'Into foreign territory': the experiences of six students as they first encounter formal university learning structures

This research study examines the voices of six first year university students as they encounter the formal structured learning environment of an Australian university. <br><br>The study is situated within a context of the changing landscape of tertiary education in Australia, particularly as it relates to what is commonly called “the first year experience” (FYE). The emergence over the last two decades of a number of theoretical perspectives on the FYE have informed this study, including student engagement and satisfaction with the university experience. Within these perspectives the negotiated engagement of the modern student is discussed. It is against these theoretical perspectives that the interviews of the students are explored as they journey through the formal learning structures of lectures and tutorials and through the processes and academic relationships that support these structures.<br><br>The aim of this study is to determine what engagement the traditional university learning structures of lectures and tutorials created for these six individual students. I also explored the academic relationships these students formed with their lecturers and tutors within these structures and their expectations about how they would learn and become knowledgeable in their discipline through these structures. <br><br>The research design was situated within a qualitative paradigm. The framework of interpretivism was selected as it provides opportunities for a view of the reality in terms of the constructions of the six participants. In listening to the “voices” of the students I was able to grasp their meanings and then reconstruct the meanings into an interpretation. Within this framework of interpretivism I chose case studies using interviews as the key data collection method. Through the articulation of their learning experiences over both semesters, I was able to gain an insight into the issues involved in the transition to formal university structures for each of the six students. <br>The students in this study were unclear about their role as learners in the formal university learning environment. In particular, university structures (such as lectures and tutorials) were alien to their previous encounters with formal education and they were unsure and confused about the nature and extent of their participation.. All of the participants quickly adjusted their expectations when confronted with the same formal structures in second semester. <br><br>The responses gained through this research cast these students as journey makers, engaging in rapid construction, deconstruction and reconstruction of the academic environment and the structures and processes within it. <br>This study contributes to educational practice by raising questions about the type of learning structures and processes universities set up for first year students. It questions the quality of structures such as lectures and tutorials for all students. Importantly, it challenges the role of academics in facilitating better “signposts” to aid perseverance in the learning journey and success in an “alien place”. <br>