Search

Purpose: This paper aims to explore student perceptions of recycling and explore whether one university's strategy helped or hindered student recycling in their university's halls of residence. There is near-universal acknowledgement of the urgency of the climate crisis, yet household recycling rates remain low at 45.2%. Student-recycling rates have been suggested to be even lower. After a brief consideration of the recent history of sustainability and recycling, this paper identifies the actions required to increase student recycling, including peer influence, education and information, physical structures and attitudes and motivations. Design/methodology/approach: Twelve in-depth, semi-structured interviews were undertaken at one Southern English university. The rich, qualitative data obtained were then analysed thematically. The theory of environmentally significant behaviour provided a framework for understanding perceptions and behaviours in that site. Findings: Confirming aspects of existing literature, students' recycling behaviours were found to be limited through lack of perceived ability, lack of facilities and unconfident knowledge. Students were also found to be limiting their own actions. A holistic approach including peer influence, education and information, physical structures and attitudes and motivations was recommended. Originality/value: There is little research into student recycling behaviours and limited literature concerning halls of residence, especially in the UK. This paper draws on one case to add to nascent understandings. While limited to one site and by sample size, a number of recommendations are made, covering university facilities, student empowerment and individual responsibility to increase future recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mixed-method study was undertaken to investigate factors affecting the transition to university of life sciences students at a research-intensive UK university. Questionnaire responses (N= 234) suggested that undergraduate students tended to agree that they had successfully transitioned to university level study in the first year. However, disproportionately more female students had a definite negative view of their success and this correlated with the lower first-year performance of female BSc Biological Sciences students. Focus groups with second-year female BSc Biological Sciences students revealed that they viewed transition as a period of great academic and social change. Through the lens of a transition model developed from Bean and Eaton's model of student retention, it was seen that both academic and social self-efficacy were important in facilitating transition, and were greatly aided by academic and social relationships with peers and academics. The timing of self-reported successful transition varied between students, with some students not transitioning academically and/or socially until the second year. Recommendations are that student academic self-efficacy should be promoted through helping students gain the necessary academic toolkit. Tutorials, peer-led sessions together with more social events could increase social self-efficacy and warrants further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, there has been considerable literature on the predictors of academic performance in higher education. However, the empirical findings are still limited in Cambodia; therefore, this paper was conducted to examine the determinants of academic performance of 329 undergraduate students selected from a university in Cambodia. Based on the findings from the multivariate regression analysis, a number of variables, namely high school grade, English ability, class attendance, study effort, academic self-efficacy, and family socio-economic status were found to be positively associated with academic performance. Term-time employment and family size had an adverse impact on academic performance. However, there was no sufficient evidence to indicate age, gender, household location, parental education, parental involvement, and teaching evaluation to have predictive power on academic performance. Hence, the study concluded that the personal backgrounds played the potential role in predicting academic performance of undergraduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to improve student success in community colleges has resulted in a growing interest in developmental mathematics. Yet there remains a need to understand the motivations and beliefs of developmental mathematics students in order to cultivate their success. Self-efficacy has been identified to be a predictor of student success. Little is known about the antecedents or sources of self-efficacy of students enrolled in remedial courses at community colleges and how their self-efficacy can be bolstered through such courses. An instrument was developed to measure sources of mathematics self-efficacy and was originally tested with middle school students. Using a sample of 439 students, it was found that a scale which measures sources of self-efficacy is psychometrically acceptable for adults completing mathematics remediation. Our results indicated that the four theorised sources of self-efficacy explained a large percentage of the variance in mathematics skill self-efficacy for our sample. As hypothesised by others, mastery experiences was the best predictor of self-efficacy but all sources influenced mathematics skills self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed the role of prior personal best goals in predicting subsequent academic motivation and engagement. A total of 1160 high school students participated in a longitudinal survey study exploring the extent to which personal best and mastery and performance (dichotomous) achievement goals predict students’ academic motivation and engagement across the course of a full academic year. Findings showed that personal best goals predicted higher motivation and engagement a year later. Along with personal best goals, mastery goals also predicted higher motivation and engagement, while the role of performance goals was either neutral or negative. These findings provide support for the contention that personal best goals are associated with higher motivation and engagement across time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study designed to identify the understandings and perceptions of boys enrolled at the London Oratory School about the male adolescent voice change, singing and choral pedagogy. The study took place on the twentieth anniversary of researcher John Cooksey's 1992–1994 study concerning the vocal development of boys at the London Oratory School. A secondary goal of the study was to determine any long-term impact of Cooksey's work at the school itself. Twelve boys aged 12–18, representing continuous and non-continuous singers, participated in individual interviews. Interviews focused on boys’ knowledge of their changing voices, the perceived effects of the voice change on singing and musical (vocal) self-efficacy, attitudes towards vocal rest during the voice change and recommendations for teachers and conductors. Analysis revealed that even experienced choristers sense a loss of control and autonomy during the voice change process. Results indicate a negligible ongoing influence of Cooksey's work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Twenty students from different educational backgrounds within the UK were interviewed to investigate how well they considered their secondary school education had prepared them for the educational and social demands of an ‘elite’ university and life within its most traditional colleges. The study asked them how they perceived students from different educational backgrounds and how they thought they were perceived. Entering a traditional Cambridge college was found to be easiest for students from prestigious ‘public schools’ within the private educational sector. State school students were more likely to experience anxiety, and those who adapted successfully were likely to have strong independent learning skills and a robust sense of self-efficacy. The study suggests that students coming from state schools to Cambridge are making a more difficult academic and social transition than students from private schools, for which they are given no special support. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article performs exploratory research using a mixed-methods approach (structural equation modelling and a thematic analysis of interview data) to analyse the ways in which socioeconomic disparities in voting patterns are reproduced through inequalities in education in different national contexts, and the role of self-efficacy in this process. The evidence suggests that in Germany and England students with lower socioeconomic status (SES) have lower levels of general self-efficacy, and that this is reinforced through early experiences of inequalities in the education system, such as within- or between-school selection. Low levels of general self-efficacy are then found to reduce political self-efficacy and voting intentions. In Germany and England, it is these students who enter initial vocational education and training (IVET). The experience of IVET then reinforces the distinctions in civic engagement, probably either through peer socialisation and/or curriculum differences. In Denmark, where SES has a weaker association with track placement, the experience of being placed in IVET plays a stronger role in reducing political self-efficacy and voting intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The growth in opportunities to enter higher education in the past two decades has led to a remarkable increase in the proportion of the British population who are now educated to graduate level. This transformation of the landscape of higher education has also been associated with an increase in student dropout, increasing dependence on lecturers, and ultimately failure. In short, although the agenda of widening participation has many worthy aspirations, it has also engendered some issues relating to students’ outcomes. As a new recruit to academia from teaching in the sixth form college sector, the author was interested to see how students made the transition from college to university study. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the approaches taken by two groups of undergraduate students to study during their first term at a business school. The research involved a cohort of 50 students and a 25-item structured questionnaire together with feedback from focus groups. This research sought to bridge the conventional methodological and theoretical divide between those who focus on self-regulated learning (SRL) and those, particularly in British context, who choose to investigate students’ approaches to learning (SAL). In doing so, this research serves both as a primer for further exploration and debate for a possible synthesis between these two approaches. In particular, the findings highlight the importance of self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and self-image, and how these concepts may be linked to strategic, deep and surface forms of learning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Amid a growing focus on graduate employability, this study examines the relationship between students' part-time work, career aspirations and self-efficacy, in a survey of 357 UK students from two post-92 universities. The results suggest a positive and significant relationship between part-time work and career aspiration. Students who work part-time, and value this opportunity, are likely to have a high career aspiration and strive to enhance their employability agenda. Self-efficacy (students' belief in their ability to succeed) is significantly associated with career aspiration. No significant gender differences were found in our sample for all study variables. Finally, students' level of study and malleable self-theories (the belief that people are changeable and with effort can achieve more) were found to be the strongest predictors of part-time work, while self-efficacy is the strongest predictor of career aspiration. These findings confirm the importance of individual self-efficacy in the value attached to part-time working among students in higher education (HE). Nonetheless, those students who do not work part-time while studying, do so mainly because they do not want to detract from their study. The concluding part of the paper discusses relevant application and policy implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers feedback in the context of modularised programmes in higher education in the UK. It is argued that the self-contained nature of modular assessment may limit feedback dialogue between staff and students to assignment-specific issues, and may impede student progress towards holistic programme-level aims and outcomes. A feedback profiling tool was developed to categorise feedback on draft and final work. The analysis of feedback on 63 samples of draft work and 154 samples of final work showed different patterns. There were more feedback comments on draft work, and the feedback comments were dominated by advice and critique, while the feedback comments on the final work were overwhelmingly dominated by praise. This pattern of feedback is problematised in terms of feed forward from one module to the next, as students work towards the development of programme-level outcomes. Ipsative feedback (on progress) and feed forward in terms of disciplinary-specific skills and programme-level outcomes are recommended to enable students to act on feedback on end-of-module work, and develop students’ capacity to recontextualise disciplinary-specific skills throughout a programme. Some developmental applications for the feedback profiling tool are also suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The foundation degree is an intermediate-level qualification designed to widen participation in higher education while providing work-related skills and knowledge. It has a vocational focus and a pedagogic approach that integrates academic and work-based learning. Research into opportunities and the process of learning within foundation degrees is limited, particularly that which looks in depth at personal development occurring within these courses. This study contributes to the literature in this area, reporting on the results of a case study of the foundation degree in medicines management (University of Portsmouth). A key finding of this work was that knowledge was gained within a community of practice, and led to students’ development as individuals. Motivation, learning to learn and guidance and feedback, alongside peer learning within the course, were central aspects of this process. The learning and personal development taking place resulted in increased awareness, confidence and empowerment in students, which was reported to influence their work and personal lives. However, the development of specialist work-related skills and knowledge was found to be limited, questioning the fitness for purpose of the course researched. While key aspects of the subject investigated have been described in this work, further research is needed to understand this complex phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes the development of an instrument for assessing enterprise capability in schools. The approach to assessing enterprise capability builds on previous work by including three dimensions: self-efficacy, aspirations and knowledge and awareness. We find significant but weak associations between these three constructs suggesting that that, whilst they can be considered as providing a coherent description of enterprise capability they can also be regarded as distinct dimensions. The instrument also distinguishes between aspiration towards not-for-profit and for-profit enterprise and also between self-efficacy towards two broad enterprise capabilities: (i) project planning and (ii) working with people and information and two specific, market related capabilities: (iii) market risk and (iv) price and profit. We found only modest associations between students’ sense of enterpriser self-efficacy and their enterprise knowledge and awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Goal-setting theory continues to be among the most popular and influential theories of motivation and performance, although there have been limited academic applications relative to applications in other domains, such as organizational psychology. Aims This paper summarizes existing quantitative research and then employs a qualitative approach to exploring academic growth via an in-depth reflective growth goal-setting methodology. Sample The study focuses on 92 UK final-year students enrolled in an elective advanced interpersonal skills and personal development module, with self-reflection and growth goal setting at its core. Method Qualitative data in the form of regular reflective written diary entries and qualitative questionnaires were collected from students during, on completion of, and 6 months following the personal growth goal-setting programme. Results About 20% of students' self-set growth goals directly related to academic growth and performance; students reported that these had a strong impact on their achievement both during and following the reflective programme. Growth goals that were indirectly related to achievement (e.g., stress management) appeared to positively impact academic growth and other outcomes (e.g., well-being). A follow-up survey revealed that growth goal setting continued to impact academic growth factors (e.g., self-efficacy, academic performance) beyond the reflective programme itself. Conclusions Academic growth can result from both academically direct and indirect growth goals, and growth goal setting appears to be aided by the process of simultaneous growth reflection. The implications for promoting academic growth via this unique learning and development approach are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on research with young people from similar working-class backgrounds in a deprived urban area in England. Although all the participants achieved a high enough attainment level to remain in full-time education beyond compulsory schooling, they each elected to follow different post-16 pathways. Drawing on in-depth interviews with nine young people, the paper focuses on the social and educational lives of these young adults as they reflect on their schooling and the decisions they made regarding their post-16 pathway. The analysis and discussion draws on the concepts of approaches to learning and self-efficacy to support a more nuanced understanding of intra-class differences in the educational experiences of these young people that may have influenced the pathway they followed when they left compulsory schooling. The findings of this research suggest a potential relationship between these concepts, the nature of which may influence educational outcomes and notions around possible post-16 futures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Self-Efficacy for Musical Learning questionnaire was adapted and tested with 404 primary school children, producing a robust Cronbach alpha (0.87) and confirming a single underlying factor through exploratory factor analysis. Test–retest scores showed the measure’s stability over a 9-month period. Data were collected on children’s prior music experience, extracurricular activities, and typical daily activities. Children also completed the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Those currently engaged in music tuition (learning an instrument or singing) had significantly higher self-efficacy scores than children who were not, and overall, girls’ scores were significantly higher than boys’. Correlations with various additional measures, including wellbeing and reading for pleasure, highlighted multifaceted relationships of self-efficacy to children’s lives. Regression analyses revealed that prior experience with instrumental tuition was the strongest predictor of music self-efficacy for learning; prosocial behaviors predicted boys’ scores, and well-being predicted girls’ scores. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Co-operative learning is underused as a teaching and learning strategy in higher education and yet is ideal for courses that require students to learn skills that require manual dexterity, knowledge and clinical reasoning - key elements of professional and clinical competence. Reciprocal peer coaching (RPC) is a form of co-operative or peer-assisted learning that encourages individual students in small groups to coach each other in turn so that the outcome of the process is a more rounded understanding and a more skilful execution of the task in hand than if the student was learning in isolation. Used as a formative assessment strategy, RPC has the capacity to increase motivation in students due to the nature of the shared interdependent goal, and to provide immediate feedback to students on completion of the assessment. The purpose of this research was to interview a group of first-year students to elicit their perceptions of the RPC process. The data were analysed from a phenomenological perspective and revealed three themes: motivating learning, learning in groups and the context of learning. The findings were subsequently explored in relation to the concept of self-regulation of learning and the benefits which RPC as a formative assessment strategy has in promoting students' self-regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western literature has traditionally presented women as either passive or ultimately unhappy heroines, for example Anna Karenina, Hedda Gabler and Emma Bovary (Tolstoy in Anna Karenina, Penguin Classics, UK, ; Ibsen in Hedda Gabler, Nick Hern Books, UK, ; Flaubert in Madame Bovary, Penguin Classics, UK, ). Their relationships with men tend to range from deficient to hopeless, as interaction with the other often produces endless struggle and sacrifice, against the possibility of self-determination and personal fulfilment. Religious doctrine is also replete with images of heroic women dogged by an unhappy fate or the passive obedient woman condemned to a life of servitude. These tales of female subservience logically lead to the idea that for a woman, individual freedom depends on the avoidance of commitment and intimacy; as attachment becomes synonymous with enslavement and so freedom is only possible in isolation. This presumption does not hold true for same-sex lesbian relationships, only those entanglements involving males where the union serves to project largely male interests. Even though the evolution of modern law is mostly subject to social forces rather than religious considerations and the last century evidenced the emergence of many new hard won women’s rights, the male perspective still constitutes the benchmark against which others are measured. It is suggested that society, whilst cleverly concealing any bias beneath empowerment speech, continually seeks legitimacy for new forms of control over the bodies and behaviour of women. This paper examines the current axiomatically given gendered representations of women and demands transparency in the processes which too often fail to accord women the right to equal standing and equitable treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. This paper is a report of a study to explore the phenomenon of empowerment cross-culturally by comparing the situations in which nursing students from the United Kingdom and Japan experienced empowerment and disempowerment in clinical practice. Background. Empowerment has been the focus of many studies, but most focus on the experience of Registered Nurses and few have explored the phenomenon crossculturally. Method. This was a cross-cultural, comparative study using the critical incident technique. Anonymous written data were collected from nursing students in Japan and United Kingdom between November 2005 and January 2006. Japanese data were translated and back-translated. Analysis of the transcripts revealed three themes: Learning in Practice, Team Membership, Power. Findings. Nursing students in these countries are exposed to different educational and clinical environments, but their experiences of empowerment and disempowerment are similar. For both, learning in practice, team membership and power are associated with either empowerment or disempowerment; depending on the context. United Kingdom students are aware of the importance of acting as patient advocates, although they cannot always find the voice to perform this. Japanese students however, appear to be unaware of the concept of advocacy. Conclusion. Student nurse empowerment may transcend cultural differences, and learning in practice, team membership and power may be important for the empowerment of nursing students globally. Further cross-cultural exploration is required into the association between advocacy and empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Increasing Student Competence and Confidence in Algebra and Multiplicative Structures (ICCAMS) research project in Great Britain. The project was funded as part of an initiative aimed at identifying ways to increase participation in mathematics, science, technology and engineering. To investigate students' spontaneous models for fractions, fractions item F18 was used in several open-ended group interviews during the project. The study suggests that using one's own diagrams effectively is much more demanding.