Zoekresultaten

Studiesucces

Docentopvattingen over de meerwaarde van honoursonderwijs voor het leren van talentvolle en gemotiveerde studenten

Het hoofddoel van deze studie is het verkrijgen van inzicht in welke factoren van het honoursonderwijs een meerwaarde opleveren voor het leren van studenten in honoursprogramma’s. Deze studie draagt hiermee bij aan kennis over de relatie tussen excellentiebevorderend onderwijs enerzijds en leergedrag en motivatie van studenten anderzijds. De praktische relevantie van deze studie ligt in het ontwikkelen van kennis voor het opzetten en verbeteren van talentgericht doceren, ter bevordering van het professionaliseren van docenten. In deze studie wordt bestudeerd wat volgens docenten de meerwaarde voor studenten is van honoursonderwijs. In deze exploratieve kwalitatieve interviewstudie werden twaalf docenten in drie verschillende honoursprogramma’s voor talentvolle bachelorstudenten bevraagd over hun opvattingen. De meerwaarde van hethonoursonderwijs voor studenten wordt volgens de docenten gekenmerkt door: (1) studentgerichtheid; (2) gebruik van andersoortige onderwijsvormen; (3) nadruk op ‘inquiry-based’ strategieën; (4) gerichtheid op kritisch en creatief denken; (5) hoge verwachtingen en ambitieuze doelen; en (6) kleinschaligheid en interdisciplinair karakter. Deze resultaten worden besproken en geïllustreerd met interviewfragmenten. Tevens worden de resultaten gerelateerd aan professionalisering voor docenten in honoursprogramma’s in het hoger onderwijs.

Een andere benadering van studiesucces

Dit artikel gaat in op en reflecteert op de dissertatie En wat kan ik dan later worden? (Slijper, 2017). Het betreft een longitudinaal onderzoek naar het studiekeuzeproces van 89 studenten HBO-Rechten en Sociaal Juridische Dienstverlening, en de betekenis daarvan voor studiesucces.

The effects of prior education and engagement on success in engineering studies: do women and men differ?

Background In Dutch engineering education, female students outperform male students.Using an interactionalist framework, this study explores factors that contribute to this gender-based difference.Purpose This study aims to answer two questions: Do female and male students differ in background characteristics, engagement factors, and academic success? Are differences in the relationships among background characteristics, engagement factors, and academic success gender-specific?Design/method Data on male and female engineering undergraduate students from five Dutch universities were subjected to linear structural modeling to compare potential gender differences in the relationships among the focal variables. Two structural models were considered.Results Female students spent more time on independent study, reported more social inte- gration, completed more credits, and were more likely to stay in engineering than were male students. Academic integration and intention to persist were important for comple- tion of credits for both genders. Social integration was only important for men’s academic success. Females seemed to benefit less from good preparation through active learning during secondary education, and the effect of a high grade point average on math was neg- ative for females but positive for males.Conclusions Interactionalist concepts can explain academic success, but the relationships among concepts vary by gender. Males’ intentions to persist in engineering are an outcomeof engagement processes during the first year, whereas females’ intentions to persist in engineering are manifest at the start of the first year.

Facebook usage by students in higher education

In this paper I measure first year student Facebook usage as part of a broader PhD study into the influence of social media usage on the success of students in higher education. A total of 906 students were asked to complete 3 surveys on Facebook usage with their peers, for two consecutive years (2011-2012 and 2012-2013). The different purposes for Facebook usage, in addition to whether or not students used (self-created) Facebook-groups, were measured and the relationship between the use of pages compared to the purpose of Facebook usage. This resulted in significant correlations between the purpose of Facebook usage and the use of different pages, as well as correlations between the purpose and use of different pages. This study hereby explores the variation in student Facebook usage and provides valuable insight into the potential value of Facebook for students in an educational setting, without the interference of teachers. It is also the next logical step in revising existing integration and engagement theories that predict student success in higher education in contemporary society.

Building connections for success

For delayed and long-term students, the education process is often a lonely journey. The main conclusion of this research is that learning should not be an individual process of the student connected to one lecturer, but rather a community where learning is a collective journey. The social interaction between lecturers, groups of delayed students and other actors is an important engine for arriving at the new knowledge, insights and expertise that are important to reach their final level. This calls for the design of social structures and the collaboration mechanism that enable the bonding of all members in the community. By making use of this added value, new opportunities for the individual are created that can lead to study success. Another important conclusion is that in the design and development of learning communities, sufficient attention must be paid to cultural characteristics. Students who delay are faced with a loss of self-efficacy and feelings of shame and guilt. A learning community for delayed students requires a culture in which students can turn this experience into an experience of self-confidence, hope and optimism. This requires that the education system pays attention to language use, symbols and rituals to realise this turn. The model ‘Building blocks of a learning environment for long-term students’ contains elements that contribute to the study success of delayed and long-term students. It is the challenge for every education programme to use it in an appropriate way within its own educational context. Each department will have to explore for themselves how these elements can be translated into the actions, language, symbols and rituals that are suitable for their own target group.