Assessment Task 3

Assessment Task 3: Report

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction………………………………………………… 3

Literature Review Social Support……………………………………………. 4

Organisation……………………………………………… 5

Problem Identification…………………………………. 6

Conclusion…………………………………………………. 7

Reference List…………………………………………….. 7

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to discuss key strategies of transition that make successful students and why some students unlike the successful ones cannot develop with such strategies. These transition issues are important for the Student Experience Committee as the University experience first starts with the transition from either high school or home or another career path into the new environment and academics. Transition strategies although are not only specific to new students, as all students incur changes throughout their years of attending university such as timetable changes and going into each new semester also requires transitioning.

Literature Review
Social Support
There are many transition strategies used by students to be successful at university. As every student is different there will never be one single transition experience as each student will learn and adjust their own ways and interpret strategies differently. Some specific strategies which are more important than others are such as a receiving social support. For first year students especially that have either came straight out of high school or from employment or family commitments social support is a major strategy that can and should be used. Forming friendships that make those support networks at university can help with the transition. Lectures, tutors and other members from the university, peers and family members are all sources of social support, they can help relieve times of negativity and stress. (Urquhart, B., & Pooley, J. (2007) pp. 43-44) And in a new environment having those networks make it easier to adapt to that environment (Levy (2012) pp. 72-75.) This is important as without friendships and social support it becomes easy for students to lose motivation and not enjoy the full experience university has to offer. This can then lead to an unsuccessful transition and the student may not complete their full course or may not pass their units resulting in a fail.

Organisation
Another important transition strategy is organisation, a student who is well organised with their independent learning and study is going to more likely transition easier into the university environment than a student who isn’t organised as being organised allows the student to not succumb to stress with the workload that comes with university study like attending lectures and tutorials, completing readings, study and keeping on top of assignments by their due dates. They have a willingness to complete the work they receive and maintain a balance between there social life outside university including work and sports, spending time with family and friends and their full time studies. Responsibility is a large part of organisation as it is up to the student to make their own choices and decisions about their attendance and managing their time efficiently and conforming to the expectations of the university. This can be a bigger step for students straight out of high school as most of them have not been exposed to the independent side of living and managing compared to mature aged students as being older they are more likely used to managing their time already and have experienced deadlines and routines prior to returning back to study (Earl (2012) pp. 253-264)

Problem Identification
Some university students do not engage in successful transition strategies as they struggle to make connections within the university and can not adapt to the environment. Some mature aged students especially ones that have busy households with children or demanding jobs for example have a lot more to manage and incorporate into their timetables compared to younger students who may still live at home and not have as many outside curricular lifestyle choices they have to manage as well.
Students who are the first to attend university in their families can also struggle to engage in successful transition strategies they may be self-sufficient which can place a lot of stress on a person especially if they feel like their family do not understand or can not support them the same way another student who had previous family members whom had completed a university degree. This could possibly affect their attitude towards university and they may not make friends and successful connections with peers for support. This can therefor lead to