Under a 'widening participation' agenda, universities are currently being encouraged by Government to admit students from under-represented groups and those with non-traditional qualifications. The University of Sunderland has been one of the most successful in attracting students from these groups. but has been less successful at retaining those students and helping them achieve. This research investigates the reasons for this lack of success. It tackles the issue in three phases: An initial investigation into student stress showed significant differences between Alevel entrants and non-traditional entrants to Sunderland Business School. Poor person-environment fit and unmet expectations were identified as important sources of stress. A subsequent investigation of student expectations again revealed significant differences between A-level and non-traditional entrants in areas relating to the academic experience, with A-level entrants showing lower levels of enjoyment of learning and poorer match with expectations, accompanied by a significant fall in the academic performance of the A-level entrants over the first two years at university. The research concludes that there is poor academic integration of Alevel students into a system that has been adapted over recent years to cater for the needs of non-traditional entrants. Other expectations were reported as widely unmet by all students, and these were further investigated using the concept of the psychological contract. The findings suggest that many students have an incongruent psychological contract that can result in their under-achievement at university. The research proposes a model of the student/university psychological contract that can be used as a framework for further research into this issue.

This study examines the opinions of a randomly selected sample of Year 12 students attending Narrabundah College in 1979. A survey was administered to determine what tasks the students believed important for secondary schools and how well the students considered Narrabundah College achieved these tasks. It has been possible to analyse the relative importance and achievement of the individual tasks because of the ranking procedure involved. Part I of the research instrument was extracted from a survey, commissioned by the Committee of Inquiry into Education and Training, distributed to New South Wales students. This was a component of a comprehensive study of the views of students, teachers and parents conducted by the Community Expectations Group, School of Teacher Education, Canberra College of Advanced Education, 1978. The responses given by the Narrabundah College students are compared with the N.S.W. students' responses and are also compared with the conclusions from other surveys concerning the objectives of secondary education. These comparisons are discussed with reference to the unique characteristics of the secondary colleges which developed from the Report of the Working Committee on College Proposals for the Australian Capital Territory, Secondary Education for Canberra (1973).

The English Higher Education system continues to face many political and organisational changes with respect to funding, fees, student numbers and quality controls. Within this changing landscape, the introduction of up to £9,000 annual tuition fees for Home/EU undergraduates probably has the highest impact on students’ perceptions, their decision-making and, most of all, expectations in relation to their university experience. To investigate the implications of recent changes, an exploratory research approach is applied, using mixed methods across three distinct research phases. An initial study aims to measure the expectations of commencing students in light of the fee changes and to explore how demographic and other personal characteristics influence student expectations in relation to their overall university experience and specifically to the ancillary services offered by Higher Education Institutions. Through this, services related to student employability are identified as an area of increasing concern for students. The second study aims to further investigate this area from a student perspective through the exploration of students’ motivations to participate in an extra-curricular employability programme. The expectations regarding such a programme are also investigated prior to the programme and the satisfaction levels of students after the completion of the programme are evaluated. The analysis of the second study suggests that confidence is a key factor within the context of student employability. Consequently, the final study aims to explore the role and importance of confidence within employability from a student point-of-view and to evaluate how confidence and employability may be developed throughout the university experience. From this study, it is argued that Higher Education Institutions should focus on the development of confidence within students in order to improve their employability. As an outcome, recommendations are formed on how to support such development through general and course-specific activities within and outside the curriculum. Overall, the research addresses various gaps within the fields of interest, particularly through the focus on a student perspective, and provides methodological, theoretical and practical contributions. The different stages of the research suggest that it is important to the competitiveness and strength of universities to understand student expectations and to design and develop high-quality university experiences which meet the needs and demands of students. Based on the data collected, recommendations are given on how Higher Education Institutions can manage and meet student expectations and develop activities to enhance student employability and increase confidence.

Learning Analytics är ett forskningsområde som innefattar insamling, mätning, analysering och rapportering av “big data” om studenter i deras lärmiljö. Syftet är att förstå och optimera studenters lärande, och deras studiemiljöer. Learning Analytics-tjänster kan bland annat hjälpa studenter att få en insikt i hur de bör studera för att vara tidseffektiva eller höja sina studieprestationer. Dessutom kan tjänsterna upptäcka och ge feedback till studenter som riskerar att misslyckas med sina kurser, samt skapa personliga visualiseringar för t.ex. tidsförbrukning per delmoment i en kurs, eller betygsfördelning. Denna studie använder sig av ett forskningsinstrument som kallas Student Expectations of Learning Analytics Questionnaire (SELAQ) och ämnar undersöka studenters attityd till 12 olika påståenden relaterade till Learning Analytics. Deltagarna i studien fick således svara på en enkät där de fick gradera hur mycket de instämde med de givna påståendena, under premissen att deras lärosäte hypotetiskt skulle börja implementera en Learning Analytics-tjänst. Resultaten från studien indikerar att SELAQ ger oss bra insikt i vilka förväntningar studenter på svenska lärosäten har på Learning Analytics. Resultaten visar bland annat också att studenterna har låga förväntningar kring de områden som rör feedbacken från Learning Analytics-tjänsten. Mer specifikt har de låg tillit till att undervisande personal kommer att leverera feedbacken på ett tillfredsställande vis till studenterna. Vidare visar resultatet att studenterna har högre förväntningar i frågor gällande inhämtning av samtycke och hantering av personlig data. / Learning Analytics is an area of research which includes collecting, measuring, analysing, and reporting “big data” about students and their learning environment. The purpose is to understand and optimise students’ learning and learning environments. Learning Analytics services can among other things help students gain insight into how they should study to be time-efficient or increase their study performances. Moreover, the services can detect and provide feedback to those students at risk of failing their courses, as well as create personalised visualizations about for example time consumption per parts of a course, or grade distribution. This study uses a research instrument called Student Expectations of Learning Analytics Questionnaire (SELAQ) and aims to examine students' attitudes to 12 different statements related to Learning Analytics. Thus, the participants in the study got to answer a survey where they had to rate how much they agreed with the given statements, based on the hypothetical premise that their university would start to implement a Learning Analytics service. The results from the study indicates that the SELAQ instrument gives us a good understanding about the expectations on Learning Analytics of students in Swedish higher education. The results also show, among other things, that the students have low expectations in areas related to the feedback from the Learning Analytics service. More specifically, they have low confidence that the teaching staff will deliver the feedback to the students in a satisfying way. Furthermore, the results show that the students have higher expectations in matters concerning the obtaining of consent and handling personal data.

Recruitment materials such as videotapes help students to form expectations about the college experience. Students' expectations have been linked to retention. Research has indicated that students whose pre-matriculation expectations are not consistent with the reality they experience in college are more likely to drop out. The frequent use and socializing effect of recruitment videos suggests that determining the messages the videos communicate is an important matter to address. This study analyzed the messages of 30 college recruitment videos in regards to four content areas: academic, social, personal, and institutional characteristics. The content analysis compared the messages from public and private institutions, as well as the messages from small, medium, and large institutions. The narrative and images in the videos were categorized as relating to one of the four content areas. The frequency and duration of content devoted to each area was analyzed. The actual messages communicated about each content area were also analyzed. Each video in the nationally representative sample of four-year institutions was obtained from an institution with an existing enrollment management system. The enrollment management philosophy includes a commitment to depicting institutions in an honest an accurate fashion. Since enrollment management systems were designed to stabilize enrollments, examining how recruitment videos depict college to prospective students is an important step in assessing the effectiveness of the enrollment management system. Results of the content analysis for duration and frequency indicated that videos emphasized personal issues. Academic issues received the second greatest attention, followed by institutional characteristics. Social issues received the least emphasis. Although very few differences among institutional types were found, large, public institutions devoted the most emphasis to personal issues. The analysis of messages revealed that college provides students with a great deal of practical, hands-on learning. The purpose of attending college was characterized as career preparation. Narrative indicated that academics were challenging,; however, this characterization was not supported by images in the videos. Images indicated that studying is a casual activity, and that students receive support, often through one-on-one instruction and interaction with faculty. Another disconnect between narrative and images was found in the characterization of student diversity. Narrative indicated institutional commitment to diversity, while images displayed a majority of racially homogenous social groups. Finally, institutions were pictured as sites of activity and movement. Students were frequently depicted walking on campus, characterizing them as busy and purposeful. Institutions would be well advised to case their recruitment videos on data gathered through institutional research. By presenting accurate messages about their respective campuses, institutions would help prospective student form realistic expectations about the college experience. / Master of Arts

The aim of this study is to conduct a thorough theoretical study on mobile learning (mlearning) in order to achieve the primary objective of the study which is to develop a general framework to implement and manage mobile technologies in a higher education environment. The focus of the literature study was to research the state of mobile technologies and their relevance to teaching and learning. The literature study investigate the implications of mobile technologies for students, lecturers and thus for the institution and provided an overview of frameworks found in literature with the emphasis on the management of m–learning within the higher education institution. M–learning is part of a new mobile conception of society, with the mobility of the technologies impacting on the mobility of the students, the lecturers and ultimately on the mobility of higher education. Literature suggests that, while m–learning is proving to be innovative, the factors that most strongly impact on the ultimate success or failure of mlearning will depend on human factors, the balancing of technological ideals and pedagogical imperatives, and the successful management of the interface between human educational systems and technology systems. The proposed general framework focuses on addressing key issues related to m–learning from the perspective of the student, the lecturer and thus the institution. In order to remain competitive higher education needs to be diligent in maintaining the complex technology infrastructure that supports a thriving mobile culture that will meet and exceed the expectations of both lecturers and students. The empirical research conducted had as objectives to investigate the mobile technology assets of respondents with regard to the hardware and the software that they own, the mobile technology actions of respondents in regard to what they do with the mobile technology that they own and to investigate the respondent's attitude towards mobile technologies. A survey was designed and distributed to a sampling of the academic staff and students of the North–West University (NWU) in South Africa, specifically the Potchefstroom Campus. There is ample proof from the empirical study that there is a gap with regard to the level of accessibility, usage, and attitude with regards to the different interest groups in the higher education environment. Higher education institutions should invest in investigating these gaps further and in leveraging off the benefits of the effective management of these technologies to improve teaching and learning. The final chapter concludes with a summary of the secondary objectives researched in the literature (Chapter two) and empirical research (Chapter three) chapters in order to support recommendations towards the primary objective of this study. The rapid pace of adoption and advancement of mobile technologies creates opportunities for new and innovative services provided through such mobile devices. Higher education finds itself in the early innings of the mobile Internet pulling both lecturers and students towards the same place: smaller, faster, cheaper devices working together in a web of connectivity. Recommendations were made in this final chapter on how higher education institutions can leverage the benefits of the effective management of mobile technologies to improve teaching and learning. M–learning has the potential to increase the capacity of higher education through improving efficiency and productivity of teaching and learning. Mlearning could address challenges related to quality of teaching such as continuous professional training, lifelong upgrading, connecting with academics worldwide and communicating effectively with students. Higher education is discovering the potential of mlearning to promote student engagement and improving the quality of learning. Management of higher education institutions and systems, management of policymaking including storage and analysis of data, construction and assessment of policy scenarios, and tracer studies or academic tracking systems can be improved through the use of m–learning. Mobile technologies will continue to increasingly become an integral part of students' and lecturers' private and day to day lives and m–learning will be integral in educational content delivery. Additional research is required to study the effective and optimal implementation of m–learning. A better understanding of the benefits and leverage thereof is required and additional research should provide answers to these questions. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The aim of this study is to conduct a thorough theoretical study on mobile learning (mlearning) in order to achieve the primary objective of the study which is to develop a general framework to implement and manage mobile technologies in a higher education environment. The focus of the literature study was to research the state of mobile technologies and their relevance to teaching and learning. The literature study investigate the implications of mobile technologies for students, lecturers and thus for the institution and provided an overview of frameworks found in literature with the emphasis on the management of m–learning within the higher education institution. M–learning is part of a new mobile conception of society, with the mobility of the technologies impacting on the mobility of the students, the lecturers and ultimately on the mobility of higher education. Literature suggests that, while m–learning is proving to be innovative, the factors that most strongly impact on the ultimate success or failure of mlearning will depend on human factors, the balancing of technological ideals and pedagogical imperatives, and the successful management of the interface between human educational systems and technology systems. The proposed general framework focuses on addressing key issues related to m–learning from the perspective of the student, the lecturer and thus the institution. In order to remain competitive higher education needs to be diligent in maintaining the complex technology infrastructure that supports a thriving mobile culture that will meet and exceed the expectations of both lecturers and students. The empirical research conducted had as objectives to investigate the mobile technology assets of respondents with regard to the hardware and the software that they own, the mobile technology actions of respondents in regard to what they do with the mobile technology that they own and to investigate the respondent's attitude towards mobile technologies. A survey was designed and distributed to a sampling of the academic staff and students of the North–West University (NWU) in South Africa, specifically the Potchefstroom Campus. There is ample proof from the empirical study that there is a gap with regard to the level of accessibility, usage, and attitude with regards to the different interest groups in the higher education environment. Higher education institutions should invest in investigating these gaps further and in leveraging off the benefits of the effective management of these technologies to improve teaching and learning. The final chapter concludes with a summary of the secondary objectives researched in the literature (Chapter two) and empirical research (Chapter three) chapters in order to support recommendations towards the primary objective of this study. The rapid pace of adoption and advancement of mobile technologies creates opportunities for new and innovative services provided through such mobile devices. Higher education finds itself in the early innings of the mobile Internet pulling both lecturers and students towards the same place: smaller, faster, cheaper devices working together in a web of connectivity. Recommendations were made in this final chapter on how higher education institutions can leverage the benefits of the effective management of mobile technologies to improve teaching and learning. M–learning has the potential to increase the capacity of higher education through improving efficiency and productivity of teaching and learning. Mlearning could address challenges related to quality of teaching such as continuous professional training, lifelong upgrading, connecting with academics worldwide and communicating effectively with students. Higher education is discovering the potential of mlearning to promote student engagement and improving the quality of learning. Management of higher education institutions and systems, management of policymaking including storage and analysis of data, construction and assessment of policy scenarios, and tracer studies or academic tracking systems can be improved through the use of m–learning. Mobile technologies will continue to increasingly become an integral part of students' and lecturers' private and day to day lives and m–learning will be integral in educational content delivery. Additional research is required to study the effective and optimal implementation of m–learning. A better understanding of the benefits and leverage thereof is required and additional research should provide answers to these questions. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.