Academic Struggle
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Understanding Academic Struggle: Insights from Recent Research
Faculty Responses to Academic Struggle
Key Faculty Behaviors
Research highlights that faculty behaviors significantly impact students' ability to persevere through academic struggles. Key behaviors identified include patience with questions, approachability, and the ability to convey knowledge in multiple ways. These behaviors help create a supportive learning environment that can mitigate the challenges students face1.
Emotional Dimensions of Academic Struggle
Affective Challenges
The emotional side of academic struggle is often overlooked. Students may exhibit seemingly irrational behaviors, such as reluctance to seek help, due to the emotional impact of receiving poor grades. Understanding these affective dimensions is crucial for providing effective support4.
Adult Learners and Emotional Support
For adult learners, emotional support is particularly important. Concepts like self-belief, self-efficacy, and agency are critical for their motivation and success. Universities are encouraged to adopt transparent pedagogies that acknowledge and nurture the emotional aspects of learning7.
Goal-Setting and Academic Performance
Effective Interventions
Goal-setting programs have been shown to significantly improve academic performance among struggling students. An intensive, online, written goal-setting intervention led to notable improvements in academic achievement, demonstrating the effectiveness of structured goal-setting as a quick and inexpensive support strategy5.
Predictors of Academic Struggle
Identifying At-Risk Students
Certain predictors can help identify students who are likely to struggle academically. Factors such as negative comments in academic references, lower mean examination grades, and late offers of admission are significant indicators. Additionally, male students and those from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to face academic difficulties8.
International Students and Academic Challenges
Misconceptions and Realities
There is a common misconception that international undergraduates struggle more academically. However, this generalization is often anecdotal and not supported by data. The increase in the number of international students may lead to a proportional increase in those seeking academic support, but this does not necessarily indicate a higher overall struggle rate9.
Academic Identity and Institutional Support
Faculty Identity Struggles
Faculty at regional public universities often face identity struggles, particularly in challenging economic times. Those who identify primarily as researchers but cannot devote sufficient time to research report the highest levels of distress. Institutional support and clear identity roles are essential for faculty well-being and job satisfaction10.
Conclusion
Academic struggle is a multifaceted issue that involves emotional, behavioral, and institutional dimensions. Effective faculty behaviors, emotional support, structured goal-setting, and understanding predictors of struggle are crucial for supporting students. Additionally, addressing misconceptions about international students and providing institutional support for faculty can further enhance the academic environment. By adopting these strategies, educational institutions can better support both students and faculty in overcoming academic challenges.
Sources and full results
Most relevant research papers on this topic
How Students Experience Faculty Responses to Academic Struggle
Faculty behaviors like patience, approachability, and multiple knowledge conveying methods can help students overcome academic struggles and improve their graduation rates.
Observational StudyThe Struggle for Academic Freedom in an Age of Post-truth
The struggle for academic freedom at Boaziçi University demonstrates that defending it in an age of post-truth requires a broader approach, involving political, economic, and social factors.
What Struggle Feels Like
This chapter explores the emotional side of academic struggle to better understand students' reticence to seek help and their irrational behaviors when faced with challenges.
Setting, elaborating, and reflecting on personal goals improves academic performance.
A 4-month goal-setting program significantly improves academic performance in struggling undergraduate students compared to a control group.
RCT
Highly CitedValuation discourses and disciplinary positioning struggles of academic researchers—A case study of ‘maverick’ academics
Academic researchers' struggles to position themselves in relation to disciplines are shaped by their own valuation discourses, which may differ from those of peers, institutions, and stakeholders in higher education.
Capturing the struggle: adult learners and academic writing
Adult learners' emotional struggles in academic writing should be acknowledged and nurtured, as they play a crucial role in their learning and personal growth.
Observational StudyPredicting the “strugglers”: a case-control study of students at Nottingham University Medical School
Negative academic reference comments, lower A level grade, and late offer of a place are significant predictors of struggling in medical school.
Observational Study
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