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Excerpt: The gurus of the first-year student experience have done it again!

Thesis (M. A. (Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / Upon entering the university environment, first year students encounter what could be described as a “foreign culture”, and have to reconcile conflicting transitional spaces of their home and university identities. This adjustive demand can lead to some considerable levels of psychological distress. This study examined the level of psychological health in first year students. It also evaluated whether factors such as monetary background, residential area, race and the availability of bursaries affect students’ transition into “university life”. First year students (N = 300; male = 135; female = 165) completed the General Health Questionnaire-12 at the University of Limpopo. A substantial percentage (that is, 30.33%) of the participants was found to have or is prone to psychological health problems. This finding is consistent with the results of previous studies which have found that some students may be susceptible to mental health problems predating their entry into university. There was no significant difference between the levels of psychological health between males and females and bursary users and those that are funded by their parents or guardians. There was also no significant difference between those that live in the rural areas and those from the cities. However, the figures between those that are poor and rich were strikingly noteworthy.

The present study examines the effects of first-year college experiences on undergraduate students' development of altruistic and socially responsible behavior - a critical college outcome that leads to significant public or external benefits and support. Furthermore, this study examines whether the effects of first-year college experiences on altruistic and socially responsible behavior vary between first-generation and non-first-generation students. To guide the study's investigation, human, social, and cultural capital theory are used as conceptual frameworks and college impact models - including Astin's Input-Environment-Outcome model, Pascarella's General Model for Assessing Change model, and Weidman's model of undergraduate socialization - serve as a theoretical guide. Using longitudinal, pretest-posttest data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, ordinary least squares regressions are utilized to estimate the effects of the college experience on first-year students' altruism and social responsibility. Findings from these analyses suggest that a number of first-year college experiences and participation in vetted good practices significantly contribute to undergraduates' development of altruistic and socially responsible behavior.

The purpose of this research was to identify the factors which lend to and negatively impact student success, taking a specific look at the Pomona area and tracking the experiences of one first-year teacher and three of their students throughout an entire academic year in the charter school setting. Beginning with research on the experiences and beliefs which motivated an individual teacher to join the field of education, it then assesses how the academic and cultural backgrounds of three different students lend to their overall identity and school success. The latter research identifies factors within the city itself which affect school wide culture, testing performance, student and staff retention rates, and the overall student classroom experience. A final review of the individual teacher experience concludes that student growth directly relates to an increase in teacher understanding of lesson planning and classroom structuring, but factors such as administration, school culture, and low teacher retention will negatively impact student academic and emotional growth.

With a growing and more diverse population nationally, physical therapist programs have evolved to meet the demands for physical therapists in our healthcare system. Despite the substantial efforts to increase student populations to meet workforce shortage, 5-35% will depart in the early years of their program. Current evidence suggests the association of measurable factors with students’ academic success in physical therapist education. However, these measurable factors have accounted for a small variance in explaining the experiences of academic success. In order to sustain the current healthcare system, physical therapist programs need to ensure that students persist and graduate. The purposes of this qualitative study are to explore how recent graduates experience the first year of a physical therapist program and how these experiences contribute to academic success and persistence. Eleven recent physical therapist graduates were interviewed for the study. Program, student, and participant-generated documents were collected. Six themes emerged from the data: (a) establishing career goals, (b) evolving expectations from undergraduate to professional education, (c) encountering transitions in personal, social, and financial aspects, (d) balancing multiple identities (e) seeking supports inside and outside of classroom, and (f) modifying strategies to overcome academic challenges. The findings of this study indicate that the participants navigated a complex educational environment by integrating social and academic experiences to achieve their academic success. The findings can be used to inform physical therapist and undergraduate programs as well as potential and current first-year students.

First year medical school enrollment is projected to reach 21,349 by the 2018 school year, reflecting a 30 percent increase compared to 2002 enrollment numbers (Erikson, Whatley, & Tilton, 2014). In 2006, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recommended this increase in enrollment in response to concerns about a physician shortage. Unfortunately, the increase in the number of medical students enrolling in medical school may be good for society, but it may not be good for the health of medical students. A commentary in the journal, Academic Medicine, was titled, “Medical Student Distress: A Call to Action” (Dyrbye & Shanafelt, 2011). There is concern that the structure of medical education may contribute to the lack of wellbeing in medical students beginning in their first year of medical school. This is an issue of great importance to society as medical students are experiencing distress at a time when more physicians are needed. Medical schools are working to better understand the process of professional identity formation of medical students. The experiences in medical school contribute, both in positive and negative ways to the socialization and creation of a new identity for medical students. The overall purpose of this study is to explore and analyze the narrative reflections of first year medical students as a rich source of data on the construction of their professional identity formation as a physician. This was a qualitative research study using narrative inquiry. In order to gain a deeper understanding of how first year experiences of medical students influence their professional identity formation, I explored and analyzed 205 reflections of first year medical students from a northeast medical school as a rich source of data on the construction of their professional identity as a physician. Four themes emerged as important to medical students during their first year of medical school from their narrative reflections: balance, mental health, hidden curriculum and professionalism. The four themes reveal that first year medical students experience varying levels of stress during their first year of medical school. This mirrors the results of a study done more than eighty years ago. Now and then, medical students expressed similar concerns. (Strecker, Appel, Palmer, & Braceland, 1937) asked fourth year medical students questions about their wellness, phrased as neurotic or nervous symptoms. Sixty percent of the students believed their symptoms appeared when they started studying medicine. These findings support the concerns of the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). In 2016, AAMC held a Leadership Forum in Washington, DC to address what they called a public health crisis. There was significant concern about the wellbeing of those in academic medicine.

First-year community college students are often from underrepresented groups who are unaccustomed to voicing their needs or to being recognized for having more and varied needs than other groups. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain an understanding of the factors that may engender or prevent success through listening to what first-year community college students have to say. Research questions addressed what students identified as challenges and successes during their first year and how first person accounts can contribute to the information college personnel need to understand. Human development theories and models of student persistence informed this study. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 18 to 24 year-old first-year community college students from a midatlantic state in the United States. Data were analyzed for themes related to challenges of time management, academic expectations, and balancing the demands of school, life, and work. Students who were interviewed remained attached to their families, worked full or part time, may have had less than optimal learning skills for college material, and did not ask for help regarding academic or financial matters. This study contributes to positive social change by adding qualitative findings to the understanding of the multiple and complicated challenges that traditionally-aged community college students face in persisting in postsecondary education. Using this information, college personnel can design programs to introduce incoming students to services that will promote success.

College students often enter college academically unprepared, as evidenced by low high school cumulative GPAs or poor SAT scores. In response to this problem, administrators at a 4-year university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Unites States implemented an intensive, semester-long program to introduce and acclimate conditionally admitted students to the rigors of collegiate life. The purpose of this study was to understand how to assist students in moving from Year 1 to full admission and beyond. In accordance with Bandura's reciprocal causation of social cognitive theory model, the research questions centered on conditionally admitted students' descriptions of their experiences with intensive, semester-long program participation. The qualitative case study used data collected from 10 semistructured interviews with conditional admission program student participants. Data analysis consisted of initial coding, axial coding, and iterative recategorization to identify the key findings. Among the findings were that the study site lacked strong faculty-student engagement and that students had mixed feelings regarding the seminar course being helpful. However, they found the university environment conducive to learning, leading them to stay. A white paper provided potential solutions to administrators, including increased faculty-student engagement and more meaningful required seminars for first-year conditionally admitted students. This study and the subsequent project may create positive social change by expanding degree achievement for underprepared, conditionally admitted college students, which thus increases opportunities for upward social mobility.