A social cure in the community: A mixed-method exploration of the role of social identity in the experiences and well-being of community volunteers

Cohesive, resilient communities are vital to the well-being of residents. Uncovering the determinants of successful community identities is therefore essential to progressing the community health agenda. Engaging in community participation through volunteering may be one pathway to building local community identity and enhancing residents’ health and well-being, but the group processes connecting them remain unexplored. We conducted two studies investigating these dynamics using the “Social Cure” perspective. First, we analysed 53 in-depth interviews with volunteers, finding that community relationships shaped their experiences and that volunteering influenced their sense of community belonging, support, and well-being. Second, a community survey (N = 619) revealed that volunteering predicts well-being through the serial mediators of community identification and social support. Our article demonstrates the Social Cure processes involved in community-based volunteering, their impact on community identity, support and well-being, and their implications for community health, and the provision and sustainability of community voluntary action and interventions.     

What predicts Australian university students' intentions to volunteer their time for community service?

University students represent one target population with great potential to serve as volunteers. The primary focus on describing the characteristics of students who choose to volunteer, however, has resulted in limited understanding of the psychosocial factors impacting on students' decisions to volunteer. To bridge this gap, we used an extension of a well‐known theoretical framework, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), to predict students' intentions to volunteer for community service. Using content and thematic analysis, we explored also students' motivations and constraints for volunteering. Students (N = 235; M age = 22.09 years) self‐reported their attitude, normative influences, control perceptions, moral obligation, past behaviour, demographic characteristics, and intentions for volunteering via questionnaire. Regression analyses showed that the extended TPB explained 67% of the variance in students' volunteering intentions. In qualitative analyses, themes primarily represented the factors contributing to low efficacy for volunteering (e.g., time constraints). Control perceptions and perceived moral obligations related to volunteering represent important future targets to encourage student volunteering for organisations providing critical services for those most in need.     

“I am because we are:” collectivism as a foundational characteristic of African American college student identity and academic achievement

This study extends current research on African American college student achievement by focusing on collectivism, a key characteristic of African American racial identity. Collectivism serves as the framework for analysis of students’ beliefs about the purpose of higher education, conceptualization of their roles and responsibilities as students, and the ways that students measure academic success within the context of a predominantly White university. Given that a conflict between students’ background and the culture of the university environment can exist, the findings offer educators insight into the unique experiences and achievement aspirations of African American college students and strategies to effectively mentor and support them.     

University Counselling Services in Australia and New Zealand: Activities,Changes, and Challenges

The high prevalence of stress and psychological distress in university students highlights the need for adequate support services to enable students to achieve their goals. This study aimed to describe counselling services available to university students in Australia and New Zealand and to benchmark them against international services. Participants were five Australian and three New Zealand Counselling Services. Results showed that counselling services are using a variety of formats and e‐technologies to deliver services to students, but are hampered by limited resources compared with their international counterparts. These include very high counsellor student ratios, lower average number of consultations per student, and lower mental health qualifications of counsellors. This has even greater implications in the context of higher education reform in Australia that may further widen the gap between needs of students and available counselling services. Inadequate counselling support can negatively impact on students, universities, and the community through lost potential.     

The Double Cohort retention and academic success comparison: are students in the new Ontario secondary school program disadvantaged?

In September 2003, Ontario universities accepted a double cohort of new students resulting from the Ontario government’s decision to eliminate Grade 13. The admission to university of two categories of students distinguished by their age and high school program raised a number of questions, not only in terms of admission infrastructure but mostly in what concerns the sum of student retention, academic success, and graduation. Factors associated with success and with the maintenance of university studies are numerous: stress, socioeconomic status, parents’ education, intellectual capacities, motivation, social abilities, and social support (Olds & Papalia, 2000). Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (1) to test the hypothesis of a double cohort effect on student academic success during the first year of university, (2) to verify the hypothesis that high school academic history, socioeconomic variables related to stress and perceived stress predict academic success and retention at the end of first year university. In September 2003, 300 first year students answered questionnaires inquiring about their high school program and high school GPA, their socioeconomic characteristics, and their perceived stress. These measures were then used to predict drop out, final GPA, number of credits attempted, passed and failed in June 2004. Results showed that school persistence and first year university academic achievement are mostly predicted by gender, high school GPA, type of financial resources, and number of hours worked at a paid job. Although not significant, we have found a higher proportion of Grade 12 students who dropped out during first year at university, suggesting a possible long-term effect of high school program on academic achievement.     

Service-learning, personal development, and social commitment: a case study of university students in Hong Kong

Service-learning, which combines academic study with community service, is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. It is ideally suited to achieving both the personal and academic goals of students and the broader goals of civic responsibility and social justice. This paper describes the design of a local service-learning program the author implemented at a university in Hong Kong. Based on survey data collected from 93 university student participants in the program, it illustrates the impact of service-learning on student outcomes. Results show that the majority of the students benefitted as follows: (1) By developing personal autonomy through real world experiences, students develop a recognition of and faith in their potential. It enhances self-assurance, assumption of new responsibilities, and achievement of individual growth. (2) Students move toward becoming responsible citizens and agents of social change. By learning to care for deprived groups in the community, they are assuming meaningful roles and responding to real issues in ways that have a long-lasting impact on their own lives. Recommendations, based on the shortcomings we have witnessed and the changes we have implemented, are also made.     

Understanding Student Complaints in the Service Learning Pedagogy

This study draws upon student evaluations across 3 years of service learning (SL) courses at a large, urban, faith-based university identifying issues of greatest concern to students. Analysis of qualitative responses revealed perspectives on the limits, pitfalls, and barriers to successful SL student work in the community replicated over the 3 year timeframe. Over 2,200 written responses were coded and tested for reliability for each of 3 years. The top three comments SL students were most likely to express included: (1) concern about their placement in the community, for example, that sites were not prepared or that further goal-setting, communication and training by the university was necessary; (2) that the university’s choice of sites may have been ill considered; and, (3) that there were problems with time and scheduling. Ongoing assessment of students’ perspectives on their placement experience identifies practices that can enhance their learning and contributions toward building stronger communities.     

Prospective conceptual model of Tomatis® method effects on students’ self-regulation

This study aimed to develop a preliminary conceptual model that explains the perceived effect of the Tomatis® method on university students’ self-regulation for study course learning. Seven beginning graduate students (6 female; 3 black, 4 white) with a large South African university completed a Tomatis® method programme student learning support intervention. The students participated in focus group discussion and brief survey on their Tomatis® method programme student learning support experiences. Thematic analysis identified five themes that define Tomatis® method programme self-regulation effects on students: i) being self-aware and enhanced environmental sensitivity; ii) improved study concentration per time frame; iii) perspective taking, willingness, and ability to listen to others’ opinions; iv) self-reflection or enhanced inward learning experience; and v) boldness, creativity and open-mindedness. Findings support a conceptual working model of the Tomatis® method for the promotion of learner self-regulation and behavioural change in a university setting.     

Personal growth initiative: Relation to Hedonia and Eudaimonia happiness among South African university students

This study examined the relationship between personal growth initiative (PGI) and hedonic and eudaimonic happiness among a sample of South African university students (N = 235; mean age = 20.38, SD = 1.55; female = 61.70%). Students completed measures on personal growth initiative, hedonic happiness, and eudaimonic happiness. Regression analysis indicated personal growth initiative to positively predict students’ reported scores on hedonic and eudaimonic measures. The findings underscore the importance of PGI among student populations in advancing well-being among university students. It is proposed that higher education student development and support services should tap into PGI as a resource for enhancing student self-directed change and happiness.     

Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Emotional Approach Coping Scale in Turkish University Students and Community Members

To evaluate emotional approach coping, including the dimensions of emotional processing and emotional expression, the Emotional Approach Coping Scale (EACS) is frequently used. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of situational EACS among Turkish participants (n = 557), including university students (n = 283) and community members (n = 274). The results revealed that a two-factor model showed significant goodness of fit for confirmatory factor analysis. Furthermore, multi-group comparisons based on sample groups (university students and community members) and gender groups demonstrated no significant differences between the constrained and unconstrained models. In addition to sufficient reliability of the EACS, the concurrent and discriminant validity of the scale were supported by association of the EACS with state anxiety and social desirability. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.     

Text-Based Plagiarism in Scientific Writing: What Chinese Supervisors Think About Copying and How to Reduce it in Students’ Writing

Text-based plagiarism, or textual copying, typically in the form of replicating or patchwriting sentences in a row from sources, seems to be an issue of growing concern among scientific journal editors. Editors have emphasized that senior authors (typically supervisors of science students) should take the responsibility for educating novices against text-based plagiarism. To address a research gap in the literature as to how scientist supervisors perceive the issue of textual copying and what they do in educating their students, this paper reports an interview study with 14 supervisors at a research-oriented Chinese university. The study throws light on the potentiality of senior authors mentoring novices in English as an Additional Language (EAL) contexts and has implications for the efforts that can be made in the wider scientific community to support scientists in writing against text-based plagiarism.     

Factors associated with college student intent to engage in community service

Many universities in the United States highlight service as an integral component to their mission. Additionally, a growing pedagogical focus highlights the importance of community service as an integral component of student development. The current study was an investigation of the factors associated with college student intentions to engage in volunteer community service. University students (N = 403) at a comprehensive university located in the southern plains completed an anonymous Web-based questionnaire to assess community service attitudes and intentions. Subsequent to testing for statistical assumptions, results from multiple regression analysis suggest that a sense of community connectedness, cost and benefit considerations, and the seriousness of community needs are significant variables in explaining variance in the intent to engage in community service.     

Student Development and Support using a Logotherapeutic Approach

This study reports on participants' meaning-centred experiences and perspectives after attending a logotherapy-based student development and support programme. Thirteen students who were enrolled in the first year of the academic programme, in health science programme at a South Africa university, were participants. Qualitative inquiry was used for the data collection and analysis. Findings suggest that a meaning-centred approach may prove to be beneficial for first year university students.     

Creating classrooms that students experience as communities

Although prior research has shown sense of community in schools to be related to many positive student characteristics, effective interventions that can create or enhance this sense have not been demonstrated. In this paper we describe a comprehensive elementary school program, implemented by teachers, that was successful in creating a sense of community in the classrooms, as perceived by students. The program was implemented in three elementary schools in a suburban school district; three additional schools in the same district served as a comparison group. The program, which emphasized cooperative learning, the importance of democratic and prosocial values, student autonomy and self-direction, and a child-centered approach to teaching and classroom management, was experienced by a cohort of students from kindergarten through Grade 4, and by a subset of that cohort through Grade 6. Sense of community was assessed—by questionnaire—in Grades 4, 5, and 6; various student outcomes were assessed via questionnaire and interview. Results indicated that the program was successful in heightening students’ sense of community, and that the sense of community—by itself and in combination with program status—related positively to a number of student outcomes. There was also suggestive evidence that students who experienced their classroom as a community attempted to abide by its norms and values, and that the authority structure of the classroom was an important determinant of students’ experience of community and of some of its observed effects. The project described in this paper was supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Symposium on Research on Effective and Responsible Teaching, Fribourg, Switzerland, September 1990. A brief, nontechnical summary of the findings described here was included in Solomon, Watson, Battistich, Schaps, and Delucchi, 1992. In addition to the authors, significant contributions to this work were made by numerous others, including Carole Cooper, Stefan Dasho, Jane Deer, Sylvia Kendzior, Allison Rickard, Wendy Ritchie, Marc Rosenberg, Judith Solomon, Carole Stone, Margaret Tauber, and Pat Tuck.     

The role of social support,being present and self-kindness in university student well-being

Poor well-being in university students is a serious concern. Using self-kindness – an attitude of understanding and benevolence in times of adversity or failure – may be key to enabling students to maintain well-being despite the pressures inherent to their student role. This study aimed to test a theoretically guided model of how self-kindness, along with the ability to be in the present moment and the experience of receiving social support, contribute to well-being in university students. Participants were 6195 university students who completed a web-based survey. Structural equation modelling analyses confirmed our hypotheses, showing that: (a) receiving social support is important to the capacity for self-kindness both directly and indirectly through the ability to ‘be present’; and (b) the relationship between social support and well-being is partially mediated by the practices of self-kindness and being present. Overall, the model explained 39% of the variance in student well-being. These findings have implications for our understanding of well-being in university students, as well as the importance of considering self-kindness, on its own, as a target for intervention.     

How Japanese students reason about agricultural biotechnology

Many have claimed that education of the ethical issues raised by biotechnology is essential in universities, but there is little knowledge of its effectiveness. The focus of this paper is to investigate how university students assess the information given in class to make their own value judgments and decisions relating to issues of agricultural biotechnology, especially over genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Analysis of homework reports related with agricultural biotechnology after identification of key concepts and ideas in each student report is presented. The ideas were sorted into different categories. The ideas were compared with those in the reading materials using the same categories. These categories included: concern about affects on humans, affects on the environment, developing countries and starvation, trust in industry, responsibility of scientists, risk perception, media influence, need for (international) organizations or third parties, and information dissemination. What was consistent through the different years was that more than half of the students took a “neutral” position. A report was scored as “neutral” when the report included both the positive and negative side of an issue, or when the student could not make a definite decision about the use of GMOs and GM food. While it may be more difficult to defend a strong “for” or “against” position, some students used logical arguments successfully in doing so. Sample comments are presented to depict how Japanese students see agricultural technology, and how they value its application, with comparisons to the general social attitudes towards biotechnology.     

Legal,Tender: The Deferred Romance of Pedagogical Relation in <Emphasis Type="Italic">The Paper Chase</Emphasis>

Films depicting educational relationships typically emphasize personal connections between students and teachers over the educational goals that such relations facilitate. In doing so, these films raise the question of how teachers stand in relation to their institutional roles in such a way as to inspire students’ desires for knowledge. In this paper, in order to examine the influence of institutional roles in defining teacher–student relationships, we analyze “The Paper Chase,” a film in which teacher and student have no personal connection but in which the drama of student desire is nonetheless clearly featured. Drawing from Plato’s erotics, in which the soul is shaped by desire for that which it lacks, and from Jacques Lacan’s theories of desire and transference, we argue that “The Paper Chase” portrays educational desire as rooted in the differential of authority between teacher and student.     

Values and Corporate Social Responsibility Perceptions of Chinese University Students

The purpose of this study is to analyse the effects of personal demographic factors on Chinese university students’ values and perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues, and to identify the link between personal values and perceptions of CSR. The quantitative data consisted of 980 Chinese university students, and were collected by using a structured self-completion questionnaire. This study found that: 1) the importance of values education should be stressed, because we found that altruistic values associate negatively with perception of CSR, in contrast, egoistic values associate positively; 2) a CSR education programme should be designed accordingly to fit different student characteristics and needs such as gender and major differences; 3) values should be used as criteria for education and recruitment purposes, e.g., we found that female students represent more ethical values than male students, and have a more negative perception of the CSR performance; 4) the importance of environment performance should be recognised by Chinese corporations and policy-makers, because we found that Chinese corporations perform better in economic and social responsibilities than environmental responsibility. It provides an insight of the value structures of Chinese university students and the forces that shape ethical perceptions. It offers a comprehensive study of Chinese companies’ CSR performance, and the results improve the awareness of scholars and managers in solving the current problems and developing their CSR performances further.     

Towards an evidence‐base for student wellbeing and mental health: Definitions,developmental transitions and data sets

Against a background of huge changes in the world of university and college students since the turn of the millennium, together with a multitude of reports on student mental health/wellbeing, this article argues that the field of student mental health is hampered by the imprecise use of terms, a rush to action by universities in the absence of a robust evidence‐base, and a lack of overall coordination and collaboration in the collection and use of data. In response, we argue for clearer and more consistent use of definitions of, as well as differentiations between, student wellbeing and mental health, for a longitudinal approach to the student body that captures their developmental transitions to and through university, and a strategic and systematic approach to the use of bona fide measures in the collection of data on wellbeing and on the process of outcomes in embedded university counselling services. Such a coordinated approach will provide the necessary evidence‐base upon which to develop and deliver appropriate support and interventions to underpin and enhance the quality of students’ lives and learning while at university or college.