No abstract

Considering the pivotal role of academic adjustment for student success, it is important to gain insight into how several motivational and behavioural factors affect academic adjustment and the extent to which academic adjustment influences student success. This empirical study investigated how intrinsic motivation, academic self-efficacy, selfregulated study behaviour and satisfaction with the chosen degree programme influenced academic adjustment in university and how these variables and adjustment affected three important indicators of student success: grade point average (GPA), attained number of credits (ECTS) and intention to persist. The sample consisted of 243 first-year university students in the Netherlands. Structural equation modelling showed that academic adjustment was influenced by intrinsic motivation, self-regulated study behaviour and degree programme satisfaction, which together explained 72% of the variance in adjustment. Motivational and behavioural variables did not influence GPA and credits directly but through academic adjustment. Furthermore, only satisfaction with the degree programme predicted intention to persist. These results point to the importance of academic adjustment in predicting university GPA and credits and the pivotal role of satisfaction with the degree programme in predicting intention to persist. Universities could integrate the development of self-regulated study skills-the biggest contributor to academic adjustment-in the first-year programme. Moreover, looking at the importance of students' satisfaction with the programme, communication and collaboration between secondary schools and universities should be enhanced in order to Eur J Psychol Educ DOI 10.1007/s10212-017-0347-8

High dropout rates, delay, and dissatisfaction among PhD students are common problems in doctoral education. Research shows that many different factors are associated with doctoral success, but these factors have not often been studied simultaneously. Moreover, characteristics of the PhD project are mostly neglected. In this study, we investigate which supervision, psychosocial, and project characteristics are related to satisfaction, progress, and quit intentions in a sample of 839 PhD candidates at a university in the Netherlands. Results of regression analyses show that experienced workload was negatively related to satisfaction and progress and positively to quit intentions. The quality of the supervisor-PhD candidate relationship, the PhD candidate's sense of belonging, the amount of freedom in the project, and working on a project closely related to the supervisor's research were positively related to satisfaction and negatively to quit intentions. The high workload of PhD candidates should be a major point of attention for universities who wish to increase their rates of PhD completion and PhD candidates' satisfaction. In addition, the 'match' between PhD candidate and supervisor is crucial, both personallya good relationshipand academically, i.e. that the PhD candidate works on a topic closely related to the supervisor's research.

No abstract

Many theories on college retention recognize the significance of student satisfaction as a positive factor in students' persistence. Yet, there are few theories that address the relationship of degree program satisfaction to study behaviour and dropout. This paper explores the impact of degree program satisfaction on academic accomplishment and dropout. The impact of degree program satisfaction was studied within a multitheoretical framework. The results of the study show that student accomplishment not only depends on differences in academic ability but also on degree program satisfaction. Decreased degree program satisfaction appears to diminish both study motivation and study behaviour. The authors discuss some implications for current educational practice.

This article discusses the findings related to a number of research projects investigating students' expectations and experiences of the first year in higher education. In particular, findings with regard to first-year students' expectations and challenges with issues of time management are reported. It was found that many students were realistic about having to plan their work independently, and having to spend a good amount of their time during the week on self-study. However, many students found it difficult to regulate their self-study and keep up with the work. They were also not always sure how they were to organise their self-study time. It is argued that universities could and should play a more active role in helping first-year students to make sense of time management.

Using data lor all freshmen in six departments at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, the relationship between curriculum organization and tint-year academic success was examined. The effects of five curriculum organization characteristics were considered: the spreading of tests over the semester, the spreading of retests. the average number of parallel courses. the number of occasions two tests were time-tabled in the same week, and the number of occasions a retest and new test were time-tabled in the same week. Three instructional characteristics were also assessed: the number of lecture hours, the number of tutorial hours, and the number of feedback moments. The findings revealed that time-tabling fewer parallel courses contributed to greater student progress. Students also made more progress when retests were not spread over the whole year. On the other hand, the frequent time-tabling of two tests per week and of retests and normal exams in the same week did not hinder student progress. Turning to instructional Characteristics, additional opportunities to practice were associated with greater study progress, but the number of tutorials and lectures exerted a negative effect on study progress. (71 ref-R& I1 In.stitirte,for Higher Education, University of Groningen, The Neiherlanr1.s.Seventeen lecturers, identified as excellent teachers from a university's science division, were interviewed and videotaped. The data supported a model of excellent teaching consisting of' five dimensions connected through the hub of reflective practice. The five diniensions were subject knowledge, personality, the nexus of teaching and research, interpersonal relationships, and skills. To the extent that the five dimensions could be described as spokes, reflection i technical, descriptive, dialogic, and critical) formed the hub of the teaching excellence wheel. (78 ref-College of Educution. Massey Uniwrsify, Nerv Zeuland.

Understanding students' perspectives on the foreign language (FL) curriculum could be considered as a vital step in curriculum design and lesson planning. This study drew on data provided by a single open question survey to investigate the perspective of Dutch secondary school students (N = 635) from 15 different schools with regard to the benefits of literature education in English as a foreign language (EFL). This study also sought to find out whether there are any differences in these perspectives between the different schools. The Comprehensive Approach to Foreign Language Literature Learning was used to analyse the students' answers. Results show that the majority of the students consider literature in a FL primarily as language education. Furthermore, a comparison between the 15 schools indicated that there were differences in the way students from different schools perceive the benefits of the EFL literature curriculum. The article concludes with a discussion of pedagogical issues and suggestions for ways in which the student perspective can be studied on a small scale.