Search results

Learning analytics are often used as proxies for student engagement. More qualitative data on how post-secondary students engage with course elements are needed to guide the design, development and deployment of learning analytics information, particularly in the use of nudge techniques.

In the context of a graduate-level quantitative course within a public health core curriculum, the following research questions were explored: What do students cite as their motivations when making decisions about whether, when or how to engage with course content and learning supports? and What are student reactions to visual prompts designed to activate these motivations? This qualitative study included two phases of interviews: (1) in-depth interviews with screen sharing as students interacted with the learning management system and (2) in-depth interviews as students reviewed pairs of visual prompts that could potentially be used as behavioral nudges.

The study found that student motivations when making decisions about course content and learning supports principally fell into three categories: learning, doing and performing and that all participants attributed their visual prompt preferences to personal motivations or self-perceptions as learners.

We acknowledge the limitations for external validity and generalizability of the findings in this study. The goal of this formative design research was not to assess the relationship between study habits and motivations and learning outcomes; rather, it was to provide insight to researchers and practitioners seeking to develop, test or employ nudges based on learner study habits. We also acknowledge the small sample size for Phase 2. The aim of Phase 2 was not to identify emergent themes through content analysis but to explore student reactions to nudges mapped to the Damgaard and Nielsen (2018) typology as part of investigating its salience in applications informed by Phase 1 learner study habits.

Insights from this study could not only be used to design engagement-focused interventions to be applied in education but also in sectors such as training or organizational development. Educators could incorporate the study’s findings to create more engaging learning environments or curricula, fostering active participation and improved learning outcomes and inform policies in education, public programs or workforce development by encouraging evidence-based engagement practices.

The motivation categories that emerged here – learning, doing and performing – are consistent with studies delving into motivational constructs in education like expectancy value theory, self-regulation and achievement orientation (Ames and Archer, 1988; Pintrich and De Groot, 1990; Wigfield, 1994) and can be leveraged to design interventions that increase engagement, which has been shown in previous work to be lower than hoped (Garbers et al., 2022) to support student educational outcomes.

We used a complementary mixed methods approach, grounded in situated expectancy-value theory, to explore the relationship between completing an internship and engineering undergraduate students’ preparedness and expectancy of success in obtaining their preferred first position after graduation. We disseminated a survey to institutions in the United States and received 1,583 responses; from this sample, we interviewed 62 students.

Internship experiences are considered among “high impact practices” in higher education. Despite calls to increase the quality and quantity of internships, little is known about relationships between internship participation and how prepared students feel for future work, specifically their first position after graduation.

Our findings showed that the students who participated in internships had positive perceptions of preparedness and expectancy of success compared to their peers. We found that participating in multiple internships was beneficial to these outcomes until a student participated in five internships. After five internships, our data did not show a correlation between increasing numbers of internship experiences and increased preparedness or expectancy of success.

While there are benefits to internship participation, after six experiences, additional internships are unlikely to increase confidence in job success and preparation. If that still is lacking, a different approach or conversation on career choice may be warranted.

Our findings are unique in identifying (1) the aspects of internships that increase perceptions of success, including tying theoretical concepts learned in the classroom to engineering practice and (2) the point at which further internships do not seem to offer further benefits.

The recruitment of undergraduate students within English universities is of vital importance to both the academic success and the financial stability of the organisation. Despite the primacy of the task, there has been a dearth of research looking at related performance and how to ensure that the process is optimised. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of variation both within a university and between different universities. The reliance that individual programmes and/or universities place on the Clearing process is key; given its uncertainty, resource demands and timing shortly before students take up their places.

The Nomogramma di Gandy diagrammatical approach utilises readily available data to analyse universities’ performance in recruiting students to different programmes, and the degree to which they each rely of the Clearing process. Inter-university performance was investigated on a whole-student intake basis for a sample of English universities, representative of type and region.

The study found that there were disparate patterns for the many programmes within the pilot university and also disparate patterns between different types of universities across England. Accordingly, universities should internally benchmark their programmes to inform both strategic and tactical decision-making. Similarly, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service benchmarking inter-university patterns could inform the overall sector.

The approach and findings provide lessons for analysing student recruitment which could be critical to universities’ academic and financial health, in an increasingly competitive environment.

Recognising current, significant rates of youth sexual violence and abuse (YSVA) and the need for more comprehensive prevention approaches to combat this social issue, new approaches are required to ensure that agency is given to the people who are most affected and who know their lives the best. This paper aims to report a youth-led (Young Voices United [YVU] Committee) participatory design approach aimed at delivering the highest level of engagement to understand what people agree is needed to reduce YSVA in their own communities.

The seven-step co-design (Trischler et al., 2019) process was implemented following ethical clearance. Over five months, 13 group co-design sessions involving 102 young people aged 12–25 years, 17 parents/caregivers (including young mums) and 9 teacher/guidance officers were conducted. Purposive sampling was undertaken to ensure that young people who had previously experienced YSVA or were most at risk of experiencing YSVA were overrepresented. Convenience sampling was used to gain wider community involvement in co-design. Four sessions were facilitated by YVU members, who were aged between 12 and 25 years, and more than 66 people helped the design team. Inductive thematic analysis identified emergent themes across completed co-design sessions.

New ideas and solutions to prevent YSVA can be identified by young people who have previously experienced violence, carers, other young people and community members. A core finding in this study is the need for positive relationship role models and an enhanced understanding of consent. Education and training, a community promotional campaign, sector involvement, capacity-building and consideration of the unique needs of different target audiences were key ideas emerging from youth-led co-design. The YVU Committee provided recommendations for resource prioritisation.

This youth-led co-design process empowered the community. Project stakeholders have since formed partnerships won funding and used that funding to co-design and trial a new programme aiming to provide a safe haven for young people at risk of YSVA. The pilot programme delivers a safe and supportive environment for young people delivered at a time when it is needed most. Other geographical areas are now seeking to replicate the programme. The co-design processes and tools detailed in this study can be adapted to the design of programmes for those already engaged with the youth justice system and should be considered as part of a public health approach to effectively prevent and respond to YSVA and other youth crimes.

This paper advances understanding, providing a practical approach that ensures youth views are given weight [audience and influence described in Lundy’s (2007) participatory framework]. This paper explains how the YVU Committee, established at the commencement of the project, oversaw the community co-design effort, which followed Trischler et al.’s (2019) seven-step co-design process. Ideas were generated, and consensus views were consolidated, delivering the highest level of engagement according to Willmott et al.’s (2022) methodology, agent of change, training and engagement taxonomy. The participatory design method led to high levels of community engagement, and the success of the project is attributed to the establishment of the YVU Committee and stakeholder support.

This study has aimed to analyse the role of innovation-sharing collaboration in the large-scale manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccination across the globe and its impact on the mortality rate of the countries where the pharmaceutical manufacturers received such innovation.

The authors have relied upon the difference-in-difference (DID) approach by utilizing the data available on public platforms such as World Health Organization (WHO) databank, organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) data bank, istat, Indian bureau of statistics and European centre for disease prevention and control (ecdc) from 2020 to 2021 to establish the empirical inference of the analysis.

This study’s results present that after the invention and commercialization of the vaccine, the Covid-19 impact was still intact and people were dying continuously. However, it was impossible to fulfil the demand of the 7 billion population in a short time. In the light of these facts, the WHO encouraged sharing vaccine innovation with other countries to enhance production capacity. The authors found that after vaccine innovation sharing, Covid-19’s devastation slowed: the fatality rate was marginally reduced, and economic conditions started their recovery journey.

This study’s findings present that the Covid-19 vaccine played a pivotal role in tackling the Covid-19’s devastating impact on the entire world. It emphasizes the role of innovation-sharing collaborations in curtailing hazardous consequences, including the mortality rate during a crisis, and such collaborations’ impact on the countries where institutions involved in them reside.