The directional links between students’ academic motivation and social integration during the first year of higher education

Understanding the relationship of academic motivation and social support in graduate nursing education in Egypt

BACKGROUND

Obtaining a postgraduate nursing education in Egypt requires substantial resources, including a robust academic drive and supportive relationships. These resources help students overcome challenges and navigate their educational journey. This study examines the relationship between academic motivation and social support among nursing graduate students.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey was conducted at two nursing colleges in Egypt, involving 410 randomly selected graduate students.

MEASURES

The Academic Motivation Scale-College Version (AMS-C 28) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used.

FINDINGS

Findings revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between academic motivation and perceived social support (r = 0.515, p < 0.001). Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that 12.9% (Adjusted R² = 0.129) of the variance in academic motivation could be explained by perceived social support and level of education.

CONCLUSION

This study pinpointed intrinsic motivation as the primary impetus for graduate nursing students. Robust social support and active participation in social and recreational activities were also significant motivators. Nursing education programs can enhance intrinsic motivation by integrating authentic learning experiences, providing empowering mentorship, offering condensed doctoral programs, and ensuring substantial peer support. The exploration of the role of novelty in graduate nursing education, facilitated by innovative teaching methods such as collaborative virtual reality simulations, gamification, and team-based research projects, can be advantageous. Building robust social networks is vital for establishing a supportive and motivating learning environment for nursing graduates in Egypt.

Initial adaptation among university student: The case of the social sciences

Students' academic and social adaptation is linked to factors such as their initial study motivations, the atmosphere of the academic environment and their perception of academic wellbeing. This paper analyses the initial adaptation of first-degree students in their first semester through a quantitative ex post facto study with a descriptive-exploratory approach, using a questionnaire as the information-gathering instrument. Findings shed light on the concept of initial adaptation itself (through the creation of an index) and validate the study of the construct through three factors: initial motivation, the academic environment and perception of academic wellbeing. Also, the influence on initial adaptation of the academic and social context of the degree course taken is demonstrated:, as the constitutive features of the degree contribute information predicting how students will integrate into the institution. Therefore, it is suggested that institutional means and actions should be designed and put in place in accordance with measurements that indicate how students function best in a specific context (the bachelor's degree), in order to boost motivation and the perception of academic wellbeing.

Investigating the role of residential migration history on the relationship between attachment and sense of belonging: A SEM approach

With the rate of both domestic and international migration steadily increasing, the psychological impact of residential migration remains largely unexplored. Attachment, the emotional bond we establish with those close to us, and sense of belonging, the feeling of connectedness to a community, may be vulnerable to frequent migration. This study investigates the association between individuals' early attachment style, sense of belonging, and migration history. A large international sample (N = 465) aged between 18 and 50 years old (M = 21.85; SD = 4.48), completed a survey on early attachment primary attachment style questionnaire (PASQ), sense of belonging (SOBI), and migration. Results comparing non-movers (n = 240) to domestic movers (n = 52), international movers (n = 109), and domestic-international movers (n = 64), indicate important group differences related to early attachment and its relationship to one's sense of belonging. Moreover, insecure attachment was associated with increased migration early in life and, more in general, predictive of a negative sense of belonging later in life. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.

Emotion regulation, academic buoyancy, and academic adjustment of university students within a self-determination theory framework: A systematic review

INTRODUCTION

The transition from secondary to tertiary education seems to be a stressful period for many students since they need to adjust to the new academic environment.

METHOD

This article is a systematic review of 4,285 articles. The aim of this review was to investigate the factors in the university environment associated with emotion regulation, academic buoyancy, and academic adjustment of tertiary students within a self-determination theory framework in combination with the nascent third wave of Positive Psychology. Forty-one articles met the inclusion criteria, all of which were rated as either good or moderate quality.

RESULTS

The bulk of the studies included in the systematic review reported individual factors, i.e., self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, academic factors, i.e., intention to drop out, learning climate, and family and social factors i.e., faculty, peer, and parental autonomy support.

DISCUSSION

In accordance with the third wave of Positive Psychology that focuses on how interpersonal and ecological factors create nurturing environments and positive institutions, the systematic review highlighted the factors that institutes should consider in order to help students adjust better to the academic environment.

Educational contexts that nurture students' psychological needs predict low distress and healthy lifestyle through facilitated self-control

Psychological distress and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are highly prevalent among undergraduate students. Importantly, numerous longitudinal studies show that these phenomena rise significantly during the first months of college and remain high thereafter. However, research identifying theory-driven mechanisms to explain these phenomena is lacking. Using two complementary statistical approaches (person- and variable-centered), this study assesses basic psychological needs (BPNs) and self-control as possible explanatory factors underlying the association between student's educational experience and multiple health-related outcomes. A total of 2450 Canadian undergraduates participated in this study study involving two time points (12 months apart; NTime1 = 1783; NTime2 = 1053), of which 386 participated at both measurement occasions. First, results from person-centered analyses (i.e., latent profile and transition analyses) revealed three profiles of need-satisfaction and frustration in students that were replicated at both time points. Need-supportive conditions within college generally predicted membership in the most adaptive profile. In turn, more adaptive profiles predicted higher self-control, lower levels of psychological distress (anxiety, depression), and healthier lifestyle behaviors (physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption). Second, results from variable-centered analyses (i.e., structural equation modeling) showed that the association between students' BPNs and health-related outcomes was mediated by self-control. In other words, high need satisfaction and low need frustration were associated with higher self-regulatory performance at Time 1, which in turn predicted a more adaptive functioning at Time 2. Overall, these findings help clarify the mechanisms underlying the association between college educational climate and students' health-related functioning.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-04019-5.

Social Integration in Higher Education and Development of Intrinsic Motivation: A Latent Transition Analysis

This study, based on the self-determination theory, investigates the link between university students' social peer and teacher integration and intrinsic motivation development. Both integration contexts are expected to contribute to the student's development, either additive or compensatory. The analyses rely on a nationally representative sample of 7,619 German university students (NEPS data set) and cover the time between the 3rd and 5th semesters in a longitudinal design. Person-centered analytical tools were applied to tap interindividual differences in the motivational trajectories as well as in integration profiles. Latent transition analyses revealed distinct links between the motivational trajectories (Increase [n = 532], Moderate Decrease [n = 2580], Decrease [n = 4,507]) and the integration profiles (Highly Integrated [n = 2,492], Moderately Integrated [n = 3832], Isolated [n = 1,144], Peer Deprivated [n = 151]), pointing to additive effects of teacher and peer integration. Positive trajectories were more likely in the Highly than in Moderately Integrated profiles. The two profiles pointing to below-average integration levels (Isolated and Peer Deprivated) showed the same probabilities for rather negative trajectories. The results are discussed against the backdrop of self-determination theory and additive vs. compensatory effects of teacher and peer integration, proposing a threshold model.

Motivations for social withdrawal and academic adjustment in emerging adulthood

While social withdrawal in childhood is typically associated with lower academic functioning, little is known about how motivations for social withdrawal may be connected to academic adjustment in emerging adulthood. The purpose of the present study was to examine associations between social withdrawal motivations (i.e., shyness, avoidance and unsociability) and indices of academic adjustment, including academic achievement (i.e., grade point average [GPA]) and academic motivation (i.e., intrinsic value, self-efficacy and test anxiety), while accounting for gender and conscientiousness. Participants were 623 emerging adults between the ages of 18 and 25 (M_age  = 20.15, SD = 1.67; 79% female) who were currently attending university. Hierarchical regression results showed that shyness was negatively associated with intrinsic value and self-efficacy. Whereas shyness was positively associated with test anxiety, avoidance was negatively associated with test anxiety. Social withdrawal motivations were not associated with GPA. The findings suggest that some motivations for social withdrawal play a role in university students' academic motivation, but not their academic achievement.

Cohort-Based Education and Other Factors Related to Student Peer Relationships: A Mixed Methods Social Network Analysis

Graduate students face a variety of stressors that relate to poor academic performance, lower completion rates, and high rates of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress. Student peers provide supports for coping with these stressors and succeeding academically. However, graduate students may find it difficult to form relationships with their peers. This mixed method social network analysis (MMSNA) examines graduate student perceptions of their peer relationships and the factors associated with peer friendships in a program that placed students in cohorts for the first semester of a two-year Master of Social Work program. Findings from three student focus groups include four main themes related to the cohort system and the tendency for students to gravitate to others who were similar to them (i.e., homophily). Focus group findings informed model specification for a curved exponential family model of student friendships at the end of the third semester of the program (N = 70) that identified correlates of student friendships including statistically significant direct and homophily effects for age, gender, and race/ethnicity. First-semester relationships and shared classes in subsequent semesters also increased the likelihood of friendships in the third semester. Findings emphasize the value of cohorts and a diverse student body for peer relationships.

The Influencing Legal and Factors of Migrant Children's Educational Integration Based on Convolutional Neural Network

This research aims to analyze the influencing factors of migrant children's education integration based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm. The attention mechanism, LSTM, and GRU are introduced based on the CNN algorithm, to establish an ALGCNN model for text classification. Film and television review data set (MR), Stanford sentiment data set (SST), and news opinion data set (MPQA) are used to analyze the classification accuracy, loss value, Hamming loss (HL), precision (Pre), recall (Re), and micro-F1 (F1) of the ALGCNN model. Then, on the big data platform, data in the Comprehensive Management System of Floating Population and Rental Housing, Student Status Information Management System, and Student Information Management System of Beijing city are taken as samples. The ALGCNN model is used to classify and compare related data. It is found that in the MR, STT, and MPQA data sets, the classification accuracy and loss value of the ALGCNN model are better than other algorithms. HL is the lowest (15.2 ± 1.38%), the Pre is second only to the BERT algorithm, and the Re and F1 are both higher than other algorithms. From 2015 to 2019, the number of migrant children in different grades of elementary school shows a gradual increase. Among migrant children, the number of migrant children from other counties in this province is evidently higher than the number of migrant children from other provinces. Among children of migrant workers, the number of immigrants from other counties in this province is also notably higher than the number of immigrants from other provinces. With the gradual increase in the years, the proportion of township-level expenses shows a gradual decrease, whereas the proportion of district and county-level expenses shows a gradual increase. Moreover, the accuracy of the ALGCNN model in migrant children and local children data classification is 98.6 and 98.9%, respectively. The proportion of migrant children in the first and second grades of a primary school in Beijing city is obviously higher than that of local children (p < 0.05). The average final score of local children was greatly higher than that of migrant children (p < 0.05), whereas the scores of migrant children's listening methods, learning skills, and learning environment adaptability are lower, which shows that an effective text classification model (ALGCNN) is established based on the CNN algorithm. In short, the children's education costs, listening methods, learning skills, and learning environment adaptability are the main factors affecting migrant children's educational integration, and this work provides a reference for the analysis of migrant children's educational integration.

An exploratory study of freshman attrition from an Appalachian physiology program

Appalachia has low rates of college attendance and graduation, but relevant data investigating student attrition from physiology majors in this region are lacking. This exploratory study examined freshman attrition from an undergraduate exercise physiology program in Appalachia with the goal of identifying potential strategies for improving retention across similar programs in this underserved region. Questionnaires were administered at the beginning and end of the fall semester to freshman (n = 247) and students transferring out of the major [Transferred group (T); n = 50] by the end of their first semester were compared against those that remained [Retained group (R); n = 190]. The Transferred group was invited to participate in qualitative interviews. Fewer Transferred students reported feeling underprepared in academic preparedness skills, but more reported feeling underprepared in math. At the end of the semester, more in the Transferred group reported doing worse than expected in math and in getting good grades and had a lower grade point average (R: 3.27 ± 0.05; T: 2.62 ± 0.15; P < 0.01). More in the Transferred group were first-generation (FG) college students (R: 17%; T: 30%). Transferred FG had lower academic preparation and performance and more financial need than Retained FG. In interviews (n = 35), most students expressed a change in career goals and many noted the academic rigor of the program, while academic advising, faculty, and the major received generally positive praise. This study identified several factors that would allow for early identification of incoming freshmen at risk for attrition and proposes strategies for improving retention within Appalachian physiology programs.

The role of prosocial attitudes and academic achievement in peer networks in higher education

After the transition to university, students need to build a new peer network, which helps them to adapt to university life. This study investigated to what extent students’ prosocial attitudes and academic achievement facilitate the embeddedness in friendship and help-seeking networks, while taking structural network characteristics into account. Participants were 95 first-year bachelor’s degree students and were part of learning communities consisting of 12 students at a university in the Netherlands. Measures included student-reports of prosocial attitudes, peer nominations of friendship and help-seeking networks, and officially registered grades (GPA). Longitudinal social network analysis, stochastic actor-based modeling with the package RSiena, revealed that both students’ own prosocial attitudes and achievement played a role in their friendship formation, whereas only students’ own achievement made the formation of their help-seeking relationships more likely. When students were friends, it was more likely that they approached each other for help and vice versa. Similarity in achievement level contributed to relationship formation in friendship and help-seeking networks. Overall, the results underscore the importance of both student’ prosocial attitudes and achievement for their social adjustment (i.e., making friends) and only achievement for their academic adjustment (i.e., seeking help) during the first year of university within the context of small-scale teaching.