Understanding the gaps between first years' expectations and experiences

In the current university climate where student numbers are continually increasing and funding to institutions are decreasing do you have concerns about teaching first year students? Do you feel that it is no longer possible to rely on students having the requisite knowledge or skills that you relied upon when teaching them in past years? Are your expectations of students changing? Do you want to know more about what students expect from their university experience and from their teaching staff?

This workshop will disseminate the findings of the Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) extension grant: Staff and Student Experience and Expectations (SSEE) project.  The project surveyed over 18,000 students from all three universities in South Australia and matched student survey data with their academic outcomes. The findings have indicated several areas where significant gaps occur in students’ expectations and experiences.

In the workshop participants will:

• Reflect on their own expectations of first year undergraduate students and consider how these expectations influence their interactions with first year students practice.
• Discover what first year students’ have said about their expectations and experiences.
• Consider implications for potentially high risk student groups (e.g. First in Family students) and the differences of experiences and expectations across these cohorts.
• Develop strategies for addressing the gaps between student expectations and experiences within their own institution.

Workshop participants will be provided with resources developed from the project that will help them develop a greater understanding of student expectations as well as strategies to provide more effective support for incoming students. 

The presenters:

Dr Ann Luzeckyj, Lecturer in Higher Education: First Year Undergraduate Teaching Adviser, Flinders University.

Dr Sharron King, Senior Lecturer in Health Sciences at the University of South Australia. Her current research includes collaborative grants on student's expectations and experiences of university study, student's physical and emotional health and well-being during transition, and the affective dimensions of teaching and learning interactions

Please RSVP to Denyse MacNish