About this event
What do students know about university before they start? How does this impact on first-year academic achievement and connections with learning communities?
Student experience of the transition into first-year university is key for student success and retention in higher education. An important aspect that is relatively underexamined in this regard is the first-year students’ social and academic expectations as they prepare for and begin their transition to university learning.
In this presentation, the Enhancing First Year Experience (EFYE) EF CoP Leads will share findings from a CoP research project about first-year student academic expectations. This project explores the gap between student and academic staff perspectives on the transition from school to university. Interviews with first-year university students from a range of faculties at UNSW at different points in time during their first year were used to explore their expectations. Students were asked to recall the information they gathered from teachers, friends, and family about perceptions of the university before commencing, and to reflect on the adequacy and relevance of this information after at least one term of study. Students were also asked to consider what information was missing, and how well the academics they encountered in their first classes at university responded to their level of understanding of higher education. Analysis of student responses suggests ways to further improve the experience for both students and educators during this critical juncture in student educational journeys.
Join us to learn more about this project, which emphasises student voice to articulate the gap between student expectations and the reality of transition to university study, providing valuable insights to guide educators in supporting quality learning and effective first-year transition to university.
Lunch will be served before the start of the presentation.
About the Presenters:
Associate Professor Diana Perche
Diana is Deputy Head of School (Education) in the School of Social Sciences. Diana teaches policy and politics, and her research areas include public policy theory, historical analysis of policy development, the politics of evaluation, and the use of evidence in policy formulation and implementation. During her time as a co-lead of the EFYE EF CoP between 2020 and 2023, this first-year student academic expectations research project was planned and implemented.
Dr Inma Tomeo-Reyes
Inma is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications and a co-lead of the EFYE EF CoP. She is very interested in applying engineering education research to the courses she designs and runs, and consistently implements strategies to improve student engagement, collaboration, and active learning. She usually delivers very large first-year courses, so she has developed a passion for teaching first-year students and effectively teaching at scale.
Inma’s innovative education approaches have led to recognition at institutional and international levels, including, among others, Senior Fellowship of The Higher Education Academy (UK) in 2020 and a UNSW Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2022.
Sandeep Kirpalani
Sandeep Kirpalani is a senior lecturer and currently in the role of Academic Lead for the Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy program at UNSW. Prior to this, Sandeep created an Integrated First Year course for the UNSW business school (COMM1120 Collaboration and Innovation in Business), which has been undertaken by thousands of students till date. Sandeep has been a founding co-lead of the COP, along with Diana and Inma. Sandeep has a passion for authentic learning experiences in first year teaching as being foundational to the student’s university learning life.
Sandeep received an SFHEA in 2023 and won the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Programs that enhance learning in 2021.
Nicola Kozlina
Nicola is a Lecturer in the School of Private and Commercial Law in the Faculty of Law & Justice. Nicola is passionate about the first-year experience, convening two first year law subjects and teaching across all three core first year law subjects. She has experience teaching both undergraduate LLB and graduate Juris Doctor students, including large international student cohorts. Nicola’s approach to teaching prioritises clarity in doctrinal understanding and precision in legal argument. Students engage critically with the law by understanding the context in which it was made and the purpose it is designed to achieve. Nicola is project lead on three Faculty Learning and Teaching Grants – Embedding Indigenous Perspectives in Introducing Law & Justice, Generative AI in the Law Curriculum and revising a Custom Publication for Principles of Private Law.
Nicola is an Enhancing First Year Experience CoP Co-lead.
About the EFYE EF Community of Practice:
Are you passionate about the first-year experience? So are we… The Enhancing First Year Experience (EFYE) EF CoP brings together educators and professional staff from all faculties and divisions, to imagine and lead a more holistic approach to enhancing the first-year student experience at UNSW. Acknowledging that many first-year courses manage large cohorts of students, the CoP enables educators and professional staff to share practice, experience, and ideas, and to collaborate on outcomes that will have positive impacts on both students and educators.
Our monthly meetings explore key issues related to the first-year student journey, informed by our key pillars:
Expectations and feedback
Involvement and support
Empathy and the student journey.
Visit the Enhancing First Year Experience Resource Library to gain easy access to presentations across diverse topics related to the first year experience. The presentations are provided in short bite-sized chunks so viewers can quickly locate and view relevant content.
Project Officer: Melissa Nyholm
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This event is a part of the EF Lunch & Learn series, which will each be hosted each time by a different EF Community of Practice (CoP). It is an opportunity to showcase the wonderful work of the CoPs across the wider University community.