Student Academic Support Research Articles

Experiences With the University Admission Process and Educational Support Among Students With Cochlear Implants in South Korea.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the current university admission rate and experiences of educational support among students with cochlear implants (CIs) in South Korea.MethodsA prospective online survey was conducted to examine the university admission process and academic support for students with CIs. Thirty individuals who took the college entrance exams at least 3 years after CI surgery were invited to participate, although two did not respond. The survey consisted of three topics (demographics, university admission process, and academic support) and 25 items regarding laws and policies related to university admission and support for students with hearing disabilities in Korea.ResultsThe university matriculation rate for students with CI was 85.7% (24/28), of whom 50% were admitted through the special admission process for students with disabilities. Most universities provided teaching and learning support and rental services for assistive devices for students with disabilities to help them better adapt to school life. However, only a small percentage of the students benefited from accommodation services, and 62.5% and 12.5% of the students received teaching and learning support and used assistive devices, respectively.ConclusionTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the university admission process and university disability services for students with CIs in South Korea. The results of this study will be helpful for young CI recipients and their parents as they prepare for university entrance.

Emory University School of Medicine.

Emory University School of Medicine.

BUILDING INTEGRATED PATHWAYS TO INDEPENDENCE FOR DIVERSE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCHERS: PROJECT PATHWAYS.

Diversity of backgrounds and life experiences on scientific teams is known to lead to more innovative ideas and better scientific products. However, in the United States, the percentages of individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups who obtain doctoral degrees in the Sciences continue to be significantly lower than their percentages in the population. This has resulted in the need for nation-wide initiatives to remedy this inequality, and consequently produce more productive teams of scientific minds. Xavier University of Louisiana is a historically Black and Catholic university that is widely recognized in the US for the success of its undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs. Project Pathways at Xavier is one of ten federally-funded Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) programs with the overarching goal of diversifying the Biomedical research workforce. Project Pathways is designed as a holistic, integrated, and coordinated program across Biomedical academic departments, student academic and career support offices, and the University's faculty development center. The overall hypothesis of Project Pathways is that if individuals from groups underrepresented in scientific research careers are provided with a) early awareness and deepening exposure to Biomedical careers, b) supportive relationships as they move through the pathway, c) suitable infrastructure, and d) meaningful engagement in Biomedical research experiences and adequate research resources, then a higher number will succeed in entering and successfully completing graduate programs, leading to increased diversity in the Biomedical research workforce. Here, the significant strides of this program during its first five-year funding cycle are presented.

A conditional process model of academic demands and student learning

ABSTRACT This study modeled the strain that academic demands (i.e., taking courses with demanding workloads) place on college students’ academic performance by exploring how sources of student academic support and stress might explain this association. Student participants (N = 302) completed a survey about their most demanding class of the semester and reported on how demanding the class was, how much stress they experienced related to the class, and how often student peers communicated academic support in the class. A conditional process analysis revealed that (a) academic demands were positively associated with academic stress, (b) academic support from peers buffered the negative effect of stress on academic performance (moderation), and (c) academic demands produced a negative indirect effect on academic performance through stress, but this indirect effect was buffered by student academic support (moderated mediation). This study provides evidence that students earn lower grades when academic demands create stressors, but highlights the importance of peers communicating support in mitigating the effects of these stressors on grades.

Examining the Efficacy of Student Academic Support Systems for ‘At Risk’ First Entering Students at a Historically Disadvantaged South African University

The study sought to establish what academic support programmes, policies and systems were in place to support first entering students who were at risk of not succeeding with their studies at a historically disadvantaged rural based South African University. The study examined institutional frameworks for supporting at-risk students and systems used to monitor academic support systems, existing relationships and practices that prevailed, and lecturers’ attitudes towards support systems for students who were academically ‘at-risk’ at the university. The study is premised on the qualitative research paradigm and the chosen research design was the case study design. An open-ended questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 100 ‘at-risk’ students, 20 lecturers, and 1 Information Management System Officer who was directly dealing with first entering students in the University. The findings showed that the university support systems were inadequate as both the students and lecturers indicated that support was either not forthcoming, or they did not know where to get it. The study recommends vigorous marketing of academic support programmes to both staff and students, appropriate training for mentors and monitoring and evaluation of effectiveness of existing programmes.

Multidimensional Faculty Professional Development in Teaching and Learning

Higher educational institutions exert great effort to improve educational quality and effectiveness to cope with digital challenges in education. The impact of COVID-19 on education highlighted the importance of the achievement of sustainability in higher education. To overcome many of these challenges, faculty members need sustained professional development infrastructure embracing individual and institutional dimensions for enhancing educational qualifications. In this study, a quantitative method was employed to explore goals, individual needs, and institutional expectations of faculty in an international university in a developing country. The obtained survey data were analyzed using descriptive and non-parametric statistics (i.e., Kendall's coefficient of concordance, Kruskal–Wallis test, and Mann–Whitney U test). The findings demonstrate that the preferred goals of the faculty are found as developing skills in disciplinary knowledge, teaching and learning, and research. To achieve these goals, they favor certain capacity building activities and support services. Findings reflect the faculty's positive attitude towards multidimensional development, thus opening up to the global knowledge-based community. This study contributes to the existing literature as a pilot study to identify that faculty professional development needs are in line with student academic support.

Tipe Student Academic Support dan Academic Buoyancy pada Mahasiswa

This study aims to overview the relationship between student academic support (informational, esteem, motivational and venting support) and academic buoyancy in students. 230 participants were selected used proportionate stratified random sampling technique. This study used a modified Student Academic Support Scale (SASS; Thompson & Mazer, 2009) and modified Academic buoyancy Scale (ABS; Martin & Marsh, 2008), correlated using Spearman’s correlation test. The results show that academic buoyancy has a significant positive relationship with esteem support (r = 0.168; p = 0.011), motivational support (r = 0.212; p = 0.001) and venting support (r = 0.158; p = 0.017), but doesn’t have relationship with informational support (r = 0.105; p = 0.111). Researcher suggests to do further research about contribution students' academic support to academic buoyancy. It is recommended to develop a mentoring program for students that facilitates mutual helping, care and motivating between students in the academic.
 Keywords: Student Academic Support, Academic buoyancy

Academic support for students with developmental disabilities in elementary schools: the roles and experiences of Chinese classroom teachers

Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore the perspectives of elementary classroom teachers in relation to the academic support that is provided to students with developmental disabilities (DDs) in China.Method: A qualitative research design, using focus groups, individual interviews and document analysis, was adopted to explore classroom teachers’ perspectives on their roles and experiences in providing academic support to students with developmental disabilities. In this study, three focus groups consisting of 19 classroom teachers were solicited from 16 regular elementary schools across three districts in Shanghai, China. Ten of these teachers agreed to take part in subsequent individual interviews, and eight of these ten participants provided their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for analysis.Results: The transcripts of focus groups, interviews and the IEPs were analyzed to generate themes and subthemes related to the classroom teachers’ roles and practices in supporting students with DDs in learning activities, the barriers to practice, and support needs.Conclusion: The findings of this study offer empirical insights into the issues surrounding academic support from teachers for students with DDs and the needs and challenges faced by these teachers.

Exploring the gap between what we say and what we do: Writing centres, ‘safety’, and ‘risk’ in higher education

Writing centres are a well-established aspect of student academic support in many universities around the world. As much as there is significant commonality in their espoused ways of working, and theoretical and ontological underpinnings, writing centres work in a diverse range of national and institutional contexts. At times, the pressures from their contexts – both ideological and practical – can work to shape the day-to-day nature of writing centre work that moves away from, rather than towards, their espoused ways of working. This gap between “theory” and “practice” in writing centres is the focus of this paper. The paper argues that acknowledging and characterising the nature of this gap in different writing centre contexts is vital, and needs to be taken on honestly and critically. This may better enable writing centres to act more consciously as a “critical conscience” in university spaces increasingly vulnerable to narrow, uncritical notions of ‘safe’ spaces for student development and growth.

Yet another acronym - Technology-enhanced Academic Language Support (TALS)

Since the earliest adoption of educational technologies, teachers and researchers have been exploring its efficacy on language learning and development. The speed with which these technologies are now infiltrating academic student support will continue to increase, and so the need for good guidance in this space will likewise increase. Currently in academic language and learning support, however, the digital space while prevalent and expanding is both poorly defined and the literature widely dispersed. It is argued here that a single term of reference, such as TALS, could provide a centralised meeting point where research and experiences from the field can be more readily and conveniently shared.

Yet another acronym - Technology-enhanced Academic Language Support (TALS)

Since the earliest adoption of educational technologies, teachers and researchers have been exploring its efficacy on language learning and development. The speed with which these technologies are now infiltrating academic student support will continue to increase, and so the need for good guidance in this space will likewise increase. Currently in academic language and learning support, however, the digital space while prevalent and expanding is both poorly defined and the literature widely dispersed. It is argued here that a single term of reference, such as TALS, could provide a centralised meeting point where research and experiences from the field can be more readily and conveniently shared.

CSD Program Makes College Possible After Brain Injury

CSD Program Makes College Possible After Brain Injury

Peer-Mediated Instruction and Activity Schedules: Tools for Providing Academic Support for Students With ASD

Peer-Mediated Instruction and Activity Schedules: Tools for Providing Academic Support for Students With ASD

Development of Guidelines for the Academic Support of Students by Using the A priori Algorithm

Objective: To examine the relationship of courses and tendency to attain weak study outcome to assist and protect students from school expulsion in higher education. Statistical Analysis: The data used for operating the Apriori algorithm in association rule was the grade points of the students from the Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, who each studied 23 courses in the general education category and the information technology category in total. This data had been recorded between 2011 and 2016 (3,200 records). Findings: The accuracy of thirty association rules with test data of 1,200 student records was real study outcome of all students from academic year of 2017 to 2018. Data from these 2 academic years were not used to formulate the rules. According to evaluation of rules’ efficiency defined by accuracy was 89%. Application/Improvement: The association rules to provide, assistance, approaches and mentorship to students with risk via online social media. These students would be able to adapt themselves and attained better study outcome. Keywords: Academic Support, Apriori Algorithm, Educational, Prediction

Academic advising in the context of modernisation of higher education of Kazakhstan

Actuality of this theme due to changes in the structure and content of higher education of Kazakhstan and increase the requirements for the preparation of future specialists. The need for modernization of higher education is determined by the objectives set out in the Concept of modernization of Kazakhstan education to 2020, inner laws of development of higher education and future development needs of the individual, society and the state. The leading idea of modernization of Kazakhstan education is the transition from knowledge-to competence-based education. Beginning in 2001, Kazakhstan universities established the credit system as an experiment based on the European Bologna process. The credit system gives Kazakhstan students the opportunity to build a route of personal and career development, to take an active position with regarding to their future, which will further contribute to their learning throughout the life. Based on these changes academic advising and student support of students are new phenomena in Kazakh higher education. This paper describes the implementation and realization of academic advising of students in the context of modernization of higher education of Kazakhstan.
 
 
 Keywords: higher education in Kazakhstan, student academic support, academic advising

Student Academic Monitoring and Support in Higher Education: A Systems Thinking Perspective

This article interrogates an Academic Monitoring and Support system (AMS), which was designed to enhance first-year student progression at a South African University. Institutional research evidence produced through engagement with AMS practitioners and university leadership, analysed through the lens of Systems Thinking, reveals a well-intentioned system, whose efficacy is compromised by systemic incoherence. The data suggests that loosely defined roles and responsibilities of AMS practitioners, their level of preparedness to provide academic support, their conditions of employment and job profiles, all act in concert to compromise the intended outcomes of the programme. The authors contend that opportunities do exist to re-engineer the Academic Development system to provide coherent, effective and sustainable support for students ‘at risk’.

Monitoring Student (Dis)engagement: Retention Officers’ Experiences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Most first-year university students experience serious academic and adjustment challenges, which remain undetected until it is too late to provide meaningful intervention. Universities are therefore developing academic support systems that can assist in identifying students who experience learning challenges early on, and provide quality first-year experiences that ensure that first-year students adapt, engage and succeed at the university. Such student academic support systems should provide resources that detect risk factors as early as possible. This study explores the support provided by the Retention Officers (ROs) in assisting first-year students to overcome disengagement issues at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, South Africa. Modelled on Tronto’s (2010) Theory of Ethics of Care, the design of the First Year Experience project is underpinned by the value of inclusion and care for first-year students in higher education. This practitioner-based paper draws on the experiences of ROs in monitoring first-year students’ disengagement in a science faculty at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Data extracted through interviews and written reports by ROs formed the basis for a qualitative interpretation of ROs’ experiences dealing with first-year students’ disengagement. This paper therefore highlights the importance of mediating between discipline-based support and generic psycho-social support through the involvement of ROs to enhance student engagement.

Return to learn: Transitioning to school and through ascending levels of academic support for students following a concussion.

The purpose of this article is to familiarize healthcare providers and parents with educational language, laws, and processes as they relate to a comprehensive ascending level of academic supports as it pertains to promoting a smooth and supported transition to school following a concussion. Returning to learn (RTL) following a concussion is of parallel importance to returning to sport (RTS). A successful RTL is a critical part of concussion management. Many RTL articles advise healthcare providers and parents to request formalized educational supports, also known as Tier 2 or Tier 3 services, for children with concussion as they return to school. Premature requests for formal (Tier 2 or 3) educational services, rather than allowing for immediate informal educational supports (known as Tier 1), can actually delay academic supports and have the potential to cause adversarial relationships between parents and schools. Additionally, this practice contradicts current research demonstrating the need for fast, flexible, temporary academic supports within the first month post-injury. Allowing school districts to direct the application of existing ascending levels of educational support for students with concussion as they return to school can promote robust and positive outcomes.

What Learning Strategies Do Academic Support Centers Recommend to Undergraduates?

This survey study examined the learning strategy recommendations and endorsements made by heads of academic support centers at 77 institutions of higher education. Participants answered open-ended and forced-choice items regarding various strategies. Several evidence-based strategies were endorsed and frequently recommended (e.g., self-testing, discussing course materials, answering questions, teaching materials to others, spacing study sessions), but some (e.g., multi-modal coding, interleaving topics) had lower endorsement. In a second section, participants’ predictions of learning scenario outcomes indicated strong endorsement for self-generating, moderate for testing and dual-coding, and low for spacing and interleaving. The results present mixed evidence for the endorsement of strategies most likely to support student success, highlighting an opportunity to improve the communication between researchers and those on the front lines of student academic support.

A primer on traumatic brain injury for nursing faculty.

Incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is increasing on campuses. Despite growing media attention and athletic program protocols to address the issue, many are unaware of the potential effects such an injury can cause. This may be true for nursing faculty who teach or advise students recovering from TBI. This article will examine relevant aspects of injury and recovery, as well as ways faculty can advocate for and support students who struggle during what can be a protracted period of recovery. Students' symptoms while recovering from TBI may diminish cognitive, emotional, and physical resources. Because individual responses to similar injuries may vary significantly, an individualized plan of academic support is important. A key component to academic support for students with TBI is integrated communication between athletic department staff, students, faculty, and administration.