Promoting Students’ Interaction in Higher Education: A Reciprocal Interview Activity Carried out during the First Class Session in Management Subjects

Abstract

This study analyzes students’ thoughts and reflections on an activity carried out during the first day of class of management subjects which are part of technological programs. The purpose of the activity was to promote student interaction during the first session of class of these subjects, with the aim to positively influence the class climate and the students’ wellbeing. A reciprocal interview activity between the students and the team of instructors was conducted in the first session of the subjects, instead of a standard ‘one direction’ presentation of the syllabus by the instructor. Once the activities were completed, students were asked to answer a survey about the activity through qualitative and quantitative questions with a twofold research aim: (1) to analyze the effects of the activity on the students; (2) to gather feedback from the students to improve future editions of the activity. The results obtained showed a clear preference for this type of interactive technique, as opposed to the more classical approach to the first session of a subject.

Health and Well-Being in Higher Education: Student Perception of an Australian University

“…Another defining feature of integrated health and well-being solutions should be pro-active monitoring of students' needs in the mental, physical, university learning, and economic well-being domains. Through such monitoring, universities should offer greater engagement between academics, administrators, alumni, and students, using academic and non-academic agendas to provide long-term help to each other [15,36,37]. For instance, at the university under study, the mental/psychological well-being of students is identified as an area needing improvement, being the domain that received the lowest score among all the well-being domains.…”