The Influence of Environmental Forces on the Average Students College Experience - Term Paper Example

The Influence of Environmental Forces on the Average College Experience Introduction Thesis ment: Environmentalforces have the greatest influence on the average students’ college experience. While in college, every student’s experience is shaped by various factors. Some of these experiences can either be bad or good depending on what the student engages in before joining or while in college. This makes the experiences unique and different to everyone. College is usually about experience. College experience is crucial for the incoming freshmen as well as those who would be leaving the college. The amount of experience one has undergone while in college can actually make a difference in their resume. As for the freshmen, for the very first time of their lives they are free from the confines of their parents, and they have the freedom to do whatever they like. However, most students find themselves in problems in the first quarter of learning. This is as result of various factors which significantly influences their experiences. In this paper, I am going to discuss the effect environmental forces on the experience of average students. First, I will explain how the various school policies impact either negatively or positively to the students. The next factor that will be discussed is the instruction quality, followed by the individual’s preparation before joining college, financial issues, and finally, the larger student culture. Discussion College is the place one can gain his or her own independence. However, more independence comes with increased responsibility. College experience is unique and different to everyone. Most of the college is about experimenting with new things. This implies that most of the students go out, meet new people, join clubs, and also night gaming sessions, along with night cramming sessions. All these experiences are of an average college student. College is also the place where the student can learn how to limit his- or herself. This entails learning the limit you can study, engage in extra-curricular activities, and have fun. Studies have indicated that positive influences in college can go a long way in assisting the students after college including getting support from the instructors who cared about them, having role models and mentors who encouraged them to learn as well as follow their passions, school policies that encouraged positive behavior, having internships while in school, being involves in co-curricular activities, and working on long term projects among many others. On the other hand, negative influences may impact negatively on the student after college. The environmental forces have been found to have the greatest influence on the experiences of an average college student. College experience involves experiencing everything that the college life has to offer ranging from school policy, to instruction quality, to individual preparation before joining college, to financial issues, and to the larger student culture. In the same way, all these factors make a significant contribution to the final grade of the student. School policy Most college students argue that general education is the most significant purpose of education. College attempts to develop a whole person: ethically, socially, culturally, physically, and intellectually. Most of the school policies are aimed at tolerance to new ideas, self-direction, and openness to new ideas. These policies are aimed at developing the student as a whole with academic being the major objective. In the same way, academic involvement makes up the largest part of experience in a college student’s life. Colleges have developed policies to assist students in greatly in finding their personal identity along with in making lifetime choices to fit with this choice. It enhances their psychological well-being in addition to their human sympathy, comprehension, and tolerance towards national and ethnic groups who hold different opinions. As cited by Cuyjet, Howard-Hamilton and Cooper (32), colleges have developed policies on diversity and multiculturalism. As a result multiculturalism, the students are able to learn from the interactions in and out of the classroom. When a student is exposed to diverse individuals and views, this exposure offers them with great personal development, widen their perspectives, and enhance their knowledge of the globe as it is. Cornett-DeVito and Reeves (54) argue that spending time with people from different cultures is an excellent way of comprehending their view points. Multiculturalism focuses on respect, understanding, along with inclusiveness. The dual enrollment policy has been found to statistically affect the anticipatory socialization patterns of the students, particularly in relation to anticipating oneself in the role of a college student. The positive experiences in dual enrollment impact changes in attitude and reinforce retention other than departure from college. In the same way, dual enrollment has been found to promote immediate entry and persistence. These factors to a great extent enhance the chances of the student to acquire acquiring post-secondary credentials as compared to the non-participants. The majority of the first generation students find college experience to be more stressful. It has been suggested that the increased stress levels may be attributed to the college policies as well as the college system (Farooq, Chaudhry and Shafiq, 12). Instruction quality In the era of globalization combined technological revolution, the quality of education has also improved. The quality of services provided is directly proportional to growth and productivity. The quality instruction received by the students has a considerable influence on their experiences while in college. The top priority of educators is the quality of the student’s performance. London (118) claims that higher education is immensely effective if taken as a whole in relation to its contributions to positive societal as well as individual changes. Averagely, depending on the quality of instruction offered, college education results to a moderate increase in verbal skills, lifelong cognitive development, esthetic sensibility, intellectual tolerance, and substantial increases mathematical rationality, creativity, and skills; a large increase in substantive knowledge. About affective college outcomes, instruction quality significantly improves the practical competence of the students, positively influencing their leisure activities, health, and also their general ability to cope with problems in life. The most evident changes in personality structures are in the liberation of the personality in becoming more self-sufficient and independent. High quality instructions positively effect changes in the performance as well as behavior of the students. On the other hand, instruction of low quality affects the self-development, academic persistence, social-development, and the general well-being of the students. Cognitive development in students is considered as a measure of quality. The tests of cognitive achievement are considered as complete proxies for the quality of educational instructions. They offer an insight on the values, capacities or other non-cognitive skills that are imperative aims of education. In addition, if the extent of the value added by schooling, still in the cognitive domain, is to known, such tests have to be supplemented by measures of the background characteristics that learners often bring to formal the education. Incorporating technology enhances the student’s experience in college. Teachers usually offer students with the tools that are needed to adapt methods together with materials to their individual needs, continuous assessment, and flexible goals for learning. The use smartphones, boards, and computers can facilitate and enhance communication between student and teacher. As a consequence, the experience of the student while in college is significantly influenced. In college, the students take responsibility for their own grades. In this regard, quality is also associated with school continuation. This reduces the incidences of drop outs and repetition of classes. In the same way, the quality of educational instructions can affect the behavior of the students in a manner that can facilitate the attainment of an array of human goals. The individual’s preparation before joining college Most students when joining college are not prepared for the social and cultural challenges including managing the pressures of time, meeting expectations, and financial management. Before joining a college a student usually does some planning and preparation. This invokes the feeling of anxiety and enthusiasm. The characteristics of a person that selectively drive him or her towards a certain educational setting, for instance, going to college, choosing a specific one, and choosing a particular major are the same characteristics that are pertinent to be reinforced and also extended by the experiences they incur in those settings (Pace, 98). It is crucial that a student plans for the career to pursue before joining college. This is because students often change their career plans during college due to various factors. In the same way, as progresses through college his or she becomes more knowledgeable, mature, and focused in thinking about career planning. Family relationships often play a very significant role in the social development and academic success of college students. Most families offer counseling to the student prior to joining colleges. Families have also been shown to influence the decision of the student to attend college by means of support and encouragement. However, most of the first generation college students experience less help in planning for college. London (145) asserts that a positive experience between the family and the student prior to joining college can improve the academic performance of the student. Following this further, it also impacts on the student’s attrition and persistence. Students whose parents are educated can better be in touch with their children about college activities, and share information about college education experiences. They can better assist their children in their college work together with their participation when they are in college. This makes the students have an experience that they would rarely forget after graduation. The study by Swanson (67-78), found out that dual enrollment should be considered as a viable means to improve the likelihood of the students to join post-secondary learning institutions and acquire degrees. If someone is geared towards learning from others, he or she may learn more from one instructional approach from one another. Neither small discussion nor academic major discussion oriented has any appreciable difference in the final subject matter mastery. However, well-sequenced individual strategies together with student involvement usually make a difference. Financial issues Financial issues are very common features in a college setting. For most students, college attendance is the first time they have experienced financial independence without the supervision from the parent. A college is a fascinating place and any imbalance can spoil the experience. This implies that the situation created by financial obligations can make the students have different experiences. College is the transition between parental support and independence. The influences of institutional selectivity appear to be more pronounced for students from high socio-economic backgrounds. Financial challenges are a common experiences among the college students. Most of them accrue debts in the college life Farooq, Chaudhry and Shafiq (3) argue that the low socioeconomic status has negative impact on the academic performance of students. This is due to the fact that their basic needs of remain unfulfilled, and therefore, they do not perform better in academics and other related activities. Following this further, the financial challenges with specific focus to the low socioeconomic status causes environmental deficiencies which leads low self esteem of students. Due to financial issues the students often indulge in various things that can either impact on the positively or negatively. For example, one student may decide to apply for an internship program while in school so as to cater for the financial needs. On the other hand, the other student may decide to engage in drug trade as a way of financing their college life. These two contrasting activities have different outcomes to the academic performance of these two students. It is also observed that the economically disadvantaged parents are less able to afford the cost of education of their children at higher levels and consequently they do not work at their fullest potential (Rouse and Barrow, 105-7). Larger student culture College students’ culture is a combination of behavior, language, values, and outlook that are part of the college education. College culture is the ‘unspoken rules’ which the student needs to learn in order to fit into a college. The student peer groups as well as the larger student culture are the most potent source of influence on the development and growth of students. In a view shared by Pascarella and Terenzini (78), the students’ aspirations, values, and beliefs tend to change in the direction of the dominant beliefs, values, and also the aspirations of the dominant peer group. The relationship between the student and larger student culture provides the student with sense of security and identity. In the last two decades, studies have demonstrated that students change in various ways after they enter college. They often develop a more positive image, considerable increase in alcohol consumption, social activism, feminism, along with other college related activities. Berger, Turk-Bicakci and Garet (45) assert that early college students have higher chances as compared to their peers in enrolling in and graduating from college. They also look prepared and ambitious in their academic endeavors. Assimilating or acquiring habits that are typical of college attitudes, expectations, and norms have a significant impact on the changing the aspirations of the student towards degree attainment. A student can choose either to attend class or not, the students. Feldman (123), the faculty members are responsible for individual influence, especially to career decisions. However, they are usually not responsible for the campus-wide influence in settings where the influence of the student peers is high. Therefore, associating with the larger student culture affects the students’ experiences Conclusion In college, it is assumed that the students are adults. College education is associated with experiencing new experiences. The experiences of an average college student is greatly influenced by environmental forces including financial issues, the quality of instruction, association with the largest student culture, instruction quality, and individual preparation before joining college, in addition to school policy. The environmental forces are significant predictors for students’ experiences and academic performance. However, the educators ought to understand better with regard to the factors that contribute in the academic success of students and enhance their experience while in college. Most of the college standards are ‘unwritten rules’ and it needs an experienced perspective to anticipate, understand, and overcome. Works Cited Berger, A., Turk-Bicakci, L., Garet, M., Song, M., Knudson, J., Haxton, C., Zeiser, K., Hoshen, G., Ford, J., and Stephan. Early College, Early Success, New York: Americans Institutes of Research, 2013. Cornett-DeVito, M., and Reeves, K. J. Preparing for success in multicultural world: Faculty advisement and intercultural communication. NACADA Journal, 191. 1 (2011), 35-44. Cuyjet, M., Howard-Hamilton, M., and Cooper, D. Multiculturalism on campus: Theory, models, and practices for understanding diversity and creating inclusion. New York: Stylus Publishing, 2012. Farooq, M.S., Chaudhry, A. H., Shafiq, M., and Berhanu, G. "Factors affecting quality of students performance: A case of secondary level." Journal of Quality and Acedemic Performance 7.2 (2011): 1-14. Feldman, Kenneth, and Newcomb, Theodore. The Impact of College on Students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009. London, H.B. Breaking away: A study of first-generation college students and their families. American Journal of Education, 97. 2, (2009), 144-170. Pace, Robert. They Went to College. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. Pascarella, Ernest, and Terenzini, Patrick. How College Affects Students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 1998. Swanson, J. An analysis of the impact of high school dual enrollment course participation on post-secondary academic success, persistence and degree completion. Kansas City, MO: National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships, 2009. Print. Read More