Browsing by Author "Picton C"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Experiencing the educational interface: Understanding student engagement
    (3/07/2017) Kahu ER; Picton C; Nelson K
    Student engagement is widely recognised as critical to student retention and success – simply put, students who are engaged with their studies are more likely to be successful. However, the mechanisms contributing to an individual student’s engagement have not yet been clearly articulated and the term engagement is used differently in various contexts. We understand engagement to be an individual student’s psychosocial state: their behavioural, emotional, and cognitive connection to their learning. In 1984, Astin proposed that student involvement, as he called it, was the missing link in our understanding of how institutional factors influenced student success. Aligned with Astin’s rationale, Chickering and Gamson (1987) proposed and later explored seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education, along with six ‘powerful forces’ that they believed shaped the student experience. In the decades since, these early contributions have strongly influenced curricular and co-curricular practices which have positively impacted on student outcomes. These practices include: peer to peer participation, access and interactions with staff, timely feedback, a scaffolded curriculum, early identification of students at risk, assessment aligned with learning outcomes, clearly articulated expectations, and a supportive but challenging learning environment. More recently, Students as Partners initiatives have been taken up with much enthusiasm. However, while the impact of these good practice initiatives has been comprehensively demonstrated, the mechanisms that explain how these initiatives actually influence an individual student’s retention and success have not yet been clearly identified. In 2013, Kahu proposed a comprehensive framework that shed light on the influences on and consequences of student engagement. In 2017 Kahu and Nelson refined this framework to include the notion of the educational interface as a metaphor for the individual psychosocial space within which a student is engaged in their learning. This new framework incorporates four key constructs within the interface, dimensions of the student’s psychosocial experience. These constructs are self-efficacy, belonging, emotions, and well-being. These four constructs represent pathways by which curricular and co-curricular initiatives and other factors influence student engagement and success. For instance, a student with financial difficulties or a heavy lifeload will have reduced well-being, which will inhibit their engagement with their studies. Or a student who forms good relationships with staff and peers will feel a sense of belonging which makes them more comfortable in class and thus more willing to actively participate. This revised framework is a leap forward in our understandings about the mechanisms that underpin student engagement and provide a firm foundation for practice. This poster presents and briefly explains the revised framework as well as illustrating the framework by presenting data from a current study following a group of 19 first year students at a regional Australian university for their first year. References Astin, A. W. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of College Student Personnel, 25(4), 297-308. Chickering, A. W. & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. American Association of Higher Education Bulletin, 39(7), 3-7 Kahu, E. R. (2013). Framing student engagement in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 38(5), 758-773. doi: 10.1080/03075079.2011.598505 Kahu, E. R., & Nelson, K. (in press). Student engagement in the educational interface: Understanding the mechanisms of student success. Higher Education Research & Development
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    Exploring the Complexity of First-Year Student Belonging in Higher Education: Familiarity, Interpersonal, and Academic Belonging
    (Queensland University of Technology, 2022-07-06) Kahu ER; Ashley N; Picton C
    Belonging is critical to first-year student success and persistence in higher education. However, differing definitions make it challenging to fully understand why belonging is significant. Foregrounding student voice, this research explored how first-year Australian university students talked about their belonging. Using Kahu and Nelson’s (2018) framework of student engagement as a lens, 18 students were interviewed weekly throughout the year. Students talked about belonging in three distinct but interrelated ways: familiarity, interpersonal belonging, and academic belonging. While all were important for student wellbeing and engagement, academic belonging, students’ sense that university, their discipline, and courses were “right” for them, was critical for perseverance. Unlike interpersonal belonging which tended to build through the year, academic belonging fluctuated for many students. The findings suggest framing belonging merely as about relationships limits understanding of this important construct. Contributing to scholarship by bringing a refreshed perspective to the nuances and complexity of belonging, the research suggests higher education providers need to monitor and foster academic belonging in first-year students.
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    ‘Hardworking, determined and happy’: first-year students’ understanding and experience of success
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 30/05/2018) Picton C; Kahu ER; Nelson K
    While all agree student success in higher education is important, there is less agreement on what it means to be a successful student. Student success is often measured by institutional reports of grades, student retention and qualification completion. More recently, broader definitions have emerged; however, these do not incorporate student perceptions of success. The current study addresses this gap by exploring how first-year students talk about their success. Drawing from weekly interviews of students at an Australian regional university, the data are analysed through the lens of a conceptual framework of student engagement. The findings demonstrate that success is inextricably linked with student engagement as well as other dimensions of the student experience. As expected, students assess their success extrinsically with institutional measures such as grades and feedback. In addition, their behavioural engagement was seen as a more immediate measure of their success, while happiness and satisfaction were necessary for some students to feel successful. Perceptions of success have important consequences for students in terms of increased positive emotions, self-efficacy and course belonging. Success for these students has multiple dimensions. These findings give rise to suggestions for a staged approach to supporting first-year student success. However, the student experience is complex and multifaceted and further research is needed with different student cohorts who may define and experience success in other ways.
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    Pathways to engagement: a longitudinal study of the first-year student experience in the educational interface
    (Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2/07/2019) Kahu ER; Picton C; Nelson K
    Student engagement is critical to success in the first year of university, yet evidence about how and why various factors influence engagement remains relatively rare. This study addresses this gap combining an existing framework of student engagement (Kahu and Nelson, Higher Education Research and Development, 37(1), 58–71, 2018) with student narratives to provide a detailed understanding of students’ engagement throughout their first year. Weekly semi-structured interviews with 19 first-year students at an Australian university illustrate how student and university factors interact to influence engagement, as conceptualised in the framework. The findings provide empirical support for the framework of student engagement, offering a more nuanced understanding of the student experience within the framework’s educational interface. The importance of self-efficacy, belonging, emotions and wellbeing as interwoven pathways to student engagement is demonstrated and the contextual and dynamic nature of engagement highlighted. Further work is necessary to understand how this knowledge can best facilitate student engagement and perhaps reduce cycles of disengagement.
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    Student interest as a key driver of engagement for first year students
    (2017-07) Kahu ER; Nelson K; Picton C
    Much has been written about the challenges faced by first year students at university. This paper adds to that literature by exploring student interest, known to be associated with persistence and learning. Using data from a qualitative study following 19 students through their first year at a regional Australian university, the paper examines the antecedents and consequences of student interest. Findings show the students’ existing individual interests and goals interact with the teaching environment to trigger situational interest. Situational interest then enhances behavioural and cognitive engagement and leads to better learning and grades. Perceived relevance of the learning task is shown to be a particularly important determinant of student interest. Students’ emotions, self-efficacy, and their sense of belonging are also important factors in explaining the links between student interest, the teaching environment, and student engagement.
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    The benefits of good tutor-student relationships in the first year
    (2019-08) Kahu ER; Picton C
    © 2019, QUT Library. All rights reserved. Teacher-student relationships (TSR) are an important influence on the student experience at university. Existing research, predominantly with lecturers, highlights that these relationships have academic and affective dimensions. Studies demonstrate good TSR increase student motivation, engagement, and learning. The current study adds a student voice to this topic, focussing on their views of tutoring staff, who undertake much of the face-to-face teaching in universities. The qualitative study followed 19 students through their first year at an Australian university. The students identified four characteristics of a ‘good’ tutor: Helpful, caring, likeable, and hands-on. Students talked about multiple benefits of having a good tutor including increased help-seeking, studying harder, more interest in class, and improved wellbeing and belonging. The importance of the tutor role is underestimated and institutions would do well to better support these valuable staff.
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    Using photo elicitation to understand first-year student experiences: Student metaphors of life, university and learning
    (29/02/2020) Kahu ER; Picton C
    © The Author(s) 2020. The transition from school to university is challenging and a greater knowledge of the first-year student experience will enable staff to better support their students. University- and government-run student surveys fail to capture the depth and breadth of the first-year experience and so qualitative research is needed to get a more nuanced and holistic understanding of students’ lives. The study described in this article used a photo elicitation method. We asked students to choose four images that represented their first year at university. The data – the chosen photographs and the students’ explanations of their choices – were thematically analysed, focusing in particular on the diverse metaphors students used to depict three dimensions of their experiences: life, university and learning. The findings highlight the dual nature of the transition to university – learning to be a university student and learning to be an adult – as well as the challenges and stresses of that process. The lack of agency that students felt is evident. The students likened their journey to a rollercoaster and talked of not being able to keep up with the fast-moving curriculum. They depicted themselves as passive acquirers of knowledge. The findings offer new ways for staff to understand the challenges that potentially disrupt student engagement in the first year. Both students and staff could benefit from recognising the metaphors in their thinking and, potentially, seeking new metaphors that might reveal different and more positive ways of experiencing the first year in higher education.