Nearly half of all students in the United States are placed into at least one developmental course in college. Many of these students fail to complete developmental course sequences and persist to degree completion. First-Year Seminars are one of several high-impact practices associated with increased persistence, retention, and graduation rates…

Globally, statistical analyses have found a range of variables that predict the odds of first-year students failing to progress at their Higher Education Institution (HEI). Some of these studies have included students from a range of disciplines. Yet despite the rise in the number of criminology students in HEIs in the UK, little statistical…

This study examines the learning experiences including academic performance and assessments of Foundation students at a British University's campus in Malaysia during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. A focus on foundation students is important because First-Year Experience is crucial to their academic success in higher education. Using a…

The first-year university experience is inherently linked to student satisfaction, retention and academic success. A sense of academic preparedness can enhance the first-year transition experience. Subjects designed to assist students to transition to university can improve the transition experience; however, there is very limited evidence of…

With respect to supporting student well-being and success, the current research developed a peer support scheme, built on the principles of Social Identity Theory (SIT). This was targeted towards first year undergraduate psychology students, in which measures of collective identity, sense of belonging, group efficacy, happiness and resilience were…

A mixed-method study was undertaken to investigate factors affecting the transition to university of life sciences students at a research-intensive UK university. Questionnaire responses (N= 234) suggested that undergraduate students tended to agree that they had successfully transitioned to university level study in the first year. However,…

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly being measured using key performance indicators (KPIs) such as student retention, success, achievement and attendance. There is a dearth of research focusing on group dynamics within classroom settings, with very little focusing on cohesion. There is, however, evidence, in organisational and…

Student difficulties with the transition to writing in higher education are well documented whether from a 'study skills', an 'academic socialisation' or an 'academic literacies' perspective. In order to more closely examine the challenges faced by students from widening participation backgrounds and diverse routes into undergraduate study, this…

Individual differences in 'adaptability' -- cognitive, behavioural, and emotional adjustment in the face of change, novelty, and uncertainty -- are theorised to influence students' academic achievement and course satisfaction; although the literature examining these relations in tertiary education is sparse. In the present study, first-year…

Students' ways of approaching their studies influence their academic outcomes. Expecting high grades and having the skills to steer learning activities towards assessment demands seem to be important components of academic success. However, our knowledge about students' capacity to predict academic achievement is limited. Focusing on…

An increase in the number of students entering higher education has intensified the need for targeted strategies to support a wider range of student requirements. Current research suggests that emotional intelligence (EI) may be associated with academic success, progression and retention in university students but the use of EI screening as a…

Mature epistemic beliefs underlie higher-order thinking and learning outcomes. Previous studies have established that epistemic beliefs predict task-specific performance. However, there is mixed evidence regarding the relationships between such beliefs and course-level academic performance. This study investigated whether disciplinary type ('soft'…

This study utilises an integrated conceptual model of academic performance which captures a series of psychological factors: cognitive style; self-theories such as self-esteem and self-efficacy; achievement goals such as mastery, performance, performance avoidance and work avoidance; study-processing strategies such as deep and surface learning;…

There are three dimensions through which to measure university support for students' transition to university life: academic adjustment, social adjustment and psychological adjustment. Previous research studies show that there are relationships among those adjustments. However, less is known about gender differences in these relationships. The…

This paper investigates the first-year study success of minority students in the bachelor program in economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. We find that the gap in study success between minority and majority students can be attributed to differences in high school education. Students from similar high school tracks show no significant…