This essay will aim to provide a critical examination in to my own experience and approach to learning at university and will consider the extent to which it is consistent with the literature on adult learning. The main discussion of my essay will be the theme of transition. Stemming from this, I will go on to discuss identity, academic literature and communities of practice throughout the transition process in to first year of university.
A student’s transition in to first year of university can often be seen as unfamiliar, confusing and challenging (Lesley Gourlay, 2009). I can fully relate to this as my first day was daunting, I was unaware of what to expect and I didn’t know about any of the learning styles, such as, lectures, seminars and problem based learning groups. After my first day I felt extremely anxious, it was all new to me and I felt totally out of my comfort zone. The learning styles used in the university environment are much different to anything I have ever experienced before with much less contact with academic staff – in comparison to being a student in high school – and more independent study. There is much more pressure. I found this particularly challenging, however, after engaging with more experienced students in years above, I was advised that organisation is the key to success.
“When students begin their first year at university, they are required to reorganise the way they think about themselves, as learners, and as social beings. Their first important task is to identify the characteristics of their new role, and the features that distinguish it from the one they have left behind. They must articulate what is new about teaching and learning at university, and develop relationships with new peers and interact with faculty members” (Bennett, 1998). Taking this evidence, as well as more advanced students’ opinions in to consideration, I started reorganising myself around university life and prioritising my academic work. As a result of this, I was able to take the time to make sense of the different buildings which were of good use to me, most importantly, the library. This was a particular fear of mine because I had never required to use one properly before and I wasn’t entirely sure what kind of books I was looking for. I also took the time to explore the university website and familiarise myself with Myplace as that is where I would find all of my module information. I started to read and print out my powerpoint slides prior to lectures so that they wouldn’t be so unfamiliar to me. Each student’s adult learning styles will be different. Andragogy is the word used to describe how adults learn. This was first introduced by Malcolm Knowles (1980), who proposed five factors involved with adult learning. The five assumptions describe the adult learner as someone who “Has an independent self-concept and who can direct his or her own learning, has accumulated a reservoir of life experiences that is a rich resource for learning, has learning needs closely related to changing social roles, is problem-centered and interested in immediate application of knowledge and is motivated to learn by internal rather than external factors” (Merriam, 2001, p.5)
As a result of my transition into university, it became clear that first year wasn’t going to be as easy as I assumed it was going to be. Although I was now fully engaged with Myplace and had a vague idea of where all of the buildings were located, I was still feeling completely overwhelmed by the whole experience and how fast paced the university environment was in comparison to school. Whether or not you are a school leaver, a college leaver or a mature student coming to university for the first time, I believe it is a shock for everyone. The whole transition experience started to make me feel down and I quickly felt my self-esteem drop. Lesley Gourlay (2009) describes the feeling of a loss of identity when transitioning in to university for the first time. She argues that the notion of ‘liminality’ will therefore explain the issues that a new student will experience in university, whereby they are “in limbo” during the transition process with a limited sense of identity and a period of emotional instability. For myself, this is very relatable in terms of questioning whether or not I deserved to be at university, or whether it was the right decision for me. As an adult learner you have to be motivated in order to succeed at university, however, this can be difficult with low confidence levels. However, I was advised again by older students in the same course to enjoy my time at university, especially my first year, to make friends and to go out and have fun.
“Students were asked to identify ‘turning point’ experiences; breakthroughs which caused their sense of belonging to increase, which tended to be significant social or personal events. The present study also revealed the importance of friendships and the social dimension of belonging” (Lesley Gourlay, 2009)
This statement from Gourlay’s article was similar to my experiences in that, once I had established a small, good group of friends, everything became easier and I suddenly began to recognise that I did deserve my place at university and that I had worked hard to get there. I now had people to communicate with who were going through the same feelings as I was and I think that this is crucial to helping you settle in to your university course and find your sense of belonging there, as first year university dropout rates are particularly high. The Telegraph (2013) stated “Official figures show that more than one-in-14 students quit higher education altogether after less than 12 months and numbers soared to almost a quarter at the worst-performing institution.”
This figure doesn’t surprise me as I know that university courses are challenging – especially if your sense of self-esteem and confidence is low – and I believe that some students will feel that they are unable to cope with the demanding nature of their course. If it hadn’t been for meeting a great group of friends and finding my sense of self-worth again, I think the pressure of university would have gotten the better of me.
A constant worry of mine was my standard of academic writing and what was required of me in an assignment due to the fact that this has never been a strong point of mine.
“The journey to university study may first be perceived as a departure by former school teachers and classmates, but students experience a number of problems when they transit from high school to university study, such as the failure to undergo suitable orientation regarding academic expectations and social integration” (Tinto 1993).
Throughout my duration at high school, I received a considerable amount of support from teaching staff who helped me to perfect my essays and coursework. However, after six years of full on support, it did not prepare me in the slightest for the standard of academic literature required by the university. I wasn’t familiar with the layout of a university assignment and I had never written more than one thousand words for a high school essay, nor had I ever had to reference before. In addition, my vocabulary is not as strong as I could be. My concern was that a mature students vocabulary would be much broader than mine, after all, they have much more life experience than what I do.
As part of one of my modules, I handed in a draft assignment on a particular topic which I received feedback on. As a result of this, I was able to identify my strengths and weaknesses in academic writing, therefore, I knew which areas I had to improve on but I was also reassured that I was on the right path.
“When asked when they began to feel more confident at university, they identified receiving good marks or feedback in their writing.” (Lesley Gourlay, 2009)
Gourlay’s article is one of my favourite because of her studies with different students. In particular, one of the students in the study, Katie, explained that in her first semester she felt out of place and didn’t think she should be at university, but after receiving positive results in pieces of writing she had completed she started to feel like she deserved to be there. Katie’s experience is identical to how I felt in my first few weeks at university due to mixed emotions of worry and anxiousness before handing in your first assignment.
The most successful learning method for myself during my transition has been communities of practice. I found this was the most effective way to help develop and broaden my own knowledge during a problem based learning group session as each member of the group discussed their findings. “PBL requires students to take a more active role in their learning and the majority of students agreed that the PBL model helped them in their learning about disabilities and cultural diversity, and agreed that it was a stimulating approach to learning about children and families.” (Altshuler, 2003)
I found it extremely interesting listening to every member and I was able to grasp things much more easily than I would have by reading them from a book or journal. Problem based learning groups also helped me to build new relationships with people that I had never engaged with on the course before and it was certainly more exciting than sitting in a lecture for two hours where the whole time you are looking at a powerpoint, listening to the lecturer. Due to having to discuss my own findings every week, my confidence and self-esteem grew drastically as there was no shying away from it. As a social worker you are constantly having to engage with different groups of people every day therefore I feel that starting group work in my first few weeks of university was particularly helpful.
Knight (2014) argues that as a social worker or social work student, understanding how a group works is a vital part of social work practice, as group work Is a great way of achieving a feeling of self-worth within a group community.
To conclue this essay, my experience of learning at university for the first time was particularly daunting. However, from talking to more experienced individuals I found that this was normal. As an adult learner you are required to work much more independently at university and in order to successfully do this, you need to be motivated to learn. The jump from school to university was hard, but it’s a learning curve and has provided me with a much better insight into what adult learning is. I have grasped this concept well over my first two months at university and will continue to use it in the years to come.
Sources:
Altshuler, J. S. (2003). Problem-Based Learning in Social Work Education. Journal of TeachingmIn Social Work (23) 201-215
Bennett, R (1998) Transition, Orientation and Motivation: Identifying factors that can detrimentally affect the successful orientation and adjustment of design students entering higher education. Paper presented at the third Pacific RIM Conference on the first year experience in Higher Education. Auckland, New Zealand.
Gourlay, L. (2009) Threshold practices: becoming a student through academic literacies. London Review of Education Vol.7 (2) 181-192.
Knight, C. (2014) Teaching Group Work in the BSW in the Generalist Social Work Curriculum: Core Content, Social Work with Groups, 37 (1), 23-25.
Merriam, S.B. (2001) Andragogy and self directed learning: Pillars of adult learning theory. New directions for adult and continuing education, 89, 3-14.
The Telegraph. (2013). Warning as 27’000 university students drop out in a year. Retrieved from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9946149/Warning-as-27000-university-students-drop-out-in-a-year.html
Tinto, V. (1993) Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.