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T: +27(0)51 401 9111 | [email protected] | 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 | [email protected] | www.ufs.ac.za
Thank you!