Non – academic difficulties in studying encountered by freshmen of school of social sciences and humanities – cantho university

Based on theoretical background on the impact of non – academic factors worldwide, and the realistic circumstances in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities – CTU, the current stud

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Cantho, May 2011

I certify that this work has not been submitted in the whole or in part to this university or to any other educational institutions for marking and assessment either previously or concurrently I also certify that I have not received any outside help and that unless otherwise attributed the material presented is all

my own work

Võ Thế Hiện

May 2011

ABSTRACT

Non – academic factors and their influences on students’ studying have been researched and reported in literature to benefit students’ studying This paper aims to investigate and identify non – academic factors as well as their influential levels on freshmen’s studying in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Cantho University The current study is both qualitative and quantitative, and it employs semi – structured interviews and a 35 – item questionnaire as two main instruments for data collection Participants involved in the current study were 104 freshmen, 4 counselors of Course 36 from 4 different departments, including the Department of Foreign Languages, Department of History, Geography and Tourism, Department of Vietnamese Linguistics and Literature, and Department of Information and Libraries, of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities The results of the study indicated that participants faced five groups of non – academic factors:

Individual Psychological Factors, Family – Related Factors, Career Planning Factors, Lecturer – Related Factors, and Other Factors Influential levels of

all five groups on freshmen’s studying were also measured Although the influential levels were not very strong, the concurrent impact of the five groups caused many difficulties in freshmen’s studying Finally, some valuable suggestions were given by counselors to partly help freshmen soon overcome the difficulties, and study well

This study has been completed with the help and support of many people Therefore, I am thankful to all of them

First and foremost, I would like to express my special thanks to my supervisor, Mrs Truong Thi Ngoc Diep She always gave me timely and valuable suggestion on the topic of the thesis, and supported me during the time I was conducting the thesis Mrs Diep has devoted a lot of her valuable time and energy to correct my thesis Without her dedicated support and patience to me, I would have had difficulties in completing the thesis Working with her, I have learnt a lot of valuable knowledge and experiences

in conducting research

Next, I would like to send my deep gratitude to Mr Huynh Minh Hien, who instructed data analysis with Statistic Package for Social Sciences Software to

me, and gave me valuable suggestions on my thesis

I also would like to express my appreciation to Mr Thai Cong Dan, and Ms

Ho Phuong Thuy for their valuable advice in my process of conducting a research study

My thanks are to all participants of thesis Without their assistance, my study could not have been conducted

Finally, I own everything to my parents They have been always with me whenever I am in trouble

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY i

ABSTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Research Objectives and Significance 3

1.3 Thesis Organization 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 An Overview on Freshmen 6

2.1.1 The Transition from High School to Higher Education 6

2.1.2 Freshmen Expectations at Colleges 8

2.2 Non – Academic Factors 10

2.2.1 Definition 10

2.2.2 Working Definition of Non – Academic Used in the Study 13

2.3 Interrelationship Between Freshmen’s Studying and Non – Academic Factors 13

2.4 Some Features of Vietnamese Freshmen and Their Difficulties in Studying 17

2.5 Research Questions………21

2.6 Hypotheses 21 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2 2 3.1 Research Design 22

3.2 Participants 23

3.3 Data Collection Instruments 23

3.4 Research Procedure 26

3.5 Research Ethnics 28

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 2 9 4.1 Results 29 4.1.1 From the Questionnaire 29 4.1.2 From the Interview 30

4.1.2.1 Findings from the Interview with Freshmen 31

4.1.2.2 Findings from the Interview with Counselors 35

4.2 Discussion 37

4.2.1 Personal Psychological Factors 37

4.2.1.1 Poor Time Management 37

4.2.1.2 Lack of Self – Study Skill 38

4.2.1.3 Lack of Persistence and Insufficient Effort 39

4.2.1.4 Lack of Self – Confidence 40

4.2.1.5 Lack of Academic Competence 41

4.2.1.6 Poor Examinations Techniques ……… 42

4.2.2 Family – Related Factor 43 4.2.3 Career Planning Factor 43

4.2.4 Lecturer – Related Factors 44

4.2.5 Other Non – Academic Factors 45

4.2.5.1 Too Many Extra Concerns 45

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS,

LIMITATIONS, AND DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 49

5.1 Conclusion 495.2 Implications 505.3

Recommendations……… 50 5.3 Methodological Limitations 525.4 Recommendations for Further Research 52

REFERENCES 5 4

APPENDICES 5 7

Appendix 1: Questionnaire Item (Fraser & Killen, 2003) 57Appendix 2: Questionnaire (Vietnamese Version) 59Appendix 3: Questionnaire (English Version) 61Appendix 4: Interview Questions for Freshmen 63Appendix 5: Interview Questions for Counselors 64Appendix 6: Mean Score for Each Item 65 Appendix 7: Mean Scores for Groups of Non - Academic

Factors……… 66

Appendix 8: Covering Letter 68Appendix 9: Translation of the Covering Letter 69

The studying process of most freshmen does not go smoothly due to the influence of many non – academic factors (Fraser and Killen, 2003) Initially, freshmen have much concern about many extra new factors in their new living environment which indirectly make negative impacts on freshmen studying Since they are quite new to the circumstances, they are ill – prepared to cope with rising factors If their concerns are much on these factors, this fact will certainly affect freshmen’s psychology, and then their studying is more or less distracted Besides, Nguyen (2009) confirmed that the differences between high school studying environment and higher education one are difficulties in freshmen’s studying because they find it hard to adapt to the new studying

environment In the current socialized direction in education and training area, higher education institutions, including CTU, have increasingly modified their training curricula so that their students can equip requisite knowledge for their future Therefore, freshmen must be active and flexible in their studying so as

to gain expected academic results in their first year at universities Nevertheless, it takes freshmen time to be well - integrated to the new studying environment Moreover, difficulties in freshmen’s studying also derive from freshmen’s lack of essential studying skills such as self – study, peer study, group study, and so on Nowadays, student – centered teaching mode becomes approach and more popular, so students need to familiarize themselves with these study skills as they enter higher education institutions However, high school students’ familiarization to traditional teaching and learning methods impedes their adaptation to new studying skills Finally, freshmen’s studying may be easily distracted by personal psychological factors, family – related factors, and lecturer – related factors In fact, freshmen are responsible for their studying, but their families, institutions and lecturers also have considerable influence on their studying process For example, family crisis, lack of facilities serving students’ studying, lecturers’ apathetic attitudes towards lecturing may provoke certain difficulties in freshmen’s studying (Fraser et al., 2003)

Many studies on the first year of students have been conducted worldwide However, there has been a limit in the number of studies found on the influence of non – academic factors on freshmen’s studying in Vietnamese context (Nguyen, 2009) conducted a study on the difficulties in studying of freshmen, but the study only limits in the scope of English – majored freshmen’s studying process in Danang University In fact, such studies in this field have not been conducted in CTU yet

In short, the impact of non – academic factors on freshmen studying in CTU has raised much interest From my own experience, I have noticed that

freshmen of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, CTU, have been influenced by many typical non – academic factors Based on theoretical background on the impact of non – academic factors worldwide, and the realistic circumstances in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities – CTU, the current study is conducted to investigate and identify what non – academic factors and their influences on freshmen’s studying

1.2 Research Objectives and Significance

Studying in CTU is a long and challenging process Beside the decisive roles

of academic factors in students’ academic achievement, non – academic factors make considerable contribution to students’ success or failure (Fraser

et al., 2003) The current study aims to investigate and identify non – academic factors causing freshmen difficulties in their studying in the real context of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Cantho University Another aim of the current study is to measure the influential levels of the non – academic factors on freshmen’s studying The final objective of the study is

to present possible solutions for freshmen’s difficulties in studying caused by non – academic factors so that freshmen can soon overcome the difficulties, and study well The results of the study are significant in terms of helping freshmen, educators, and teaching staffs to recognize and find out possible solutions for freshmen’s difficulties in their studying so that freshmen can quickly reach their full academic potentials for academic years to come

1.3 Thesis Organization

The thesis consists of five chapters, including (1) Introduction, (2) Literature Review, (3) Research Methodology, (4) Results and Discussion, and (5) Implications, Conclusion, Limitations, and Recommendations

Chapter One presents the problems related to freshmen’s difficulties in studying caused by non – academic factors in the context of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Cantho University The background information and reasons to conduct the thesis are also mentioned Then, research questions, research objectives and significance are introduced Organization of the thesis is included in the last part of the chapter

Chapter Two Literature Review defines the term non – academic factors used in the thesis The chapter also mentions an overview on freshmen, the interrelationship between freshmen’s difficulties in studying and the influence

of non – academic factors which are clarified by citing and analyzing related theoretical background The final part of the chapter, some features of Vietnamese freshmen and their difficulties in real CTU’s context are introduced

Chapter Three concentrates on research methodology It describes the research designs, participants, and research procedure used in this thesis A detailed description about the instruments and data collection is also presented

Chapter Four shows the results of the questionnaire analyzed by SPSS, and the results of the interviews The chapter also mentions a deep discussion

about the results in comparison with the results of previous studies in terms of the original hypotheses

Chapter Five summarizes the main results of the thesis It also indicates some implications for non – academic factors and their influences on freshmen’s studying which are presented in the results Limitations of the study and certain recommendations for further research are finally included

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews the previous works implemented on the topic “freshmen, freshmen’s studying and non – academic factors” It includes (1) an overview

on freshmen, (2) non-academic factors, (3) the interrelationship between freshmen’s studying and the non – academic difficulties encountered by freshmen, (4) some characteristics of Vietnamese freshmen and difficulties facing them in studying in higher education, (5) research questions, and (6) hypotheses of the thesis

2.1 An Overview on Freshmen

In Oxford dictionary, “freshmen” (American English) or “first-year students” (British English) refers to students in their first year at universities or colleges working to earn a degree In the current research, “freshmen” refer to high school graduates who passed the college entrance examination and been admitted to study Vietnamese higher education institutions

2.1.1 The Transition from High School to Higher Education

Students who first enter universities have to concern many things, because the transition from high school to higher education is almost challenging That requires students to initially deal with a variety of problems Nelson, Kift and Clarke (2008) stated that this transition played a key role in students’ academic performance Obviously, whether students gain success or suffer from failure in their first year depends much on how well they integrate to universities The transition requires students to adapt to higher education in favorable directions so that they can make their first year experience go smoothly and create a valid background for academic years to come

From the same point of views , Parker, Summerfeldt, Hogan and Majes (2003, cited in McPhail, Fisher, McConachie, 2009) commented the

complexity of the transition from high school to higher education According

to them, the transitional phase only includes personal issues: how they psychologically prepare for the transition, how well they adapt to new studying environment; and interpersonal issues like the needs to build new relationship with others, the ways to interact with lecturers However, Hurtado, Carter, and Spuler (1996) gave a deeper recognition about the transition by stating that the transitional phase facing freshmen comprised four areas: academic, social, personal-emotional, and attachment to the institution Although different authors listed different elements in the transitional phase, they seemed to conclude that the transition from high schools to universities was a profound and comprehensive change in students’ life In fact, students have to adapt to all of new features of new circumstances in universities The changes affect students’ academic work, their perceptions and feelings about their new living conditions as well as social and institutional activities On the one hand, the transition is partly determined by personal issues; On the other hand, their transition is objectively affected by studying environment and social relationship

Evans (2000) characterized specific periods of the transitional phase According to him, the transition had focused much on individual personal characteristics in years before mid – seventies However, due to the influence

of cold war period, in the mid-seventies the transition changed to the tendency

of sociological factors such as the relationship with classmates or neighbors in their new life, and so on More recently the transition has shifted to the institutional contexts and the students’ integration because of the diversity of students In other words, students nowadays come from a wide range of regions and background, so how they adapt to new studying and living environment plays a prominent role in their transitional phase The transition changes by time, and in different periods of time a single factor or a couple of them may produce certain impact on the transitional process causing its differences in the transition

In short, the transition from high school to higher education has been discussed in different contexts, so researchers’ viewpoints on the transition are different in some ways However, common characteristics are found, especially freshmen’s characteristics, studying environment and research context Because the above factors have concurrent influence on freshmen’s transition, they ought to be capable of being well-adapted to this utmost initial step so that they can gain expected educational management in subsequent years at university

2.1.2 Freshmen Expectations at Colleges

According to James (2002), student expectations may be shaped early after the first few weeks of enrollment on which they think seriously about what they have commenced Entering the new studying and living environment for the first few weeks, freshmen had certain recognition on changes compared to high schools More often, they expected many things from higher education such as lecturers’ attitudes towards students’ studying, freshmen’s plan and orientation for studying, school and social involvement, and so on, in the process to adapt to higher education

Tinto (1975, cited in Braxton, Vesper and Hossler, 1995) showed that students entered colleges or universities with their expectations to experience and achieve However, students became disappointed once their expectations were not satisfied This could negatively impact their goal commitment, academic and social integration Freshmen’s expectations have certain influence on facilitating their transitional phase (McPhail et al., 2009) A finding from a study conducted by McInnis, James and Hartley (2000, cited in McPhail et al., 2009) showed that students passively expected to have the right adjustment between the institutional environment and their lives They enter the new studying and living environment, but they still maintain their beliefs that higher education would be much similar to their previous studying

and living conditions However, higher education is far different from high school in term of the expansion of students and innovation in teaching and studying (McInnis, James and Hartley, 2000) This results in freshmen’s confusion about these new features of higher education Therefore, to avoid this confusing situation, freshmen needed to be active and flexible enough to deal with the changes

James (2002) suggested that freshmen’s expectations linked to individual roles, responsibilities and commitments Their expectations are chiefly individualized because they themselves are responsible for whatever they do and how they try to meet their commitments However, Nelson, Kift and Clarke (2008) considered freshmen diversity as a significant feature of their expectations Students coming from a wide range of regions have various expectations when entering higher education institutions For example, one student can expect reasonable tuition in accordance to their financial status while another may value their study time In spite of different recognition about freshmen’s expectations of the mentioned researchers, the combination

of the two features would create deeper understanding about freshmen’s typical features Therefore, it is important for educators, researchers, and freshmen themselves to pay much attention to freshmen’s expectation at university

In considering how reality meets freshmen’s expectations, McPhail et al (2009) indicated a mismatch between freshmen’s expectations and reality McPhail et al (2009) also found that the conflict came from students’ underestimations about the different studying transformation from high school

to higher education According to James (2002), there are some reasons of expectations - reality mismatches; they are (1) freshmen expect too high, (2) their initial expectations continuously change during the transitional phase, (3) curricula change to meet consistently changing demands of the society, (4) the quality of higher education is not similar to freshmen’s expectations

Explicitly, the mismatch derives from both students and universities because they both are directly involved in students’ studying process

In summary, what freshmen expect and how well they prepare for the transition from high school to higher education have certain impact on their academic performance during their first year at college in particular as well as the whole time they are in tertiary education in general These two features do not solely exist, and they mutually have influence on each other Therefore, finding ways to facilitate freshmen transitional phase and limit the expectations – reality mismatches is requisite, and both institutional education and freshmen themselves take responsibilities to implement it

2.2 Non – Academic Factors

“Individual psychological factors” are factors that come from students’ perception and beliefs toward their studying and other campus activities and

in return, these activities impact students’ psychology These factors consist of:

(1) Achievement motivation: Students motivate themselves to achieve success

and consider obstacles as inevitable elements in higher education that they have to try their best to overcome

(2) Academic goals: Students persistently pursue academic goals and commit

to acting to gain them due to their high evaluation of higher education quality

(3) Institutional commitment: Students feel attached to and satisfy with their

institutional choice

(4) Perceived social support: Students perceive the availability of social

networks, especially college libraries and facilities in supporting their studying

(5) Social involvement: Students feel connected to the college environment,

make relationships with peers, and staffs, and are involved in campus activities

(6) Academic self – efficacy: Students themselves evaluate their ability and

opportunities to succeed in the new studying environment

(7) General self – concepts: Students have beliefs and perceptions about

themselves that can affect their actions or responses

(8) Academic - related skills: They are skills which relate to cognitive,

behavioral, and affective aspects and abilities necessary to successfully complete tasks, achieve goals, and manage academic demands

(9) Contextual influences: Students are offered with the favor environment

such as financial support, institutions size, and institutions admission policies

The first eight personal psychological factors in the above list had certain impact on students’ academic performance Particularly, the finding of the survey by Robbins et al (2004) showed that self – efficacy, achievement motivations, academic goals, social involvement and academic – related skills negatively influenced students’ academic performance while external factor - contextual influences - had little influence on their GPA Proper and positive beliefs and perceptions of freshmen towards the factors helped them study well and vice versa

In The Role of Non - academic Factors in College Readiness and Success published in Australian Capital Territory (ACT), success in higher education of their freshmen depends much on how well they perform academically However, non – academic factors still make great influence on academic performance though they cannot replace the roles of academic factors The article mainly emphasizes the key role of academic factors in contributing to students’ academic achievement However, educators and students need to pay special attention to the influence of non – academic factors because non – academic factors support students’ success in higher education

In this article, much emphasis is on the significance about the roles of academic and non – academic factors in contributing success at higher education It is difficult for students to succeed if they just boost either academic factors or non – academic ones because academic factors such as tests scores or grade point average… are decisive factors in students’ academic performance Good academic achievement requires students to combine the two influential factors efficiently Non – academic factors are divided into three groups:

(1) Individual psychological factors such as motivation (e.g., academic self –

discipline, commitment to school) and self – regulation (e.g., emotional control, academic self – confidence)

(2) Family factors, such as attitudes towards education, students’ involvement

in school activities, and geographic stability

(3) Career planning such as students’ plan for their studying and future jobs

However, individual psychological factors were classified more detailed

by Robbins et al (2004) in their meta – analysis study, and the influences of these factors on freshmen’s studying process were emphasized because

Robbins and his colleagues aimed to investigate how perception and psychology affect students’ studying Meanwhile, in ACT’s study both internal and external factors interfere freshmen’s academic work

To sum up, non – academic factors are both internal and external Therefore, it is essential for students and educators to highly evaluate the significance of non – academic factors so that freshmen make full use of the factors to study well Besides, educators should give timely support to students to help them reach success in higher education

2.2.2 Working Definition of Non – Academic Used in the Study

In this thesis, non – academic factors are used as the combination of individual psychological, family, career planning and lecturer - related factors, and other factors This notion is appropriate because the participants in this study are freshmen of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities Coming from a wide range of Mekong Delta provinces, CTU freshmen are different from others in terms of psychological life, family financial status, and career orientations, and so on

2.3 Interrelationship Between Freshmen’s Studying and Non – Academic Factors

Jawitz (1995:103, cited in Fraser and Killen, 2003) indicated that freshmen’s success, especially at the first year at colleges could be predicted by the results

of the entrance examination This idea is relevant to the unchanged training programs in South Africa There is very small difference between high school curricula and higher education ones Therefore, students who are good enough

to pass the entrance college examination can also academically perform well

in their first year at colleges

However, Killen (1994, cited in Fraser et al., 2003) emphasized that both high school GPA or special entrance examination to universities and risen factors of post – enrollment were strong predictors of students’ success From the same point of view, Fraser and Killen (2003) stated that the determinant factors in freshmen’s academic success were not thoroughly dependent on the entry standards Yet non – academic factors needed to be seriously considered In this way, Fraser et al (2003) also pointed out that non – academic factors could create certain difficulties and consequently diminish freshmen’s chances of successful academic performance Non – academic factors could either facilitate or hinder freshmen’s studying process depending

on their perceptions and attitudes towards studying and levels of involvement

in campus activities For instance, a student may consider regular class attendance prominent for him to obtain useful knowledge; hence he/she is present in almost every class hour However, if this student underestimates the significance of class participation, he/she neglects class attendance Then this student will possibly have difficulties in studying, even failure, because studying in higher education requires students to participate in class hours to obtain lecturers’ instruction so that they can solve problems, do tests and acquire new studying methods

According to Schmelzer, Schmelzer, Figler and Brozo (1987, cited in Fraser et al., 2003), non – academic variables such as lack of study, poor time management, lack of efforts in studying, and inadequate goal setting are considered as difficulties leading to failure of students Differently, Fraser et

al (2003) used a 55 statement questionnaire related to non – academic

elements causing difficulties in freshmen’s studying (see Appendix 1) The

clearest difference between the two studies is that the first study attributes students’ failures to personal factors, while in the second one, the reasons for students’ failures in higher education are due to personal, family, schools and lecturers factors Obviously, the findings of Schmelzer and his colleagues did not give sufficient factors contributing to freshmen’s difficulties in studying

Therefore, the findings of Fraser et al (2003) provided a deeper understanding about non – academic factors that impede students’ studying The findings of the survey focused much on how “locus of control”, “lecture attendance”,

“examinations preparation”, and “self – motivation” make impact on students’ academic performance, including freshmen’s These focuses are discussed in detail in the next parts

According to Fraser et al (2003), “locus of control” consists of external non - academic factors such as too many demands on students’ time, lecturers with unrealistically high expectations, lecturers’ boring presentation, unclear assessment criteria, lecturers’ poor language abilities and heavy workload All

of these are far from their own control Besides, in terms of locus of control, internal causes such as lack of motivation, lack of effort, low academic ability are also non – academic difficulties to students Since external factors are out

of students’ control, they attribute their failure in studying to these factors Meanwhile students consider their academic success as their own efforts This view point shows that students still somewhat maintain their self – esteem Since they do not admit their shortcomings in studying, their studying quality

is limited

Lecture attendance is also considered one of the significant factors contributing freshmen’s success or failure Schmelzer et al (1987) indicated that irregular class attendance could cause negative effects in studying because students would have difficulties in mastering lessons There are many reasons related to students’ absenteeism A research study conducted by Fleming in 1992 in Lincoln University indicated some reasons why students did not attend class regularly: (1) competing assessment pressures, (2) poor lecturing , (3) timing of the lecture and (4) poor quality of the lecture content Besides, Hunter and Tetly (1999) found additional reasons for students’ non – attendance such as having other ways to get materials, illness, transport/ parking problems, and family problems Students underestimate the

significance of class attendance because they think that they can master lessons in other ways According to Fraser et al (2003) irregular attendance

in lectures/ tutorials is one of the most common factors leading students failure in higher education Freshmen’s high awareness of the drawbacks of non - attendance is owing to their previous studying experience and family’s support that they should fully participate in lectures Besides, students who usually attend to lectures gain a better background of learning materials than those who are usually absent

Preparing for examinations plays a prominent role in students’ success

or failures Findings from survey by Fraser et al (2003) showed that

“inadequate or poor examination preparation” was the most influential factor (ranked the first) contributing to freshmen’s failure while poor examination techniques were ranked the fifth Therefore, examination techniques are secondary factors while examination preparation is a decisive one to determine their examinations results Obviously, the process that freshmen formulate plans to do tests or examinations is the key in determining whether

or not their examinations are good Being well – prepared for examinations in higher education requires students to do many things, but in high school learners only study what teachers have taught in class to do examinations well Due to the different ways and requirements in preparing examinations, freshmen often encounter difficulties in their studying

Fraser et al (2003) also found self – motivation an internal strength forcing freshmen’s studying Therefore, freshmen will encounter difficulties

in their studying if they lack self – motivation Entwistle and Percy (1973, cited in Entwistle, Thompson, and Wilson, 1974) claimed that academic failures in higher education was due to students’ lack of motive power in their studying For instance, one student will try his/ her best to study a course that he/ she is really interested in Otherwise, he/ she will not study with high effort and pleasure Peter (1958, cited in Entwistle et al., 1974) classified

motivation into two main groups: “extrinsic” and “intrinsic” motivation He defined “extrinsic motivation” as the interest caused by external elements to learning situation while “intrinsic” “the task itself” Entwistle et al (1974) considered high motivation to be closely related to academic success

The above view points refer how important self – motivation in studying process is Lack of motivation is a problem that freshmen have to find suitable ways to solve in order that they can perform their academic work better

In conclusion, non – academic factors are closely associated with freshmen’s studying As mentioned above, non – academic factors consist of both internal and external factors that directly affect freshmen’s studying To some personal factors, freshmen should perceive them in appropriate ways to make them useful studying tools, so freshmen’s positive attitudes and perception toward studying are very significant It is also essential for freshmen to find ways to cope with external non – academic factors

2.4 Some Features of Vietnamese Freshmen and Their Difficulties in Studying

In Vietnam, there have been few studies found on freshmen’s difficulties in studying Vietnamese freshmen in general and freshmen in CTU in particular have experienced many changes when transferring from high school to higher education In fact, the changes create certain difficulties in students’ studying (Nguyen, 2009) More insights into freshmen’s studying are vital in aiding freshmen to recognize the influential factors in their studying in order that they can overcome these difficulties and gain good academic achievement, in particular in their first year in higher education Annually, Vietnamese

colleges and universities welcome a great number of freshmen whose studying plays a prominent role as a background for subsequent academic years

According to the survey conducted by Nguyen (2009), freshmen’s difficulties in studying come from non – academic factors such as new teaching methods, lack of interaction with lecturers in class hours, lack of group study skills, poor presentation preparation and insufficient resources for references In particular, 79% of participants had troubles in adapting to new teaching methods because they have been used to traditional methods in which teachers lecture and students write the lessons down and learn them by heart However, in higher education, students are required to be active in studying while lecturers play a role as facilitators of the studying process Due

to this difference, freshmen are less involved in interacting with lecturers, so

to some extent, it is hard for freshmen to master lessons In the study of Nguyen (2009), although freshmen emphasized the significance of group work and presentation preparation in studying (91% and 73% respectively), they could not manage these two factors well It takes students time to adapt

to these new skills Many students thought that study in group meant studying with as many students as possible, but actually the ways to organize the group, divide specific tasks among group members or exchange ideas together were more important than the numbers of group members Obviously, at the beginning of the studying process in higher education, freshmen did not acquire initial necessary skills and subsequently found their studying difficult

Besides, in her article, Nguyen (2009a) emphasized the importance of self - motivation in studying This idea is similar to the finding of Fraser et al (2003) Self – motivation is the most influential factor in students’ studying Freshmen are sometimes satisfactory with their studying as members of a college or university Therefore, in some cases, they do not have much motivation to gain good results in higher education Moreover, poor time management results in difficulties in freshmen’s studying (Nguyen, 2009b)

Since universities or colleges in Vietnam are usually located in cities, students from rural areas come to cities to continue their studying Entering new life and studying environment, students do not know how to arrange their time efficiently Nguyen (2009c) also addressed freshmen’s difficulty in developing interpersonal relationship, and the sense of belonging to the institution

Additionally, Nguyen (2009d) showed other difficulties that affected freshmen’s studying; the difficulties focused on differences between studying experience between high school and higher education: (1) lack of lecturers’ supervision, (2) big classes leading to insufficient personal concerns, (3) taking – note skills due to disappearance of traditional teaching methods (students only write down what teachers lecture), (4) limitation of class hours for more homework, (5) heavy studying workload Because of big class size and time limitation, a lecturer cannot pay attention to all students Therefore,

it is hard for learners to gasp all of information conveyed by lecturers From psychological aspects, students may feel frustrated, and they claim that lecturers do not pay interest in them, so students may not really be enthusiastic

to study Note taking skill, group study skill and preparation for examination are demanding Once traditional teaching methods are applied in higher education in limitation, students must be good at taking necessary notes in class to get knowledge and be well – prepared for tests or examinations Students do not have to spend much time on class, but on self - study and searching for more related materials to enrich their knowledge Therefore, many freshmen find that the studying workload is heavier than that in high school

Besides, boring teaching methods and lecturers’ attitudes towards teaching also cause difficulties in freshmen studying In the interview with Giaoduc/TNO, Dr Tran Hanh- the rector of Hong Bang University revealed that the increase in number of students whose academic performance was not

good was partly due to lecturers because they did not stimulate students’ creative potentials and interest to learn more He also pointed out a shortcoming in the education of Vietnam that the ratio of experienced and excellent lecturers directly taught freshmen was still low while freshmen in some strong foreign education were taught by professional lecturers; as a result, it was hard for freshmen to approach initial interest, efficient studying methods, and new ideology of higher education

In conclusion, freshmen’s studying does not always go smoothly due to many changes that provoke certain difficulties impeding their studying To get insights into non – academic factors facing freshmen studying is necessary for educators and Vietnamese freshmen in general and CTU freshmen in particular Freshmen’s studying is vital to one student’s life time because academic achievement in their first year at colleges has a long – lasting impact on their attitudes towards studying in

2.5 Research Questions

In order to investigate and identify non – academic factors as well as their influence on freshmen’s studying, the current study is to answer the following questions:

1 What non – academic factors challenge freshmen of the School

of Social Sciences and Humanities in their studying when first entering CTU?

2 To what extent have these factors influenced their studying?

3 What suggestions should be made to help freshmen cope with the challenges?

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes in detail (1) research design, (2) participants involved

in the study, (3) data collection instruments, (4) the procedure of the study, and (5) research ethnics

3.1 Research Design

In order to get insights into non – academic factors challenging freshmen of School of Social Sciences and Humanities – CTU, this research has been designed as descriptive and qualitative Either descriptive or qualitative type

of research has its own strengths and weaknesses, so the combination of the two modes of research will give a better understanding about the research topic In the current study, the topic is about non – academic factors causing freshmen’s difficulties in their studying The current study was both qualitative and quantitative since its aims were to classify non – academic factors challenging freshmen’s studying and measure the levels of their influence According to Ereaut (2007, p.8), qualitative research is used to clarify people’s attitudes, behaviors, value systems, concerns, motivations, aspirations, cultures and lifestyles In other words, qualitative research can give a deep and rich explanation although it is not very generalisable due to the limited number of participants Meanwhile, descriptive – based research is more generalisable because of a large number of participants Therefore, the combination of the two mode of research in the current study would make the research more comprehensive

3.2 Participants

The subjects involved in the current study were 100 freshmen of 4 departments (Dept) of School of Social Sciences and Humanities including: Dept of Foreign Languages, Dept of History, Geography and Tourism, Dept

of Vietnamese Linguistics and Literature and Dept of Information and Libraries These 100 participants were to answer the 35 - item questionnaire The participants from 4 different departments created an unbiased result for the questionnaire Besides, 4 freshmen from 4 departments were chosen randomly to participate in the semi structured interview to get qualitative data because freshmen with different majors had various recognitions about non – academic factors causing difficulties in their studying 2 out of 4 interviewees are females and others are 2 male Moreover, 4 counselors of Course 36 from the 4 departments participated in providing qualitative data 2 of them are female, and others are 2 male Choosing counselors as participants was meaningful because non – academic factors and their influence on freshmen’s studying would be observed from different perspectives It may provide a more general understanding about the influence of the factors on freshmen’s studying Therefore, getting qualitative data from the two interviews combined freshmen’s recognitions and counselors’ observation was appropriate

3.3 Data Collection Instruments

To answer the research questions in this study, 2 instruments were used: (1) the 35 – item questionnaire on the non – academic factors causing difficulties

in freshmen’s studying, (2) the semi structured interviews

Quantitative data were obtained through participants answers to the questionnaire The questionnaire comprised 35 items, falling into five groups, namely Individual Psychological Factors, Family – Related factors, Career

Planning Factors, Lecturer – Related Factors, and Other Factors Most items were adapted from the 55 – item questionnaire of the study of Fraser et al (2003) Only items which matched to the aims of the current study, to CTU’ s studying environment and characteristics of CTU’ s freshmen were selected and used in this study The questionnaire was designed in Vietnamese because most of the participants are not English – majored students Each of 35 items

in the questionnaire refered to one non – academic factor that possibly impacts freshmen’s studying, and a five – point scale (strongly disagree, disagree, no idea, agree, and strongly agree) was applied to measure the influential levels

of the factors

The 35-item questionnaire was used to measure the degree that non - academic factors influenced freshmen’s studying Participants make their choices by marking to each item on a five-degree scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) The data gained from the questionnaires were used to examine how non - academic factors affected freshmen’s studying

The data gained from the questionnaires were subjected to the Statistics Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for data analysis The five-degree scale as a five-point scale ranging was coded from 1 for strongly disagree to 5

as strongly agree The scale was run to test the reliability of the questionnaires, the Cronbach’s alpha based on the standardized items of the questionnaires was consistent (α = 847), which indicated that the items of the questionnaire were internally consistent and reliable

The qualitative data were obtained through the interviews with 4 freshmen and 4 counselors of course 36 The interviews with 4 freshmen were designed in Vietnamese because their English was not very good The questions in this interview were based on the theory discussed in literature review part In other words, the interview question set included questions

which are relevant to on the freshmen’ s transition from high school to higher education, their expectation and what non – academic factors affecting their studying Besides, the interviews with 4 counselors were also designed in Vietnamese to get interviewees’ clear and sufficient information The interview questions mainly concentrated on non – academic factors causing difficulties in freshmen’s studying through counselors’ observation Besides, counselors’ suggestions were included in the interviews to help freshmen soon overcome the difficulties to study well A laptop with a recording software was used to record all interviews

3.4 Research Procedure

The following framework shows the procedure of the thesis

As shown in the framework, in the first step, international and national research studies related to the topic of the current study were synthesized and analyzed Then the issue was narrowed down in the context of CTU by getting data for analysis through the questionnaire and the interviews

The questionnaire had been delivered to 100 participants before the interviews were expedited According to Cheung (1993:13), data obtained

Theoretical framework

Framework for analysis (notions

used)

The research questions

Gathering data to answer the

questions

Data analysis

Discussion and conclusion in comparison with existing theories mentioned in literature review

section

from the questionnaire do not reflect exactly the actual situation Therefore, following the questionnaire, in – depth interviews were carried out to get insights into freshmen’s difficulties in their studying The original items in the questionnaire of the study of Fraser et al (2003) were translated into Vietnamese by the researcher Delivering and getting back the questionnaire were expedited within the 7th week of the 2nd semester 100 questionnaires were delivered to 100 participants, and the researcher got them all back Questionnaires were delivered to participants from the Dept of History – Geography and Tourism and the Dept of Vietnamese Linguistics and Literature participate in answering the questionnaire, and collected right after they finished answering Each data collection from the questionnaire lasted 25

to 35 minutes Besides, the researcher had his friends (also freshmen) deliver and collect the questionnaire from the participants from the two left departments, Dept of Foreign Languages and Dept of Information and Libraries The data collected from the questionnaire were subjected to Statistics Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for data analysis to measure the level that non – academic factors influenced freshmen’s studying

After that, the interviews were expedited The researcher read the covering letter and started the interviews with interviewees’ permission The interviews were expedited in the meeting room, department of Vietnamese Linguistics and Literature (School of Social Sciences and Humanities), School

of Education, and Learning Resource Center Each interview lasted from 10 to

17 minutes and was recorded by a laptop To make no pressure on the interviewees, and deeply discuss the issues related to the research themes, the interviews were somewhat like informal talks The researcher transcribed all

of the interviews into 30 A4 – sized papers Basing on the transcription, the researcher picked up non – academic factors facing interviewees’ studying recognized by both freshmen and counselors, and some suggestions given by counselors to help freshmen soon overcome the difficulties in their studying

3.5 Research Ethnics

The researcher is full aware of the research ethnics during the thesis conducting process The researcher asked the interviewees for their consent before starting interviewing Since all of private information of the participants involved in the interviews was kept confidential, their real names were replaced by pseudo – names in the current study Besides, all of data collected from the interviews were used for the purpose of this thesis only Finally, the researcher tried to avoid subjectivity when conducting this thesis,

so he respected interviewees’ ideas and translated them as accurately as possible

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter reports (1) the results of the study based on data analysis; the results presented in this section comprise: the results from the questionnaire, from interviews with freshmen, and interviews with counselors, and deep discussion on the results

4.1 Results

4.1.1 From the Questionnaire

Based on the analysis on SPSS, if Mean (M) of each item on the questionnaire

is greater than 3.00, the content of the item is positively agreed by the participants

In the current thesis, the total mean score was 3.04 The total mean indicates that the 35 items about non – academic factors have impact on freshmen’s studying in general However, there were 14 items that did not reach the mid level (3.0) in the mean score (see Appendix 6) In other word, these factors did not have influence on freshmen’s studying, or just make slight impact Therefore, these items were ignored in the results

Based on part 2.2 in the Literature Review (working definition of non – academic factor used in this thesis), non – academic factors fall into five groups, namely Individual Psychological Factors, Family – Related Factors , Career Planning Factors, Lecturer – Related Factors, and Other Factors

Chart 1 Influential Levels of Group

As shown in Chart 1, all of the groups make impact on freshmen’s studying, but the levels of influence of the first three groups are not very strong Among the five groups, the group of other factors is the most likely influential one while family – related factors are considered as the less likely ones However, the difference in the influential degrees between the five groups is not big which indicates similar levels of impact on freshmen’s studying Although the influence of some groups is just slightly above the mid – level, the impact of some separate factors included in the clusters is considerable (see Appendix 6)

4.1.2 From the Interview

Two kinds of interviews with 4 freshmen and 4 counselors of course 36 were implemented after the questionnaire had been delivered The main purpose was to examine how non – academic factors challenged freshmen’s studying from counselors’ observation and freshmen’s recognition In general, freshmen found that their difficulties in studying came from both internal and external non – academic factors Meanwhile, counselors observed that only external factors had influence on freshmen’s studying

Career Planning Factors Lecturer - Related Factors Other Factors

4.1.2.1 Findings from the Interview with Freshmen

Ÿ Common Non – academic Factors causing difficulties in Freshmen’s Studying

Table 2 Common Non – academic Factors Causing Difficulties in

Freshmen’s Studying

Agreement (%)

The gap in the relationship

The results from Table 2 show that freshmen faced non - academic factors which caused difficulties in their studying The similarity in freshmen’s recognition about influential non – academic factors can be understandable

The curricula in high school, traditional teaching and learning methods are similar from one high school to others, so they did not have favorable conditions to access new studying methods such as self – study Poor self – study skill was the initial difficulties in studying of freshmen Quy (pseudo name) (2011) said,

I have just initiated to familiarize self – study when entering to CTU, so

it is a bit hard for me to efficiently use this study skill