Incoming Undergraduate Students Research Articles

Post-16 students’ experience of practical science during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on students’ self-efficacy in practical work

This paper presents the findings from a detailed study investigating UK undergraduate students’ experience of practical science in their post-16 studies during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also examines their perceived confidence and preparedness in relation to areas of practical science skills at the start of their undergraduate courses. The study employed an exploratory sequential mixed methods design. Findings from student focus groups held at the end of their post-16 studies were used to support the development of a comprehensive skills audit and quantitative survey for incoming undergraduate students. Survey data were collected in September and October 2021 from 275 students commencing Biosciences, Chemistry, Physics and Natural Science degrees at two universities in England. The research is important because although almost all students had the opportunity to undertake practical work as part of their post-16 studies during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was considerable variation in students’ experiences. The data indicate that COVID-19-related closures of post-16 education establishments, ongoing social distancing requirements and the consequent removal of the assessment criteria for students to have ‘routinely and consistently’ undertaken each of the practical assessment requirements had implications for the development of students’ self-efficacy in relation to practical science. The research presents important considerations which are relevant for educators supporting students’ transition from post-16 to Higher Education and have the potential to impact on incoming students over many years to come.

Engaging neglected histories: First-year students, archives, and Wikipedia

At the University of California (UC)-Merced, the General Education program recently introduced Spark seminars, a first-year experience that invites incoming undergraduate students into the knowledge-making activity of a research university with a goal of fostering students’ intellectual curiosity, feelings of inclusion, and connections to place. To cultivate these dispositions, faculty are encouraged to create contexts for student research using campus and/or community resources. In spring 2020, Catherine Koehler, continuing lecturer in the Merritt Writing Program, approached University Archivist Jerrold Shiroma about the possibility of a pair of instructional sessions that would introduce students to archives and archival research through the UC-Merced Library Special Collections, in particular the library’s digital collection of newsletters authored by Japanese Americans incarcerated in temporary detention centers in the Central Valley during World War II. Koehler also wanted students to communicate their research to audiences beyond the classroom, which involved further collaboration with Shiroma to introduce students to Omeka, produce a digital exhibit, and, recently, partnerer with librarian Sara Davidson Squibb to develop a new Wikipedia page for the Merced Assembly Center. This article provides a description of these collaborations and outlines challenges, student learning, and future directions to integrate archival collections and library instructional projects with undergraduate teaching.

Transitions to campus mental health care in university students: Determinants and predictors

Background: Access to university mental health services is poorly characterized. Our objectives were to (1) assess patterns of access and (2) explore predictability of contact with student mental health services. Participants: Data derived from the U-Flourish study, which includes a survey of successive cohorts of incoming undergraduate students attending Queen’s University, located in Ontario, Canada (Cohort 1: 2018, Cohort 2: 2019). Methods: Survey data sets were deterministically linked to administrative data provided by Student Wellness Services. Analyses included cross-tabulation, logistic and negative binomial regression. Predictive modeling used LASSO regression. Results: Baseline symptoms were robust determinants of access. For example, a PHQ-9 rating in the severe range (≥ 20) was associated with an OR of 9.71 (95% CI: 4.46–21.1). A predictive algorithm did not outperform cut point-based interpretation of PHQ-9 or GAD-7 ratings. Conclusions: Self-reported symptoms are consistently associated with service use, supporting the widespread use of symptom screens.

Benefits and harms of social media use: A latent profile analysis of emerging adults

The rise in social media use among emerging adults in the United States has been well-documented, but researchers are still working on identifying how the type—not just the frequency—of use impacts psychological well-being. We identified “profiles” of social media use among young adults based on the frequency and purposes of use, and examined their associations with benefits and harms to psychosocial well-being, using data from 2828 incoming undergraduate students (Mage = 18.29 years; age range: 17 to 25 years). Using Latent Profile Analysis, we identified three unique profiles of individuals who used social media with varying levels of intensity across different purposes: Active Users (32.4%), Passive Users (25.3%), and Average Users (42.4%). Each profile was associated with varying levels of beneficial and harmful psychosocial outcomes. Compared to Average Users, (a) Active Users reported significantly better psychosocial well-being, but also more harmful outcomes; and (b) Passive Users experienced significantly lower levels of perceived social media benefits and social connectedness, while also reporting less problematic social media use and social media stress. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

What do Incoming University Students Believe About Open Science Practices in Psychology?

Background Understanding students’ naive conceptions about the norms that guide scientific best practice is important so that teachers can adapt to students’ existing understandings. Objective We examined what incoming undergraduate students of psychology believe about reproducibility and open science practices. Method We conducted an online survey with participants who were about to start their first course in psychology at a university ( N = 239). Results When asked to indicate how a researcher should conduct her study, most students endorsed several open science practices. When asked to estimate the proportion of published psychological studies that follow various open science practices, participants’ estimates averaged near 50%. Only 18% of participants reported that they had heard the term “replication crisis.” Conclusion Despite media attention about the replication crisis, few incoming psychology students in our sample were familiar with the term. The students were nevertheless in favour of most open science practices, although they overestimated the prevalence of some of these practices in psychology. Teaching Implications Teachers of incoming psychology students should not assume pre-existing knowledge about open science or replicability.

Literacy, Curriculum, and Pedagogies: Considerations for Anthropologists Teaching First-Year Composition

Despite the fact that this article began as a formal response to Chattaraj (2020), it serves a larger purpose in contextualizing the first-year composition classroom and the training required to provide effective instruction to students across all academic fields. Although an anthropologically-minded approach to the teaching of writing can be quite beneficial, suggesting that an anthropologist can—or even should—assume the responsibilities of first-year composition without additional training is ill-advised. To this end, this article draws upon not only the prior literature on Composition/Rhetoric, but also on the place and benefits of writing in the anthropology classroom more generally. Because the initial publication (i.e. Chattaraj, 2020) relied strictly on personal anecdotal evidence for academic success in a particular classroom setting at a liberal arts university, the findings are not generalizable to most post-secondary institutions due to the institutional accreditation requirements for educators, the concerning statistics on the literacy rates of incoming undergraduate students, the general objectives of curricular pathways, and the remarkable consistency found in first-year composition courses. As a result, this response presents a transparent overview of the first-year composition classroom and offers concrete suggestions for anthropologists who endeavour to support writing across the curriculum and/or in the disciplines.

Supporting students during the transition to university in COVID-19: Five key considerations and recommendations for educators

As coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) continues to disrupt pretertiary education provision and examinations in the United Kingdom, urgent consideration must be given to how best to support the 2021–2022 cohort of incoming undergraduate students to higher education. In this paper, we draw upon the “Five Sense of Student Success” model to highlight five key evidence-based, psychology-informed considerations that higher education educators should be attentive to when preparing for the next academic year. These include the challenge in helping students to reacclimatize to academic work following a period of prolonged educational disruption, supporting students to access the “hidden curriculum” of higher education, negotiating mental health consequences of COVID-19, and remaining sensitive to inequalities of educational provision that students have experienced as a result of COVID-19. We provide evidence-based, psychology-informed recommendations to each of these considerations.

Incoming Undergraduate Students Struggle to Accurately Evaluate Legitimacy of Online News

A Review of: Evanson, C., & Sponsel, J. (2019). From syndication to misinformation: How undergraduate students engage with and evaluate digital news. Communications in Information Literacy, 13(2), 228-250. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2019.13.2.6 Abstract Objective – To determine how new undergraduate students access, share, and evaluate the credibility of digital news. Design – Asynchronous online survey and activity. Setting – A small private, liberal arts college in the southeastern United States of America. Subjects – Participants included 511 incoming first-year college students. Methods – Using the Moodle Learning Management System, incoming first-year students completed a mandatory questionnaire that included multiple choice, Likert scale, open-ended, and true/false questions related to news consumption. Two questions asked students to identify which news sources and social networking sites they have used recently, and the next two questions asked students to define fake news and rate the degree to which fake news impacts them personally and the degree to which it impacts society. The end of the survey presented students with screenshots of three news stories and asked them to reflect on how they would evaluate the claim in the story, their confidence level in the claim, and whether or not they would share this news item on social media. The three items chosen represent certain situations that commonly cause confusion for news consumers: (a) a heading that does not match the text of the article, (b) a syndicated news story, and (c) an impostor URL and fake news story. Researchers coded the student responses using both preset and emergent codes. Main Results – Eighty-two percent of students reported using at least one social media site to access political news in the previous seven days. Students reported believing that fake news is a worrying trend for society, with 86% labelling it either a “moderate” or “extreme” barrier to society’s ability to recognize accurate information. However, they expressed less concern about their own ability to navigate an information environment in which fake news is prevalent, with 51% agreeing that it has only somewhat of an effect on their own ability to effectively navigate digital information. Of the three news items presented to them, students expressed the least confidence (an average of 1.55/4) and least interest in sharing (12%) the first news item, in which the heading does not match the text. However, only 14% of respondents noted this mismatch. In evaluations of the second item, an AP news item on the Breitbart website, 35% of students noted the website on which the article was found, but fewer noted that the original source is the Associated Press. Student responses to the third article, a fake news item from a website masquerading as an NBC website, show that 37% of students believed the source to come from a legitimate NBC source. Only 7% of students recognized the unusual URL, and 24% of respondents indicated that they might share this news item on social media. Conclusion – The study finds that impostor URLs and syndicated news items might confuse students into misevaluating the information before them, and that librarians and other instructors should raise awareness of these tactics.

Juul use among emerging adults transitioning from high school to college

Objective: Assess the prevalence, perceptions, sociodemographic/personal factors that influence Juul use among incoming freshmen. Participants: Incoming undergraduate students (N = 1,706) attending a public university in the southeastern U.S. Methods: Cross-sectional survey administered August 2018. Bivariate relationships assessed using chi-square test of association. Multinomial logistic regression to determine factors associated with Juul use status. Results: 41% had ever used Juul, 24% had used within the past month. Among current users, one-third had used 20–30 days. Risk factors for current use: heterosexual orientation (relative to other sexual orientation) AOR = 2.16, 95% CI: 1.20–3.91), those who planned to join sorority/fraternity (relative to those who did not plan to; AOR = 2.15, 95% CI: 1.59–2.90), current smokers (relative to nonsmokers; AOR = 24.39, 95% CI: 7.52–76.92), current marijuana users (compared with nonusers of marijuana; AOR = 6.45, 95% CI: 3.92–10.64) and alcohol users (compared with nondrinkers; AOR = 7.81, 95% CI: 5.75–10.54). Conclusion: Prevention and treatment efforts are needed for emerging adults transitioning to college.

An exploratory study on the beliefs about gender-based violence held by incoming undergraduates in England

A growing body of research indicates that gender-based violence is a public health problem for UK universities. To date, there is a paucity of knowledge about beliefs regarding gender-based violence among UK university students and how receptive they are to help change university culture by participating in prevention programmes. This article uses findings from the first cross-sectional study in England that measured beliefs, including rape and domestic violence and abuse (DVA) myth acceptance, and readiness for change. A survey was given to 381 incoming undergraduate students attending a university in the South West of England. The findings suggest that men endorse rape and DVA myths more than women. Rape myths were associated with DVA myths and further analyses indicated that the subscales He didn’t mean to and It wasn’t really rape predicted DVA myths. Denial of the problem of sexual violence and DVA was predicted by myth endorsement but assuming responsibility for change was not. These findings provide insight into the particular myths held by incoming undergraduates and how they operate together to scaffold gender-based violence in university settings. Rape and DVA myths need to be targeted in the development of effective prevention programmes in English Universities.

A theory-based online health behaviour intervention for new university students (U@Uni:LifeGuide): results from a repeat randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundThis paper reports the results of a repeat trial assessing the effectiveness of an online theory-based intervention to promote healthy lifestyle behaviours in new university students. The original trial found that the intervention reduced the number of smokers at 6-month follow-up compared with the control condition, but had non-significant effects on the other targeted health behaviours. However, the original trial suffered from low levels of engagement, which the repeat trial sought to rectify.MethodsThree weeks before staring university, all incoming undergraduate students at a large university in the UK were sent an email inviting them to participate in the study. After completing a baseline questionnaire, participants were randomly allocated to intervention or control conditions. The intervention consisted of a self-affirmation manipulation, health messages based on the theory of planned behaviour and implementation intention tasks. Participants were followed-up 1 and 6 months after starting university. The primary outcome measures were portions of fruit and vegetables consumed, physical activity levels, units of alcohol consumed and smoking status at 6-month follow-up.ResultsThe study recruited 2,621 students (intervention n = 1346, control n = 1275), of whom 1495 completed at least one follow-up (intervention n = 696, control n = 799). Intention-to-treat analyses indicated that the intervention had a non-significant effect on the primary outcomes, although the effect of the intervention on fruit and vegetable intake was significant in the per-protocol analyses. Secondary analyses revealed that the intervention had significant effects on having smoked at university (self-report) and on a biochemical marker of alcohol use.ConclusionsDespite successfully increasing levels of engagement, the intervention did not have a significant effect on the primary outcome measures. The relatively weak effects of the intervention, found in both the original and repeat trials, may be due to the focus on multiple versus single health behaviours. Future interventions targeting the health behaviour of new university students should therefore focus on single health behaviours.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN07407344.

Internet Use Among Incoming Undergraduate Students of Kuwait University

Information and technological skills instruction has been a lingering challenge for librarians and information professionals. Even though undergraduate incoming students to colleges and universities are a technology-savvy generation, evaluation of their Information Literacy (IL) and Technology Literacy (TL) skills might reveal a different situation. This research evaluates the familiarity and skills of the incoming class of undergraduate students of the College of Social Sciences at Kuwait University with Internet and other Social Media Networks (SMN). It seeks to investigate the relation to the educational background of the family and tries to ascertain the uses and means of accessing Internet and its various tools and practical implications on librarianship and the undergraduate curriculum.

Recognising and building on freshman students’ prior knowledge of economics

Could traditional economics principles courses be underserving students by failing to recognise their extant economics knowledge? In this paper, we describe an evidence-based approach that challenges the dominant paradigm in teaching first-year economics. We first show that incoming undergraduate students have higher than expected levels of economic literacy. We then describe extensions we have made to the breadth and depth of content coverage in our introductory economics course. Finally, we show using international comparisons that these changes were made without a substantial loss of learning of core economics topics, and without disadvantaging students who have no prior high school economics training.

Associations Between Chronotypes, Psychopathology, and Personality Among Incoming College Students

Chronotye is associated with age, sex, personality, and parental monitoring during childhood. The evening type is associated with poor school performance, sleep problems, anxious/depressive symptoms, tobacco smoking, caffeine consumption, alcohol drinking, and suicidality in adolescents. The present study tested the relationships between chronotype and a wide range of psychopathology and personality traits among 2919 incoming undergraduate students. Each participant completed a self-administered questionnaire that included demographics, plus the Morningness-Eveningness (M-E) scale, Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS), Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire, and Maudesley Personality Inventory. The t-score distribution of the M-E scale was used to form the morning (t-score >60, n = 419), evening (t-score <40, n = 371), and intermediate (40 ≤ t-score ≤ 60, n = 2129) groups. Multivariable regression was employed for data analysis. For males, the evening type scored higher on all subscales of the BSRS than the morning type, except phobic anxiety. For females, the evening type had higher scores than the other two types on all subscales, except in obsession/compulsion and phobic anxiety, where the evening type only scored higher than the intermediate type. The evening type of both sexes also scored higher than the morning type in novelty seeking, harm avoidance, and neurotic personality characteristics, but lower than the morning type in extraversion and social desirability. In reward dependence, the evening type scored lowest for males, but there was no difference for females. The findings of the evening type being associated with possible psychopathology and certain types of personality have public health implications, that is, chronotype needs to be taken into account in the development of mental health prevention programs and assessment of and intervention for mental problems in young adults. (Author correspondence: gaushufe@ntu.edu.tw)

Through a game darkly: student experiences with the technology of the library research process

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of students' library‐research difficulties, especially difficulties rooted in technology, to describe how the BiblioBouts information literacy game helps students overcome these difficulties, and to discuss how BiblioBouts has evolved in order to reduce students' difficulties with the technology of the library‐research process.Design/methodology/approachData collection was multi‐modal involving quantitative instruments such as questionnaires and logs of students' game‐play activity and qualitative involving game diaries that students voluntarily completed after time they played the game, focus group interviews with students who played and did not play the game, and personal interviews with instructors before and after their students played the game.FindingsThe technology underlying the library research process is difficult to use. BiblioBouts helps students overcome their difficulties. BiblioBouts continues to evolve to enable students to reduce their difficulties with this technology.Research limitations/implicationsPlaying BiblioBouts gives students exposure to searching library databases but game play per se does not focus on searching.Practical implicationsStudents benefit from playing BiblioBouts. They gain first‐hand experience and practice with library‐research technologies such as the library portal for database selection, library databases for quality information, and Zotero for citation management. They are exposed to more sources than they would have found on their own and a logical, methodical process for evaluating the sources they find.Social implicationsOnline social gaming has been enlisted to transform library research from a solitary activity into a collaborative activity where students document their research activities and share in the research trail that individual game players leave behind.Originality/valueThe research underlines gaming's effectiveness for teaching incoming undergraduate students information literacy skills and concepts.

Essential Computer Skills for College Students

Computers have a growing presence in all levels of education and in all kinds of occupations. To be adequately prepared for their chosen professions, undergraduate college students have to be successful in their coursework. To achieve that success, and in consideration of the increasing reliance on using computers in their personal and work lives, students need a certain level of expertise in identified computer applications. Incorporating interviews and surveys, this project researched the computer knowledge needed by incoming undergraduate students in Business Administration and Social Work. The research results found that students need proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, ANGEL learning management system, Internet browser, search engines, and e-mail.

At the intersection of language assessment and academic advising: Communicating results of a large-scale diagnostic academic English writing assessment to students and other stakeholders

Many tertiary institutions administer diagnostic academic English assessments to incoming undergraduate students following the large rise in international students. This is often done to ensure students with difficulties in academic English are diagnosed early and referred to appropriate support programs on campus. This paper presents the findings of a series of interviews with the aim of establishing the type of feedback stakeholders favor following such a writing assessment and how the results could best be communicated to students. The findings highlight the integral importance of the role of academic advisors to the success of this large-scale diagnostic writing assessment. A tentative model of diagnostic writing assessment in a tertiary setting is presented.

Rape Myth Beliefs and Bystander Attitudes Among Incoming College Students

Objective: The bystander approach to rape prevention is gaining popularity on college campuses, although research is limited. This study explored bystander attitudes and their relationship with rape myths in a sample of college students. Participants: Surveys from 2,338 incoming undergraduate students at a large, northeastern university were analyzed. Methods: Participants completed revised versions of the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale and the Bystander Attitude Scale. Results: A higher acceptance of rape myths was reported by males, those pledging a fraternity/sorority, athletes, those without previous rape education, and those who did not know someone sexually assaulted. A greater willingness to intervene as a bystander was reported by females, those who had previous rape education, and those who knew someone sexually assaulted. Acceptance of rape myths was negatively related to willingness to intervene. Conclusions: Bystander intervention programs should include content on rape myths as well as focus on the role of gender.

A–level psychology teachers: Who are they and what do they think about psychology as a subject and a discipline?

A–level psychology teachers (N=109) responded to a questionnaire asking about their academic background, their experience of and views about A–level psychology. Teachers were also asked about the scientific status of psychology as a discipline and about the nature of science in general. Most respondents thought that the A–level course provides students with good preparation for university but overall they tended to disagree that the A-level should be a pre–requisite for university study. A–level topic options taught least often (e.g. biological, cognitive) were amongst those previously identified as areas where incoming undergraduate students could be better prepared (Banister, 2003). Compared with previous research (Maras &amp; Bradshaw, 2007) a greater proportion of psychology teachers thought psychology is a science but this was qualified by the belief that psychology is not a scientific as ‘harder sciences’ such as physics or chemistry.

Librarians in the Hall: Instructional Outreach in Campus Residences

There is an old proverb, “If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain.” It can be a challenge to reach out to incoming undergraduate students who are often overwhelmed by the high expectations of scholarship at the college level and the complexities of the modern information environment. Unconventional and creative approaches are needed to reach millennial learners where they are, both physically, in terms of where they reside on campus, and pedagogically, by employing innovative and engaging teaching methods that they can appreciate and understand. In the fall of 2007, two librarians with rather unique positions at Purdue University coordinated, developed, and implemented an instructional pilot program to reach out to and engage undergraduate students. Strategic partnerships among librarians, residence hall staff, faculty fellows, and the students themselves led to effective and well-attended educational sessions that were conducted in the study lounges of campus residence halls and addressed major concepts pertaining to research, information literacy, and critical thinking.