Transition and the First Year Experience: University Students’ Expectations (original) (raw)
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‘There is no fence around the university’: researching the experiences of first year students.
South African higher education institutions have recently started to place significance on the ‘first year experience’ as a focus area impacting on students’ overall success at university. This concern with student ‘transition’ from schooling to the university context is however, a well-established international area of research and often aligns with what is commonly referred to as the first year experience. Driven by political, institutional and socioeconomic concerns, this area of research therefore has varying foci including a consideration of institutional support and management of the transition to higher education (Wright and Angelini, 2012); student experiences of their first year at university (Palmer et al, 2009); belonging (Ivanič and Satchwell, 2009) and emotion (Beard et al, 2005) and students’ shifting identities (Lillis, 2001). While this literature sets out to provide a theoretical basis from which transition experiences can be explained and understood, what is less clear is how to research this phenomenon. In this presentation, focus is placed on sharing some methodological considerations associated with researching student ‘transition’ in the CPUT context. A detailed exploration and critical review of the methodological choices relating to a recent, qualitative pilot enquiry, that sought to explore the experiences of a group of first year Information Technology students, will be presented. Some aspects of the preliminary data analysis, which foregrounds the impact of students’ learning trajectories, motivations, first impressions of the institution and pedagogic arrangements, will also be highlighted in the presentation.
“My First Year in The University”: Students’ Expectations, Perceptions and Experiences
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
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
Moving Beyond First Year: An Exploration of Staff and Student Experience
2021
Transition pedagogy has had a major impact on the first year experience for higher education students in Australia. Similarly, there has been a significant focus on transitioning students from their final year of study to employment. Considerably fewer studies have sought to understand the “middle child”; the years in between the first and final year of study. Staff at a metropolitan Australian university noticed an increase in students struggling with university life after the first year of their program, with students purposefully withdrawing from courses or their program entirely. This article reports on focus groups held with staff and feedback via a student survey. Findings suggest the challenges faced by students in second year are multi-faceted, and curriculum and delivery should be intentionally designed to support students through a series of transitions throughout the university journey.
Experience and expectations of transition to higher education: a qualitative exploration
New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences, 2018
Transition to higher education is challenging, and may be more difficult for some groups than others. The transition from level 3 foundation year into level 4 offers the opportunity to explore student perspectives. Qualitative survey and focus group data were collected from current and previous Level 3 students, to ascertain student perceptions about induction, level of belonging, confidence about Level 4 and to identify useful support sources. Over a third of eligible Level 3 students (n=102) participated, but numbers of eligible participants from Levels 4, 5 and 6 were limited. Despite the heterogeneous nature of Level 3 students the majority of students recognised the value of the foundation year. Data suggested that Level 3 students did not identify with the university. Those who did highlighted the importance of social outlets such as clubs and societies. A major cause of dissatisfaction was perceived lack of clarity about the foundation year, including the programme, subjects...
This paper examines preliminary findings from a research project designed to employ a " whole of institution " (Kift, 2015) approach to mapping the student journey at the University of Bolton, UK. The institution is diverse: a significant proportion of students are mature, first-generation, part-time, from state schools and colleges and from low socioeconomic backgrounds (NS-SEC 4-7). The journey mapping project applies the ICE Model (ideas, concerns, expectations) to understand the factors (perceived and real) that affect engagement and transition to university. The data is being used to design student experience interventions to facilitate adjustment to university and to inform an early intervention and transitional support model. Participants' responses from questionnaires, focus groups and semi-structured interviews are analysed to determine perceptions of their adjustment to university, their expectations and their experience. The following discussion addresses how the data informs the application of transition pedagogy (Kift, 2009) in our own context.
Transition to higher education; prospective and retrospective student experiences
New directions in the teaching of physical sciences, 2020
Pre-university (foundation or Level 3) study attracts significant student numbers annually, but approximately 10% of successful Level 3 students do not progress into their university degrees. This project aimed to identify the experiences of current and previous Level 3 students, using questionnaires and focus groups to explore differences by gender, ethnicity and intention to study. One hundred and two current and 56 previous level 3 students participated. Those who felt part of the university were significantly more likely to agree that the foundation course met their expectations. Personal support from academic staff, was highly ranked by students in all year groups, peaking in the final year. Despite considerable student diversity, the foundation year met expectations. However this was significantly lower for Black students compared with other ethnicities, which needs further exploration. Fostering 'belonging' to university is important for foundation year students to improve retention rates into their degree courses.
The first-year experience, student transitions and institutional transformation
Journal of Student Affairs in Africa, 2016
Notions of foundation support for students have been critiqued as focusing on an othered, separated and identified group of underprepared students. Traditional approaches to first-year and foundation support frequently leave the mainstream status quo unchallenged and thus reproduce and reaffirm the very exclusionary structures and systems that foundation programmes aim to challenge. In South Africa, as early as 1986 (Vilakazi), 1988 (Nzimande), and 1995 (Ndebele), academic support was critiqued as focusing on students rather than challenging the institutional practices that require transformation. More recently, Akoojee and Nkomo (2007) have argued that higher education requires a focus on the system in order to achieve transformation goals. Kioko (2010) cautions against support premised on notions of assimilation and argues that student persistence and institutional success depends on the transformation of broad educational structures. The emerging notion that the first-year experience is crucial to academic success in higher education has given rise to a focus in student affairs and higher education on the first-year experience (FYE). Conceptualisations of the FYE are located in at least three theoretical fields. Firstly, within adjustment frameworks of student retention and persistence the focus is mainly on students' adjustment in terms of behaviours, cognition and personal function, and attitudinal change, in order to adjust to the new demands of the higher education context (Tinto, 1997, 1998, 2014). Secondly, FYE may be conceptualised within stage models of student progression in which the FYE forms one stage through which students need to progress in order to engage with the undergraduate studies and to transition to work or postgraduate studies (Schlossberg, 2006). The third conceptualisation of FYE focuses on epistemological access to higher education. This is more than adjusting and potentially assimilating to the demands of higher education, and it is different from the normative changes expected at this developmental juncture.
What kind of student am I?: Transition talk and investment in learning
2007
The transition from 'fresher' to graduate has been widely conceptualised as a 'learning journey'. This paper is an attempt to apply a broadly discursive approach to the study of the transition from school or college to the first year of university teaching. The aims of the project were twofold: to generate a clearer perspective of the specific needs of first year students, identifying implications for induction, student support and teaching methods and to contribute to the growing number of studies theorising student learning. The paper is based on a small-scale ethnographic research project carried out at the University of the West of England between February and April, 2006. The research process made use of use of focus groups, which are thought to be by far the most effective method for eliciting 'ordinary conversation', as opposed to the more official-seeming and less 'rich' questionnaire method. Our interview schedule included five broad areas of discussion (expectations, reflection, learning and teaching, assessments, well being). Overall we found that students are in the main active rather than passive in their approach to university life and that it is often university structures and methods that prioritise the former rather than the latter approach amongst them. We conclude with some suggestions for further research.