Who are our first-year students? What do they expect? How

T: +27(0)51 401 9111 | info@ufs.ac.za | www.ufs.ac.za

Who are our first-year students? What do they expect? How can we best support them?

Mrs. Hanlé Posthumus and Dr Sonja Loots24 May 2018

Outline

• Who are our students?

• How engaged do they expect to be?

• What do they come into university with?

What do we know?

• Underprepared students• Struggle with transition• Vulnerable to drop-out

• How does this influence first-year experience?

What can we contribute

• Getting to know students who enter– We can better serve and help them when we

understand where they’re coming from

• Provide data through Student Engagement– Large database of national self-reported data– Well-researched– Could lead to further research

What is Student Engagement?

What is student engagement?

What is student engagement?

Range of Student Engagement Measures

About BUSSE

• Administered as soon as students enter university

• Collects data about entering university students’ – high school experiences– expectations for participating in educationally

purposeful activities during first year.

BUSSE themes and scalesHigh-school engagement

• Quantitative reasoning• Learning strategies

First-year expectations

• Collaborative learning• Student-staff interaction• Discussions with diverse

others• Academic perseverance• Academic difficulty• Perceived academic

preparation• Importance of campus

environment

Who are our students?

BUSSE data

70% First-generation

30% Second-generation

First-generation status

??

32% On-campus

68% Off-campus

Residential status

Gender

2015-2017: 9 universities participated, 14 872 students.Published together with USAf: Understanding students: A key to systemic success

Race

What were most of your high school marks?

1%

15%

36%31%

14%

2%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

40-49% 50-59% 60-69% 70-79% 80-89% 90-100%

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

High school marks

What do you expect most of your marks to be at this university during

the coming year?

0% 3%

19%

42%

26%

9%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

40-49% 50-59% 60-69% 70-79% 80-89% 90-100%

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Expected marks

Which of the following sources are you using to pay for your educational expenses (tuition

fees, books, room and board, etc.)?

23%

72%

8%

23%

3%

26% 23%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ownmoney

Parent/guardian's

money

Partner/spouse'smoney

Familymember or

anyoneelse

Employer Bursary Loan

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

How many of your close friends will attend this university during the

coming year?

29%

13% 16%11%

31%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

None 1 2 3 4 or more

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Close friends

This institution was your:

61%

24%

8%2%3%

First choice Second choice Third choiceFourth choice Fifth choice or lower

Your programme of study was your:

52%

32%

16%

First choice Second choice Third choice

Highest qualification aiming to complete

24%

68%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Bachelor’s degree (B.A., B.Sc., B.Tech., etc.)

Postgraduate studies (Honours,Master's or Doctoral degrees)

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

How engaged do they expect to be?

BUSSE mean scale scores

29

39

3027

4045

27

4845

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

QuantitativeReasoning

LearningStrategies

CollaborativeLearning

Student StaffInteraction

ExpectedDiscussions withDiverse Others

ExpectedAcademic

Perseverance

ExpectedAcademicDifficulty

PerceivedAcademic

Preparation

Importance ofCampus

Environment

Mea

n sc

ores

Perceived preparednessvs. Expected difficulty

45

27

48

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Academic perseverance Academic difficulty Academic preparation

Mea

n

Academic perseverance

25%13%

33%20%

12% 14%

75%87%

67%80%

88% 86%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Study whenthere are

otherinteresting

things to do

Findadditional

informationfor subjectswhen you

don'tunderstandthe material

Participateregularly in

subjectdiscussionseven whenyou don'tfeel like it

Asklecturers forhelp when

you strugglewith subjectassignments

Finishsomethingyou startedwhen youencounterchallenges

Staypositive,

even whenyou do

poorly on atest or

assignment

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Not certain Certain

Academic difficulty

54%48%

36%

65% 65%59%

46%52%

64%

35% 35%41%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Learningsubjectmaterial

Managingtime

Payinguniversityexpenses

Gettinghelp withacademic

work

Makingnew friends

Interactingwith staff

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Not difficult Difficult

Perceived academic preparation

12% 12% 10%19%

12% 12% 7%

88% 88% 90%81%

88% 88% 93%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Writeclearly andeffectively

Speakclearly andeffectively

Thinkcritically

andanalytically

Analysenumerical

andstatistical

information

Workeffectivelywith others

Usecomputing

andinformationtechnology

Learneffectivelyon your

own

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Not prepared Prepared

What do they come into university with?

Writing

On average:Wrote 123.4 pages in high school

On average:Expect to write 220.6 pages in first year

Time spent preparing for class

On average:Spent 12.5 hours preparing for

class in high school

On average:Expect to spend 15.9 hours

preparing for class in first year

Learning strategies – high school

20%

38% 34%

80%

62% 66%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Identified importantinformation from

reading assignments

Reviewed notes afterclass

Summarised what youlearned in class or from

subject materials

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Never/Sometimes Often/Very often

Engaging in deep learning– high school

60%

44%33%

40%

56%67%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Included diverseperspectives in subjectdiscussions or writing

assignments

Examined the strengthsand weaknesses ofyour own views on a

topic or issue

Tried to betterunderstand someone

else's views byimagining how an issue

looks from their view

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Never/Sometimes Often/Very often

Expected Collaborative learning

43% 37% 31% 30%

57% 63% 69% 70%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ask anotherstudent to helpyou understandsubject material

Explain subjectmaterial to other

students

Prepare forexams by

discussing orworking throughsubject material

with otherstudents

Work with otherstudents onprojects andassignments

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Never/Sometimes Often/Very often

Expected Discussions with diverse others

25% 25%34% 38%

75% 75%66% 62%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

People fromdifferent race or

ethnicity

People from adifferent

economicbackground

People withdifferent religious

beliefs

People withdifferent political

views

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Never/Sometimes Often/Very often

Why is this necessary to know?

The case of first-generation students

The vast majority of students are first-generation (70%).

- More FG students enter with lower scores

- More FG students live off campus

- FG students have considered dropping out because of: financial stress (47%); food insecurity (31%); not feeling that they belong (19%); and poor academic achievement (16%)

- Show higher scores of perseverance and also expect to perform better academically at university than at school

- UFS analysis shows that FG students are less successful

Conclusion• Who are our students?

– Important to know• How engaged do they expect to be?

– Manage these expectations• What do they come into university with?

– “Underprepared” students

• http://www.usaf.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Understanding-students_WEB.pdf

T: +27(0)51 401 9111 | info@ufs.ac.za | www.ufs.ac.za

Thank you!