Papers by Genevieve Ubanan
Universities are increasingly examining alternative means of teaching and learning, and supplemen... more Universities are increasingly examining alternative means of teaching and learning, and supplemental instruction in the form of peer tutoring is progressively used to support learning in selected courses. This small scale ethnographic study investigates the roles and relationships between the peer tutors and tutees to uncover their perceptions of peer tutoring and their perceived effects. Semi-structured focus group discussions of ten tutors and ten tutees and two participant group observations were employed. The findings suggest that perceptions of the success of this programme were attributed to low power distance of the tutors and tutees, the development of friendships and the metacognitive learning strategies that were explicitly taught. Implications arising from this study suggest a greater focus on roles and expectations in the design of peer tutoring programmes.
English Language and Literature Studies
Gender-stereotyped roles of female and male characters are common in literature. Seeing that Harr... more Gender-stereotyped roles of female and male characters are common in literature. Seeing that Harry Potter series has gained much popularity especially among children and teenagers, this qualitative paper attempts to investigate to what extent the author, Rowling (1997), confirms or challenges the gender stereotypes in the portrayal of the main male and female characters through her lexical (words) and grammatical (nouns, verbs, adjective and adverbs) choices. Halliday’s transitivity system is used to examine the lexis and structures that Rowling chose to describe the characters in her novel. Several scenes which contain descriptions about the main male and female characters were analyzed. Analysis of the excerpts from the novel showed that both the male and female main characters are portrayed with either feminine or masculine roles.
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
This study aimed to explore students’ first year experience to provide insights that may prove to... more This study aimed to explore students’ first year experience to provide insights that may prove to be useful for institutional policy and practice. A semi-structured interview was conducted on 30 undergraduates from a private university to examine their perceptions, experiences, and attitudes towards first year experience. Themes were derived from the analysis of the transcribed interview transcripts. The results showed that in general students pursue tertiary education as it can guarantee their career prospect and intellectual development. Moreover, classroom engagement and academic staff engagement on students were less crucial in comparison to peer engagement. However, the students’ perceptions of studentship and quality of teaching were positive. Lastly, most students were satisfied with their first year experience in the university. Practical implications, recommendations and limitations for future practice are put forth
SAGE Open
First-year undergraduates' expectations and experience of university and student engagement varia... more First-year undergraduates' expectations and experience of university and student engagement variables were investigated to determine how these perceptions influence their student identity and overall course satisfaction. Data collected from 554 first-year undergraduates at a large private university were analyzed. Participants were given the adapted version of the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education Survey to self-report their learning experience and engagement in the university community. The results showed that, in general, the students' reasons of pursuing tertiary education were to open the door to career opportunities and skill development. Moreover, students' views on their learning and university engagement were at the moderate level. In relation to student identity and overall student satisfaction, it is encouraging to state that their perceptions of studentship and course satisfaction were rather positive. After controlling for demographics, student engagement appeared to explain more variance in student identity, whereas students' expectations and experience explained greater variance in students' overall course satisfaction. Implications for practice, limitations, and recommendation of this study are addressed.
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Papers by Genevieve Ubanan