The student experience of transition to university Sandra Winn, - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The student experience of transition to university Sandra Winn, Paula Wilcox, Sarah Pemberton, Dave Harley School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton Contact: s.winn@bton.ac.uk

Outline of presentation • Introduction – Retention and student success – Retention and student motivation – Impact of material factors • Aims and methods • Findings – Applying to university – Arriving and making contact with others – Experience of academic work – Personal circumstances and social location • Conclusion and implications

Student retention (or ‘student success’) • In the UK student retention has assumed increasing prominence • Retention is complex; rarely a single reason for withdrawal. Factors include: – those operating prior to entry – the academic experience – the social experience • Retention more recently conceptualised by HEFCE and researchers as ‘student success’

Student success and student motivation • Student success requires study of both completion and achievement • Student motivation is a factor in both – Retention: proactive decision-making in the application process (Ozga and Sukhnandan, 1998); commitment, motivation, long-term goal (Mackie, 2001) – Achievement: some evidence of a relationship between intrinsic motivation and academic success, but not straightforward; types of motivation linked to approaches to studying.

Psychological approaches to student retention • Many of the learning and teaching strategies suggested in the retention literature are motivation- enhancing approaches • View of retention as a psychological issue (Bean and Eaton, 2000; Yorke, 2004) • Bean and Eaton’s model encompasses academic and social integration, e.g. internal locus of control produces high motivation both to study and integrate socially • But is at odds with much sociological analysis of retention

Sociological approaches to student retention • Macro-structural factors: age, socio-economic status, etc. • Financial factors? • Accommodation, social support, ‘institutional habitus’ (Thomas 2002; Wilcox et al ., 2005) • Prescott and Simpson (2004) – Utilize Herzberg’s theory of motivation – Motivators and ‘hygiene’ factors (or dissatisfiers) – Analysis restricted to academic environment

Aims and methods • Explore both motivators and dissatisfiers (material factors) in a cohort of students • Extend Prescott and Simpson’s (2004) model to include the social experience and the pre-entry stage • Study of first year Applied Social Science students at University of Brighton • Qualitative interviews with 35 students who stayed and 32 who left • 15 of the ‘stayers’ interviewed three times to capture the process of transition

Applying to university • Lack of ownership of decision ( external regulation ) Basically they’d ask, ‘Have you got your UCAS forms in?’ and we’d be like ‘No’ and we had to do them. We weren’t given any support about other options. All my friends were doing their UCAS forms and basically it was just a case of why not? (Stella, 18, left) I thought about having a gap year and my mum and boyfriend kind of swayed me against the idea, thinking that it would be better for me to go on in case I didn’t go back. … As soon as I got here I thought maybe this isn’t right for me, so I had doubts even before I was coming. (Rebecca, 18, left)

Applying to university • Lack of other options ( extrinsic motivation ): It was better to go to university than stay at home and do nothing. (Danielle, 18, stayed) • Motivation unrelated to the degree: I went there because my boyfriend is at Sussex University across the way. I wasn’t really interested in the course I was doing, or anything like that … I hadn’t even gone to an open day or looked round the uni before I got there, which is pretty ridiculous. (Nicole, 20, left)

Arriving at university and making friends • Support from family ( social support ) I was crying every day and ringing up my mum, but she was saying, ‘Oh stay for a bit’. So I am really glad that I stayed now. My mum didn’t let me come home for five weeks. So I stayed for five weeks, which I didn’t think I was going to be able to do … and I’m happy now. (Chantelle, 18, stayed) • Social isolation ( social support/material factor ) I was really willing to learn and I liked the lectures but it could be really lonely because although you’re with eight people, you were in your room by yourself. I thought I’m going to have to go to my room now and do nothing and sit there while everyone else is doing their own thing … I just hated that, it was really depressing. (Zoe, 20, left) • Isolation was increased by living with boyfriend or spending time with friends from home

Making friends • Living with incompatible flatmates ( material factor ) I was thinking everyone’s going to go out all the time, every night, have a really good time. This is really silly but I remember it was so hard to get people to go out with me in my flat. That was a bit of a shock because I’m quite used to going out loads at home and I thought they’d be up for it because it was Freshers’, and students have such a reputation. So that was the only negative thing, it was nothing to do with the university, it was just the people. (Christine, 20, withdrew)

Academic work • Difficulties with independent study. Sometimes because motivation was extrinsic/externally regulated: … you know how it is, you think you want to do it because you want to do it, but I probably would do it more for my parents and my family than myself. They haven’t put me under any pressure to pass, but I don’t want to let them down sort of thing, and I just want to play hockey. (Daren, 19, stayed)

Academic work • Lack of study skills ( reduces intrinsic motivation ) It is so hard to read because it is not interesting and everything is referenced so much. It says about four words and then the reference cuts in and you’ve got to move down the line. It is so hard to read! (Billy, 18, stayed) And they said, ‘Right, week to week read your handbook, you will find out what’s happening’, then suddenly you turn over the next page and it says, ‘Essay in next Friday’ and everyone goes, ‘Oh wow’. But I don’t think many people realised that the first day we were at university we already had the essay title and the date it had to be handed in. They had it in their bags but they hadn’t looked at it. (Harry, 26, stayed)

Academic work • Concepts of learning: didactic/reproductive beliefs (Kember, 2001) ( associated with extrinsic motivation ) … if we had handouts [in seminars], so you had something to refer to rather than just sitting in a circle and chatting and going home again. Because if you said, ‘What did you do in the seminar on Friday?’ I wouldn’t be able to remember because you never have anything to look back on. (Jane, 18, stayed) • Small number of examples of deep learning ( associated with intrinsic motivation ): Once you’ve got the knowledge it starts to piece together after a while. I think that’s the point of it rather than just learning what you have to do to pass an assessment. And when you come to do the exams at the end it’s easier because you’ve made sure you understand things before you move on. (Sarah, 31, stayed)

Academic work • Lack of motivation to study caused some to withdraw I didn’t have the self-motivation to do it really. I’m more of a structured person, I need structure in my life where I can come into work, know exactly what I’m doing and I realise that and decided that it wasn’t for me. (Karen, 25, left) • For others, study skills improved ‘in a complex and untrackable way’ (Haggis and Pouget, 2002), e.g. Billy who initially had difficulty with reading: So [the sociology exam] was all right and luckily two of the questions were socialisation, which is quite a big topic and we had done lots on it, and the other one was sociological theory of crime which ties in really well with the criminology … (Billy, 18, stayed)

Personal circumstances and social location • Employment ( material factor ) We only had to be [at university] Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so I found myself saying to them, ‘Oh I will do lunch covers on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday’ and I would be working Thursday, Friday, Saturday and I would only have Sunday off to do anything for uni and then in the evenings I would be going to my other job. (Lisa, 21, left) • Children ( material factor ) By the time the little one went to bed at nine o’clock or half past eight, there was no way I wanted to study. Then at weekends I just wanted to chill out. (Pauline, 45, withdrew, three children)