Opportunities for guiding development: insights from first-year life science majors' use of metacognition.

Students with strong metacognitive skills are positioned to learn and achieve more than peers who are still developing their metacognition. Yet, many students come to college without well-developed metacognitive skills. As part of a longitudinal study on metacognitive development, we asked when, why, and how first-year life science majors use metacognitive skills of planning, monitoring, and evaluating. Guided by the metacognition framework, we collected data from 52 undergraduates at three institutions using semi-structured interviews. We found that first-year students seek study recommendations from instructors, peers, and online resources when they plan their study strategies. First-year students struggle to accurately monitor their understanding and benefit when instructors help them confront what they do not yet know. First-year students evaluate the effectiveness of their study plans at two specific points: immediately after taking an exam and/or after receiving their grade on an exam. While first-year students may be particularly open to suggestions on how to learn, they may need help debunking myths about learning. First-year students acknowledge they are still learning to monitor and welcome formative assessments that help them improve the accuracy of their monitoring. First-year students may be primed to receive guidance on their metacognition at the points when they are most likely to evaluate the effectiveness of their study strategies and plans. Based on our results, we offer suggestions for instructors who want to support first-year students to further develop their metacognition.

First-year health professions students' interprofessional identity development following participation in a brief introductory interprofessional activity: a qualitative study.

Healthcare providers need to simultaneously identify with their own profession and the broader interprofessional group to improve interprofessional team functioning and collaboration. The purpose of this study was to explore firstyear healthcare students' interprofessional identity development following a brief introductory interprofessional activity. The Extended Professional Identity Theory (EPIT) served as the framework for this qualitative study. The sample included 1,047 students from 19 different health professions at one institution in the first semester of their professional program. Deductive content analysis was used to analyze students' reflections from two reflective questions in a mandatory course evaluation survey. The 24-item version of the Extended Professional Identity Scale was used as a structured categorization matrix for deductive coding of student reflections to the three EPIT constructs: interprofessional belonging, commitment, and beliefs. Participant responses, spanning all three EPIT constructs, support the ability of early health professions learners to demonstrate the development of an emerging interprofessional identity. Future research is needed to assess IPI at various points across the curriculum and to explore between profession differences and the implications for foundational IPE design and learning along the continuum into practice.

Impact of reflection writing on the learning ability of Indian medical students.

Reflective writing develops meta-cognition among students. Therefore, it is of interest to compare effectiveness of post lecture reflective writing to didactic lecture between individual and group reflective writing. Hence, we included 124 first-year students from AIIMS Bhopal, India and divided them in two groups of 62 students. Both groups took a pre-test using a reflection questionnaire. Students were taught reflective writing. Both groups attended physiology lectures on two different topics. First lecture on body fluids where Group A wrote reflections individually and Group B did so in sub-groups (B1 to B6). After another lecture on Pathophysiology of oedema, Group A wrote reflections in groups and Group B wrote individually (A1 to A6). Both groups took a test in the form of MCQ about reflective writing on lectures. After intervention both groups took a post-test using a reflection questionnaire. Mean and standard deviation of Pre-test is 3.86 ± 0.86 and Post-test is 7.58 ± 1.01, respectively. The Mean and standard deviation of reflection who wrote individually is 38.05 ± 4.41 and in group is 27.45 ± 3.93, respectively with p-value < 0.05. Evaluation of students who wrote reflection in groups after second lecture the mean and standard deviation of reflection who wrote individually is 38.22 ± 4.64 and in group is 27.03 ± 2.87 respectively with p-value < 0.05. The performance of students who wrote reflection in groups is not satisfactory as compared to students who wrote their reflection individually.

Suicide Ideation and Self-Harm Behaviors in First-Year Dormitory Students at a Public Midwestern University: A Pilot Study.

Purpose: Currently, 1 in 5 college students struggle with suicidal ideation while 7% to 44% engage in nonsuicidal self-injury. Illinois has one of the highest teenage and college student suicide rates in the United States. This pilot study assessed suicide ideation and self-harm behaviors at a public Illinois university. This is the first study to use 5 standardized psychological instruments to investigate these 2 crises in freshmen college students who are all required to reside in dormitories. The main hypothesis was to determine if the independent effects of freshmen students' depression, Five-Factor Model, and Reasons for Living affected the dependent variables, self-harm behaviors and suicide ideation. Methods: Forty first-year college dormitory students completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II, Scale of Suicidal Ideation, Five-Factor Model, Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury, and Reasons for Living Scale in person. Results: Participants were 18 to 19 years old, predominantly female (65%), and non-White (62%). Forty percent reported self-harm behaviors and 19% reported suicidal ideation. The top reasons for contemplated suicide attempts included the inability to solve problems (33%) and attention/revenge (28%). Students experienced high levels of anxiety (55%), self-consciousness (43%), and depression (18%). Depression was associated with suicide ideation (ß = 0.05, P = .006), while neuroticism and openness were associated with self-harm behaviors (aOR = 3.36, P = .02, aOR = 0.48, P = .047, respectively). Ninety-five percent reported "responsibility to family" as a Reason for Living. Conclusions: Preliminary evidence necessitates an examination of self-harm and suicide ideation among all freshmen, investigating both risk and protective factors. In the future, a prevention intervention should be implemented campus-wide (and eventually nationwide) for all first-year dormitory students to enhance their mental well-being.

Academic success, engagement and self-efficacy of first-year university students:personal variables and first-semester performance / Éxito académico, compromiso y autoeficacia de los estudiantes universitarios de primer año: variables personales y desempeño del primer semestre

La educación superior puede ser extremadamente transformadora para los estudiantes y tiene un papel importante en la formación del capital humano, en la innovación y en el desarrollo social, cultural y ambiental de la sociedad. La expansión de la educación superior promovió el acceso de una mezcla de estudiantes más heterogénea, pero garantizar el acceso no garantiza el éxito académico. Este artículo tiene como objetivo analizar los predictores de desempeño académico en 447 estudiantes de primer año en el 1er y 2do semestre, considerando variables como sexo, edad, nivel educativo de los padres y calificaciones al ingresar a la educación superior, junto con los niveles de compromiso académico e autoeficacia de los estudiantes tras algunas semanas en la universidad. Los resultados muestran trayectorias estadísticamente significativas para sexo, edad y GPA hasta el desempeño del primer semestre, para los niveles educativos de los padres hasta la autoeficacia percibida, para la implicación académica de los estudiantes hasta el desempeño del primer semestre y el desempeño del primer semestre hasta el desempeño del segundo semestre La participación académica de los estudiantes también tuvo un efecto indirecto en el desempeño del segundo semestre. La correlación entre compromiso académica y autoeficacia fue positiva, fuerte y estadísticamente significativa. El modelo explicó el 35.2% de la varianza del rendimiento académico en el segundo semestre y el 15.0% de la varianza del rendimiento académico en el primer semestre. El conocimiento sobre los predictores del rendimiento académico y la importancia del compromiso y la autoeficacia respaldará las intervenciones oportunas, promoviendo el éxito y previniendo el fracaso y el abandono.(AU)

Higher education can be hugely transformative for students and has an important role in empowering human capital, innovation, and socie-ty’s social, cultural, and environmental development. The expansion of higher education has promoted access for a more heterogeneous mix of students, but ensuring access does not guarantee academic success. This paper aims to analyse predictors of academic achievement in 447 first-year students in their 1stand 2ndsemesters, considering variables including sex, age, parents’ educational level and grades on entering higher education, along with levels of students’ academic engagement and self-efficacy after some weeks at university. Results show statistically significant paths for sex, age, and GPA to 1st-semester achievement, for parent’s educational levels to perceived self-efficacy, for students’ academic engagement to 1st-semester achievement, and 1st-semester achievement to 2nd-semester achievement. Students’ academic engagement also had an indirect effect on the 2nd-semester achievement. The correlation between academic engage-ment and self-efficacy was positive, strong, and statistically significant. The model explained 35.2% of the variance in 2nd-semester achievement and 15.0% of the variance in 1st-semester achievement. Knowledge about pre-dictors of academic achievement and the importance of engagement and self-efficacy will support timely interventions, promoting success and pre-venting failure and dropout.(AU)

The experience of adolescents who transitioned to college during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the college transition process and first year college experience for several cohorts of students. This review addresses research related to the college transition process, illustrating the "high touch" support mechanisms that are often characteristic of students' experiences during the first year. Understanding the needs of students in the transition and how colleges have supported students historically helps to explain why the pandemic was disruptive to students transitioning into college and throughout their first year. The review suggests additional support is needed for students' mental health and other stressors that they face. It also reinforces the need to ensure that support mechanisms are mindful of students who have been historically marginalized.

THE RESULTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL READINESS FOR STUDYING IN MEDICAL STUDENTS.

OBJECTIVE: The aim: To analyze the psychological readiness of the first-year students to study at a medical university, difficulties in the educational process, and the formation of positive motivation to educational and professional activity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: In the course of research, the following techniques have been used: bibliosemantic method for the analysis of scientific publications, methodology for study the main motives for choosing a profession, suggested by S. Yu. Daukilas, methodology for study the motives of academic activity, designed at the Department of Ukrainian Studies and Humanitarian Training of Poltava State Medical University (modified by A. Rean, V. Yakunin) to conduct a survey in the process of learning Ukrainian as a foreign language by the students of Medical Faculty at the Poltava State Medical University in 2021/2022 academic year. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: Professional identity of medical students begins at the first course of study. First-year students' faces heavy academic load of general scientific, medical and biological disciplines, foreign languages, etc. It is important from the first days to create a positive psychological motivation for studying, for acquiring knowledge and skills that will be required in future professional activities. Therefore, the adaptation of educational material to the new student reality, the search for relevant forms of education, considering the individual psychological characteristics and cognitive capabilities of the new generation, the use of modern specialized multimedia tools, the involvement of students in independent research activities, etc. is of decisive importance for the formation of students' readiness for education in medical university. The study showed that the students were motivated to choose their medical profession with the method of self-reproducing for the first time and later the strength of this motive grew. The role of some motivational factors in the field of professional life, such as a personal pattern, personal life, and self-satisfaction were not so well formed. We also fixed a great motivation to implement professional knowledge abroad. Prospects for further research encompass the study of personal characteristics affecting the professional activity of future doctors is expected, including their psychological adequacy to the requirements of the profession - character, temperament, intelligence, communicative and organizational abilities, etc.

Predictors of Romanian Psychology Students' Intention to Successfully Complete Their Courses-A Process-Based Psychology Theory Approach.

Student retention is a frequently researched issue due to the incidence of student dropout and its significance to learning outcomes. However, there are research gaps that need to be addressed in understanding the factors influencing student dropout in the context of higher education in Romania. This cross-sectional investigation aims to fill these gaps by examining the relationships between satisfaction with the specialization, self-regulation of learning behavior, students' perceived stress, perceived acceptance from family and friends, and the intention to complete studies. The study utilizes various statistical analysis techniques, including mediation analysis and correlation analysis, to analyze the collected data. An online questionnaire was administered to non-randomized students majoring in Psychology, and a total of 144 valid and consented responses were obtained. The results reveal significant influences of satisfaction with the specialization, self-regulated learning, and students' perceived stress on the intention to successfully complete courses. Furthermore, academic self-efficacy was found to fully mediate the relationship between satisfaction with the specialization and academic adjustment. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the student dropout process in the Romanian higher education system. By identifying the factors associated with student retention, this study provides insights that can inform the development of interventions aimed at improving students' retention and overall learning outcomes.

Identification and comparison of the main variables affecting early university dropout rates according to knowledge area and institution.

The dropout rate in universities is a widely studied issue that concerns both universities and public organizations. Most studies focus on quantifying the phenomenon and identifying the variables involved. This paper uses a multidisciplinary approach to parameterize the factors that define the entry profile of undergraduates at the national level in Spain in collaboration with three universities in different regions and with different disciplines. The aim is to reduce the dropout rate in the first year of study towards a degree. The research questions focus on the weighting of personal variables about students by tutors and whether there are differences in the weighting systems for the main variables as differentiated by discipline, university and/or region. The document is organized to describe the method and context of the study, present the main results, show the application of the survey instrument in a case study, and provide conclusions. The method is based on the two fundamental factors, including the influence of certain student characteristics at matriculation and the importance of a positive experience in the first year of the degree. The study is focused on two elements that inspire the current proposal: the need to identify and rapidly detect students who, due to their entry characteristics, are at a greater risk of dropout and the importance of guaranteeing a good start in the first year of the degree. The study uses a multidisciplinary approach and combines qualitative and quantitative methods to gather data. The study also uses a survey instrument that measures the risk of student dropout based on the weighting of personal variables by tutors. The results of the study have allowed us to categorize the main variables of the student profile that affect the risk of dropout and establish them as aspects to be monitored by the tutors in the first weeks. Furthermore, it has been shown that although there are no significant differences in the averages of dropout risk calculated with either global or specific weighting systems (by centre or studies), there is a tendency observed by the tutors that the weighted averages generated by disciplinary focus are closer to identifying the student's real risk of dropping out.

Can we buffer them? Supporting healthy levels of stress and anxiety in first year international students.

First-year international tertiary students face numerous challenges, with the COVID-19 pandemic shifting many to online learning. These challenges can lead to higher than ideal stress and anxiety, negatively impacting mental health. Applying a 'writing across curriculum' approach this study examines whether a 'writing in discipline' intervention influences stress/anxiety for such students studying Tourism, Hospitality and Events in Australia. A modified DASS was administered to four cohorts during 2020 and 2021, and pre-post-tests conducted. The intervention helped buffer significant increases in stress, promoted skill development, and enhanced academic confidence. This scaffolded-learning approach is applicable at course/subject, degree, and university levels.

"It's where learning and teaching begins ‒ is this relationship" - insights on the teacher-student relationship at university from the teachers' perspective.

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 aimed to address this research gap by interviewing 15 Australian higher education teachers about their perception of forming relationships with first-year students. The results suggest that the quality of the teacher-student relationship comprises both a professional and an interpersonal dimension, reflecting the different roles teachers and students assume within it. These two dimensions can be further differentiated into various relational quality indicators, such as approachability, care, support, trust, and others. Furthermore, the results indicate that several contextual and personal attributes contribute to the development of this relationship. Implications about how to shape positive relationships between teachers and students in higher education are discussed.

Improvement of individual learning with mentoring programs for first-year undergraduate students.

Introduction: This study presents a brief analysis of Spanish universities that promote mentoring programs with students. These mentoring programs are divided into different categories depending on the persons (faculty or students) involved in the process and their characteristics (for novice, senior, or international students). The case of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria is presented, where first-year students from all undergraduate degrees are involved in an annual course where the core part is related to formal mentoring activities. Methods: This study analyzes undergraduate degree students' outcomes and results from 10 different degrees for a period of 4 academic years (from 2016-2017 to 2019-2020). This first analysis corresponds to students' activities and marks awarded on the assessment of the assigned mentoring tasks related to the competencies of critical thinking, proactivity, personal knowledge (with the objective of acceptance and improvement), and the ability to ask transcendental questions. Then, a reliable and valid survey, conducted every year to all senior students, was used to get feedback from students. Results: After a quantitative and qualitative analysis of students' results, it was noticed that they become more confident in their studies when they engage in mentoring-based courses and sessions, and this benefits their lives. All this information led to the improvement of the mentoring process.

"Staying in the present moment is important": Examining the impact of a short-term classroom-based mindfulness intervention among first-year students.

Objective: To determine the impact of four classroom-based sessions on mindfulness and symptoms of psychological distress among first-year students. A secondary objective was to explore participants' involvement experiences. Participants: First-year undergraduate students at a Canadian university were recruited. Methods: A mixed-methods pre-experimental design with repeated measures was used. The mindfulness intervention involved four, 15-minute sessions delivered by a counselor from the university's Student Health and Wellness center. Results: A significant positive change to participants' mindfulness scores from pre- to post-intervention was observed. Qualitatively, themes relating to intervention benefits, challenges, and logistics emerged. Conclusions: Collectively, results supported the utility of this brief mindfulness intervention delivered to first-year students. Participants were appreciative of the techniques learned and the "in-class" delivery format. Given the pressures faced by post-secondary students, collaborating with student wellness centers in this way may represent a novel and efficient approach for attenuating health risks while promoting their personal wellness.

Academic Expectations, Gender and Working Status: Comparing Two Cohorts of University Students / Expectativas Acadêmicas, Gênero e Situação Profissional: Comparando Duas Coortes de Estudantes Universitários

ABSTRACT The expansion of higher education is associated with the progressive diversification of student's profiles, such as the increasing number of older, working and female students. The transition to higher education poses challenges for students entering it, generating expectations that can impact academic adaptation. This study compared academic expectations by gender and work situation in two cohorts of first-year students from a Brazilian public university, involving 13,336 participants. The Brazilian Scale of Academic Expectations for First-Year University Students was administered. Non-working and female students had higher academic expectations in both cohorts. The findings provide subsidies to higher education institutions to develop support programs and policies targeting first-year students.

RESUMO A expansão da educação superior está associada à progressiva diversificação dos perfis discentes, tais como aumento do número de estudantes mais velhos, trabalhadores e mulheres. A transição para o ensino superior comporta desafios para os estudantes que nele ingressam, gerando expectativas que podem impactar a adaptação acadêmica. Este estudo comparou as expectativas acadêmicas por gênero e situação de trabalho em dois coortes de estudantes ingressantes em uma universidade pública brasileira, envolvendo 13.336 participantes. Utilizou-se a Escala Brasileira de Expectativas Acadêmicas para Estudantes Ingressantes na Educação Superior. Estudantes mulheres e não trabalhadores apresentaram maiores expectativas acadêmicas em ambas as coortes. Os resultados fornecem subsídios às instituições de ensino superior para desenvolvimento de programas de apoio e políticas voltadas aos estudantes ingressantes.

Psychological distress among first-year health science students in Taiwan.

Background: Most first-year college/university students are adolescents or young adults and therefore are at high risk of developing psychological distress symptoms. Little is known about psychological distress among first-year university students in Taiwan, especially those studying health science-related fields. Objective: To understand the prevalence of psychological distress and its five dimensions (depression and anxiety, self-harm, impulsivity, and psychiatric disturbance) and explore the relationship between student-specific variables (enrollment year, age, sex, program duration, and college) and psychological distress. Methods: A secondary analysis design was adopted. We enrolled 4,212 first-year university students throughout 2016, 2017, and 2018. Health screening data were obtained using the Mental Health Scale for Undergraduate-Screening Assessment (MHSU-SA) for first-year health science students at a private technical-vocational university in northern Taiwan. Results: Many first-year university students were at-risk for depression (4.2%), anxiety (8.2%), self-harm (5.2%), impulsivity (2.6%), psychiatric disturbance (4.4%), and overall psychological distress (4.2%). Students in a four-year program were more than twice as likely to demonstrate psychological distress symptoms compared to their two-year (night) program counterparts (odds ratio = 2.05, 95% confidence interval = 1.20-3.49, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Some first-year health science university students showed psychological distress, including anxiety, self-harm, psychiatric disturbance, depression, and impulsivity. Students in four-year programs were twice as likely to show symptoms of psychological distress than those in two-year (night) programs. Therefore, mental health screenings are recommended to facilitate early detection and timely intervention for at-risk students.

Prevalence of depression and anxiety, and attitudes toward seeking help among first-year pharmacy, medical, and nursing students at a Nigerian university.

INTRODUCTION: The first year of university study tends to be particularly challenging and exhausting, especially for students in health sciences. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of anxiety and depression among first-year pharmacy, medicine, and nursing students at a Nigerian university as well as their attitudes toward seeking professional support. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey among all first-year pharmacy, medicine, and nursing students. Paper-based self-administered questionnaires were used, and they included the Patient Health Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and Pearson correlation were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The study included 522 students (89% response rate). The prevalence of depression among participants was 71.8%, while the prevalence of anxiety was 61.7%. Only 24.9% of the participants expressed willingness to seek professional psychological help. Attitudes toward getting professional care was inversely related to the prevalence of depression (r = -0.155, P = .01) and anxiety (r = -0.098, P = .05). Age, smoking, alcohol intake, and dietary habits were associated with the occurrence of depression and anxiety. No demographic variables were related to the participants' attitudes toward seeking professional care. CONCLUSIONS: Depression and anxiety symptoms were very common among health science freshmen. However, the vast majority of students were unwilling to seek help. Students' attitudes toward seeking treatment are influenced by the prevalence of depression and anxiety. Therefore, educational interventions on mental health promotion are recommended.

The peculiarities of Adaptation of First-Year Students to the University during COVID-19 Pandemic in Russia / Las peculiaridades de la adaptación de los estudiantes de primer año a la universidad durante la pandemia COVID-19 en Rusia

The speed and efficiency of student adaptation largely determines the success of the educational process. This is especially true for universityfreshmen, as the older adolescent organism, with its specific neurophysiological characteristics, is very sensitive to changes in the environment. Thesituation with SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) pandemic has added to the problem of adaptation. The present study aims to examine the influence ofthe COVID-19 pandemic on the first-year students’ adaptation to university studies in Russia. The study involves 692 freshmen with an average ageof 18.7, majority of women (80.6%), from three Russian universities: Kazan National Research Technological University, Kazan Federal University andKazan Aviation University. The results show that during the COVID-19 period statistically significant changes occurred in almost all the adaptationcomponents: physiological adaptation (p < .0001), socio-psychological adaptation (p < .05), academic adaptation (p < .05). There was a decreasein the level of physiological adaptation, while socio-psychological adaptation and academic adaptation increased. Comparison by gender duringthe COVID-19 period shows differences between adaptation processes of men and women. Comparison of foreign students with Russian citizensduring the COVID-19 period demonstrates that foreign students stand out in socio-cultural adaptation (4.94 - foreigners, 4.64 - citizens of Russia, p< .05), physiological adaptation (5.36 - foreigners, 4.36 - citizens of Russia, p < .00001) and academic adaptation (5.28 - foreigners, 4.99 - citizensof Russia, p < .05). (AU)

La velocidad y eficiencia de la adaptación de los estudiantes determina en gran medida el éxito del proceso educativo. Esto es especialmente cierto para losestudiantes de primer año de universidad, ya que el organismo de los adolescentes mayores, con sus características neurofisiológicas específicas,es muy sensible a los cambios en el entorno. A las habituales dificultades de adaptación se ha sumado la problemática generada por la pandemiadel virus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). El presente estudio tiene como objetivo examinar la influencia de la pandemia COVID-19 en la adaptación delos estudiantes de primer año a los estudios universitarios en Rusia. El estudio involucra a 692 estudiantes de primer año con una edad promediode 18,7 años, la mayoría mujeres (80,6%), de tres universidades rusas: Universidad Tecnológica de Investigación Nacional de Kazán, UniversidadFederal de Kazán y Universidad de Aviación de Kazán. Los resultados demuestran que durante el período COVID-19 ocurrieron cambios estadísticamente significativos en casi todos los componentes de la adaptación: adaptación fisiológica (p <.0001), adaptación socio-psicológica (p <.05),adaptación académica (p <.05). La comparación por género durante el período COVID-19 muestra diferencias entre los procesos de adaptación dehombres y mujeres. La comparación de estudiantes extranjeros con ciudadanos rusos durante el período COVID-19 demuestra que los estudiantesextranjeros destacan en adaptación sociocultural (4.94 - extranjeros, 4.64 - ciudadanos de Rusia, p <.05), adaptación fisiológica (5.36 - extranjeros,4.36 - ciudadanos de Rusia, p <.00001) y adaptación académica (5,28 - extranjeros, 4,99 - ciudadanos de Rusia, p <.05). (AU)

Determinants of Major Choice and Academic Expectations: Testing a Prediction Model Across Gender.

With this study, we aim to test the predictive relationships between determinants of major choice (DMC) and academic expectations (AEs) and to analyze gender differences, using six items of the Determinants of Major Choice Scale and the Academic Perceptions Questionnaire to assess AEs. A convenience sample of Portuguese (n = 839) and Spanish (n = 1,001) first-year students (age-range = 17-23 years), mostly composed of women (56.9%, n = 1,047), was selected from two public universities. The invariance of the multivariate regression model with latent variables of the effect of DMC on AEs, with determinants linked to Personal Characteristics (PCs; e.g., capacities) and Mediating Agents (MAs; e.g., parents) as AE predictors, was tested across gender with LISREL. The invariance test of the multivariate regression model across gender fit the data well and revealed an equivalence of slopes between women and men, which allows a unique interpretation of the model's predictive relationships for both genders. We also found statistically significant predictive relationships of PCs for six AE factors and MAs for five AE factors. The results showed theoretical relationships with the self-determination theory. At a practical level, they indicated the importance of PCs and MAs to design AE intervention programs in Higher Education (HE) institutions.

Promoting Success and Persistence in Pandemic Times: An Experience With First-Year Students.

The transition and adaptation of students to higher education (HE) involve a wide range of challenges that justify some institutional practices promoting skills that enable students to increase their autonomy and to face the difficulties experienced. The requirements for this adaptation were particularly aggravated by the containment and sanitary conditions associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). With the aim of promoting academic success and preventing dropout in the first year, a support program was implemented for students enrolled in two courses in the area of education at a public university in northern Portugal during the first semester of 2020/2021. Three sessions of 50/60 min were implemented, namely, the first session focused on the verbalization of the demands, challenges, and difficulties of the transition, and the second and third sessions focused on the difficulties of academic adaptation and academic performance. Data from a dropout risk screening instrument and from the activities performed during sessions were analyzed. The main results point to student satisfaction with the content and the activities of the sessions and their usefulness. Students report not only high satisfaction levels with HE attendance, but also some emotional exhaustion due to academic activities. The continuity of the program is recommended with some improvements in its planning to ensure a more definitive version of the program in the next two years.

Working Online During COVID-19: Accounts of First Year Students Experiences and Well-Being.

The sudden move to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic has created an influx of epistemological, psycho-social, emotional and financial challenges for first year students. Lecturers and academics had to find creative and sustainable ways of ensuring that all students were epistemologically included. New policies and practices were introduced rapidly at universities to facilitate the unavoidable move to online learning. As initial teacher educators at a public University in South Africa we noted that the sudden move to working online has presented various challenges to first year students' overall well-being which has further exacerbated issues of exclusion and marginalization for many. We argue that it is against this backdrop that this paper explores how the move to online learning has affected first year students' overall well-being, at one teacher education institution. The Index for Inclusive Education was used as a theoretical lens to explore student's perceptions of the institution's policy, teaching and learning practices, and the institutional culture during this period. One hundred and eighty-seven purposively selected first year students participated in this qualitative, phenomenological research study. Data were collected by means of open-ended questionnaires. Responses were categorized by means of an emergent thematic analysis. The findings indicated that online learning compromised various aspects of well-being including physical, emotional, psycho-social and financial well-being for many students. The experiences of online learning and impact on well-being did, however, differ across students depending on their individual contexts and circumstances indicating that considerations of well-being need to take contextual realities into account to support the well-being and learning of all. We recommend that higher education institutions prioritize the psycho-social, emotional, and financial well-being of students during the period of online learning and not just the pedagogic needs of the qualification.