Reaching Rural Students with Resources and Enrichment-Focused Learning in the Summer Months

Each student selected books during the last week of school and during the last days of the summer program, so that they had access to books when school was not in session. Since book ownership is an important motivator for reading, the students kept their books and were treated to one additional book on the last day of the program, when they took a field trip to a bookstore. Study Design Reallocating school resources required a research focus with data collection and analysis for continued approval of summer program funding. The mixed-methods design of the study included quantitative data (e.g., registration, attendance, STAR reading scores, Likert scale questions on student and parent questionnaires) and qualitative data (e.g., student focus groups, open-ended questions on student and parent questionnaires). Parents' written consent and students' assent were provided for STAR reading, focus group, and questionnaire data collection each summer.

Students' sense of belonging at a South African university during COVID-19

The research on students' sense of belonging in higher education has evolved into a prominent theme worldwide. Institutional research focuses on the institution understanding itself and helps leaders to rethink improvement initiatives. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has required of institutions to revise student support programmes and approaches to maintain a strong sense of belonging. The theories of belonging by Strayhorn (2012) and Dumford et al. (2019) were adopted to analyse student responses. The aim of the study was to understand students' sense of belonging and how the university responded to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure a strong sense of belonging. Data were generated through in-depth interviews with 45 undergraduate students from all seven faculties. The findings highlight notable prevention measures intended to limit the spread of the virus on campus and student support in the form of study devices and data. The post-lockdown changes included a return to face-to-face mental health support, drafting COVID-19 catchup plans for first year orientation of 2020 and 2021 cohorts, improving the student voice. Finally, notable principles for responding to a future higher education crisis are highlighted. These initiatives contributed towards establishing and maintaining a strong students' sense of belonging.

Learning Complex Technology Online: Effect of Challenge and Hindrance Techno-stressors on Student Satisfaction and Retention

Despite increasing attention to online learning worldwide, learning complex technologies online has always been challenging and even hindersome to students, who are subjected to elevated levels of technostress. In contrast to most previous studies that focused on the negative side of technostress, this study investigated both the negative and positive sides of technostress. Based on the challenge hindrance framework (CHF), the holistic stress model (HSM), and the person-environment fit (P-E Fit) model, we examined how challenge and hindrance techno-stressors caused distress and eustress in online students and lead to associated outcomes. We empirically validated the research model by analyzing survey data collected from 565 online graduate business students enrolled at a university in the United States. The results revealed that some hindrance and challenge techno-stressors were associated with techno-distress and techno-eustress, which further impacted student satisfaction and student retention. We discussed the contributions and implications and provided future research directions.

The Effects of Motivation, Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy, and Self-Regulation on Learning Engagement of Junior College Students

This study examined three influential factors of junior college students' learning engagement: (a) intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, (b) career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE), and (c) self-regulation. Participants included 206 students enrolled in the secretarial administration program in a junior college in South Korea. The primary research findings are as follows. First, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation positively influenced CDMSE. Intrinsic motivation influenced learning engagement through CDMSE and self-regulation;extrinsic motivation did not. Second, CDMSE influenced self-regulation and indirectly influenced learning engagement through self-regulation. Third, self-regulation had the largest effect on learning engagement. The findings highlight the need to examine and enhance students' self-regulation skills and help improve the learning engagement of junior college students. This study confirmed the significance of motivation, CDMSE, and self-regulation for junior college students' learning engagement.

How Students Experience Faculty Responses to Academic Struggle

Despite large investments of human and financial resources in college student success, the 6-year graduation rate for US public universities remains at approximately 60% (NCES, 2018). In an effort to understand faculty roles in mitigating and exacerbating student learning, we interviewed 50 students from two public universities in the US Mid-west about their experiences of academic struggle. Faculty behaviors that students identified as helping them persevere through academic struggle included patience with questions, approachability, and the ability to convey knowledge in multiple ways. We present implications for creating the conditions that increase professors' ability to help students.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Students' Perceived Justice, University Support, Professor Support, and Intentions to Drop Out

Postsecondary education significantly contributes to individuals' career opportunities, lifetime earnings, and social mobility;therefore, understanding the factors that contribute to student retention in higher education has positive economic and societal implications. In this study, with the purpose of contributing to student retention with actionable findings, we focus on factors over which universities exercise reasonable control. We collected data from 430 students in the college of business of a southwestern public university in the U.S. before and during the remote instruction period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We exploit the natural experiment created by COVID-19 to examine group differences in the relationships of perceived organizational support, professor support, fairness of treatment, fairness of outcome, and intentions to drop out. After conducting measurement invariance tests, both samples were fitted to a multi-group structural equation model. Our data revealed that in contrast to the before-COVID sample, during COVID-19, students' perceptions of professor support uniquely and strongly influenced their intentions of dropping out of their studies. Our findings have important implications for student retention. © 2023, North American Business Press. All rights reserved.

An Empirical Investigation into Students' Actual Use of MOOCs in Saudi Arabia Higher Education

Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, are a type of educational innovation where enrollment in the courses given is free and available online. The MOOCs course selection is extensive and may accommodate hundreds or thousands of students at once. The current study, however, aims to look into how the academic self-efficacy of real MOOC users affects learning engagement and perseverance in higher education in Saudi Arabia. This study added the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to social cognitive theory. Therefore, the primary goal is to create a new model by examining the variables that affect the perceived utility and perceived service quality, as well as the students' general perceptions of MOOCs that are really used. Therefore, this research used a quantitative approach and distributed the questionnaire online through a Google Form. It collected data from 276 King Saud University students and used it to test the hypothesized correlations using structural equation modeling (SEM-PLS). The study's findings showed that perceptions of perceived benefits and service quality consistently had a significant influence on social interaction, influence, networks of support, and social identity. A further finding was that reported utility and perceived service quality have always been significantly influenced by academic self-efficacy in actual MOOC use. Because of this, learning engagement and perseverance in Saudi Arabian higher education are significantly impacted by the academic self-efficacy of real MOOC users. According to the findings, MOOC programs generally have a positive influence on the kingdom's higher education system. As a result, it is almost certain that this research model will assist university decision-makers in determining whether or not MOOC usage is prevalent at Saudi educational institutions.

The impact of mental health and trauma on student retention: A faculty perspective

Obtaining a college credential can be a vital pathway for economic security in the United States. Institutions of higher education have prioritized not just enrollment, but the retention and degree completion of their students. One significant contributing factor to student attrition is the presence of a mental health condition. Prior to the COVID-19 global pandemic, student mental health was at a crisis level;entering the third year of the pandemic, those levels have worsened. A deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to mental health conditions as well as the prevalence of trauma among college students is critical for addressing the issue. The heterogeneity of community college students and their distinction from 4-year residential institutions must be considered when developing institutional retention strategies. Research has found faculty engagement to be an essential component in student retention, but little is known of the community college faculty perspective when considering student mental health. This phenomenological qualitative study interviewed community college faculty to understand their perspective of how student mental health and trauma affect student retention. Themes and subthemes were gleaned from narrative data, which informed the implications and recommendations for practice, policy, and future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Teachers' Appreciation of Benefits and Shortcomings of Online and Blended Higher STEM Education

This paper is devoted to identifying online teaching strategies appropriate for blended and face-to-face higher STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education. The study is inspired by the experience gained during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, which forced many higher education institutions worldwide to shift abruptly to distance education and try many new tools, teaching methods, and strategies. Some of these tools and strategies were abandoned as soon as the lockdown had been lifted and the institutions returned to their regular functioning, but some of them are bound to stay. Certainly, it would be beneficial to include the most valuable of the gained skills and competences in traditional on-campus and blended courses. The study is based on an online questionnaire, addressed to the STEM faculty of the University of Aveiro, Portugal (which is an example of an institution that used to provide face-to-face instruction), whose analysis permits to derive a number of important recommendations. The results are compared with our previous work, where the students' perspectives were analyzed, and similarities and discrepancies in appreciation of the involved parties are highlighted. This work extends the body of knowledge about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on STEM education by examining the challenges and opportunities faced by teachers. The recommendations derived contribute to improving the learning outcomes of online STEM education in many similar institutions.

Exploring the effects of the COVID-19 emergency remote education on students' social and academic integration in higher education in Austria

This article analyses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students' social and academic integration, based on Tinto's integration theory. A total of 640 university students in Austria completed an online survey pertaining to academic and social integration during the home-learning period. Results indicate that social integration and academic integration decreased significantly during the lockdown period in the beginning of 2020. The level of perceived support during home learning was positively associated with the levels of social and academic integration. Furthermore, while student age was a predictor for higher academic integration, it was not a predictor for social integration among peer students. Academic and social integration during COVID-19 was significantly linked with student satisfaction in various studies. This study has important implications for future home-learning periods, suggesting how institutions could prepare for longer disruptions of attendance and how they could leverage student integration. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

University-Wide Digital Skills Training: A Case Study Evaluation

Digital competencies and confidence are thought to be critical to success in higher education. However, despite learning frequently taking place online through the use of virtual learning environment and tools such as lecture capture, and evidence to counter the idea of digital nativity, these critical skills are often not explicitly taught at university. In the present study, we describe the development and evaluation of our Essential Digital Skills programme, which is a university-wide digital training programme designed and implemented at a large London university, aimed at new students but open to all students at the University. Using Kirkpatrick's evaluation model, we demonstrate that the programme provided effective training in digital skills for all students but that individual differences exist in the training experience, notably around ethnicity and student status, with Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students and international students feeling that the training made a greater contribution to their skill levels and resulted in greater behaviour change and impact, as well as intention to undertake further training.

A survey of student motivations for enrolling in engineering and technology undergraduate programs

Despite many efforts to attract and retain students in STEM programs in U.S. universities, it has proven to be a significant challenge. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has added to the struggles of students and educational institutions. At the same time, there is significant interest among funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation and philanthropic organizations to encourage enrollment in minority populations. This requires that we need to better understand the student population. Many national surveys and data sources including the Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS) provide a macro-level view across the entire country. This is insufficient for producing classroom-level changes. We need detailed information at the micro-level such as student surveys across multiple institutions to probe student motivations and ensure that their expectations are met and nurtured. We present the results of conducting a survey among 32 STEMs students enrolled in an introductory engineering course at Fairleigh Dickinson University. This is the first semester after the pandemic that courses were taught in person. We found significant differences along gender and racial lines. For the male students, 38% chose their STEM major due to parental or social influence, whereas for females it was 12.5%. For whites, parental/social influence accounted for 28% of STEM choices, whereas for African Americans, it was 0%. Across all students, 50% chose a STEM major due to an early interest in the field, or due to self-realization that they were good at STEM-related activities such as problem-solving. Our results indicate the importance of hands-on STEM exposure to students at the K-12 level and the role of mentors. Due to the recency of the data collected, we expect our findings to be valuable to the STEM education community. © 2022 IEEE.

Influence of COVID-19 on student campus ratings: a sentiment analysis

PurposeGiven the disruption of the COIVD-19 pandemic in higher education, this study seeks to understand possible changes in students' ratings and textual reviews of higher education institutions posted on Niche College Rankings (niche.com) prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilized a text analytics technique to identify the positive and negative keywords of students' sentiments expressed in their textual reviews provided on niche.com. After identifying the positive and negative sentimental keywords, this study performed ordinal logistic regressions and analyzed the statistical effects of these positive and negative sentimental keywords on the types of student ratings of a higher education institution.FindingsResults from 15,666 online reviews provided by students on niche.com indicate the following. First, eight positive sentimental keywords such as "outstanding” and "love” have a significant impact on students' positive ratings of a higher education institution prior to COVID-19, whereas eight positive sentimental keywords such as "amazing” and helpful” have a significant impact on students' positive ratings of a higher education institution after COVID-19. Second, twenty-eight negative sentimental keywords such as "difficult” and "frustrating” have a significant impact on students' negative ratings of a higher education institution prior to COVID-19, whereas thirty negative sentimental keywords such as "complex” and "hate” have a significant impact on student negative ratings of a higher education institution after COVID-19.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first few studies investigating higher education institution ratings and reviews provided by students. Additionally, this study provides an understanding of student positive and negative sentiments expressed in textual reviews posted prior to and after the COVID-19 pandemic. By doing so, this study provides a basis for future research seeking to understand student textual reviews of higher education institutions. Additionally, this study offers higher education administrators some recommendations that may foster student positive campus experience while minimizing negative sentiments.

Improving Student Success in Higher Education Using an Interactive and Adaptive Approach

Background: Numerous academic, personal, and social challenges create impediments to student success in postsecondary education, causing im mense concern relative to retention and graduation. Additionally, higher learning institutions are noticing a shift in the characteristics of the student body as well as a growing student presence in fully online courses. The need to increase student engagement and retention is greater than ever following the sudden disruption to the learning environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, postsecondary institutions should not merely focus on retention rates but also uphold a commitment to high expectations and qual ity from students and faculty alike. In order to engage and retain students, faculty must shift the academic environment to adapt and accommodate the evolving characteristics of the modern student (e.g., students over the age of 25 who have competing work/life demands).Framework: We propose a 3-tier framework based on existing evidence regarding the student engagement theory and provide undergraduate student retention strategies.Objective: The objective of this paper is to develop an adaptive student en gagement and retention model using the Middle Georgia State University's Program of Health Services Administration (HSA) student demographic data from student and course management systems to provide higher education faculty and students with useful measures to ensure student success throughout their educational endeavors.

A methodology to design, develop, and evaluate machine learning models for predicting dropout in school systems: the case of Chile.

School dropout is a structural problem which permanently penalizes students and society in areas such as low qualification jobs, higher poverty levels and lower life expectancy, lower pensions, and higher economic burden for governments. Given these high consequences and the surge of the problem due to COVID-19 pandemic, in this paper we propose a methodology to design, develop, and evaluate a machine learning model for predicting dropout in school systems. In this methodology, we introduce necessary steps to develop a robust model to estimate the individual risk of each student to drop out of school. As advancement from previous research, this proposal focuses on analyzing individual trajectories of students, incorporating the student situation at school, family, among other levels, changes, and accumulation of events to predict dropout. Following the methodology, we create a model for the Chilean case based on data available mostly through administrative data from the educational system, and according to known factors associated with school dropout. Our results are better than those from previous research with a relevant sample size, with a predictive capability 20% higher for the actual dropout cases. Also, in contrast to previous work, the including non-individual dimensions results in a substantive contribution to the prediction of leaving school. We also illustrate applications of the model for Chilean case to support public policy decision making such as profiling schools for qualitative studies of pedagogic practices, profiling students' dropout trajectories and simulating scenarios.

Food Insecurity on a College Campus: Implications for Academic Success

This study sought to understand the scope of food insecurity at one four-year public institution and whether there were implications on academic outcomes for college students who face it. Data collection consisted of administering a questionnaire to a random sample of 2,700 undergraduate students. In total, 314 students participated. Overall, 47.9% of survey respondents scored in the category of experiencing food insecurity within the past 12 months. Students who experienced food insecurity had lower GPAs, were twice as likely to fail and withdraw from a course and were four times more likely to take an incomplete grade in a course.

High School Student Stress and School Improvement

Enabling students, teachers, and parents to become more informed about stress during adolescence can improve student emotional and social support. This article documents the growing problem of student stress and resulting effects on mental health. Students (Grades 9-12) at one public high school in the southern United States were invited by the principal to complete an anonymous online poll about sources of stress in their lives. The intent of the school principal was to use the findings to strengthen student support and contribute to the Continuous School Improvement Plan. Results of the 17-item Stress Poll are presented by frequency and percentages for the 349 students and compared by gender responses (females n = 172, males n = 177). Results indicated the most prominent student stresses at school involved worrying about getting good grades in required courses, not understanding some of their courses, being unable to concentrate, and having poor time management practices. Students felt that teachers should collaborate to reduce undue student stress by avoiding overloading and letting students make mistakes without affecting grades. Outside of school the main stress was getting along with relatives;in addition, parents should set more reasonable expectations for academic achievement. Students felt that workshops about stress could improve understanding and influence their parents and teachers.

Implementation of a Virtual Job Shadowing Experience for STEM Students Participating in a Corporate-STEM Connection Program

This evidence-based paper investigated the impact of a virtual job shadowing program on first-year university students' retention in STEM majors, knowledge of STEM careers, and motivation to continue in STEM majors. Research shows that most students enter STEM majors with little knowledge of what a career in their specified major does. In order to address this problem, this study provided first-year students the opportunity to job shadow a near peer mentor who was participating in a cooperative education program. As a result of the impact of Covid-19 on intervention activities, the development of a virtual job shadowing experience for first-year students was designed and implemented. This paper outlines the details of implementation of such a virtual experience, the challenges encountered, and students' overall experience with the virtual program. The virtual shadowing experiences consisted of virtual meetings between the first-year student and a near peer mentor. During the meeting, the mentor and first-year student conversed about the company where the co-op student was working, major-specific coursework, career-related information, skills required by the profession, goal-setting strategies, and how to overcome challenges. The main questions investigated include: (1) what learning experiences were provided to first-year students?;(2) to what extent were students satisfied with their virtual shadowing experience?;(3) what strengths were identified to ensure implementation fidelity? and (4) what areas for improvement were identified to ensure the quality of the virtual learning experiences? During the 2020-2021 year, 34 students participated in at least one virtual shadowing experience at one of 25 companies who participated in the program. Data collection included a survey completed by students before and after they had experienced the program, post program surveys by student mentors, and focus group interviews with first-year students. Results show overall positive experiences from the virtual program. Of those who responded to the survey regarding the virtual shadowing experience (n=28), 93% somewhat or strongly agreed that the experience met their expectations, 96% somewhat or strongly agreed that the experience allowed them to learn about industry, and 92% somewhat or strongly agreed that they would recommend the experience to others. In addition, 83% responded that they enjoyed their experience “a lot”. Results from the student survey also show 85% of students stated that the job shadowing experience makes them want to continue in their major. This paper addresses how the implementation can be improved and what services may need to be added for future virtual job shadowing experiences to improve students' learning experiences in a virtual job shadowing program. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022

Zip to Industry: A First-Year Corporate-STEM Connection Program

The purpose of this project was to investigate the influence of a job-shadowing program on first year students' retention in STEM majors. Many students enter STEM majors with little knowledge about what a career in their fields entail and may be discouraged from persisting in those majors if they face obstacles in their first-year STEM classes. This NSF-funded IUSE project developed an intervention to address this issue by pairing first-year STEM students with a near-peer mentor currently enrolled in a co-operative education program and allowing them to job shadow the mentor at their place of employment. The goal of the job-shadowing was to allow first-year students to increase their knowledge about careers in STEM fields, and their self-efficacy to succeed in STEM majors. The program was implemented for three years, with three cohorts of first year students, with 136 total students participating across the three years. Results of three years of implementation of this intervention will be discussed, as well as the lessons learned from shifting the intervention from face-to-face activities (touring the company, observing hands-on activities, participating in company events), to a virtual shadowing program during the covid-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that students who participated in the job shadowing program were retained at a higher rate than a comparison group with similar demographics and academic profile. Students found the program to be valuable to learn about STEM industries and reported that participating in job shadowing increased their interest in remaining in their majors. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.