Technology Over-Consumption: Helping Students Find Balance in a World of Alluring Distractions

The last two decades has seen a fundamental shift in society with the growth in technology and the growth of social media. This shift has been embraced in the classroom as a tool to enhance the learning experience of the student. Students have experienced a fundamental shift in interaction with themselves and the world they inhabit with the exponential growth in technology and social media both inside and outside the classroom. The result is the multitasking student, who must constantly switch between a growing number of interactions. Attention spans have a finite limit, and eventually students experience an over-consumption of technology, characterized by increasing levels of anxiety and stress. To better serve our students, marketing educators must reconsider the technology experience in the classroom. Further, marketing educators should educate students on the detrimental effects of technology over-consumption and solutions to relieve themselves from their over-stressed plugged-in world

Satisfaction Guaranteed

It is widely acknowledged that students' first introduction to college life can have a profound impact on student persistence and educational attainment (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Therefore, this study investigates student satisfaction of orientation as self-reported by 213 unndergraduate students at Appalachian State University (ASU). Results indicated that students were generally satisfied with the information that they received, their interactions with orientation staff, and with individual program offerings during the orientation event. Recommendations are made to enhance intentional and proactive planning measures to improve coordinated efforts for future orientation programs on a university wide basis

An Exploratory Study of the Impact of a Wilderness Orientation Program on College Student’s Life Effectiveness

Wilderness based outdoor orientation programs have been offered at colleges and universities to incoming freshmen since the 1930’s. Although these programs appear to impact students in a positive way (e.g., self-efficacy), little research has documented whether these programs facilitate change on college student perceptions of life effectiveness. This exploratory study examined a 4-day wilderness based program at a university in the southeastern United States. Three groups of students were studied over the course of a semester using the Life Effectiveness Questionnaire (LEQ) (Neill, Marsh & Richards, 2003). As compared to the control group, the two groups of students who participated in the wilderness oriented program had greater scores on six of the eight LEQ dimensions (e.g., time management, emotional control) and overall total than students who did not participate at both the beginning and end of their first semester of college. Conclusions and implications for practice are made to promote proactive planning measures for improving outdoor orientation programs