Student Support Programs Research Articles

Social support and work readiness of Chinese final-year nursing students: The moderating role of psychological resilience

We explored the relationships among perceived social support, psychological resilience, and work readiness of final-year nursing students. Participants included 376 Chinese final-year nursing students (female = 83.8%; mean age = 20.24 years, SD = 1.37 years). They completed the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale, the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Work Readiness Scale for graduate nurses. Hierarchical regression analysis results showed that social support was significantly associated with higher work readiness. Further, social support was associated with higher psychological resilience. Psychological resilience partially mediated the relationship between social support and work readiness to be higher. These study findings suggest a need for targeted student social support programs to increase their psychological resilience, which is important for increasing their work readiness.

Prevalence and associated factors of cigarette smoking and substance use among university entrance test-taking students: A GIS-based study.

Numerous studies have examined substance use and smoking behavior among adolescents and university students. However, little is known about these behaviors among students undergoing university entrance tests, a critical transition period from adolescence to adulthood. The entrance test can significantly affect students' mental health, potentially leading to substance use. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of cigarette smoking and substance use among students taking these exams and the associated factors. A cross-sectional survey was carried out on September 4th and 11th, 2022 to collect data from 1,480 university entrance test-taking students using a convenience sampling technique. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were conducted using SPSS software. Besides, GIS mapping was used to visualize the distribution of substance use and smoking behavior across districts via ArcGIS. The study found a 10% prevalence of current tobacco smoking and 4% substance use. Females (OR = 1.98; 95% CI: 1.38-2.85), urban residence (OR = 2.03; 95% CI: 1.42-2.88), repeater (OR = 1.45; 95% CI: 1.02-2.06), anxiety (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.10-2.19), burnout (OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.00-2.12), and suicidal behavior (OR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.03-2.40) were the significant factors for cigarette use. Whereas the urban residence (OR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.11-3.31), anxiety (OR = 2.47, 95% CI: 1.45-4.20), and suicidal behavior (OR = 2.76; 95% CI: 1.55-4.92) significantly increased the risk of substance use. GIS analysis revealed males varied in substance use and females in tobacco smoking by district. Repeat test-takers were associated with district variations in both smoking and substance use. Educational institutions, public health authorities, and policymakers must implement mental health support and substance use prevention programs for students. Integrating mental health education, providing resources, and enforcing regulations can promote healthier coping strategies and reduce substance use risks among students.

초등 교원양성기관 졸업자의 노동시장 성과 및 영향요인 변화 분석

Objectives This study aims to examine the background of the current social issue of elementary teacher supply and demand, and to analyze changes in the labor market outcomes of graduates from elementary teacher training institutions, and identify influencing factors.
 Methods Data from the Korean Employment Information Institute's 2009, 2019 Graduates' Occupational Mobility Survey (GOMS) of 315 elementary education graduates were used. Weighted variables were applied to the 2019 GOMS data for 170 graduates and the 2009 GOMS data for 145 graduates. Frequency analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyze labor market outcomes among graduates. Cross-tabulation and logistic regression analysis were employed to identify factors influencing their employment using STATA 15.0.
 Results Compared to 2009 graduates, 2019 graduates experienced an 8% rise in unemployment, a 7% increase in irregular employment, and a 15% drop in regular employment. There was a 10% decrease in regular elementary teaching positions and an 11% increase in temporary teaching positions among 2019 graduates. Factors affecting employment differed: gender for 2009 graduates, while student loan status, participation in job psychology tests, and interview resume program participation were significant for 2019 graduates. Gender, school satisfaction, on-campus job experience, and participation in job psychology tests were influential for 2009 graduates, while graduation grade percentile and school location were significant for 2019 graduates.
 Conclusions Based on these findings, the study emphasizes the necessity of long-term perspectives in elementary teacher training and supply policy and the need for expanding career and employment support programs for current students in the short term.

Features of the Application of the Method of Socio-Psychological Training in the Formation of Students' Stress Resistance

The paper deals with such concepts as «social-psychological training» and «stress resistance»; the features of the application of this method in the formation of students' stress resistance are studied.One of the primary tasks of modern society in working with youth is the formation of a high level of sociopsychological adaptation. Currently, an active search and development of new forms and methods of both individual and group work with students is underway. In the diverse arsenal of methodological tools, a special place is given to socio-psychological training.The purpose of this psychological study was to study the features of the use of socio-psychological training as a means of forming students' stress resistance. During the primary diagnosis, two groups of students (control and experimental) were identified with a low level of stress resistance and a high level of stress.As part of the formative experiment, we developed and implemented a program of psychological support for students. Classes were held in the experimental group once a week for two months. After the formative experiment, the control stage of the study was carried out. At the control stage, the changes in the level of stress and stress tolerance of those who took (experimental group) and those who did not take part (control group) in the program were compared, thus, the effectiveness of the program of psychological support of students developed by us was tested. For re-diagnosis, the same methods were used as in the primary diagnosis at the ascertaining stage of the study.The methodological basis of the work was the theoretical provisions on the development of the group in the process of joint activity (L.G. Pochebut, G.M. Andreeva, E.S. Kuzmin, R.S. Nemov, etc.); ideas about the sociopsychological characteristics of the group (M.I. Bobneva, V.S. Ageev, P.K. Anokhin, etc.); conceptual foundations of personality development in the course of a specially organized psychological impact (A. Bandura, S.I. Makshanov, K. Levin, etc.); understanding and implementation of the methodology and methodology of socio-psychological training (L.A. Petrovskaya, Yu.N. Emelyanov, S.I. Makshanov).The research methods were theoretical analysis of scientific research; organizational methods; empirical methods: observation, psychodiagnostic methods, methods of statistical data processing.Comparative analysis of changes in the experimental and control groups (increase in stress resistance, reduction of stress and tension levels according to the corresponding coping strategies) allowed us to draw conclusions about the potential of applying the method of socio-psychological training in the formation of students' stress resistance.

Teaching Communities

While instruction librarians seek the most meaningful experiences for our students, sometimes we have to look beyond tradition to meet students where they are and where they feel a sense of belonging on campus. Through autoethnography we explore what it means to teach and learn with students in extracurricular communities, such as those in support programs for first-generation students and student-athletes. We reflect on how working with these communities has shaped us as teacher librarians, including our perceptions of belonging. While not always clear-cut, we argue that working with extracurricular communities brings benefits not addressed by traditional subject librarianship.

Supportive Programs and Financial Aid: Measuring Their Impact on Retention of Blacks and Latinx College Students in the New England Region

Enrollment in U.S. Higher Educational Institutions has declined over the last decade. Research on student retention suggests that the type of financial aid offered is related to student retention, as does the number of student support programs offered to students from different demographic backgrounds. Is there evidence that these factors are associated with student retention levels in the New England Region? We performed a T-test and Regression Analysis to examine these questions. Results provide evidence that need-based aid and the number of student support programs are positively associated with retention levels for Blacks, Latinx, and White students in this region.

Directions of personal growth of higher education students under chronic war stress

Introduction. Effective coping with chronic war stress requires monitoring of personal changes, as well as the creation and running of social and psychological support programs for higher education students. Aim: to empirically investigate the directions of personal growth of higher education students under the chronic war stress. Methods. A comparative research with the time factor as an independent variable was used. The empirical study used the following qualitative and quantitative methods: narrative interview "The Impact of War Stress on My Life, Personality, and Activity" (topics: events, consequences, methods of coping); "Post-traumatic Growth Scale" (Tedeschi & Calhoun). The collected qualitative material was subject to content analysis according to predetermined criteria. Quantitative data were compared in percentage terms. Results. The war had a deep transformative effect on almost on every third higher education students. Especially intensive changes in students' identity occurred at the beginning of the war. Challenges of war activated various positive reinterpretations of personal experience: attitude to life and spirituality, opening of new opportunities, increasing value of relationships. The most problematic, from the point of view of positive reinterpretation, was the area of "personal strength." Conclusions. Social and psychological support for the personal growth of higher education students in times of war can be successful if it is rendered at the organizational, interpersonal, and personal levels. Effective interventions can include psychoeducation, coping skills development as well as resourcing.

Anxiety and its associated factors Among Undergraduate Nursing Students During Psychiatry Clinical Placement: A Cross-sectional Study in MARDAN Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The clinical education setting is a complex social unit that affects student skills within the clinical setting. Anxiety influences the student's performance in the clinical setting since it initiates the fight-or-flight response, leading to a positive or negative outcome. Objective: This study evaluates anxiety among students when they start rotation in the clinical area. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional survey was conducted to determine the anxiety level among undergraduate nursing students during psychiatry/mental health nursing clinical rotations in the psychiatry unit. Participants were recruited through the probability sample method. The sample of the study consists of 93 students of undergraduate level. A self-adapted questionnaire was distributed manually to collect data. Results: According to the survey result, 67.7% of students have a normal range of anxiety, whereas 32.3% of students have mild to moderate levels of anxiety during psychiatry clinical rotation. Conclusions: The study identifies a significant link between anxiety levels and semester, notably higher in the 6th semester and a marginal association with race. With majority in the normal range and few with mild to moderate anxiety, it suggests targeted support programs for students, especially in high-anxiety semesters.

Humanization of Assistance; Building the path from the university

The training of health students regarding good treatment and humanized care is essential; it is a quality benchmark in health care. The relevance of good treatment and humanized care should be consistent with the treatment students receive from teachers and clinical tutors, modeling humanized cultures. However, research shows the normalization of mistreatment of medical and nursing students. A Humanized Training Unit was implemented in a Chilean nursing school, which included promoting a support Program for students by their teachers between 2020 and 2021. Explore the Program's impact on the exercise of humanized care from the student's perspective. An intrinsic case study with a qualitative approach, with the objective of 12 semi-structured interviews carried out via Zoom with young people who had been tutored virtually by program teachers for one month and two years during their student period. We performed the data analysis using the constant comparisons method and in compliance with qualitative rigor criteria. The Program positively impacted personal, academic, and professional areas, allowing students to feel cared for by their teachers and recognizing the development of skills transferable to their relationship with users for more humanized care. The Program is replicable to other careers and institutions, requiring time, disposition, and teacher training, which can be a limitation. The benefits evidenced by our study demonstrate the program's usefulness in promoting cultures of more humanized care in educational and health spaces.

Mixed Methods Evaluation of Two Georgia College Campus Support Programs for Students with Experience in Foster Care

Mixed Methods Evaluation of Two Georgia College Campus Support Programs for Students with Experience in Foster Care

Resilient learning experiences of university students: Exploring positive future orientations

This qualitative study explored the resilient learning experiences of 68 first-year university students (female = 36.76%, age range = 18–23 years). Data were collected using narrative sketches. Interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed three themes: the wish, peaks and valleys, and from bitter to better. The wish theme pointed to students’ resilience motivated by their desired futures and aspirational goals. The peaks and valleys theme gave voice to the challenges that students experience and the strategies (personal strengths and support structures) used to cope with stressors and flourish. The theme bitter to better indicated that students drew on internal (e.g. hope and sense of coherence) and external (e.g. student development and support programmes) resources as they navigated the university experience. The findings highlight students’ positive future orientations and resilient learning as a crucial resource for student counselling services to support student well-being.

On Mathematics Anxiety and Achievement of BSHRM Students in Surigao City, Philippines

Mathematics anxiety is an intense feeling of uneasiness about one’s ability to do mathematics, interfering achievement in the subject. The study aimed to describe the relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics achievement, and the respondents’ profile characteristics, including the extent of student-teacher rapport. The sample comprised of 109 BSHRM students (32 males and 77 females) selected through stratified sampling. Mathematics anxiety was measured using the internally reliable Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale-Philippines, the student-teacher rapport using the Instrument for Teacher-Student Rapport, and mathematics achievement using the respondents’ performance in College Algebra. A descriptive-correlational design was used, where Pearson product-moment correlation, analysis of variance, and linear regression modelling were the means to analyze the data. The results revealed that mathematics anxiety has a significant negative correlation with mathematics achievement. In addition, it was found that the respondents significantly differed among each other when grouped based on the extent of student-teacher rapport, but no differences when they were grouped based on gender, age, and type of high school they graduated. There is a cubic polynomial function model that describes the relationship between math achievement and anxiety. These findings suggest that student-teacher rapport is an important factor to mathematics anxiety and achievement. Also, a student support program relevant to enhancing self-efficacy, classroom atmosphere, class participation, and study skills may be designed to facilitate mathematics education of students with anxiety in the subject

A creative ecological approach to supporting young people with mental health challenges in schools

Holistic and ecological approaches to mental health support have been identified by many as best-practice approaches for creating and sustaining well-being. Those who experience mental health challenges including, for example, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), often struggle to find adequate, sustainable and ongoing care from clinical settings, and recent research shows that additional strategies such as peer support programs, arts approaches, and holistic school-based collaboration work effectively. More generally, the mainstream population continues to suffer from outdated, overly medicalised and frequently inaccurate notions of the experience of poor mental health and the effective support of those who suffer, and peer- and school-integrated approaches go some way toward better education about mental ill-health. This article uses a creative ecologies model (Harris, 2016) to help schools implement student- and family-led support programs for students experiencing mental health challenges in school settings.

Strengths use and deficit improvement of first-year university students: A structural model for social support and student outcomes

This study aimed to examine first-year students’ proactive behaviour towards strengths use (PBSU) and deficit improvement (PBDI), their relationship with students’ social support and essential student outcomes (student burnout, student engagement, life satisfaction, satisfaction with studies, study–course fit and intention to drop out). A sample of first-year students (N = 776; 19–20 years = 67%; female = 62%; black = 58%) from a large South African university completed the Strengths Use and Deficit Correction (SUDCO) questionnaire; the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Student Survey (MBI–SS); as well as measures of present social support, engagement, satisfaction with life, person-study-course fit and intention to drop out. Structural equation modelling was used to test the relationships among the variables in the structural model using Mplus 8.6. Overall, this study’s findings show that PBSU and PBDI are significantly related, with the exception that support from parents did not predict deficit improvement and PBDI did not predict intention to drop out. The results further show that PBSU was much more strongly related to support from parents, cynicism, life satisfaction, satisfaction with studies, study-course fit and intention to drop out. In contrast, PBDI was much more strongly related to support from significant others, exhaustion and engagement. The results confirm that engaging in proactive behaviour towards strengths use and deficit improvement may result in positive student outcomes. The findings of this study suggest a need for university institutions to implement initiatives to promote social support programmes for students to leverage their strengths, creating learning environments conducive to student success.

Perceived Barriers to Equitable Participation in the Learning Assistant Program.

To build a more diverse STEM workforce, institutions seek to increase the representation of diverse groups in faculty and mentoring positions. The Learning Assistant (LA) near-peer student support program has the potential to bring diverse students into highly visible and impactful mentoring roles early in their college careers, benefiting both LAs and students in LA-supported courses. However, the demographic characteristics of potential students interested in the LA Program and the subsequent barriers to entry have yet to be investigated. This short-term longitudinal case study revealed that even though students from historically underserved groups (HUGs) started the semester equally as likely as non-HUGs to see themselves as future chemistry LAs, an inequity developed later in the semester. Similar trends were not detected based on students' gender or age group (traditional/nontraditional). Qualitative data indicated that regardless of demographic group, the most prominent barriers to students seeing themselves as future LAs include a lack of time and self-efficacy in chemistry content knowledge/social skills. The trends observed at this diverse metropolitan research institution indicate that further research is needed to find and lower barriers for students to have the opportunity to become LAs, especially those from HUGs.

Studying the relationship of reliability and success in the educational and professional activities of college students

The work is devoted to the analysis of the features of reliability and effectiveness of educational and professional activities of college students, their interrelations, identified on the basis of empirical methods and mathematical and statistical analysis. Reliability as a parameter of activity efficiency is defined by the author as an important integral characteristic of the subject. The author of the article points out the importance of the formation and development of this characteristic in the subject at the stage of mastering the future profession – during college. The typologisation of students according to the criteria – efficiency and stability in the conditions of the educational environment of the college – is proposed. On the basis of this typologisation, correlation relationships are presented and described, which allow identifying the specifics of the manifestation of reliability as a parameter of the effectiveness of educational and professional activities for 4 samples of students differentially. The article describes the results of correlation analysis between reliability and procedural, effective parameters of educational and professional activity of college students. To assess the effectiveness of the educational and professional activities of college students, taking into account the selected criteria, the method of expert assessments was carried out during the study. The presented results are characterised by practical significance, since they allow organising psychological support programmes for college students at the initial stages of their professionalisation.

FOREIGN EXPERIENCE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT OF STUDENTS: LESSONS FOR UKRAINE

The research relevance is determined by the necessity of studying innovative technologies of students social support to be implementated in higher education institutions of Ukraine. The article aim: to analyze the foreign experience of social support of students during their studies in higher education institutions. Methods applied: theoretical methods related to the study of the results of research by foreign and Ukrainian researchers regarding the forms and methods of social support for students, the method of generalization, comparison, and understanding of information on foreign experience of social (social-psychological) support of Ukrainian higher education institutions students. Features of the Ukrainian model of functioning of social (social-psychological) student support services in higher education institutions are characterized; assets and problematic aspects of the activity specified type are singled out. The tasks, leading directions and forms of social services work of foreign higher education institutions are outlined. The diversity of content, forms and methods of activity are characterized, as well as compliance with international approaches and standards of work with the youth, focus on meeting the needs and requests of students, creation of optimal conditions for vital self-determination, professional and personal formation. Innovative technologies of work of student social services determined by modern challenges are characterized: namely, social support for students with disabilities, foreign students and the implementation of special support programs for Ukrainian students and their family members who went abroad because of large-scale war in Ukraine.

Students in Correctional Education: Developmental Education’s Forgotten Population

ABSTRACT The Office of Correctional Education was created through an Act of Congress in 1991 to oversee and coordinate prison education programs as a way to reduce recidivism (Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, 1990). However, correctional education completion rates are extremely low. Therefore, we used secondary data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies survey to show that students in prison would benefit from developmental and student supports. Survey data represented 1,319 prisoners and 8,670 from the household population. We used descriptive analysis, chi-square tests, and Welch’s t-tests to analyze survey data. We conclude that those in the prison sample had a greater potential need for student support programs than the household sample and would benefit from increased developmental and student supports.

Identification of novel genes that regulate B-1 cells

Abstract IgM is the first antibody produced in ontogeny and in response to an initial antigen exposure. It plays an important role in effective immune protection, and is required for maximal antigen-specific IgG responses. In mice, most circulating serum IgM is generated by fetal-derived B-1 cells in spleen and bone marrow. How B-1 cells preferentially develop into natural IgM secreting cells is incompletely understood. To identify candidate genes critical for B-1 cells development and/or maintenance we generated parts of a larger immunophenotyping database Knock Out Mouse Project (KOMP) providing results of the flow cytometric evaluation of spleen cells from 641 mouse strains, each containing a single-gene deletion as well as 200 individual congenic control mice, identifying 58 distinct leukocyte subsets for each spleen. We generated and curated a complete list of each gene found to be associated with B-1 cell changes. Seven genes were identified that significantly reduced frequencies of CD5+ B-1 cells in males and/or females, of which three were uniquely altering the B-1 cell subset. None of these genes have been associated with B-1 cell regulation previously. Using qRT-PCR we found that 4 showed B-1 cell intrinsic gene expression. Ongoing work is to determine the impact of each gene on serum antibody levels and immune protection to influenza virus challenge. This work was supported by NIH UM1 OD023221 (KCKL), R0AI148652 (NB), and the Graduate Student Support Program UC Davis (SR).

Enabling higher degree pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

Increasing the numbers of Indigenous people enrolled in research higher degrees in Australia is important for building the Indigenous academic workforce, broadening the scope of knowledge production in academic institutions and ensuring effective research outcomes for Indigenous Australians. While the numbers of Indigenous research higher degree students are increasing, universities still have a lot to do to bring that number up to parity. In this paper, we explore the value of a pre-doctoral program developed for Indigenous people interested in doing a PhD that provides them the information they need to inform their choices about undertaking a doctoral project. As the only program of this kind in Australia, this research contributes to the emerging literature on the factors that have an influence on why Indigenous people choose to undertake PhD programs and the effectiveness of initiatives to support their pathway to higher degree research. The research outcomes build on the evidence base for improving initiatives across the university sector, highlighting the need for tailored, Indigenous-led pre-doctoral support programs for Indigenous students, the value of cohort experiences and the importance of universities that value Indigenous people and their knowledge systems.