Sandra Winn

‘It was nothing to do with the university, it was just the people’: the role of social support in the first‐year experience of higher education

This article argues that to understand higher education student retention, equal emphasis needs to be placed on successful integration into the social world of the university as into the academic world. To date, sociological research reflecting first‐year students’ perceptions of the processes involved in developing social lives at university is scarce. Here the concept of ‘social support’ is used to analyse interviews with 34 first‐year students, investigating the processes through which social integration (or lack of it) influenced their decision as to whether or not to leave university. Our data support the claim that making compatible friends is essential to retention, and that students’ living arrangements are central to this process. Such friends provide direct emotional support, equivalent to family relationships, as well as buffering support in stressful situations. Course friendships and relationships with personal tutors are important but less significant, providing primarily instrumental, informational and appraisive support.

Using texting to support students’ transition to university

This article argues that judicious use of mobile phone text messaging by university staff has the potential to enhance the support provided to students by an academic department during the transition to university. It reports on an evaluation of a desktop computer application, Student Messenger, which enables staff to send text messages from their computers to the mobile phones of groups of students. Analysis of qualitative interviews with 30 students reveals that text messaging is the dominant mode of electronic communication amongst students and plays a central role in maintaining their social networks. The text message dialogue amongst students provides emotional and social peer support and facilitates an informal system of interdependent learning in relation to navigating unfamiliar academic and administrative systems. Text messages from university staff, inserted into this dialogue, can enhance the existing peer support and aid students’ social integration into university life.

Learning by doing: Teaching research methods through student participation in a commissioned research project

ABSTRACT Teaching research methods to social science undergraduates presents a number of dilemmas, including the development of effective means of providing students with practical research experience and the difficulty of engaging the interest of students in a subject which for many is not intrinsically appealing and to which some have a long-standing aversion. One way of addressing these issues is to enable students to participate in a ‘real˚s research project, often commissioned by an external agency. Reports of this approach have demonstrated its benefits to student learning and have identified some logistical problems of project-based teaching. This paper reports on a project-based research methods course which has been running for 5 years and which has some distinctive features: unlike most such courses it is compulsory and is taken by a relatively large number of students; the research project is funded each year by a commissioning agency; considerable emphasis is placed upon the assessment of stud...

Student Motivation: A socio-economic perspective

Studies of student motivation, drawing on psychological theory, have identified learning, teaching and assessment strategies which are likely to enhance motivation. However, little attention has been paid to the impact on student motivation of recent changes in the social and economic context of higher education. This article uses qualitative data from interviews with students to provide a broader perspective on motivation. It was found that some students with demanding family or employment commitments were able to integrate the demands of the course into their lives, while others had little time available for academic work. There was also a group of students who had few commitments other than the course, but spent little time studying. It is suggested that the use of motivation-enhancing approaches to teaching will be limited unless there is also change at the level of government, to address the needs of those students whose childcare responsibilities impede their capacity to study.

Public views on an extended role for community pharmacy

The acceptability to the general public of an extended role for community pharmacy was investigated using a social survey methodology. Within one locality, a sample of 133 respondents was drawn from four population groups who were likely to be extensive users of community pharmacy services: active elderly people, mothers of young children, carers of people with disabilities and people in full‐time employment. The evidence from the interview survey was supplemented by discussions with community groups representative of the same sections of the population. The results indicate that there is considerable public support for the development of a range of new services in community pharmacies, with a majority of respondents supporting the provision of more information on prescribed medicines, opportunity to discuss minor symptoms with the pharmacist, medicine delivery services, and the holding of patient medication records. There is less support for discussing health promotion with the pharmacist, while cost was found to be a major obstacle to the acceptability of diagnostic testing. Elderly people found all aspects of the extended role less acceptable than did other respondent groups. It is concluded that there is a need to market unfamiliar services, and, if an extended role is to be developed effectively, the nature of the relationship between the roles of the community pharmacist and the GP needs to be demonstrated more clearly to service users.

Student Loans: are the Policy Objectives being Achieved?

This paper examines two of the stated objectives of the government’s student loans scheme, ‘to increase the resources available to students’ and ‘to increase economic awareness among students, and their self reliance’. Following Farrell and Tapper (1992) we also consider a third, less explicit objective, that of exerting an influence on the shape of higher education itself, through economic pressure on students to select courses that are earnings related and vocationally oriented. The results of a survey of a random sample of students conducted annually between 1992 and 1996 at the University of Brighton demonstrate a substantial increase in student debt over this period. Among students increasing support for the principles underlying the loan scheme was found, as were high levels of ‘economic awareness’ and ‘self-reliance’. There was no evidence of a demand for changes in the pattern of course provision and it is suggested that this is because of the way in which students have responded to their changed financial situation, in particular the high reliance of many on part-time employment in preference to student loans and a desire to maximise current rather than future earnings.

Knowledge about Puberty and Sexual Development in 11‐16 Year‐olds: implications for health and sex education in schools

Summary Knowledge is an important but largely neglected variable in sex education research. This study aimed to develop a measure to assess young peoples knowledge about puberty and sexual development, and to examine knowledge in relation to age, gender and school. The main results of the study were that knowledge increased more between age 11/12 and 13/14 than between 13/14 and 15/16, girls knew more than boys at every age, and there were few differences in knowledge between the four schools involved in the study. The research has a number of implications for sex education in schools. First, it was found that even by age 15‐16 some young people lack information which is essential if they are to avoid unwanted pregnancy. Second, it may be that boys and girls need to be taught separately to enable the different needs of each gender to be addressed. Third, young people know more about some aspects of puberty and sexual development than others, and there are particular times when knowledge develops most rap...

A survey of practice nurses' views of health promotion:

THE workload generated by the new contract for GPs is centred on health promoting activities, many of which may be delegated to the practice nurse. This paper examines the views of practice nurses in the Brighton district on health promotion and suggests that health promotion may be an appropriate focus for developing of the role of the practice nurse.

Practice nursing and health promotion: a case study

The volume of work undertaken in general practice has increased considerably as a result of the 1990 GP contract (Fry, 1991; Hannay et al., 1992). Many of the requirements of the new contract involve health promotion, including health checks and health promotion clinics. In addition to these new services, greater emphasis has been placed upon pre-existing health promotion activities such as cervical cytology screening and immunisation. Much of this health promotion work is carried out by practice staff other than GPs, in particular by practice nurses (Fry, 1991; Stilwell, 1991).

A path analysis of first-year social science students’ engagement with their degree and Level 1 academic outcome

Abstract The expansion of higher education in the UK and attempts to widen participation have changed the context of undergraduate learning. This study examines student engagement with their degree. Quantitative data for 388 UK Level 1 students were used to develop a path analysis model of the relationship between Level 1 academic performance, gender, academic engagement, attendance and prior university entry points. Structural equation modelling allowed a detailed understanding of the direct and indirect effects of key variables that contribute to Level 1 learning outcomes, and findings are discussed within the context of structural changes to Level 1 student engagement imperatives with a view to improving the learning experience for all students.