Students’ experiences during their first year of higher education affect study pace, retention and graduation. The aim of this study was to examine how students describe and perceive their studying ...and academic emotions during the first semester of higher education in order to analyse the interplay of different factors affecting student learning. The students participated in a compulsory study skills course, and wrote about their study experiences in reflective journals (N = 190) that were analysed qualitatively. Reflective journals have been rarely used in previous research on first year studies. The journals allow students to write about their experiences as a whole, and provide a broad and in-depth picture of students’ perceptions of their study habits and learning in higher education. Our results revealed that students’ academic emotions were profoundly affected by their self-regulated learning skills. Moreover, the study showed how self-regulated learning and academic emotions were tightly intertwined. In order to enhance student learning both self-regulated learning and academic emotions need to be considered in university teaching, and when universities plan the first year for new students.
Efforts to reach gender equality in education in Finland have been extensive. Both teacher education and policy documents for schools have focused on gender equality and gender-neutral treatment of ...students. The aim of this study is to explore if and how these efforts are manifested in upper secondary school teachers' and study counsellors' perceptions of students' self-belief, academic emotions, study habits and behaviour at school. Twenty-three interviews were conducted and analysed qualitatively through inductive content analysis. The results revealed that teachers and study counsellors perceive that girls' low self-belief and high achievement expectations affected their academic performance, while boys' insecurity or need for support was rarely mentioned. The teachers ascribed the students several gender-stereotypical attributes: girls were perceived as diligent and hard-working while boys were perceived as being indifferent towards school and achievements. The implications of these results for students' self-belief and for teacher education are discussed.
PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate how a workshop can enhance first-year university students' understanding of their study strategies and self-regulated ...learning.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative content analysis was done of 190 reflective journals written by first-year university students.FindingsThe main findings confirmed that starting studies in higher education is challenging for many students. New insights were provided on how these challenges can be addressed, especially regarding self-regulated learning. Students perceived that they gained several insights from the workshop that they believed could benefit their studying and thereby enhance motivation.Practical implicationsThis study showed that even small measures promote both good study habits and specifically self-regulated learning skills. Interventions like the workshop described in this study ease first-year students' transition to the university and foster successful studies for all students.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research on supporting students' transition to higher education by investigating how students perceive early study skill interventions. It adds to a holistic perspective of students' challenges and coping strategies during their first semester in higher education.
Abstract
The present study examined the profiles of parental perceptions of their child’s school adjustment in terms of learning loss and school well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland. ...Furthermore, the extent to which the profiles differed with respect to the different children and their family characteristics, as well as their parents’ stress about their child’s schooling, were examined. Parents (
N
= 26,313) completed a questionnaire in spring 2021 concerning parental stress and their children’s schooling. The five-profile solution was identified using latent profile analysis: (1) slightly-higher-than-average-school-adjustment (
n
= 8198, 31.2%); (2) high-school-adjustment (
n
= 3017, 11.5%); (3) slightly-lower-than-average-school-adjustment (
n
= 5025, 19.1%); (4) low-school-adjustment (
n
= 6777, 25.7%); and (5) mixed-school-adjustment (
n
= 3296, 12.5%). The low-school-adjustment profile was overrepresented among parents of boys, older children, and children with special education needs as well as among parents with lower education levels, higher numbers of children, and in single-parent households. In addition, the results showed that parental stress about their child’s schooling was associated with their perceptions of their child’s school adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the results demonstrate that parents’ views of their children’s school adjustment varied widely during the COVID-19 pandemic. At schools, particular attention should be given to at-risk families (e.g., families with low education levels and children with special education needs) in which children may be prone to learning loss and low well-being due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The RNA-binding protein ALYREF (THOC4) is involved in transcriptional regulation and nuclear mRNA export, though its role and molecular mode of action in breast carcinogenesis are completely unknown. ...Here, we identified high ALYREF expression as a factor for poor survival in breast cancer patients. ALYREF significantly influenced cellular growth, apoptosis and mitochondrial energy metabolism in breast cancer cells as well as breast tumorigenesis in orthotopic mouse models. Transcriptional profiling, phenocopy and rescue experiments identified the short isoform of the lncRNA
NEAT1
as a molecular trigger for ALYREF effects in breast cancer. Mechanistically, we found that ALYREF binds to the
NEAT1
promoter region to enhance the global
NEAT1
transcriptional activity. Importantly, by stabilizing CPSF6, a protein that selectively activates the post-transcriptional generation of the short isoform of
NEAT1
, as well as by direct binding and stabilization of the short isoform of
NEAT1,
ALYREF selectively fine-tunes the expression of the short
NEAT1
isoform. Overall, our study describes ALYREF as a novel factor contributing to breast carcinogenesis and identifies novel molecular mechanisms of regulation the two isoforms of
NEAT1
.
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