Name
Student number
Module code: MKT 1130
Module Title: Marketing Intelligence
Tutor’s name
The key purpose of this research is to determine “how first-year students spend their time at Middlesex University Dubai?”
This research is all about how the first year students spend their time at college with faculty, friends and in classes, on and off campus activities, extracurricular activities and socio-cultural activities.
The life of the students at university is complex as they have to juggle the contradictory priorities related to their academic, social, cultural, family and job aspects with the completion of the university study (Crisp et al., 2009).
Along with the study, it is also crucial for them to maintain the lifestyle that could meet their personal and social requirements. The enrolment of the students in the university programs is related to disparate reasons and their reasons for the continuation or discontinuation of their studies are complex (Nadelson et al., 2013).
So, it is a pressurized situation for the universities in all countries to enhance the student retention rate. For this, it is required for the universities to respond to student feedback on the first-year university experience (Baik, 2015).
This study will be helpful for the administrators, faculty members and student leaders to make the conditions better for facilitating the learning and development of the students and quality of experience for the students, who come at Middlesex University Dubai for study.
The outcomes of this study will be related to the experiences of the first year students in perspective of time spending at Middlesex University Dubai.
Research question will be “how first-year students spend their time at Middlesex University Dubai?”
For this study, a survey through questionnaire is used to know the views and opinions of first-year students in Middlesex University Dubai. In the survey questionnaire, ten questions are asked to the students in relation to their experience with the focus on time spent at the university.
Through this questionnaire, close-ended and Likert scale based questions are asked to them as it helped to collect the data on Google Forums and submit it on excel to analyze it in a quantitative way. This is effective to self administer the data and analyze it properly by providing tables and graphs to present the frequencies and percentages of the responses (Flick, 2015).
It provided the trends and patterns in the experience of the students at the university regarding time spending. For this study, a sample of 50 students from the first year at Middlesex University Dubai is selected to conduct the survey.
For analyzing the collected data, SPSS software is used to provide the frequencies, percentages, central tendency, and cross-tabulations to determine the experience of the students regarding their time spending at the university (Green et al., 2012). At the same time, for this analysis, tabular, graphical and analytical skills are used to present the results in tables and graphs and analyze the data.
From the above graph, it can be interpreted that the sample was taken from the first year students at the university including both male and female to get diverse views and opinions. In this sample, 40% (20) were females while 60% (30) were males, who responded for questions in the survey.
Do you participate in extracurricular activities like orchestra, chorus, dance, student organizations, etc. on or off the campus?
The above graph depicts that there are mixed responses regarding the participation in extracurricular activities including orchestra, chorus, dance, student organizations, etc. on or off the campus.
From this, it can be determined that 52% of the participants participate in extracurricular activities while remaining participants do not prefer to participate in such type of activities due to study pressure.
Do you prefer to go an art exhibit or gallery or play, dance or other theatre performance, on or off the campus?
Table 1: Go an art exhibit or gallery or play, dance or other theatre performance
| Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent | ||
| Valid | Yes | 31 | 62.0 | 62.0 | 62.0 |
| No | 19 | 38.0 | 38.0 | 100.0 | |
| Total | 50 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
From the above table, it is clear that the most of the respondents (62% or 31 out of 50) are agreed that they go an art exhibit or gallery or play, dance or other theatre performance. Such types of activities relax them from hectic study schedule and meet their social and cultural needs.
Do you have a paid job during the current semester?
Table 2: Paid job during the current semester
| N | Valid | 50 |
| Missing | 0 | |
| Mean | 1.6200 | |
| Std. Deviation | .49031 | |
| Minimum | 1.00 | |
| Maximum | 2.00 | |
Based on the above descriptive statistics, it is evident that the central tendency measures (mean: 1.62; sd.: 0.4903) show that the majority of respondents do not have a paid job during the current semester because they are busy with their studies. This can be presented in the graph below:
The above graph indicates that 38% of the respondents have paid job during the current semester because they need money to spend on the fulfillment of their personal needs.
Do you like to spend time by attending a cultural or social event in the campus center?
In response to this question, it is determined that 23 out of 50 respondents like to spend time by attending a cultural or social event in the campus center showing from the below table and graph:
| Gender * Attend a cultural or social event Crosstabulation | ||||
| Count | ||||
| Attend a cultural or social event | Total | |||
| Yes | No | |||
| Gender | Male | 16 | 14 | 30 |
| Female | 7 | 13 | 20 | |
| Total | 23 | 27 | 50 | |
The above graph and table show that male students (14%) prefer more to attend a cultural or social event in the campus center as compared to female students (32%).
Do you work on an off-campus committee or project like a community event, church group, etc.?
Table 4: Off-campus committee or project
| Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent | ||
| Valid | Yes | 35 | 70.0 | 70.0 | 70.0 |
| No | 15 | 30.0 | 30.0 | 100.0 | |
| Total | 50 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
From the above frequency table, it can be depicted that the majority of the respondents (70%) work on an off-campus committee or project by attending a community event or church group.
Do you participate in sports activities including game, gym, swimming, etc.?
The above bar chart shows that there are mixed responses regarding the participation in sports activities at University. From this, it is determined that 46% of the total participants participate in sports activities while 54% of total participants do not participate in these activities.
In relation to this, it can also be depicted that male respondents participate more in sports activities rather than female respondents.
How often do you participate in sports activities in a week?
In relation to this question, most of the respondents (22% out of 46%, who participate in sports activities) participate in the sports activities 1-2 times a week. Some of them (12%) participate in sports activities 3-4 times per week. These responses can be presented from the below pie chart:
Do you prefer to spend time on TV, video games and mobile?
Regarding question-related to time spending on TV, video games and mobile, the following responses are summarized in the below crosstable:
| Gender * spend time on TV videogames and mobile Crosstabulation | ||||
| Count | ||||
| spend time on TV video games and mobile | Total | |||
| Yes | No | |||
| Gender | Male | 16 | 14 | 30 |
| Female | 11 | 9 | 20 | |
| Total | 27 | 23 | 50 | |
The above table depicts that both male (16 out of 30) and female participants (11 out of 20) spend time on TV, video games and mobile. There is an equal ratio of male and female students in spending time on TV, video games and mobile. However, remaining 23 out of 50 respondents do not prefer to spend time on TV, videogames, and mobiles.
How many hours do you spend on TV, video games and mobile?
Table 6: Time spending on TV, videogames, and mobile
| Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent | ||
| Valid | 1-2 Hours | 15 | 30.0 | 55.6 | 55.6 |
| 3-4 Hours | 6 | 12.0 | 22.2 | 77.8 | |
| 5-6 Hours | 4 | 8.0 | 14.8 | 92.6 | |
| More than 6 hours | 2 | 4.0 | 7.4 | 100.0 | |
| Total | 27 | 54.0 | 100.0 | ||
| Missing | System | 23 | 46.0 | ||
| Total | 50 | 100.0 | |||
From the above table, it is evident that most of the participants (15) spend 1-2 hours on TV, video games and mobile. It is difficult for them to spend more time due to the busy schedule for the study and other activities. While remaining participants (12) spend time from 3-4 hours to more than 6 hours.
Do you spend your time on the tasks that are not related to the study like internet surfing?
| N | Valid | 50 |
| Missing | 0 | |
| Mean | 1.4600 | |
| Std. Deviation | .50346 | |
| Minimum | 1.00 | |
| Maximum | 2.00 | |
From the above statistics, it can be determined that the mean and standard deviation for the responses of this question are 1.46 and .5034 showing the majority of the respondents spend their time on the tasks not related to study like internet surfing.
From the above findings and analysis, it can be concluded that there are mixed responses over the social, cultural and sports participation among the students at Middlesex University Dubai. It is challenging for the students to manage the balance between study and the social and cultural and individual needs.
There are also some conflicting priorities among male and female students as it is also required to motivate female students to take part in the social and cultural activities along with sports activities. There are implications for the management of the institution to better respond to the expectations of the students so that they could spend their time productively along with the study.
Baik, C., Naylor, R. and Arkoudis, S., 2015. The First Year Experience in Australian Universities: Findings from Two Decades, 1994-2014. Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education.
Crisp, G., Palmer, E., Turnbull, D., Nettelbeck, T., Ward, L., LeCouteur, A., Sarris, A., Strelan, P. and Schneider, L., 2009. First-year student expectations: Results from a university-wide student survey. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 6(1), pp.11-26.
Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner’s guide to doing a research project. Sage.
Green, J.L., Camilli, G. and Elmore, P.B. eds., 2012. Handbook of complementary methods in education research. Routledge.
Nadelson, L.S., Semmelroth, C., Martinez, G., Featherstone, M., Fuhriman, C.A. and Sell, A., 2013. Why Did They Come Here?–” The Influences and Expectations of First-Year Students’ College Experience”. Higher Education Studies, 3(1), pp.50-62.
Appendix 1: Survey Questionnaire
Name:
Gender: Male/Female
- Do you participate in extracurricular activities like orchestra, chorus, dance, student organizations, etc. on or off the campus?
- Yes
- No
- Do you prefer to go an art exhibit or gallery or play, dance or other theatre performance, on or off the campus?
- Yes
- No
- Do you have a paid job during the current semester?
- Yes
- No
- Do you like to spend time by attending a cultural or social event in the campus center?
- Yes
- No
- Do you work on an off-campus committee or project like a community event, church group, etc.?
- Yes
- No
- Do you participate in sports activities including game, gym, swimming, etc.? (If yes then answer question 7)
- Yes
- No
- How often do you participate in sports activities in a week?
- 1-2 times
- 3-4 times
- 5-6 times
- Daily
- Do you prefer to spend time on TV, video games and mobile? (If yes then answer question 9)
- Yes
- No
- How many hours do you spend on TV, video games and mobile?
- 1-2 hours
- 3-4 hours
- 5-6 hours
- More than 6 hours
- Do you spend your time on the tasks that are not related to the study like internet surfing?
- Yes
- No
Thank you for your help.
