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First Year: The academic experience

  • What is important?

  • Coping with transition

  • Understanding what is required

  • Engagement with academic programmes

  • Support and feedback

  • Experiences of success

  • Agents in own learning

  • Belief in self (ability) and motivation

  • Social dynamics of learning (belonging)

  • Based on research by Yorke (UK) and Tinto (US)

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Notes:

A number of problems have been identified in the literature on the first year experience of HE. Specifically, failure and dropout have been related to a lack of clarity regarding expectations in the first year, low levels of teacher feedback and poor motivation. Failure has also been related to low self-belief (not believing one will be successful in study), lack of control over one’s own learning and not feeling involved in (or integrating into) the academic and social life of the university community (Tinto, 1999, 2005: Yorke, 1999, 2001: Yorke and Longden, 2004),
 
Let’s now look at the 10 principles in relation to the two dimensions and with reference to the first year experience.