Report on Challenges and Study Skills in Foundation Year Courses

This individual report focuses on the experiences of students in foundation year courses within the higher education system. It begins by highlighting the importance of these courses for students from diverse backgrounds, emphasizing their role in bridging academic gaps and familiarizing student...Read More

STUDY SKILLS FOR
HIGHER EDUCATION-2

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
The importance of the foundation year for students from wide participation backgrounds.......1
Key challenges facing by foundation year students....................................................................2
Study skills in higher education helps foundation year students to overcome challenges..........3
Conclusion drawn from these key points....................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
The individual report is a statement which is prepared for some findings, happenings,
recommendation or observation by an individual (Craft,and Guy, 2019). The individual report
will be prepared for the students pursuing foundation courses (Boud, and Soler, 2016). The
report will cover importance of foundation year course for students. The report will lay emphasis
on key challenges which faces by students of foundation year courses. Also, the conclusion
which will drawn from the key point will also highlighted in this individual report.
MAIN BODY
The importance of the foundation year for students from wide participation backgrounds
Foundation year or foundation course is basically the course which is designed to take
one year of the student and in this year students are able to complete A level (Schaper , Mc
Intosh, and Hoselton, 2016). It is considered to be harder. in this foundation course students are
generally specialises in the different subject areas which they will study further at the university
so tat they are not required to study the different range of the subjects which are expecting at the
level (Denman, and Al Mahrooqi, 2018).
This course acted as bridge between the current qualifications and the undergraduates of
UK university in the entry requirements and it is also designed in order t plug the academic gaps
and improving the English and familiarising the students with the UK's culture and life in
preparation for the universities (Alwagait, Shahzad, and Alim, 2015). foundation course is
usually counted as the further education. it is basically designed to take the students straight to
the degree courses and a foundation degree is also considered to be as qualification in itself
which is equivalent to the two years of the university (Schaper , Mc Intosh, and Hoselton,
2016).
Students with different wide participation backgrounds face different challenges when
they enter into the British universities and that is why many universities are set up to offer
foundation course to wide participants to their universities to offer them satisfaction and
fulfilling their needs of the students from all around the world. Standards set for the educations
are different all around the globe and same wit the teaching methods (Thelamour, George
Mwangi, and Ezeofor, 2019). These foundation courses in the UK are generally designed to level
out the basic differences and take all the students towards up to the standards. This course helps
1

in upcoming form any lacking or in nay courses so that they can move forward for guillotine
higher educational universities (Perry, Herder Wynne, and OBE, 2016).
Students from wide different background participating in the foundation course at UK
universities generally faces the language problems and they might be have excellent record of
their academics. Foundation course will ultimately help the students in preparing them by letting
them focusses in training of the academic English as well common English language by
attractive presentations. Which will help them in their future studies.
Foundation course give student access into their degree courses and the foundation
degree alone itself is the qualification which is considered equivalent with tow or three years of
degree courses (Denman, and Al Mahrooqi, 2018).
The main aim and focus of the course is to ensure that students need to indulge enough
into the more than their educational syllabus that means they just no stick to only the syllabus
provided to them but they also required to learn many more thing which helps them in their
personal development and growth as as whole (Rodrigues, Novaes, and do Egito Costa, 2018).
it gives the fundamental understanding in relation to the mathematics, physics and chemistry and
other subjects also which helps students in their overall development and improving the level of
understanding which helps them in their further degree course at universities (Denman, and Al
Mahrooqi, 2018). this course is called to be the intermediate qualification of higher education its
own right and also delivered din the further education colleges in UK.
Key challenges facing by foundation year students.
There are several challenges which is faced by students who pursue foundation year
courses. Here will be key challenges that highlights which is faced by foundation year
(Richardson, Percy, and Hughes, 2015).
Time management - Problem of Time management is the biggest challenge which is
faced by students pursuing foundation year. These courses require more efforts and hard work of
students because these courses are one year courses and in one year the colleges conducts
classes, practical training and exams (Denman, and Al Mahrooqi, 2018). For accomplishing
these task in one year is very difficult for them. They seems to take things negatively and
everything seems impossible for them.
High tuition cost - Tuition costs for such foundation courses are very high and managing
these fees is a big challenge for the students. The costs of textbooks along with tuition fees is
2

unmanageable for students. Therefore, students are dropping out of these foundation courses
because of the expenses they need to bear with these courses are very high and it is not easy for
every student to afford high tuition rates (Alwagait, Shahzad, and Alim, 2015).
Depression - The depression among students is common problem which is faced by them
but for students who are pursuing foundation courses bear high level of stress (Shrivastava,
Sharma, and Sharma, 2018). Also, they are in pressure to complete their task in their duration of
course.
High level of Anxiety – The anxiety of tests in foundation course is a key challenge
students face while period of course. The students feel anxiety during tests and they become
mentally paralyzed by preparing for the test under pressure (Schaper , Mc Intosh, and Hoselton,
2016).
Poor sleeping habbit - In foundation courses, students face habbit of poor sleep which
directly impact on their grades and reading habbit of students also get affected by it
(Gershenson, Holt, and Papageorge, 2016). The students are not able to concentrate during
classes and practical training due to mismanagement with sleep is a big challenge for foundation
students.
Choose major – Students feel pressurized while choosing a major for them and their
future. It is a major concern for the students while pursuing foundation course and choose a
major in between. The career of students is depended on their decision as the right decision will
foster their career and wrong will hinder (Thelamour, George Mwangi, and Ezeofor, 2019).
Sickness and health conditions – The students faces many issues related to health
problems like stress, lack of sleep, poor self care, etc which poses them in health risk. Also, this
may increase students to become ill during their foundation course (Rodrigues, Novaes, and do
Egito Costa, 2018).
Home sickness – It is also a challenge which is faced by foundation year students is home
sickness. The time which is lost between home to their institution during travel can create home
sickness for students. They feel tired before arriving to foundation course institution and their
interest also distorts by home sickness (Perry, Herder Wynne, and OBE, 2016).
Study skills in higher education helps foundation year students to overcome challenges.
Study skills can be defined as process of organizing and taking new information and also
retaining it, so that it can help in future success (Study skills for students. 2018). There are
3

various types of study skills such as reading, efficient note taking, concentration and writing. It is
the technique which assists students in easy completion of assignments (Rodrigues, Novaes,
and do Egito Costa, 2018). Time management in study sessions aims to ensure that activities
that achieve the greatest benefit are given the greatest focus (Perry, Herder Wynne, and OBE,
2016). A traffic lights system is a simple way of identifying the importance of information,
highlighting or underlining information in colors. This can help students of foundation year in
overcoming challenges of ineffective time management. They can priorities their time through
time management skills (Gershenson, Holt, and Papageorge, 2016). Also they can overcome the
challenge of retaining things while making notes in classroom.
By effective listening and being attentive in class, note making can become easier for
them. Studying can also become effective if students of foundation year change the environment
in which they are studying (Shrivastava, Sharma, and Sharma, 2018). Also teachers can use
interactive methods like making the students learn through music, so that they become more
comfortable in classroom. Students if are facing any problem related to subject can also make
use of effective communication with teachers, so that their issues are easily being analyzed by
them and can be solved (Thelamour, George Mwangi, and Ezeofor, 2019).
Study skills such as reading can also help students of foundation year in having a deep
understanding about the topic in which they are facing challenges (Richardson, Percy, and
Hughes, 2015). These skills can help students of foundation year in setting their career aspects
and can also assist them in growing. They can also make use of diagram to learn, so that students
of foundation year can recall the subject very quickly and also they can retain it for long period
of time.
There are certain study skills which can be adopted by foundation year students in order
to overcome challenges they face while pursuing these courses.
Manage their time and develop strategies for learning - Students can manage time for study and
undertake activities which they can use for healing their mood which motivates them to study
with concentration (Boud, and Soler, 2016). They need to make strategies for proper studying
their course and in line with these strategies formulated by them the students of foundation year
just like higher education can overcome the challenge of time management (Schaper , Mc
Intosh, and Hoselton, 2016).
4

Academic texts must be properly read by students – Students of foundation course need
to critically evaluate academic texts and by reading and analysing it properly students may able
to effectively manage all the tasks in proper time. Also, by managing tasks of students in
foundation course enables them to create environment of less stress and depression.
Preparing notes while lecture – Students should prepare notes during lecture in any of the
format while hard or electronic copy (Alwagait, Shahzad, and Alim, 2015). This will increase
their effectiveness and quick learning during revision while exams.
Construct bibliography and references – Proper references must be adopted by students of
foundation course so that they can able to gain more knowledge in minimum time. The
bibliographies must also be mentioned for proper and appropriate guidelines.
Improvement in grammar and spelling – The grammar & spelling plays a crucial role in
improving content of students during examinations. Students must develop skills of writing as
well and reading while foundation course.
Preparation of presentations – A presentation plays a vital role in developing skills of
learning in students while pursuing foundation course. The presentation prepared by students
may able to learn and read from it during academic tests and examinations (Denman, and Al
Mahrooqi, 2018).
Revising before examinations – The notes prepared by foundation students will be
helpful in revision while examination. They don't need to waste their time in gathering relevant
data during exams and academic tests in foundation course by the help of presentation and notes
(Craft,and Guy, 2019).
Conclusion drawn from these key points
This was an individual report which was prepared for the purpose of foundation students.
The report was begun with laying importance of foundation courses for students pursuing it.
After this key challenges was also highlighted in individual report which generally faced by
students like time management, pressure, tuition fees, etc. The report was describing about study
skills of high education which was adopted by foundation students for overcoming these
challenges. Measures to overcome these challenges ware suggested for students who pursue
foundation courses.
5

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Craft, W. M. and Guy, K. E., 2019. Community College Governing Boards and Foundation
Boards: Ethics and the Pursuit of Extraordinary Organizational Purpose. New Directions
for Community Colleges. 2019(185). pp.31-41.
Denman, C. and Al Mahrooqi, R., 2018. Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Alternative Assessment in
the English Language Foundation Program of an Omani University. In English Education
in Oman (pp. 59-73). Springer, Singapore.
Alwagait, E., Shahzad, B. and Alim, S., 2015. Impact of social media usage on students
academic performance in Saudi Arabia. Computers in Human Behavior. 51. pp.1092-
1097.
Schaper, A., Mc Intosh, K. and Hoselton, R., 2016. Within-year fidelity growth of SWPBIS
during installation and initial implementation. School Psychology Quarterly. 31(3). p.358.
Thelamour, B., George Mwangi, C. and Ezeofor, I., 2019. “We need to stick together for
survival”: Black college students’ racial identity, same-ethnic friendships, and campus
connectedness. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
Perry, M., Herder-Wynne, F. and OBE, S. G., 2016. Courageous Journeys in Education: The Ecl
Foundation and Netherfield Primary and Pre-School. BookBaby.
Rodrigues, P. B., Novaes, P. O. and do Egito Costa, S. C. F., 2018. Flipping the classroom:
applying the circuit in Foundation Design. International Journal on Alive Engineering
Education. 5(2). pp.41-47.
Gershenson, S., Holt, S. B. and Papageorge, N. W., 2016. Who believes in me? The effect of
student–teacher demographic match on teacher expectations. Economics of Education
Review. 52. pp.209-224.
Shrivastava, A., Sharma, N. N. and Sharma, N., 2018. Havells India Ltd: QRG foundation on the
cross road. Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies. 8(4). pp.1-14.
Richardson, C., Percy, M. and Hughes, J., 2015. Nursing therapeutics: Teaching student nurses
care, compassion and empathy. Nurse Education Today. 35(5). pp.e1-e5.
Boud, D. and Soler, R., 2016. Sustainable assessment revisited. Assessment & Evaluation in
Higher Education. 41(3). pp.400-413.
Online
6

Study skills for students. 2018. [Online]. Available through. <
https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/student-study-skills>.
7