TY - JOUR A1 - Mah, Dana-Kristin A1 - Ifenthaler, Dirk T1 - What do first-year students need? BT - digital badges for academic support to enhance student retention JF - Journal of applied research in higher education N2 - The purpose of this paper is to analyse data on first-year students’ needs regarding academic support services and reasons for their intention to leave the institution prior to degree completion. On the basis of the findings, a digital badge outline is proposed which could contribute to improved communication of academic requirements in order to help students to better adapt to higher education demands. Digital badges might also serve as an indicator for students’ needing additional academic support services. KW - Higher education KW - Retention KW - Learning analytics KW - First-year students Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-12-2018-0258 SN - 2050-7003 SN - 1758-1184 VL - 12 IS - 1 SP - 86 EP - 96 PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited CY - Bingley ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mah, Dana-Kristin A1 - Ifenthaler, Dirk T1 - Students perceptions toward academic competencies BT - the case of German first-year studentsfirst-year students JF - Issues in Educational Research N2 - Students often enter higher education academically unprepared and with unrealistic perceptions and expectations regarding academic competencies for their studies. However, preparedness and realistic perceptions are important factors for student retention. With regard to a proposed model of five academic competencies(time management, learning skills, technology proficiency, self-monitoring, and research skills), incoming students’ perceptions concerning academic staff support and students’ selfreported confidence at a German university were examined. Using quantitative data, an initial exploratory study was conducted (N = 155), which revealed first-year students’ perceptions of the role of academic staff in supporting their development, especially in research skills, as well as low self-reported confidence in this competence. Thus, a follow up study (N = 717) was conducted to confirm these findings as well as to provide an indepth understanding of research skills. Understanding students’ perceptions is crucial if higher education institutions are to meet students’ needs and provide adequate support services in the challenging first year. Thus, in order to increase student retention, it is suggested that universities assist first-year students in developing academic competencies through personalised competence-based programs and with the help of emerging research fields and educational technologies such as learning analytics and digital badges. Y1 - 2018 UR - http://www.iier.org.au/iier28/mah-abs.html SN - 1837-6290 VL - 28 IS - 1 SP - 120 EP - 137 PB - Institutes for Educational Research CY - Rockingham ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mah, Dana-Kristin T1 - Learning Analytics and Digital Badges: Potential Impact on Student Retention in Higher Education JF - Technology, Knowledge and Learning KW - Learning analytics KW - Digital badges KW - Student retention KW - Generic skills KW - Academic competencies Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-016-9286-8 SN - 2211-1662 SN - 2211-1670 VL - 21 SP - 285 EP - 305 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Mah, Dana-Kristin A1 - Bellin-Mularski, Nicole A1 - Ifenthaler, Dirk ED - Ifenthaler, Dirk ED - Bellin-Mularski, Nicole ED - Mah, Dana-Kristin T1 - Moving forward with digital badges in education T2 - Foundation of Digital Badges and Micro-Credentials : Demonstrating and Recognizing Knowledge and Competencies Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-3-319-15424-4 SP - 511 EP - 517 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mah, Dana-Kristin A1 - Ifenthaler, Dirk T1 - Academic staff perspectives on first-year students’ academic competencies JF - Journal of applied research in higher education : JARHE N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the expectations, perceptions and role understanding of academic staff using a model of academic competencies (i.e. time management, learning skills, technology proficiency, self-monitoring and research skills). Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten members of academic staff at a German university. Participants’ responses to the open-ended questions were coded inductively, while responses concerning the proposed model of academic competencies were coded deductively using a priori categories. Findings: Participating academic staff expected first-year students to be most competent in time management and in learning skills; they perceived students’ technology proficiency to be rather high but their research skills as low. Interviews indicated a mismatch between academic staff expectations and perceptions. Practical implications: These findings may enable universities to provide support services for first-year students to help them to adjust to the demands of higher education. They may also serve as a platform to discuss how academic staff can support students to develop the required academic competencies, as well as a broader conversation about higher education pedagogy and competency assessment. Originality/value: Little research has investigated the perspectives of academic staff concerning the academic competencies they expect of first-year students. Understanding their perspectives is crucial for improving the quality of institutions; their input into the design of effective support services is essential, as is a constructive dialogue to identify strategies to enhance student retention. KW - Expectations KW - Support KW - First-year experience KW - Academic competencies KW - Academic staff perspectives Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-03-2017-0023 SN - 2050-7003 SN - 1758-1184 VL - 9 IS - 4 SP - 630 EP - 640 PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited CY - Bingley ER -