Author: Joanne G. Lisciandro, Angela Jones, Peter Geerlings
Murdoch University
Edition: Volume 58, Number 1, April 2018
Summary: Pre-university enabling programs provide an important pathway to university for underprepared and disadvantaged students. In order to adequately prepare students for their university journey, enabling educators need to understand and respond to the evolving needs of their learners; not only their academic disparity, but also their past learning experiences and perceptions towards particular subjects. In the current study, students entering an Australian enabling program, ‘OnTrack’, were surveyed on their attitudes, emotions and aspirations towards the study of science and mathematics. Responses were associated with student perceptions of their past science and maths learning experiences. There was incongruity between student expectations of what future study would entail and the realities of their degree choices and career aspirations. This study suggests the need for social and emotional learning and teacher training. Greater attention should be given to both student’s affective needs and their understanding of future course content during their enabling education experience to redress negative emotional learning experiences and safeguard student expectations, satisfaction, and retention in the future.
Keywords: enabling program, affective domain, attitudes, emotion, science, mathematics
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 58_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.