Academic staff perspectives on first-year students’ academic competencies
- 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 adjustPurpose: 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.…
Author details: | Dana-Kristin MahGND, Dirk IfenthalerORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-03-2017-0023 |
ISSN: | 2050-7003 |
ISSN: | 1758-1184 |
Title of parent work (English): | Journal of applied research in higher education : JARHE |
Publisher: | Emerald Group Publishing Limited |
Place of publishing: | Bingley |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2017/10/09 |
Publication year: | 2017 |
Release date: | 2022/09/19 |
Tag: | Academic competencies; Academic staff perspectives; Expectations; First-year experience; Support |
Volume: | 9 |
Issue: | 4 |
Number of pages: | 11 |
First page: | 630 |
Last Page: | 640 |
Organizational units: | Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Wirtschaftswissenschaften / Fachgruppe Betriebswirtschaftslehre |
DDC classification: | 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 33 Wirtschaft / 330 Wirtschaft |
Peer review: | Referiert |