Keywords: starting college or university challenges, transition to university
Transition of first season students in to the university can be difficult for some students because they are required to change into a new environment and learning styles that differs from what they have discovered during their past years in university. This report provides a discussion about the problems affecting the move of first yr students into university life using the matters mentioned in FAP101 and other related texts. There are different issues determined in this report and recommendations have also been provided to be able to help students in their first season in university and to help organizations to help their students conform into university surroundings and learning styles. These recommendations are the following;
- It is essential for universities to expose or update orientation programs for students prior to starting university.
- Institutions should allow students know about the workloads, the examination styles and writing conventions through the orientation week.
- It is also important for the companies to provide highly trained tutors that could work with students to help them with the problems or doubt about the issues in a particular course subject matter.
- Some students feel more comfortable when they have more friends that go to the same university as them.
- Students should become aware of workloads and various styles of assessments and also with writing conventions.
Before commencing into college or university, as students you are also able to attend open times, even during your HSC time, most universities are already organising open days for new students to give more information to students about the companies and what to expect.
Introduction
Making a change of first calendar year students into academic life at an Australian tertiary establishment can be one of the most challenging experiences. It is challenging not only in terms of academic purposes but also as it's the stage in students life where they will most likely to experience psychological, financial and public problems. As students of tertiary institution you will see huge changes that should be made by students such as adjustments to new learning and teaching styles, assessments styles and writing techniques. Despite it all, transition to university or college life can be challenging for some students yet it is still a very awarding experience they'll ever have.
2. Definition
Transition is merely defined as moving from one level to another, it is a process and not an event in which it symbolise change, it could be regarded as a action from familiar into unfamiliar (Levin, 1987), for example environment. Changeover of first time students is thought as moving up from high school into tertiary levels, changes that all first calendar year students entering university or college has to take on on. "Student changeover" is also explains as a group of transitional changes that is needed for students in entering educational life in universities, it is a process of moving from one community to another (Tinto, 1988).
The student's relationship with tertiary education is not the same as the one that they had in major or secondary. University has a more complex and comprehensive environment than supplementary schools, and many students quit their closeness with their families, friends, and home to deal within the school life for a few years. The students' move is all about the students coping with the complete university or college life and not simply simply the college or university as formal and much more academic organizations. Students have to adjust into a new learning styles and new environment, also with the folks in the establishments they'll be interacting with throughout their college or university life. The students will be more likely to deal with a complete form of problems during their period of time studying in university: communal, personal and intellectual. These transitions are sometimes spoken out in high schools or during the last year of senior high school to provide students an image of how university or college will be like for them when they enter into it nevertheless, you that some can be true but many are not.
3. STUDENTS' TRANSITION
Anthropologist Van Gennep, Tinto (1988) has stated that the routine of getting into the university movements through three distinctive stages - parting, changeover and incorporation.
3. 1 Separation
- through the separation stage, scholar will require to disconnect their selves using their connections of previous relationships with communities such as high school or home conditions or anything that are atleast less tense to be able to adapt college or university life.
3. 2 Transition
- students will find themselves interacting to other folks with a completely new environment and learning strategies, and to make connections they have to blend in. During the transition level, students have not quite achieved the separation level and still not obtained the educational and social discussion with the new stage of their learning. As Anthropologist Van Gennep, Tinto suggested, it is the stage where the process of moving in one community to another is occurring and he also said that stage can be more or less tense and difficult for some students. The first two levels is where students are often in greater threat of dropping out from other courses (Hillman, 2005)
3. 3 Incorporation
- means "inclusion", it is the final stage of the model that has been proposed by Tinto. It is the stage where students face complications in adopting the standards appropriate to the new environment or setting, and in this case, it's the university or any tertiary levels. To be able to accomplish this level, students have to allocate contacts with different customers from the corporations to create social and academic connections.
4. ISSUES AFFECTING STUDENTS' TRANSITION
There are three determined main sections in which move can be difficult, they are as follows; students' anxiety, modification techniques, and the continuity with respect to the curriculum (Hargreaves, et al 1996). Although they only have studied key and supplementary transitions, additionally it is determined that their findings are also relevant to other contexts including the university or at work. People have a tendency to fret their selves when stepping into a new level of the life, exactly like how students stress when entering university life. This can be a large problem when all they think about is the negative factors. The second section is the modification processes, as a new university students, you will need to adapt to the new environment and new learning styles. Continuity regarding subject course studies can be difficult because a lot of people are not aware of the difference of the topic studied in senior high school and universities, in conditions of workloads and assessments style. If these problems which have been mentioned by Hargreaves, Earl and Ryan (1996) sustained, this may lead to drawback or dropping away of students from university or college studies.
4. 1 Expectations of students prior to commencement
During the final year of extra school, most corporations chose to expose the students into basic academics strategies. It is to help complement their students' learning in to more academic level to give them a simple image of how university or college will be like when they reach tertiary levels but despite it all, it is not enough. Most students have didn't adapt the academics change when they enter into college or university because they just have a basic knowledge about university life. The most frequent expectations first 12 months students have of university or college life are as follows:
-having fun during their studies,
-meeting new people and making friends with them,
- Flexibility that they never had during secondary studies.
-more interesting subjects
When students start their first few weeks in the college or university, they will discover that the objectives they've had prior to commencing college or university studies are actually the other way around. It really is difficult to make friends, and that they will find out that we now have much heavier workloads than they may have expected during their senior high school life, and much more.
4. 2 The most frequent issues experienced by first 12 months student
Are the following:
- fitting into the new environment, most students undertaking their first year at the university or college are having hard times fitting into the new environment. College or university campuses are large and groups of complexes can be associated with the establishments. Finding rooms can be considered a real hassle in particular when the college or university is includes different properties.
-making new friends, most students often start their first 12 months at the college or university excited to make friends and reaching new people but sometimes, university or college is not referred to as a friendly place, as more students heading to the college or university are more focus on their educational life than their social life.
-University workload, this is one of the issues that cause a pupil to withdraw and give up their studies. For the reason that of their insufficient self confidence and usually these kind of students will be the ones who do not know how to manage their time for each subject which finished them up of leaving behind their review course.
5. CONCLUSION
First time at universities are very important in students life as they are now entering another and a higher level of education, it is significant yet it is rather challenging. Making the transition to academic life at an Australian school can be one of the most difficult and challenging experience encounters by first yr students. Move to the college or university life are also one of why some students withdraws using their review, as they have experienced hard times or lack of self-confidence to handle the new stage of education. In order for students to achieved this stage of the life many establishments have created programs to help students and encourage them how to be more centered in their studies and the way to overcome the problems talked about in this survey.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
It is vital for colleges to introduce or update orientation programs for students prior to starting university. Companies should provide a culture of university or college and also give the students advice in entering the university. Additionally it is the students dependable to research information about the university or college they are planning to enroll in, to be able to have knowledge about it when starting their tertiary education.
Institutions should let the students know about the workloads, the evaluation styles and writing conventions during the orientation week, so students can understand how to manage their times prior to commencing university studies. Additionally it is a good notion for institutions to provide programs through the orientation week for first years students to access know each other
It is also important for the corporations to provide experienced tutors that can work with students to help them using their problems or uncertainty about the subject areas in a particular course subject. Also an extremely trained counsellor to help students with their problems outside school life, such as family problems and help them assist and triumph over these issues to keep the marks.
Some students feel convenient when they have more friends that go directly to the same university or college as them. To make new friends and get the capability to get to know other folks from the college or university, you have to be friendly to them and improve your communication skills. Admiration others if you would like them to value you too.
Students should become aware of workloads and different varieties of assessments and also with writing conventions. Students also need to remember that getting into a tertiary stage means that they have to be considering more critically and even more academic as they are now treated as adult. They also needs to remember that lecturers aren't as reliable as the teachers you had in high school, they expect you to be acting and considering academically.
Before commencing into university, as a student you can also attend open times, even throughout your HSC season, most universities already are organising open days for new students to give more info to students about the organizations and what to expect.
