TY - JOUR

T1 - Academic staff perspectives on first-year students’ academic competencies

AU - Mah, Dana-Kristin

AU - Ifenthaler, Dirk

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited.

PY - 2017/10/9

Y1 - 2017/10/9

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.

AB - 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 - Academic competencies

KW - Academic staff perspectives

KW - Expectations

KW - First-year experience

KW - Support

KW - Educational science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85032483610&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1108/JARHE-03-2017-0023

DO - 10.1108/JARHE-03-2017-0023

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85032483610

VL - 9

SP - 630

EP - 640

JO - Journal of applied research in higher education

JF - Journal of applied research in higher education

SN - 1758-1184

IS - 4

ER -