Identifying Transition Excellence in the First Year Curriculum
Thank you for your interest in this project. Your participation is valued, and we appreciate you taking the time to lend your voice to this study, which we hope will provide resources to align first year teaching more closely with transition objectives.
Invitation to participate
If you have not received a copy of the initial letter from Dr Pat McLean inviting staff participation, please begin by downloading a copy of the invitation .
Aims of the project
This project seeks to identify areas of innovative curriculum design and teaching practice that intentionally support students’ transition to university. By definition, transition is the process of moving from one set of circumstances to another, and refers to the range of issues and emotions that students face during various new stages of their university career and specifically in making the move from secondary school to university. These areas of transition can be broadly categorised as academic, geographic, administrative and personal/social.
Academic: Changes in teaching and learning styles, in the pace of instruction, in expectations and assumptions and in the level of self-directed study they need to complete.
Geographic: Orientation to a new geographic environment, including to a new city or country for many. They may also need to change their travel and/or accommodation arrangements.
Administrative: Students learning to take responsibility for their own administrative affairs, such as enrolment, finances, timetables, and understanding university processes.
Personal: Many students are also transitioning to adulthood and need to establish new social & support networks, and adapt to a new cultural environment.
While recognising there are many student services to assist students with these challenges, we are keen to learn about the approach you take in addressing these transition issues in the learning environment.
What are we looking for?
The project is informed by an ALTC fellowship project undertaken by Professor Sally Kift of QUT: Articulating a transition pedagogy to scaffold and enhance the first-year learning experience in Australian higher education. Our study aims to examine similar aspects in the teaching practices and curriculum design at the University of Melbourne. If interested in examples of what kind of teaching practices we are looking for please see this document on principles of first year curriculum, provided by Prof Kift at a workshop given at Melbourne in 2008.
What will we do with the results?
The ultimate aim of this project is to create a practical resource kit, incorporating good practice examples and ‘how to’ guides for academic colleagues interested in developing the transition aspect of their teaching.
You can opt to remain anonymous if you wish. However, if we choose to use your teaching practices and strategies as good practice examples, then we would like to be able to attribute them to you so that you receive recognition for them, so please provide your details if you contribute any of these in your response.
Any other information provided, eg your opinions on available resources etc, will be used for our understanding of the needs and preferences of first year teaching staff, and as such will remain confidential. Individuals’ names or faculties will not be connected to these kinds of responses in any reporting.
How can you participate?
- Interview: If you would like to discuss your practices and ideas in person, you can attend an interview with staff of Transition and Orientation. This interview can be conducted individually or in a small group of colleagues from your department, and would take around an hour, at a time and location convenient to you. To organise an interview time, please contact Ron Baird on 8344 4636, or email rbaird@ unimelb.edu.au
- Online Questionnaire: If you do not have the time for an interview but would still like to be involved, we would value your participation by your completion of an online survey which takes about 20-30 minutes.
The questionnaire is divided into three sections which seek your responses on your understanding of transition, your teaching practice & curriculum design and input on current & future transition resources. The questionnaire will take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete and you are encouraged to answer as many or as few of the questions as you wish. Begin questionnaire