For college students, opening Chinese courses is the inheritance and continuation of Chinese culture, which can improve students' literary quality. However, because the content of college Chinese course selection has higher requirements for students' literary foundation and loses the pressure of examination, traditional teaching methods can not…

This mixed-methods study explored the nature, effectiveness, and policy implications of the fee-charging private supplementary tutoring (PT)--including online--that first-year Kazakhstani university students attended over the last 12 months. The data were collected from 952 participants using a close-ended questionnaire followed by semi-structured…

One of the main goals of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) course is to facilitate the development of learners' reading comprehension and reflective skills in English, which can be developed with appropriate instruction. However, in EFL courses, many students are inactive in reflecting on their reading and are disengaged from learning. To…

This article reports on a study which evaluated five dimensions of first-year university students' engagement in Welsh universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study utilises a student engagement scale which was previously used with undergraduate students in Australian universities. Our findings provide insights on five dimensions of student…

Drama in Education (DiE) has been a well-known teaching technique for an active learning approach for students. It utilizes different forms of conventions to enhance a student's learning experience in the classroom, offering alternatives instead of the traditional teaching approaches. Drama can encourage students to learn and think critically and…

This research investigates how three students' learning attributes--attitudes, behavior, and English proficiency background contribute to the students' writing performance. Statistical methods explored three primary areas: (1) the influence of students' attitudes towards the students' choice of teaching methods and learning behavior, (2) the…

The study examined the effect of birth order differences on adjustment among first year undergraduate students in one selected university in Kenya. A cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. The sample size comprised 213 first year students selected using both stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The adjustment…

Resilience is of utmost importance for first-year undergraduate students to persist and flourish throughout the course of their studies. The researchers explored the comparative and simultaneous effect of two factors, i.e., emotional intelligence (EI) and critical thinking (CT) disposition in predicting the resilience of first-year undergraduate…

Compulsory attendance in communication skills courses offered at colleges of engineering seems to be a problematic issue for many students because it prevents them from performing well in such courses. Many students believe that time spent on these courses comes at the expense of focusing on core courses and worsens their overall performance in…

This research provides new empirical evidence of the gender gap in university studies in the economics-business area based on econometric analysis (mean difference, OLS, quantile regression, logit/probit). The sample includes 717 first-year students of the 2016-2020 economics, business administration and management, and marketing degree courses at…

Positive teacher-student relationships have been identified as important for teacher and student well-being and for high-quality teaching and learning processes and outcomes. However, research on the perceptions of teachers in higher education on a high-quality relationship with students and the perceived antecedents is still scarce. This study…

This article focuses on first-year university students' understanding of concepts related to third-degree polynomial and trigonometric functions that they encountered during their study of Grade 12 mathematics. In this study three online questions from two first-year mathematics quizzes at the University of KwaZulu-Natal were analysed. The first…

Self-efficacy has been linked to academic performance, motivation, and progression within engineering degree programs. Such associations are context specific, and an understanding of sources of self-efficacy is paramount to guiding policy and practice enhancements. We sought to understand the self-efficacy beliefs held by 1st year engineering…

Prioritizing student satisfaction in higher education is crucial for delivering an educational experience that caters to students' needs, ultimately leading to improved learning outcomes and fostering gradual progress. In this paper, to identify the interactive teaching approach that best aligns with student expectations for a class of freshmen…

Peer mentoring has shown beneficial effects in facilitating academic and social integration among first-year students in higher education. Previous research is, however, limited by the exclusion of a comparison group, to examine whether the integration process still occurs among non-mentored students, independently of peer mentoring. By using…