Recognizing the Need to Seek Help: Signals that Trigger Academic Help-Seeking among University Students

This article analyses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students’ social and academic integration, based on Tinto’s integration theory. A total of 640 university students in Austria completed an online survey pertaining to academic and social integration during the home-learning period. Results indicate that social integration and academic integration decreased significantly during the lockdown period in the beginning of 2020. The level of perceived support during home learning was positively associated with the levels of social and academic integration. Furthermore, while student age was a predictor for higher academic integration, it was not a predictor for social integration among peer students. Academic and social integration during COVID-19 was significantly linked with student satisfaction in various studies. This study has important implications for future home-learning periods, suggesting how institutions could prepare for longer disruptions of attendance and how they could leverage student integration.

Multicultural classrooms are widespread at college and university levels in many countries around the world. This is of interest and concern to educational psychologists and educational experts. Multicultural classrooms should be investigated in order to create a more productive classroom environment, healthier relationships among students, better academic integration and better developed social identity. The main objective of this research was to develop three scales to measure students' attitudes, academic integration, social integration and social identity in relation to cultural diversity at the university level. A sample of 417 students from Al Ain University of Science and Technology in the UAE participated in the study by responding to the three scales, which were validated using content and construct validity procedures. The reliability of the scales was also investigated. To the best of the researchers' knowledge, these scales are the first of their kind to assess university students' attitudes, academic integration, social integration and social identity in multicultural classrooms.

Multicultural classrooms are widespread at college and university levels in many countries around the world. This is of interest and concern to educational psychologists and educational experts. Multicultural classrooms should be investigated in order to create a more productive classroom environment, healthier relationships among students, better academic integration and better developed social identity. The main objective of this research was to develop three scales to measure students' attitudes, academic integration, social integration and social identity in relation to cultural diversity at the university level. A sample of 417 students from Al Ain University of Science and Technology in the UAE participated in the study by responding to the three scales, which were validated using content and construct validity procedures. The reliability of the scales was also investigated. To the best of the researchers' knowledge, these scales are the first of their kind to assess university students' attitudes, academic integration, social integration and social identity in multicultural classrooms.

The Value of Peer Learning for First-year Postgraduate University Students’ Social and Academic Integration

More than 3 million students study outside their home country, primarily at a Western university. A common belief among educators is that international students are insufficiently adjusted to higher education in their host country, both academically and socially. Furthermore, several groups of international students experience considerable amounts of stress while adapting to the culture of the host-institute. Several researchers argue that studies on adaptation of international students should widen its focus to the underlying mechanisms that leads towards this “misalignment”. In a cross-institutional comparison among 958 students at five business schools in the Netherlands, differences in academic performance between local and international students were identified by focussing on their levels of academic and social integration. Students’ academic integration was measured with the Students’ Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ), while students’ social integration was measured with a newly developed and validated questionnaire. The results indicate that the degree of academic success of international students is multi-faceted. International students with a (mixed) western ethnic background perform well on both academic and social integration, and also attained higher study-performance in comparison to domestic students. In contrast, international students with a non-Western background are less integrated compared to other international students. Nevertheless, they have a similar study-performance. Finally, academic adjustment is the main predictor of study-performance for Dutch, Western and Mixed-Western students. Social adjustment was negatively related to study-performance. The lack of fit for predicting long-term study success of non-Western students indicates that their academic and social integration processes are more complex and non-linear.

The Academic, Personal and Professional Learning (APPL) model of support for student nurses was developed and implemented as a pilot project in the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences of a university in response to a number of internal and external drivers. The common theme across these drivers was the enhancement of the social, academic and professional integration of students into the university and the nursing profession. This article describes the APPL model and presents the findings of an evaluative research study of the pilot that was undertaken during 2006–2007. This is a unique study for two reasons. First, the evaluative study employed a rarely used research approach in education – Appreciative Inquiry (Ai); and second, the APPL project set out to promote academic and social integration in first‐year students by bringing together academic, professional and personal support, and peer learning. The intention was to explore the research question: What is the impact of the APPL groups on students and their learning? The findings of the research are presented and discussed, conclusions drawn and recommendations made. The research design was that of a descriptive case study. Multi‐modal data‐collection methods were employed and qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed from students (n=73). Methods included a questionnaire and a focus group. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS; qualitative data were analysed using an adaptation of the Framework Method. The APPL group meetings are perceived by students to have a positive impact on their social, academic and professional integration into university. A number of recommendations are made to enhance and embed the APPL model in the wider model of student support.

The present study explores the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) on social and academic integration and study progress. Three hundred and five first-year students from three different psychology curricula completed a questionnaire on social and academic integration. Effects of a full-fledged PBL environment were compared to (1) effects of a conventional lecture-based learning environment, and (2) effects of a learning environment that combined lectures and other methods aimed at activating students. Lisrel analyses show direct positive effects of the learning environment on study progress: students in PBL obtained more credits compared to students in more conventional curricula. Moreover, the levels of social and academic integration were also higher among students in the PBL curriculum. The links between integration and study progress were less straightforward. Formal social integration positively affected study progress, but informal academic integration was negatively related to study progress.

The role of cultural dimensions of international and Dutch students on academic and social integration and academic performance in the Netherlands

Attrition is a problem of concern in many higher education institutions. Research has shown that retention can be improved if students experience social and academic integration.This paper presents results from a project aimed at using peer learning to increase students’ social and academic integration and thereby retention. A second aim was to achieve this with minimal faculty involvement. Social and academic integration is often seen as restricted to happen in the classroom and being facilitated by teachers. However, faculty resources are often limited and therefore we posed the challenge to minimize teacher involvement in the project. By teaching students how to facilitate peer learning in study groups, academic and social integration was obtained outside the classroom. The work in the study groups was facilitated by ‘real’ peers – not older students. The paper shows that it is possible to obtain academic and especially social integration outside the classroom.

This study attempted to analyze the variables that influence the academic integration of nursing students. The theoretical model presented by Leigler was adapted to the existing conditions in a school of nursing in northern Israel. The independent variables included the student's background; amount of support received in the course of studies; extent of outside family and social commitments; satisfaction with the school's facilities and services; and level of social integration. The dependent variable was the student's level of academic integration. The findings substantiated four central hypotheses, with the study model explaining approximately 45% of the variance in the dependent variable. Academic integration is influenced by a number of variables, the most prominent of which is the social integration of the student with colleagues and educational staff. Among the background variables, country of origin was found to be significant to both social and academic integration for two main groups in the sample: Israeli-born students (both Jewish and Arab) and immigrant students.

Despite the importance of acquiring economic competencies at the secondary level and the worldwide popularity of economics in higher education, there is almost no research on the effects of economic competencies on economics student retention. Based on a longitudinal sample of 538 high school students in Switzerland, this study provides the first results on this topic. The longitudinal study took place from 2011 to 2016 and comprised two points of measurement. Economic competencies were measured multidimensionally and comprised knowledge and skills, as well as attitude, value-oriented dispositions, interest and motivation. Different student retention models were adapted and combined to explain student retention in the field of economics. According to these models, students’ academic and social integration are key mediators to predict their retention. Based on these theoretical explanations, structural equation modelling was then used to test the long-term effects of high school students’ economic competencies at the end of upper-secondary school on their retention in studying in the field of economics. The results show that economic competencies predict economics students’ academic integration (as measured by grade point average) but not their social integration. Additionally, the data confirm that academic and social integration are strong mediators for their retention. In addition to economic competencies, students’ cognitive abilities, prior schooling (school grades, school profile, and school type) and perceived family support predict student retention in economics. Overall, economic competencies account for a substantial proportion of the variance in student retention. Against this background, the results indicate that fostering high school students’ economic competencies plays a crucial role in their study success in the field of economics.

Study careers of minority students in Dutch higher education are still less successful compared with the careers of majority students. Minority students still seem to experience more difficulties than majority students. Vincent Tinto’s twin concepts of academic and social integration are used here to explore the experiences of minority and majority students in Dutch higher engineering education. Based on a small‐scale interview study, it is shown that ethnic background does not seem to be a decisive, unequivocal factor in the extent to which students are integrated in institutions of higher education. Student answers show differences according to ethnic background in both social and academic integration, and these differences vary according to the year in which the students are found. The paper ends with some suggestions for further exploration.

This article presents an analysis of the academic integration experiences of mainland Chinese tertiary-level students in Germany. Using Tinto’s model, the article explores the challenges that Chinese students face during their academic integration, the strategies they employ, and the relationship between academic and social integration. The data were collected in spring 2016 by interviewing 26 mainland Chinese students studying either in German universities or universities of applied sciences. Four major challenges were identified and analyzed: language barrier, knowledge gap, pedagogical differences, and cultural differences. An important outcome of the study presented is that social integration serves as a facilitator for enhancing academic integration, but is not a prerequisite for academic success. Group learning with peers was found to enhance learning outcomes. Overall, Chinese students have exploited their own advantages in academic integration by exploring feasible strategies and benefiting from their past learning experiences. It is suggested that academic integration as a long and challenging process for international students should be acknowledged by the German HEIs, and that more institutional support and guidance are needed.

In educational psychology, individual differences have always received remarkable attention, with attention increasing in mental aspects such as thinking styles in recent years and with implications for teaching and learning. The aim of the present study is to investigate the possible connection between thinking styles and academic and social integration. It is well-known that psychological constructs like thinking styles play a role in certain behaviors or preferences and studying them can shed light on the educational process. The present study was conducted with 79 pre-service EFL teachers, all of whom are 4th grade learners. One reason for having 4th grade learners is that they have well-established ideas and attitudes towards academic and social integration. In order to collect data, two questionnaires were used. The first one is the Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI), developed by Sternberg and Wagner (1991). It is a comprehensive tool containing 104 items. There are 13 subscales, with 8 items each. The second tool is the Academic and Social Integration Scale, developed by Pascarella & Terenzini (1980). It contains 5 sub-dimensions, peer-group interaction, interactions with faculty, faculty concern for student development & teaching, academic & intellectual development, and institutional and goal commitments. The findings of the study indicate that the most common thinking styles are oligarchic, executive, and liberal thinking style while the least common thinking styles are conservative and hierarchical thinking style and it was the liberal thinking styles that mostly correlated with academic and social integration.

This article examines the extent to which social and academic integration and student educational objectives and intents to reenroll are predictive of persistence for community college students. An instrument designed to operationalize the concepts of social and academic integration for four-year college students was largely replicated with the two-year college population. Student educational objectives/intents discriminated most powerfully between persisters and nonpersisters, although academic and social integration and employment status also contributed significantly to differentiating the two groups. The article concludes with a brief discussion about the nature of community colleges and the fact that nonpersistence at the institution may be an indicator of student success if the student has transferred or accomplished his/her goals.