A study exploring disordered eating patterns in first-year university students: student and service needs

This qualitative study explored disordered eating in a small group of first-year undergraduate students and addresses a gap in the literature by exploring their lived experience.

Aims: To better understand student’s needs in those experiencing or at risk of developing disordered eating during their first year at university and to illustrate what support mechanisms and services are required to better support students experiencing or at risk during their first year at university.

Conclusion: The University could further develop its outreach to new students with a more consistently supportive programme providing better facilities and training for stress appraisal and coping and more support via student buddying. The University could also extend its programme on positive mental health in an attempt to better inform on disordered eating and to reduce a sense of stigma within the student population. Personal tutors and student health care facilities need to be consistently trained in the understanding and person centred approach to students experiencing disordered eating, particularly the sub-clinical group. In addition the University could consider some small changes and adaptations to the refectory eating areas to better facilitate students who may be at risk from disordered eating. Finally the University could perhaps better use the potentially liminal period within the first few months of student's arrival at university (a new beginning) to help embed a program to develop a stronger sense of coherence and well-being.

The First Year Experience of Occupational Therapy Students at an Australian Regional University: Promoting Student Retention and Developing a Regional and Remote Workforce

Abstract Objective: Student retention at regional universities is important in addressing regional and remote workforce shortages. Students attending regional universities are more likely to work in regional areas. First year experience at university plays a key role in student retention. This study aimed to explore factors influencing the first year experience of occupational therapy students at a regional Australian university. Design: Surveys were administered to 58 second year occupational therapy students in the first week of second year. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, inferential statistics (Pearson χ2; Spearman rho) and summarising descriptive responses. Setting: An Australian regional university. Participants: Second year undergraduate occupational therapy students. Main outcome measures: Factors influencing students’ decisions to study and continue studying occupational therapy; factors enhancing first year experience of university. Results: Fifty-four students completed the survey (93.1%). A quarter (25.9%) of students considered leaving the course during the first year. The primary influence for continuing was the teaching and learning experience. Most valued supports were orientation week (36.7%) and the first year coordinator (36.7%). Conclusion: The importance of the first year experience in retaining occupational therapy students is highlighted. Engagement with other students and staff and academic support are important factors in facilitating student retention. It is important to understand the unique factors influencing students’ decisions, particularly those from regional and remote areas, to enter and continue in tertiary education to assist in implementing supports and strategies to improve student retention.

University v. Student - Challenging the Contractual Understanding of Higher Education in Canada

2e Prix du concours d'initiation à la recherche organisé par le Regroupement Droit et Changements. L'auteure était étudiante au baccalauréat en droit à l'Université McGill lors de la rédaction de cet article.

Acessibilidade na Universidade Estadual de Londrina: o ponto de vista do estudante com deficiência

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC

Embedding diversity in a university justice curriculum : an exploration of the issues

This paper reports on an action-learning project conducted within the first year criminal justice curriculum in an Australian university. The project was initiated after an audit of first year units and student feedback revealed that there were gaps in the curriculum that possibly were disadvantaging certain groups of students, including mature, international, queer and disabled students, rendering them invisible. Official (university controlled student surveys and other feedback mechanisms) and anecdotal feedback found that at least some students in these groups felt disenfranchised; that is, unable to relate to either the subject mater, other students, or the university setting itself. As a school in which social justice provides the context for learning about criminal justice, first year subject coordinators as a group came to recognise the need for embedding diversity in the curriculum.

Student engagement with an ePortfolio : a case study of pre-service education students

The emergence of ePortfolios is relatively recent in the university sector as a way to engage students in their learning and assessment, and to produce records of their accomplishments. An ePortfolio is an online tool that students can utilise to record, catalogue, retrieve and present reflections and artefacts that support and demonstrate the development of graduate students’ capabilities and professional standards across university courses. The ePortfolio is therefore considered as both process and product. Although ePortfolios show promise as a useful tool and their uptake has grown, they are not yet a mainstream higher education technology. To date, the emphasis has been on investigating their potential to support the multiple purposes of learning, assessment and employability, but less is known about whether and how students engage with ePortfolios in the university setting. This thesis investigates student engagement with an ePortfolio in one university. As the educational designer for the ePortfolio project at the University, I was uniquely positioned as a researching professional to undertake an inquiry into whether students were engaging with the ePortfolio. The participants in this study were a cohort (defined by enrolment in a unit of study) of second and third year education students (n=105) enrolled in a four year Bachelor of Education degree. The students were introduced to the ePortfolio in an introductory lecture and a hands-on workshop in a computer laboratory. They were subsequently required to complete a compulsory assessment task – a critical reflection - using the ePortfolio. Following that, engagement with the ePortfolio was voluntary. A single case study approach arising from an interpretivist paradigm directed the methodological approach and research design for this study. The study investigated the participants’ own accounts of their experiences with the ePortfolio, including how and when they engaged with the ePortfolio and the factors that impacted on their engagement. Data collection methods consisted of an attitude survey, student interviews, document collection, a researcher reflective journal and researcher observations. The findings of the study show that, while the students were encouraged to use the ePortfolio as a learning and employability tool, most students ultimately chose to disengage after completing the assessment task. Only six of the forty-five students (13%) who completed the research survey had used the ePortfolio in a sustained manner. The data obtained from the students during this research has provided insight into reasons why they disengaged from the ePortfolio. The findings add to the understandings and descriptions of student engagement with technology, and more broadly, advance the understanding of ePortfolios. These findings also contribute to the interdisciplinary field of technology implementation. There are three key outcomes from this study, a model of student engagement with technology, a set of criteria for the design of an ePortfolio, and a set of recommendations for effective practice for those implementing ePortfolios. The first, the Model of Student Engagement with Technology (MSET) (Version 2) explored student engagement with technology by highlighting key engagement decision points for students The model was initially conceptualised by building on work of previous research (Version 1), however, following data analysis a new model emerged, MSET (Version 2). The engagement decision points were identified as: • Prior Knowledge and Experience, leading to imagined usefulness and imagined ease of use; • Initial Supported Engagement, leading to supported experience of usefulness and supported ease of use; • Initial Independent Engagement, leading to actual experience of independent usefulness and actual ease of use; and • Ongoing Independent Engagement, leading to ongoing experience of usefulness and ongoing ease of use. The Model of Student Engagement with Technology (MSET) goes beyond numerical figures of usage to demonstrate student engagement with an ePortfolio. The explanatory power of the model is based on the identification of the types of decisions that students make and when they make them during the engagement process. This model presents a greater depth of understanding student engagement than was previously available and has implications for the direction and timing of future implementation, and academic and student development activities. The second key outcome from this study is a set of criteria for the re-conceptualisation of the University ePortfolio. The knowledge gained from this research has resulted in a new set of design criteria that focus on the student actions of writing reflections and adding artefacts. The process of using the ePortfolio is reconceptualised in terms of privileging student learning over administrative compliance. The focus of the ePortfolio is that the writing of critical reflections is the key function, not the selection of capabilities. The third key outcome from this research consists of five recommendations for university practice that have arisen from this study. They are that, sustainable implementation is more often achieved through small steps building on one another; that a clear definition of the purpose of an ePortfolio is crucial for students and staff; that ePortfolio pedagogy should be the driving force not the technology; that the merit of the ePortfolio is fostered in students and staff; and finally, that supporting delayed task performance is crucial. Students do not adopt an ePortfolio just because it is provided. While students must accept responsibility for their own engagement with the ePortfolio, the institution has to accept responsibility for providing the environment, and technical and pedagogical support to foster engagement. Ultimately, an ePortfolio should be considered as a joint venture between student and institution where strong returns on investment can be realised by both. It is acknowledged that the current implementation strategies for the ePortfolio are just the beginning of a much longer process. The real rewards for students, academics and the university lie in the future.

Mount Vernon Student Association

A collection of materials concerning the Mount Vernon Student Association during 1967-1969 maintained by the School of Theology Library and Archives.

Student Perspectives of the Context of Recess; Implications for Student Well-Being

With most students in Canada spending approximately 180 days a year in school, averaging more than six hours a day (Morrison & Kirby, 2011), Wei, Szumilas and Kutcher (2011) argue that this places educational institutions in an unique position in terms of influencing the health and well-being of students. This brings forth the need for school environments to be utilized in ways that are conducive to promoting student development. Much of the educational and developmental components embedded within the school system as well as experiences within greatly influence student’s health and well-being. A national statement was made a concerning American children’s education and mental health that is greatly applicable to the Canadian school system. It was stated that schools “must be active partners in the mental health care of our children” because of the “important interplay between emotional health and school success” (Lazarus & Sulkowski, 2011, pp. 15-16). This identifies the need to ensure that all students, as much as possible, are being provided with safe environments and sufficient support in order to encourage positive developmental trajectories of student health and well-being.

Sustainability and research integrated in engineering courses at Dalarna University, Sweden

Högskolepedagogik, högskolepedagogisk utbildning, BHU

Equity indicators: measures of socio-economic status at an Australian university

After reviewing relevant literature on socio-economic status (SES) and the ways in which it is used for higher education institutional research and policy, a detailed data analysis of Victoria University (Australia) student data was undertaken. Between 10,000 and 15,000 domestic student addresses were ‘geocoded’ to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collection district level. A survey of individual reenrolling 2001 students that included parental occupation and education data was also analysed. The most important findings were: (1) The debate for practical reasons tends to focus on area versus individual measures, but SES is a richer and more complex subject and must be acknowledged as such. (2) It is apparent that VU’s student catchment is on average of lower SES than the Melbourne average, using various area measures of SES, including the DEST-Martin indicators. (3) There is only a very small difference between average area SES measures at the collection district and the postcode level. In practical terms this means that the postcode method is adequate, as well as being cheaper and more efficiently obtained, for analyses at an aggregated (or average) level. (4) Individual surveys of students do not prima facie add to the quality of aggregated institution level SES results delivered by area analyses. This again suggests that the postcode method is best for practical reasons.

The student experience of working in teams online

The research reported here is part of a project undertaken at a large Australian university in late 2005. The overall aim of the project was to identify the characteristics of student learning in an online environment. A university-wide student survey was conducted to ascertain student views of online learning and also of online teaching as part of the project. In the survey students were asked questions about their experiences of team work in online environments. The student perceptions of teams and team work are the focus of this paper.

The findings from the survey indicated that students appreciated the opportunity of working in diverse teams. They supported the view that their opinions were valued in such teams. Student views of how teaching should be conducted in units with online teams were also expressed. Concerns about team interactions, technological barriers and communication and cultural issues were also raised. The implications for teaching with online student teams are presented and discussed.

Student evaluation of teaching data 2009-2010

This dataset consists of a summary of publicly available student evaluation of teaching (SET) data for the annual period of trimester 2 2009, trimester 3 2009/2010 and trimester 1 2010, from the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) portal.

The data was analysed to include mean rating sets for 1432 units of study, and represented 74498 sets of SETU ratings, 188391 individual student enrolements and 58.5 percent of all units listed in the Deakin University handbook for the period under consideration, to identify any systematic influences on SET results at Deakin University.

The data reported for a unit included:
• total enrolment;
• total number of responses; and
• computed response rate for the enrolment location(s) selected

And, the data reported for each of the ten core SETU items included:
• number of responses;
• mean rating;
• standard deviation of the mean rating;
• percentage agreement;
• percentage disagreement; and
• percentage difference.

The prevalence of bulimia nervosa and bulimic behaviors among university students in Texas

This cross-sectional study examined by questionnaire the prevalence of bulimia nervosa and bulimic behaviors in a sample of 1175 undergraduate students enrolled in two state-supported universities in Texas. In one university, the student population was predominantly white; in the other, it was predominantly black. Fifty-nine percent of the respondents were female and 41% were male. Information regarding age, sex, ethnicity, college major, college year, marital status, housing arrangements, religion, socioeconomic status, height, weight, dieting behaviors, and family history of alcoholism, drug abuse, and depression was collected. Bulimia status was assessed using the Revised Bulimia Test (BULIT-R), which is based on the DSM-III-R criteria for bulimia nervosa. Only 1.3% of the females and 0.4% of the males were classified as having bulimia nervosa. The prevalence of bulimic behaviors was considerably higher; 6.4% of the females and 3.6% of the males were classified as having bulimic behaviors. Univariate analysis showed the following factors to be significantly associated with bulimic behaviors: female gender, single marital status, high BMI, a family history of alcoholism, drug abuse, or depression, and certain dieting behaviors. In the present study, ethnicity did not prove to be a significant factor associated with bulimia nervosa or bulimic behaviors. Multivariate analysis showed that, in comparison to normal/underweight individuals, the odds of having bulimic behaviors for severely overweight subjects were 2.23 (95% CI: 1.43, 3.50). Students who were dieting at the time of the study were 3.22 times (95% CI: 2.05, 5.06) as likely to have bulimic behaviors as were students who had never dieted. This study concludes there is a need to distinguish between bulimia nervosa and bulimic behaviors when estimating prevalence of a population. ^

Student lecture notes of Benjamin Peirce, 1797-1798

This collection contains approximately twenty-three handwritten lecture summaries on six leaves made by Harvard undergraduate Benjamin Peirce between September 1797 and November 22, 1798. The summaries generally provide a few sentences describing the topic covered and primarily pertain to lectures on English grammar delivered by Eliphalet Pearson, the Hollis Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages. There are also summaries for single lectures by David Tappan, the Hollis Professor Divinity; Samuel Webber, the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy; and John Snelling Popkin, the Greek Tutor from 1795 to 1798, and later the Eliot Professor of Greek Literature. There is also an undated summary of a lecture by Benjamin Waterhouse, the Hersey Professor of Theory and Practice of Physic.