2017b) argued that universities need to listen to perspectives of students themselves in identifying what causes them to persist and succeed. This article reports on such perspectives of Indigenous Emirati, Muslim women at one public university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Data collection from original doctoral research involved an initial, customised survey completed by 22 Emirati women with subsequent interviews conducted with a further 21 female students. Data for the purpose of this article were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings are presented within Tinto’s framework: goals; sense of belonging; self-efficacy; responses to curriculum; and their impact on students’ motivation. Tinto’s framework provides a valuable insight in understanding the women’s experiences, and their statements around persistence and success have important implications for understanding women’s progression in higher education in a society where male authority remains significant.","PeriodicalId":43777,"journal":{"name":"Student Success","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49600653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
What is integrated practice, and how does it apply to student success? In this article we focus on exploring what third space working and integrated practice means, and how it applies to understanding our identity and leadership in student success, in the context of a pandemic-disrupted academy. We consider the ever-changing nature of this important work, especially in the context of the events of the last two years, and discuss how we might lead into the future to effectively situate post-pandemic student success practice within international university strategies, structures and systems. In the context of integrated practice, we consider: how is our understanding of student success evolving? What are student success professionals doing at the moment, and what are the hallmarks of our leadership? How might our identity in this work be understood? What are the core skills/experience required for the future, and how might we lead in uncertain times? *The authors presented a keynote at the 2022 STARS Conference: The Impact of the Integrated Practitioner – Perspectives on Integrated Practice to Enhance Student Success. This feature article is an abridged version of the presentation written as a feature article. It refers extensively to contributions in their recent edited publication: The Impact of the Integrated Practitioner in Higher Education: Studies in Third Space Professionalism (2022) Routledge.
{"title":"The Impact of the Integrated Practitioner: Perspectives on Integrated Practice to Enhance Student Success","authors":"Emily Mcintosh, D. Nutt","doi":"10.5204/ssj.2430","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2430","url":null,"abstract":"What is integrated practice, and how does it apply to student success? In this article we focus on exploring what third space working and integrated practice means, and how it applies to understanding our identity and leadership in student success, in the context of a pandemic-disrupted academy. We consider the ever-changing nature of this important work, especially in the context of the events of the last two years, and discuss how we might lead into the future to effectively situate post-pandemic student success practice within international university strategies, structures and systems. In the context of integrated practice, we consider: how is our understanding of student success evolving? What are student success professionals doing at the moment, and what are the hallmarks of our leadership? How might our identity in this work be understood? What are the core skills/experience required for the future, and how might we lead in uncertain times? \u0000 \u0000*The authors presented a keynote at the 2022 STARS Conference: The Impact of the Integrated Practitioner – Perspectives on Integrated Practice to Enhance Student Success. This feature article is an abridged version of the presentation written as a feature article. It refers extensively to contributions in their recent edited publication: The Impact of the Integrated Practitioner in Higher Education: Studies in Third Space Professionalism (2022) Routledge.","PeriodicalId":43777,"journal":{"name":"Student Success","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45809970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
If the Australian government is going to reach its target of 40% of 25–34-year-olds attaining a bachelor degree by 2025, it is critical that enabling courses are properly situated to bridge the gap between the alarmingly low numeracy of the adult population, and the mathematical or quantitative literacy (QL) required for undergraduate study. Yet, however, there is no single, widely accepted model for building the QL of adult learners. Data from students in one enabling course at a regional Australian university was analysed to identify potential congruence between students’ understandings of their mathematics learning and the key elements of the four resources model (4RM), widely used to teach literacy in K-12 environments. Results showed that the 4RM can be mapped on to students’ existing understandings, suggesting the model has strong potential for developing enabling curriculum and helping students prepare for undergraduate mathematics.
{"title":"“There’s a Reason for all the Numbers”: Using a Literacy Framework in Enabling Education to Bridge the Gap Between Low Adult Numeracy Levels and Undergraduate Mathematics","authors":"Gemma Mann","doi":"10.5204/ssj.2326","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2326","url":null,"abstract":"If the Australian government is going to reach its target of 40% of 25–34-year-olds attaining a bachelor degree by 2025, it is critical that enabling courses are properly situated to bridge the gap between the alarmingly low numeracy of the adult population, and the mathematical or quantitative literacy (QL) required for undergraduate study. Yet, however, there is no single, widely accepted model for building the QL of adult learners. Data from students in one enabling course at a regional Australian university was analysed to identify potential congruence between students’ understandings of their mathematics learning and the key elements of the four resources model (4RM), widely used to teach literacy in K-12 environments. Results showed that the 4RM can be mapped on to students’ existing understandings, suggesting the model has strong potential for developing enabling curriculum and helping students prepare for undergraduate mathematics.","PeriodicalId":43777,"journal":{"name":"Student Success","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44967229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Belonging is critical to first-year student success and persistence in higher education. However, differing definitions make it challenging to fully understand why belonging is significant. Foregrounding student voice, this research explored how first-year Australian university students talked about their belonging. Using Kahu and Nelson’s (2018) framework of student engagement as a lens, 18 students were interviewed weekly throughout the year. Students talked about belonging in three distinct but interrelated ways: familiarity, interpersonal belonging, and academic belonging. While all were important for student wellbeing and engagement, academic belonging, students’ sense that university, their discipline, and courses were “right” for them, was critical for perseverance. Unlike interpersonal belonging which tended to build through the year, academic belonging fluctuated for many students. The findings suggest framing belonging merely as about relationships limits understanding of this important construct. Contributing to scholarship by bringing a refreshed perspective to the nuances and complexity of belonging, the research suggests higher education providers need to monitor and foster academic belonging in first-year students.
{"title":"Exploring the Complexity of First-Year Student Belonging in Higher Education: Familiarity, Interpersonal, and Academic Belonging","authors":"E. Kahu, N. Ashley, C. Picton","doi":"10.5204/ssj.2264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2264","url":null,"abstract":"Belonging is critical to first-year student success and persistence in higher education. However, differing definitions make it challenging to fully understand why belonging is significant. Foregrounding student voice, this research explored how first-year Australian university students talked about their belonging. Using Kahu and Nelson’s (2018) framework of student engagement as a lens, 18 students were interviewed weekly throughout the year. Students talked about belonging in three distinct but interrelated ways: familiarity, interpersonal belonging, and academic belonging. While all were important for student wellbeing and engagement, academic belonging, students’ sense that university, their discipline, and courses were “right” for them, was critical for perseverance. Unlike interpersonal belonging which tended to build through the year, academic belonging fluctuated for many students. The findings suggest framing belonging merely as about relationships limits understanding of this important construct. Contributing to scholarship by bringing a refreshed perspective to the nuances and complexity of belonging, the research suggests higher education providers need to monitor and foster academic belonging in first-year students.","PeriodicalId":43777,"journal":{"name":"Student Success","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47202299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study investigated the impact of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) student engagement with co-curricular services in 2020. With limited institutional data, it is often not possible to gauge the cumulative impact of all retention and teaching activities, and while any one support activity cannot carry the weight of improving student outcomes, it is important to consider the impact of each as a contributing factor. We asked ourselves: How exactly do we determine how students’ connection to services is impacting learning? How do they connect to wider university expectations such as widening participation initiatives or retention activities? And how do we use evaluative strategies productively to mature our service design so that we can move beyond “satisfaction” to “impact”? Despite methodological constraints, converging lines of evidence indicate that engagement with services in 2020 had a small, but statistically significant, positive impact on grade point average (GPA), progression, and retention.
{"title":"From Student Satisfaction to Impact: Approaching Impact Evaluation in the Context of Methodological Constraints","authors":"Rhonda Leece, Caroline Rueckert, Daniel Madden","doi":"10.5204/ssj.2339","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2339","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated the impact of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) student engagement with co-curricular services in 2020. With limited institutional data, it is often not possible to gauge the cumulative impact of all retention and teaching activities, and while any one support activity cannot carry the weight of improving student outcomes, it is important to consider the impact of each as a contributing factor. We asked ourselves: How exactly do we determine how students’ connection to services is impacting learning? How do they connect to wider university expectations such as widening participation initiatives or retention activities? And how do we use evaluative strategies productively to mature our service design so that we can move beyond “satisfaction” to “impact”? Despite methodological constraints, converging lines of evidence indicate that engagement with services in 2020 had a small, but statistically significant, positive impact on grade point average (GPA), progression, and retention.","PeriodicalId":43777,"journal":{"name":"Student Success","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45672584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This special issue brings together a selection of articles and practice reports from the 2022 STARS Conference. The focus of STARS is expressed by broad guiding themes: Students, Transitions, Achievement, Retention, and Success. These themes provide the conceptual framework for this annual discourse and guide analysis of tertiary curriculum, programs, practices and culture. The themes are at the centre of considerations about how institutions are creating environments that enable students, in all their diversity, to realise their potential through post-secondary education.
{"title":"Volume 13 Issue 2 2022","authors":"K. Nelson, T. Creagh","doi":"10.5204/ssj.2429","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2429","url":null,"abstract":"This special issue brings together a selection of articles and practice reports from the 2022 STARS Conference. The focus of STARS is expressed by broad guiding themes: Students, Transitions, Achievement, Retention, and Success. These themes provide the conceptual framework for this annual discourse and guide analysis of tertiary curriculum, programs, practices and culture. The themes are at the centre of considerations about how institutions are creating environments that enable students, in all their diversity, to realise their potential through post-secondary education.","PeriodicalId":43777,"journal":{"name":"Student Success","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49283164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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