First course at university: Assessing the impact of student age, nationality and learning style
<em>Designing curricula and teaching styles for students entering university is complicated by the diversity of student backgrounds and prior learning styles. We examined a range of factors that might influence success in the first course at university to try to identify those that were most i...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Queensland University of Technology
2013-04-01
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| Series: | International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://fyhejournal.com/article/view/156 |
| _version_ | 1818245377245052928 |
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| author | Elisa Bone Robert Reid |
| author_facet | Elisa Bone Robert Reid |
| author_sort | Elisa Bone |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <em>Designing curricula and teaching styles for students entering university is complicated by the diversity of student backgrounds and prior learning styles. We examined a range of factors that might influence success in the first course at university to try to identify those that were most important. Data were obtained for a first year Biology course at a large Australian university. Factors having a significant impact on final marks included student age, whether the students were local or international, time since high school and the learning strategy adopted. Taking a gap year or a longer break after high school was found to be detrimental to performance. Students taking Biology in their first semester performed better than those who did the course in their second or a later semester. International students attained higher grades than local students. Shallow or reproducing learning styles appeared to be as effective to grade achievement as strategies that led to a measurably deeper understanding of the subject matter.</em> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T14:31:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-91882c7e0bdd4f448280d8e92775e624 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1838-2959 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T14:31:57Z |
| publishDate | 2013-04-01 |
| publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-91882c7e0bdd4f448280d8e92775e6242022-12-22T00:21:29ZengQueensland University of TechnologyInternational Journal of the First Year in Higher Education1838-29592013-04-01419510710.5204/intjfyhe.v4i1.15674First course at university: Assessing the impact of student age, nationality and learning styleElisa Bone0Robert Reid1Columbia UniversityUniversity of Adelaide<em>Designing curricula and teaching styles for students entering university is complicated by the diversity of student backgrounds and prior learning styles. We examined a range of factors that might influence success in the first course at university to try to identify those that were most important. Data were obtained for a first year Biology course at a large Australian university. Factors having a significant impact on final marks included student age, whether the students were local or international, time since high school and the learning strategy adopted. Taking a gap year or a longer break after high school was found to be detrimental to performance. Students taking Biology in their first semester performed better than those who did the course in their second or a later semester. International students attained higher grades than local students. Shallow or reproducing learning styles appeared to be as effective to grade achievement as strategies that led to a measurably deeper understanding of the subject matter.</em>https://fyhejournal.com/article/view/156transition, student background, learning styles |
| spellingShingle | Elisa Bone Robert Reid First course at university: Assessing the impact of student age, nationality and learning style International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education transition, student background, learning styles |
| title | First course at university: Assessing the impact of student age, nationality and learning style |
| title_full | First course at university: Assessing the impact of student age, nationality and learning style |
| title_fullStr | First course at university: Assessing the impact of student age, nationality and learning style |
| title_full_unstemmed | First course at university: Assessing the impact of student age, nationality and learning style |
| title_short | First course at university: Assessing the impact of student age, nationality and learning style |
| title_sort | first course at university assessing the impact of student age nationality and learning style |
| topic | transition, student background, learning styles |
| url | https://fyhejournal.com/article/view/156 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT elisabone firstcourseatuniversityassessingtheimpactofstudentagenationalityandlearningstyle AT robertreid firstcourseatuniversityassessingtheimpactofstudentagenationalityandlearningstyle |