Browsing by Subjects
Now showing items 1-7 of 7
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Changes in anxiety levels through the education years in the MPharm programmeObjective: Over 8.2 million people were affected by anxiety in the UK in 2013 and it is currently the world has most experienced mental health disorder. Previous research has indicated that a rising level of anxiety in higher education students is resulting in decreased academic success and progress. This research explores student’s perceptions of whether anxiety levels change throughout their course, whether it improves or worsens from the first year to the final year in the course and its effect on academic achievements. Methods: A survey-based approach was taken with questionnaires handed out to students in their 4th year of the MPharm programme at the University of Wolverhampton. Results: Fifty completed questionnaires were analysed by age, gender and ethnicity in order to identify patterns and trends. The results were in conformity with previous research findings that anxiety severity increases through education years and it is affecting educational performance and progress. There were68% of all students who participated stated they were currently experiencing anxiety and 86% of those stating their anxiety was now worse than it was in their sixth form years. On average, participants chose a minimum of four factors that triggered anxious episodes; 36% of participants stated that anxiety affected their grades all of the time and 44% were affected during written exams only. Conclusion: This study suggests further research into anxiety is needed to address this growing phenomenon and mechanisms are needed in order to accommodate the needs of students who are affected.
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Coursework Marks High, Examination Marks Low: discussIt is commonly believed that the standard of student performance in coursework tends to be higher than that achieved in formal examinations. This view was tested by analysing undergraduate performances in six subjects at four UK universities. Two measures of relative coursework performance were employed. The first is the difference between the mean coursework and examination marks for each module. The second considers the proportion of students in each module who achieve a higher mark in the coursework than in the examination. The measures showed that in English and History coursework performances are slightly higher, equivalent to one-third of one honours class (or division) while, in Biology, Business Studies, Computer Studies and Law, coursework performances are higher by as much as two-thirds of one honours class (or division). The differences observed in the latter subjects are very significant and have serious implications for parity of treatment in degree programmes where students may choose modules with contrasting modes of assessment.
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Emotional intelligence and friendship patterns among Sport Studies studentsThe purpose of this study is to analyze sport students friendships over the course of an academic year: University sport related friendships, University non sport related friendships and its relationship with emotional intelligence and academic performance.
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The influence of accommodation on the academic performance of university studentsIntroduction: Accommodation, age, gender, ethnic background, quality of education, and study time are some of the factors that educators believe influenced students’ academic achievement. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the factors that influenced student’s choice of accommodation, and whether these factors affected their academic performance. Methods and design: This was a questionnaire based study with pragmatic sample of minimum of 40 participants. Results: Out of 57 participants, six participants achieved a grade of >75%, with equal gender representation. There were four of participants lived with their parents, three travelled by own car to the University. Five participants had to pay for water and electricity and had personal space in their accommodation. However, four of them paid accommodation bills or rent, and four of participants felt they are influenced by the people they live with. Nine participants achieved the lowest grades<60%, six of them were female and seven were <25 years of age. six were in their third year of their studies. Five lived with their parents, two lived with their partner, and two lived alone. Five used public transport, and four used their car to travel to the University. Seven participants did not pay accommodation fees or rent, and 5 who felt influenced by the people they live with. Conclusion: The data showed that those participants living independently have higher grades however, these findings, there are possible other factors that affected the students’ academic performance e.g., socioeconomic background, student’s attitude towards study, self-efficacy and motivation, and study time management.
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Mood, self-set goals and examination performance: the moderating effect of depressed moodThe purpose of the present study was to investigate relationships between mood, performance goals, and examination performance. We tested the notion that feelings of depressed mood are central to the overall mood response and influence the functional impact of anger and tension on performance (see Lane & Terry, 2000). Fifty undergraduate students completed a measure of anger, confusion, depression, fatigue, tension and vigour approximately 10 min before a practical physiology examination. Participants also indicated the grade set as a goal for the examination, and rated their confidence to achieve this goal. Depressed mood data were analysed by dichotomising scores into depressed mood group (n = 23) or no-depressive symptoms group (n = 27). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was adopted to explore the association between mood and performance and whether any differences exist between the depression and no-depression groups. Results indicated that only the anger-performance relationship differed between the depression and no-depression groups, whereby anger was associated with improved performance in the no-depression group. MANOVA results indicated that depressed mood was associated with a negative mood profile and low goal-confidence scores. Future research should investigate relationships between mood states using an ideographic design and explore links between variations in mood with more stable psychological factors such as emotional intelligence.
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Self-efficacy, self-esteem and their impact on academic performanceThis study investigated relationships between self-efficacy, self-esteem, previous performance accomplishments, and academic performance among a sample of 205 postgraduate students. Participants completed measures of past performance accomplishments, self-esteem, and self-efficacy at the start of a 15-week course. Each student's average grade from modules studied was used as the performance measure. Correlation results indicated significant relationships between self-efficacy and self-esteem. Multiple regression results indicated that self-efficacy mediated the relationship between performance accomplishments and academic performance. Findings lend support to the predictive effectiveness of self-efficacy measures in academic settings.
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A study to explore learning style preferences of pharmacy students with regard to pharmaceutical calculationsObjective: Pharmaceutical calculations are an essential aspect of learning for pharmacy students in order to avoid drug dose errors and maintain patient safety in future practice. Learning styles influence how lecturers approach the teaching-learning process. So far no specific learning preference is believed to be most appropriate for the pharmacy curricular; however certain learning styles are favoured by students as they improve their understanding of course material, knowledge and performance. Methods: 148Master of pharmacy participants from the second and third year were given a questionnaire to complete during a compulsory Individual Readiness Assurance Test session. Participants were restricted to just one option. Results: Workshops with a tutor was the most selected (36%) followed by 25% of participants favouring formative assessments, 28% selected workbooks alone, 37% for whole-class lecturers and videos option was the least selected. Reasons for the most and least preferred learning styles were highlighted and separated into advantages and disadvantages using themes. In the knowledge test; 92% of participants selected “unsure” or “didn’t know” the answer, 29% had a partially correct answer and 19% selected incorrect answers. The overall order of ranking arose in regards to the most beneficial learning style which enhances performance. The responses revealed a variety of advantages and disadvantages which were reflected between year groups and similar to views obtained from recent literature. Students reflected a lack of understanding on extemporaneous preparation (EPs) terms used in pharmaceutical compounding practices, thus the university should consider addressing the lack of awareness and consider the best teaching-learning style in doing so. Conclusion: Overall the findings suggested that the sample students have similar views on the learning styles used to deliver pharmaceutical calculations on their academic performance to that expressed by the authors from recent published literature.