Education Commons^™

Osces’ Impact On Occupational Therapy Student Learning: Insights From Second- And Third-Year Focus Groups, Craig R. St. Jean, Karin Werther, Mary R. Roberts

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are widely used in health programs to assess clinical skills. We present results of a qualitative study investigating occupational therapy students’ perceptions of OSCEs’ impact on their learning and readiness for clinical practice.

Method: Six second and six third year students in the University of Alberta’s Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program were interviewed in separate focus groups. Independent reviewers applied thematic analysis to the focus group transcripts to identify, analyze, and report themes in the data.

Results: Five themes were constructed from the data: from learning to action, transition …

What Australian Students Say About Transition To Secondary School. Final Report, Shani Sniedze, Rachel Felgate, Elizabeth O'Grady, Sarah Buckley, Petra Lietz

Wellbeing

Life Education Australia's Being Healthy Being Active project involved the collection of student voice related to the concept of school transition and the move from primary to secondary school. Students from around Australia participated in 82 focus groups, or student forums, to discuss their own positive experiences, as well as perceived needs and challenges related to their move to secondary school. Section One of this report is a literature review and environmental scan on student transition from primary to secondary school. Section Two describes the methods used to design and administer the Student Forums. This includes a description of the …

Imls Sparks Ignite Il Framework Cooperative Project Final Performance Report, Appendix D: Focus Group Report, Joel M. Wright, Jessame Ferguson

IMLS SPARKS Ignite IL Framework Cooperative Project for At-Risk Student Success in Smaller Colleges

This appendix to the Final Performance Report for the IMLS Sparks IL Cooperative Project grant is the report on the focus groups. The focus group research summarized herein represents a segment of the overall IMLS grant proposal process, and should be viewed not as a separate endeavor, but rather as an integrated approach to the overall research questions in the grant proposal. In conjunction with the pre-test/post-test survey driven component, the findings from the focus group research help to strengthen the case for the value of librarian-driven pedagogy in positively impacting the academic and intellectual growth of all students, and …

Focus Groups For Informing Awpa’S Engineering Workforce Study 2014: Final Report, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown

Kate Perkins

This report highlights the findings of a project undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for the Australian Workplace and Productivity Agency (AWPA) that will contribute to a wider study of the Engineering Workforce. The project involved the development, coordination, implementation of focus groups and the reporting of outcomes in a way that generates first-hand information about the experiences and attitudes of specific groups of people in relation to the engineering labour market – women, mature-age workers and new graduates. The work here also explored the views of the next generation of engineers, gathering information from school students …

National Research On The Postgraduate Student Experience : Case Presentation: Volume 1: First Year Postgraduate Student Experience, Gary Hamlin, Shelley Kinash, Linda Crane, Amy Bannatyne, Madelaine-Marie Judd, Ashley Stark, Bill Eckersley, Helen Partridge, Ken Udas

Higher education research

This is volume one of a set of case studies that explore the postgraduate student experience. The theme of this case study is first year postgraduate student experience and is based on experiences derived from student engagement breakfasts, interviews, and focus groups with 366 people across the stakeholder groups of postgraduate students, educators, and university executives from 26 institutions. The case studies constitute part of the output from the project, Engaging postgraduate students and supporting higher education to enhance the 21st century student experience.

National Research On The Postgraduate Student Experience : Case Presentation : Volume 2 : Postgraduate Student Diversity, Bill Eckersley, Linda Crane, Shelley Kinash, Amy Bannatyne, Gary Hamlin, Helen Partridge, Sarah Richardson, Harry Rolf, Ken Udas

Higher education research

This is volume two of a set of three case studies that explore the postgraduate student experience. The theme of this case study is postgraduate student diversity and is based on experiences derived from student engagement breakfasts, interviews, and focus groups with 366 people across the stakeholder groups of postgraduate students, educators, and university executives from 26 institutions. The case studies constitute part of the output from the project, Engaging postgraduate students and supporting higher education to enhance the 21st century student experience.

Australian Postgraduate Research Student International Mobility: Research Report 2015, Sarah Richardson

Dr Sarah Richardson

This report presents findings of a study of the international mobility of postgraduate research students enrolled at Australian universities. It is based on focus groups with sixty postgraduate research students at seven Australian universities and one focus group with staff from three universities who are involved in supporting research students. Overall, the research indicated that the value of international mobility to research students, their supervisors, their institutions and to Australia more broadly was immense: Students gained access to invaluable resources, contacts with global experts and unique insights that significantly enhanced both the quality of their research and their employment prospects; …

Focus Groups For Informing Awpa’S Engineering Workforce Study 2014: Final Report, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown

Dr Jacob Pearce

This report highlights the findings of a project undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for the Australian Workplace and Productivity Agency (AWPA) that will contribute to a wider study of the Engineering Workforce. The project involved the development, coordination, implementation of focus groups and the reporting of outcomes in a way that generates first-hand information about the experiences and attitudes of specific groups of people in relation to the engineering labour market – women, mature-age workers and new graduates. The work here also explored the views of the next generation of engineers, gathering information from school students …

Focus Groups For Informing Awpa’S Engineering Workforce Study 2014: Final Report, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown

Dr Daniel Edwards

This report highlights the findings of a project undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for the Australian Workplace and Productivity Agency (AWPA) that will contribute to a wider study of the Engineering Workforce. The project involved the development, coordination, implementation of focus groups and the reporting of outcomes in a way that generates first-hand information about the experiences and attitudes of specific groups of people in relation to the engineering labour market – women, mature-age workers and new graduates. The work here also explored the views of the next generation of engineers, gathering information from school students …

Focus Groups For Informing Awpa’S Engineering Workforce Study 2014: Final Report, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown

Dr Justin Brown

This report highlights the findings of a project undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for the Australian Workplace and Productivity Agency (AWPA) that will contribute to a wider study of the Engineering Workforce. The project involved the development, coordination, implementation of focus groups and the reporting of outcomes in a way that generates first-hand information about the experiences and attitudes of specific groups of people in relation to the engineering labour market – women, mature-age workers and new graduates. The work here also explored the views of the next generation of engineers, gathering information from school students …

Focus Groups For Informing Awpa’S Engineering Workforce Study 2014: Final Report, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown

Higher education research

This report highlights the findings of a project undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for the Australian Workplace and Productivity Agency (AWPA) that will contribute to a wider study of the Engineering Workforce. The project involved the development, coordination, implementation of focus groups and the reporting of outcomes in a way that generates first-hand information about the experiences and attitudes of specific groups of people in relation to the engineering labour market – women, mature-age workers and new graduates. The work here also explored the views of the next generation of engineers, gathering information from school students …

Examining The Use Of Focus Groups In Economic Development Initiatives, Oscar T. Mcknight, Ronald Paugh, Brian Nestor, Shawn Yambor

Oscar T McKnight Ph.D.

City officials often use focus groups in economic development. However, findings indicate that group dynamics can threaten validity when seeking consensus. Data suggest a strong rebound effect for participants to return to their earlier pre-focus group assessment beliefs. Introduced is the ‘BUCKS’ Planning Model for facilitating city economic development initiatives.

The Reality Of The Greene County School System Preschool Program., Kathryn E. Crumm

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

State funded preschool programs are recent phenomena in the United States and the state of Tennessee. The intent of the researcher was to explore the implementation of the preschool program in the Greene County Schools system and to develop a better understanding of the effects of this process at the classroom level. This study may provide significant information for other pre-k programs in the state of Tennessee or nationwide programs in partnership with Head Start.

The preschool program in the Greene County Schools system consisted of 16 classes with nine of the classes in partnership with Head Start and one …

Group 8 Freshmen Enrollment Focus Groups, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 8. Ten students participated in the eighth focus group, which was defined by low fall state support credits and assignment to the business and economics advising group. Six participants are female and four male, three are students of color, and five transferred credit from high school. None of the students participated in an FYE or FIG, and none are in the honors program. Nine students attended Summerstart, and one participated in fall athletics. All took fewer than 15 credits in the fall: five took 12 credits, three took 13, and two took 14.

Group 8 Summary Of Transcript, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 8. Ten students participated in the eighth focus group, which was defined by low fall state support credits and assignment to the business and economics advising group. Six participants are female and four male, three are students of color, and five transferred credit from high school. None of the students participated in an FYE or FIG, and none are in the honors program. Nine students attended Summerstart, and one participated in fall athletics. All took fewer than 15 credits in the fall: five took 12 credits, three took 13, and two took 14.

Group 7 Freshmen Enrollment Focus Groups, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 7. Thirteen students participated in the seventh focus group, which was defined by low fall state support credits and assignment to the math/science or health Summerstart advising groups. Seven participants are female and six male, four are students of color, and seven transferred credit from high school. One student participated in an FYE, but none participated in FIGs, and none are in the honors program or fall athletics. All took fewer than 15 credits in the fall: two took 12 credits, five took 13, and six took 14. Eleven participants attended Summerstart.

Group 7 Summary Of Transcript, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 7. Thirteen students participated in the seventh focus group, which was defined by low fall state support credits and assignment to the math/science or health Summerstart advising groups. Seven participants are female and six male, four are students of color, and seven transferred credit from high school. One student participated in an FYE, but none participated in FIGs, and none are in the honors program or fall athletics. All took fewer than 15 credits in the fall: two took 12 credits, five took 13, and six took 14. Eleven participants attended Summerstart.

Group 6 Freshmen Enrollment Focus Groups, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 6. Eleven students participated. All transferred credit from high school. All eleven students attended Summerstart. Three were assigned to the environmental studies, CST scholars, health or math & science Summerstart advising groups, two to the undecided group, two to the Fairhaven College, music or fine & performing arts groups, three to humanities or Fairhaven interest, and one to the education group. All took fewer than 15 credits in the fall: four took 12 credits, four took 13, and three took 14. Six participants are female and one is a student of color. None participated in either an FIG or …

Group 5 Summary Of Transcripts, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 5. Eleven students participated. All eleven were assigned to the “undecided” Summerstart advising group, and all took fewer than 15 credits in the fall with three taking 13 and eight taking 14. Seven participants are female, three are students of color, and six transferred credits from high school. One participated in an FIG and one in an FYE. None are honors students, all eleven attended Summerstart, and one participated in fall athletics (football).

Group 5 Freshmen Enrollment Focus Groups, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 5. Eleven students participated. All eleven were assigned to the “undecided” Summerstart advising group, and all took fewer than 15 credits in the fall with three taking 13 and eight taking 14. Seven participants are female, three are students of color, and six transferred credits from high school. One participated in an FIG and one in an FYE. None are honors students, all eleven attended Summerstart, and one participated in fall athletics (football).

Group 4 Summary Of Transcript, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 4. Thirteen students participated. All twelve took 15 or more state support credits in the fall, and all scored higher than one standard deviation above the mean verbal SAT score, except the student interested in Education, who scored higher than 600 but lower than the one standard deviation cutoff. Four of the students took 15 credits in the fall, four took 16, three took 17, and one each took 18 and 19 credits. Their interests were distributed among the colleges, as represented by Summerstart advising group assignment; with one assigned the environmental studies, CST scholars, health or math/science groups, …

Group 3 Summary Of Transcript, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 3. Twelve students participated. All twelve took 15 or more state support credits in the fall, and all scored below 1 standard deviation below the mean verbal SAT score. Half of the students took 15 credits in the fall, two took 16 credits, and the remaining four took 17 credits. Their interests were distributed among the colleges, as represented by Summerstart advising group assignment; with four assigned the environmental studies, CST scholars, health or math/science groups, two assigned to the undecided group, two to the Fairhaven College, music or fine & performing arts groups, one to the humanities or …

Group 2 Summary Of Transcript, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Ten students participated. All ten students in this group took 14 or fewer state support credits in fall quarter, and all scored higher than one standard deviation above the mean verbal SAT score for the freshmen class. One student took 12 credits in the fall, three took 13 credits, and six took 14 credits. Their interests were distributed among the colleges, as represented by Summerstart advising group assignment–Three in environmental studies, health, or math and science, three in humanities or Fairhaven, two in education, one in music or fine and performing arts, and one undecided. Five are female and five …

Group 1 Summary Of Transcripts, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 1. Eleven students participated. All eleven students in this group took 14 or fewer state support credits in fall quarter, and all scored lower than one standard deviation below the mean verbal SAT score for the freshmen class. Two of the students took 12 credits in the fall, four took 13 credits, and five took 14 credits. Their interests were distributed among the colleges, as represented by Summerstart advising group assignments—environmental studies, health, or math and science, four in humanities or Fairhaven, two in music or fine and performing arts, or admitted to Fairhaven college, one undecided, and none …

Group 4 Freshmen Enrollment Focus Groups, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 4. Thirteen students participated. All twelve took 15 or more state support credits in the fall, and all scored higher than one standard deviation above the mean verbal SAT score, except the student interested in Education, who scored higher than 600 but lower than the one standard deviation cutoff. Four of the students took 15 credits in the fall, four took 16, three took 17, and one each took 18 and 19 credits. Their interests were distributed among the colleges, as represented by Summerstart advising group assignment; with one assigned the environmental studies, CST scholars, health or math/science groups, …

Freshmen Enrollment Focus Groups - Selection Methodology And Participant Descriptions, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Freshmen are taking fewer credits than they have in the past, and this is potentially delaying their expected graduation. Lower credit loads also mean fewer FTE students and the possibility of falling short of state budgeted FTE. If the perceived problem is confirmed, WWU administrators would like to know why freshmen are taking fewer credits, and whether interventions are appropriate to encourage higher credit loads, or if more applicants should be admitted to fill the gap. To help answer these questions, the Office of Survey Research (OSR) conducted eight focus groups of freshmen during their second quarter at Western (Winter08). …

Excerpts From All 8 Freshmen Focus Groups, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Freshmen are taking fewer credits than they have in the past, and this is potentially delaying their expected graduation. Lower credit loads also mean fewer FTE students and the possibility of falling short of state budgeted FTE. If the perceived problem is confirmed, WWU administrators would like to know why freshmen are taking fewer credits, and whether interventions are appropriate to encourage higher credit loads, or if more applicants should be admitted to fill the gap. To help answer these questions, the Office of Survey Research (OSR) conducted eight focus groups of freshmen during their second quarter at Western (Winter08). …

Freshmen Enrollment Focus Groups: Attributes And Schedule, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Freshmen are taking fewer credits than they have in the past, and this is potentially delaying their expected graduation. Lower credit loads also mean fewer FTE students and the possibility of falling short of state budgeted FTE. If the perceived problem is confirmed, WWU administrators would like to know why freshmen are taking fewer credits, and whether interventions are appropriate to encourage higher credit loads, or if more applicants should be admitted to fill the gap. To help answer these questions, the Office of Survey Research (OSR) conducted eight focus groups of freshmen during their second quarter at Western (Winter08). …

Group 1 Freshmen Enrollment Focus Groups, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 1. Eleven students participated. All eleven students in this group took 14 or fewer state support credits in fall quarter, and all scored lower than one standard deviation below the mean verbal SAT score for the freshmen class. Two of the students took 12 credits in the fall, four took 13 credits, and five took 14 credits. Their interests were distributed among the colleges, as represented by Summerstart advising group assignments—environmental studies, health, or math and science, four in humanities or Fairhaven, two in music or fine and performing arts, or admitted to Fairhaven college, one undecided, and none …

Group 2 Freshmen Enrollment Focus Groups, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Group 2. Ten students participated. All ten students in this group took 14 or fewer state support credits in fall quarter, and all scored higher than one standard deviation above the mean verbal SAT score for the freshmen class. One student took 12 credits in the fall, three took 13 credits, and six took 14 credits. Their interests were distributed among the colleges, as represented by Summerstart advising group assignment–Three in environmental studies, health, or math and science, three in humanities or Fairhaven, two in education, one in music or fine and performing arts, and one undecided. Five are female …