Becoming a psychology undergraduate:integrating study skills and integrating students

Three years of action research into a study skills and transition programme for psychology undergraduates are reported. The programme began as a ‘bolt-on’ response to perceptions of student deficit and developed to focus on transition to university. Data from three cohorts and over 600 students show attendance to be associated with higher academic grades and progression rates. The programme has also helped to establish relationships with peers and staff, prepare students for assessments, set expectations about study, and provided an opportunity to ask questions, to work collaboratively and to learn about referencing and plagiarism. Concerns with study skills highlighted by Wingate (2006) and others are discussed.

Pharmacy undergraduate students:career choices and expectations across a career choices and expectations across a four-year degree programme

Report commissioned by the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust

Transforming Mathematics Learning for Students and Teachers with Digital Technologies

Силия Хойлс, Ричардс Нос - Това представяне е вдъхновено от делото на Сиймър Пепърт и много други от целия свят (включително Джим Капут и наши колеги от България), които са работили и работят в духа на конструкционизма и с които сме имали щастието да си сътрудничим в областта на математическото образование и дигиталните технологии в течение на десетилетия.

Computer Mathematics for Motivated Students

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2013

Effects of using manipulative materials to teach remedial algebra to community college students on achievement and attitudes towards mathematics

This dissertation derived hypotheses from the theories of Piaget, Bruner and Dienes regarding the effects of using Algebra Tiles and other manipulative materials to teach remedial algebra to community college students. The dependent variables measured were achievement and attitude towards mathematics. The Piagetian cognitive level of the students in the study was measured and used as a concomitant factor in the study.^ The population for the study was comprised of remedial algebra students at a large urban community college. The sample for the study consisted of 253 students enrolled in 10 sections of remedial algebra at three of the six campuses of the college. Pretests included administration of an achievement pre-measure, Aiken's Mathematics Attitude Inventory (MAI), and the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT). Posttest measures included a course final exam and a second administration of the MAI.^ The results of the GALT test revealed that 161 students (63.6%) were concrete operational, 65 (25.7%) were transitional, and 27 (10.7%) were formal operational. For the purpose of analyzing the data, the transitional and formal operational students were grouped together.^ Univariate factorial analyses of covariance ($\alpha$ =.05) were performed on the posttest of achievement (covariate = achievement pretest) and the MAI posttest (covariate = MAI pretest). The factors used in the analysis were method of teaching (manipulative vs. traditional) and cognitive level (concrete operational vs. transitional/formal operational).^ The analyses for achievement revealed a significant difference in favor of the manipulatives groups in the computations by campus. Significant differences were not noted in the analysis by individual instructors.^ The results for attitude towards mathematics showed a significant difference in favor of the manipulatives groups for the college-wide analysis and for one campus. The analysis by individual instructor was not significant. In addition, the college-wide analysis was significant in favor of the transitional/formal operational stage of cognitive development. However, support for this conclusion was not obtained in the analyses by campus or individual instructor. ^

Quality of student involvement and college contribution toward development of traditional and nontraditional undergraduate students

Nontraditional students differ from traditional students on characteristics such as age, employment status, marital status, and parental status. The quality of a student's experience is important as it relates to his or her transformation and is a reflection of the quality of the college. ^ Using theory of involvement as a framework, the purpose of this study was to test if there were differences between traditional and nontraditional undergraduate students in their ratings of quality of college involvement (academic, co-curricular, student interactions, and faculty interactions) and perceptions of college contribution toward development (intellectual, personal, social, and career). A two part survey was distributed to a random cluster sample of sophomore and higher level undergraduate classes equaling 400 undergraduate students. ^ Results of a 2 x 4 repeated measures ANOVA indicated that traditional students rated quality for co-curricular involvement and student involvement significantly higher than nontraditional students. Both traditional and nontraditional students had similar ratings of college contribution toward development. There were different patterns of correlations between involvement and development. Traditional students' ratings of academic and student involvement were more highly correlated with development than were the ratings of nontraditional students. However, nontraditional students' ratings of academic and faculty involvement were more highly correlated with development. When testing for differences in correlations between quality of involvement and college contribution toward development, the largest observed differences were quality of student involvement and college contribution toward personal and social development. Although not significantly different, traditional students had stronger correlations between those factors than did the nontraditional students. ^ This research demonstrates the importance of using social role when defining student type. It contributes to involvement theory by explaining how traditional and nontraditional students differ in their ratings of quality of involvement. Further, it identifies different patterns of correlations between ratings of quality of involvement and college contribution toward development for the two types of students. While traditional students may need a more rounded college experience that includes more social and co-curricular experiences, nontraditional students use the classroom as their stage for learning. ^

The mathematics anxiety of bilingual community college students

Math anxiety levels and performance outcomes were compared for bilingual and monolingual community college Intermediate Algebra students attending a culturally diverse urban commuter college. Participants (N = 618, 250 men, 368 women; 361 monolingual, 257 bilingual) completed the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) and a demographics instrument. Bilingual and monolingual students reported comparable mean AMAS scores (20.6 and 20.7, respectively) and comparable proportions of math anxious individuals (50% and 48%, respectively). Factor analysis of AMAS scores, using principal component analysis by varimax rotation, yielded similar two-factor structures for both populations -- assessment and learning content -- accounting for 65.6% of the trace for bilingual AMAS scores. Statistically significant predictor variables for levels of math anxiety for the bilingual participants included (a) preparatory course enrollment (β = .236, p = .041) with those enrolled in prior preparatory courses scoring higher, (b) education major (β = .285, p = .018) with education majors scoring higher, and (c) business major (β = .252, p = .032) with business majors scoring higher. One statistically significant predictor variable emerged for monolingual students, gender (β = -.085, p = .001) with females ranking higher. Age, income, race, ethnicity, U.S. origin, science or health science majors did not emerge as statistically significant predictor variables for either group.^ Similarities between monolingual and bilingual participants included statistically significant negative linear correlations between AMAS scores and course grades for both bilingual (r = -.178, p = .017) and monolingual participants (r = -.203, p = .001). Differences included a statistically significant linear correlation between AMAS scores and final exam grades for monolingual participants only (r = -.253, p < .0009) despite no statistically significant difference in the strength the linear relationship of the AMAS scores and the final exam scores between groups, z = 1.35, p = .1756.^ The findings show that bilingual and monolingual students report math anxiety similarly and that math anxiety has similar associations with performance measures, despite differences between predictor variables. One of the first studies on the math anxiety of bilingual community college students, the results suggest recommendations for researchers and practitioners.^

A Q factor analysis of college undergraduate students' study behaviors

The purpose of this study was to better understand the study behaviors and habits of university undergraduate students. It was designed to determine whether undergraduate students could be grouped based on their self-reported study behaviors and if any grouping system could be determined, whether group membership was related to students’ academic achievement. A total of 152 undergraduate students voluntarily participated in the current study by completing the Study Behavior Inventory instrument. All participants were enrolled in fall semester of 2010 at Florida International University. The Q factor analysis technique using principal components extraction and a varimax rotation was used in order to examine the participants in relation to each other and to detect a pattern of intercorrelations among participants based on their self-reported study behaviors. The Q factor analysis yielded a two factor structure representing two distinct student types among participants regarding their study behaviors. The first student type (i.e., Factor 1) describes proactive learners who organize both their study materials and study time well. Type 1 students are labeled “Proactive Learners with Well-Organized Study Behaviors”. The second type (i.e., Factor 2) represents students who are poorly organized as well as being very likely to procrastinate. Type 2 students are labeled Disorganized Procrastinators. Hierarchical linear regression was employed to examine the relationship between student type and academic achievement as measured by current grade point averages (GPAs). The results showed significant differences in GPAs between Type 1 and Type 2 students at the .05 significance level. Furthermore, student type was found to be a significant predictor of academic achievement beyond and above students’ attribute variables including sex, age, major, and enrollment status. The study has several implications for educational researchers, practitioners, and policy makers in terms of improving college students' learning behaviors and outcomes.

The development of rubrics to measure undergraduate students' global awareness and global perspective: A validity study

Higher education institutions across the United States have developed global learning initiatives to support student achievement of global awareness and global perspective, but assessment options for these outcomes are extremely limited. A review of research for a global learning initiative at a large, Hispanic-serving, urban, public, research university in South Florida found a lack of instruments designed to measure global awareness and global perspective in the context of an authentic performance assessment. This quasi-experimental study explored the development of two rubrics for the global learning initiative and the extent to which evidence supported the rubrics' validity and reliability. One holistic rubric was developed to measure students' global awareness and the second to measure their global perspective. The study utilized a pretest/posttest nonequivalent group design. Multiple linear regression was used to ascertain the rubrics' ability to discern and compare average learning gains of undergraduate students enrolled in two global learning courses and students enrolled in two non-global learning courses. Parallel pretest/posttest forms of the performance task required students to respond to two open-ended questions, aligned with the learning outcomes, concerning a complex case narrative. Trained faculty raters read responses and used the rubrics to measure students' global awareness and perspective. Reliability was tested by calculating the rates of agreement among raters. Evidence supported the finding that the global awareness and global perspective rubrics yielded scores that were highly reliable measures of students' development of these learning outcomes. Chi-square tests of frequency found significant rates of inter-rater agreement exceeding the study's .80 minimum requirement. Evidence also supported the finding that the rubrics yielded scores that were valid measures of students' global awareness and global perspective. Regression analyses found little evidence of main effects; however, post hoc analyses revealed a significant interaction between global awareness pretest scores and the treatment, the global learning course. Significant interaction was also found between global perspective pretest scores and the treatment. These crossover interactions supported the finding that the global awareness and global perspective rubrics could be used to detect learning differences between the treatment and control groups as well as differences within the treatment group.

Examining argumentative coherence in essays by undergraduate students of English as a foreign language in Mainland China and their English speaking peers in the United States

I conducted this study to provide insights toward deepening understanding of association between culture and writing by building, assessing, and refining a conceptual model of second language writing. To do this, I examined culture and coherence as well as the relationship between them through a mixed methods research design. Coherence has been an important and complex concept in ESL/EFL writing. I intended to study the concept of coherence in the research context of contrastive rhetoric, comparing the coherence quality in argumentative essays written by undergraduates in Mainland China and their U.S. peers. In order to analyze the complex concept of coherence, I synthesized five linguistic theories of coherence: Halliday and Hasan's cohesion theory, Carroll's theory of coherence, Enkvist's theory of coherence, Topical Structure Analysis, and Toulmin's Model. Based upon the synthesis, 16 variables were generated. Across these 16 variables, Hotelling t-test statistical analysis was conducted to predict differences in argumentative coherence between essays written by two groups of participants. In order to complement the statistical analysis, I conducted 30 interviews of the writers in the studies. Participants' responses were analyzed with open and axial coding. By analyzing the empirical data, I refined the conceptual model by adding more categories and establishing associations among them. The study found that U.S. students made use of more pronominal reference. Chinese students adopted more lexical devices of reiteration and extended paralleling progression. The interview data implied that the difference may be associated with the difference in linguistic features and rhetorical conventions in Chinese and English. As far as Toulmin's Model is concerned, Chinese students scored higher on data than their U.S. peers. According to the interview data, this may be due to the fact that Toulmin's Model, modified as three elements of arguments, have been widely and long taught in Chinese writing instruction while U.S. interview participants said that they were not taught to write essays according to Toulmin's Model. Implications were generated from the process of textual data analysis and the formulation of structural model defining coherence. These implications were aimed at informing writing instruction, assessment, peer-review, and self-revision.

Personal and institutional factors: Relationship to self-efficacy of persistence to the senior year in college among self-identified Black undergraduate students in a Hispanic serving institution

While undergraduate enrollment of all racial groups in United States higher education institutions has increased, 6-year graduation rates of Blacks (39%) remain low compared to other races; Asians (69%), Whites (62%), and Hispanics (50%; NCES, 2010). Women's graduation rate is higher than men's; 58% compared to men's at 53% in public institutions (IPEDS, 2011). Retention literature does not address the perceptions of Black ethnic groups' experiences in college, particularly in Hispanic serving institutions. Informed by Tinto's (1975, 1987, 1993) student academic and social integration model, Guiffrida's (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) model of relationships while at college, and ex-post facto research design, the study investigated personal and institutional factors that relate to Black students' self-efficacy and persistence to the senior year in college. Data about Black ethnic undergraduate seniors' (N = 236) academic and social experiences in college were collected using the Student Institutional Integration Survey (SIIS), an online questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to collect background information about the sample, correlation was calculated to indicate the degree of relationship between the variables, and multiple linear regressions were used to identify variables that are predictors of self-efficacy of persistence. Independent samples t-test and analyses of variance were computed to determine whether differences in perceptions of personal and institutional factors that relate to self-efficacy of persistence to the senior year in college could be identified between gender and ethnicity. Frequency was summarized to identify themes of participants' primary motivation for finishing undergraduate degree programs. These themes were: (a) self-pride/personal goal, (b) professional aspiration/career (c) motivation to support family, (d) desire to have financial independence/better job, (e) to serve community, (f) opportunity to go to college, (g) being first-generation college student, and (h) prove to family the value of higher education. The research findings support the tenets of academic and social integration theories which suggest that students' interaction with peer and faculty, relationships with family and friends, and involvement in institutional activities and organizations influence their persistence in college. Implications based on the findings affect institutional policy, curriculum, and program improvements that relate to Black undergraduate students' academic and social support.

Personal and Institutional Factors: Relationship to Self-Efficacy of Persistence to the Senior Year in College among Self-Identified Black Undergraduate Students in a Hispanic Serving Institution

While undergraduate enrollment of all racial groups in United States higher education institutions has increased, 6-year graduation rates of Blacks (39%) remain low compared to other races; Asians (69%), Whites (62%), and Hispanics (50%; NCES, 2010). Women’s graduation rate is higher than men’s; 58% compared to men’s at 53% in public institutions (IPEDS, 2011). Retention literature does not address the perceptions of Black ethnic groups’ experiences in college, particularly in Hispanic serving institutions. Informed by Tinto’s (1975, 1987, 1993) student academic and social integration model, Guiffrida’s (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) model of relationships while at college, and ex-post facto research design, the study investigated personal and institutional factors that relate to Black students’ self-efficacy and persistence to the senior year in college. Data about Black ethnic undergraduate seniors’ (N = 236) academic and social experiences in college were collected using the Student Institutional Integration Survey (SIIS), an online questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to collect background information about the sample, correlation was calculated to indicate the degree of relationship between the variables, and multiple linear regressions were used to identify variables that are predictors of self-efficacy of persistence. Independent samples t-test and analyses of variance were computed to determine whether differences in perceptions of personal and institutional factors that relate to self-efficacy of persistence to the senior year in college could be identified between gender and ethnicity. Frequency was summarized to identify themes of participants’ primary motivation for finishing undergraduate degree programs. These themes were: (a) self-pride/personal goal, (b) professional aspiration/career (c) motivation to support family, (d) desire to have financial independence/better job, (e) to serve community, (f) opportunity to go to college, (g) being first-generation college student, and (h) prove to family the value of higher education. The research findings support the tenets of academic and social integration theories which suggest that students’ interaction with peer and faculty, relationships with family and friends, and involvement in institutional activities and organizations influence their persistence in college. Implications based on the findings affect institutional policy, curriculum, and program improvements that relate to Black undergraduate students’ academic and social support.