Benefits of blended learning for the first year medical imaging students in preparation for clinical placement

Although there is a plethora of definitions of blended learning, the underlying distinguishing feature is the combination of traditional content delivery and the utilisation of technology. Within Medical Imaging undergraduate education there is evidence of advantages and increased student engagement when utilising a blended learning approach. Although the embedding of technology has been proven to be a useful teaching tool, “Educators should tailor their teaching media to learner’s needs rather than assume that web based learning is intrinsically superior”. This study aims to determine which clinical learning tools are perceived to be the most useful to the student in preparing them for placements.

Which accelerated nursing students withdraw and fail in their first year of a Bachelor of Nursing (BN)?

Accelerated students in nursing have their first experience of university entering into second year subjects such as pharmacology. These accelerated students may have a Diploma of Nursing or equivalent experience or may be domestic or international graduates in any subject area. We have previously shown that the withdrawal rates are higher for accelerated than traditional students. We now show that of the accelerated students, it is only the diploma students that have difficulty transitioning to a BN.

Should I stay or should I go?: Rural and remote students in first year university stem courses

Research on the achievement of rural and remote students in science and mathematics is located within a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian schools, and underrepresentation of rural students in higher education. International studies such as the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), have reported lower levels of mathematical and scientific literacy in Australian students from rural and remote schools (Thomson et al, 2011). The SiMERR national survey of science, mathematics and ICT education in rural and regional Australia (Lyons et al, 2006) identified factors affecting student achievement in rural and remote schools. Many of the issues faced by rural and remote students in their schools are likely to have implications on their university enrolments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. For example, rural and remote students are less likely to attend university in general than their city counterparts and higher university attrition rates have been reported for remote students nationally. This paper examines the responses of a sample of rural/remote Australian first year STEM students at Australian universities to two questions. These related to their intentions to complete the course; and whether -and if so, why- they had ever considered withdrawing from their course. Results indicated that rural students who were still in their course by the end of first year were no more or less likely to consider withdrawing than were their peers from more populous centres. However, almost 20% of the rural cohort had considered withdrawing at some stage in their course, and their explanations provide insights into the reasoning of those who may not persist with their courses at university. These results, in the context of the greater attrition rate of remote students from university, point to the need to identify factors that positively impact on rural and remote students’ interest and achievement in science and mathematics. It also highlights a need for future research into the particular issues remote students may face in deciding whether or not to do science at the two key transition points of senior school and university/TAFE studies, and whether or not to persist in their tertiary studies. This paper is positioned at the intersection of two problems in Australian education. The first is a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian universities. The second is persistent inequitable access to, and retention in, tertiary education for students from rural and remote areas. Despite considerable research attention to both of these areas over recent years these problems have thus far proved to be intractable. This paper therefore aims to briefly review the relevant Australian literature pertaining to these issues; that is, declining STEM enrolments, and the underrepresentation and retention of rural/remote students in higher education. Given the related problems in these two overlapping domains, we then explore the views of first year rural students enrolled in courses, in relation to their intentions of withdrawing (or not) and the associated reasons for their views.

Web-based active learning and frequent feedback: Engaging first-year university students

Web-based technology is particularly well-suited to promoting active student involvement in the processes of learning. All students enrolled in a first-year educational psychology unit were required to complete ten weekly online quizzes, ten weekly student-generated questions and ten weekly student answers to those questions. Results of an online survey of participating students strongly support the viability and perceived benefits of such an instructional approach. Although students reported that the 30 assessments were useful and reasonable, the most common theme to emerge from the professional reflections of participating lecturers was that the marking of questions and answers was unmanageable.

The importance of context in engaging students large first year management classes: A case study

Engaging large first year classes in tertiary education poses a number of significant challenges, most of which have been discussed by others. One area that has not received the kind of attention that it warrants is the context within which the engagement activities take place. This paper examines both the processes used to engage a large first year management class in a major city university and how the context of the classes shaped activities and student responses to these activities. It was recognised that students had certain types of learning styles, but given the total number of students (in excess of 1200) it was realised that is would be impossible to cater to all possibilities. A key outcome of the exercise was the importance of context in shaping student behaviours.

Computer usage and the validity of self-assessed computer competence among first-year business students

Abstract This study evaluates the reliability of self-assessment as a measure of computer competence. This evaluation is carried out in response to recent research which has employed self-reported ratings as the sole indicator of students’ computer competence. To evaluate the reliability of self-assessed computer competence, the scores achieved by students in self-assessed computer competence tests are compared with scores achieved in objective tests. The results reveal a statistically significantly over-estimation of computer competence among the students surveyed. Furthermore, reported pre-university computer experience in terms of home and school use and formal IT education does not affect this result. The findings call into question the validity of using self-assessment as a measure of computer competence. More generally, the study also provides an up-to-date picture of self-reported computer usage and IT experience among pre-university students from New Zealand and South-east Asia and contrasts these findings with those from previous research.

Betwixt spaces: Students’ accounts of turning point experiences in first-year transitions

'Not belonging' is becoming a prevalent theme within accounts of the first-year student experience at university. In this study the notion of not belonging is extended by assuming a more active role for the idea of liminality in a student's transition into the university environments of academic and student life. In doing so, the article suggests that the transition between one place (home) and another (university) can result in an 'in-between-ness' - a betwixt space. Through an interpretative methodology, the study explores how students begin to move from this betwixt space into feeling like fully-fledged members of university life. It is concluded that there is a wide range of turning points associated with the students' betwixt transition, which shapes, alters or indeed accentuates the ways in which they make meaningful connections with university life. Moreover, transitional turning point experiences reveal a cast of characters and symbolic objects; capture contrasting motivations and evolving relationships; display multiple trajectories of interpersonal tensions and conflicts; highlight discontinuities as well as continuities; and together, simultaneously liberate and constrain the students' transition into university life.