Pathway to success : Using students’ insights and perspectives to improve retention and success for university students from low socioeconomic (LSE) backgrounds
- Authors: Sadowski, Christina , Stewart, Margaret , Pediaditis, Mika
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Inclusive Education Vol. 22, no. 2 (2018), p. 158-175
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- Description: In an increasingly complex landscape of diversification and massification, universities are grappling with challenges of student attrition. This paper presents findings from a project investigating how students from low socio-economic backgrounds at a regional Australian university perceive challenges and supports associated with retention and success. Twenty-seven students received intensive one-to-one support from a Faculty-embedded ‘academic advisor’, and reflected on this support, their overall student experience, and strategies to enhance student success. Students identified a range of challenges that they experienced across an academic year (personal circumstances, lack of preparedness for university study, timely access to support, course/programme difficulties) and what worked well for them (academic advisor, University support services, growing confidence in self as competent student, peer support). A range of strategies for enhancing student success were identified by students, namely consistency across teaching design and delivery, transparency of delivery modes, mandatory orientation, access to a dedicated academic advisor, and increased peer connectedness. The applicability and viability of the proposed strategies within current higher education settings are explored. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
University students' perceptions of social networking sites (SNSs) in their educational experiences at a regional Australian university
- Authors: Sadowski, Christina , Pediaditis, Mika , Townsend, Robert
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australasian Journal of Educational Technology Vol. 33, no. 5 (2017), p. 77-90
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- Description: Higher education institutions, and the way education is delivered and supported, are being transformed by digital technologies. Internationally, institutions are increasingly incorporating online technologies into delivery frameworks and administration – both through internal learning management systems (LMS) and external social networking sites (SNSs). This study aims to explore how higher education students in a regional Australian dual-sector institute use and manage SNSs for personal and study-related activities and their perceptions of how this impacts their educational experiences. This mixed-methods study involved a quantitative and qualitative survey of 355 vocational training and higher education students and in-depth focus groups with ten higher education students. Four key themes were identified through thematic analysis: SNSs as a tool for fostering peer connectedness with fellow students; deliberate and distinct variation between personal and educational use of SNSs; resistance to external SNSs within education settings; and, need for a balance between digital and face-to-face learning and connectedness. Implications for curriculum design and delivery, and development of support for students in diverse learning contexts, are considered.