Listening to student voices: student researchers exploring undergraduate experiences of university transition

Maunder, R., Cunliffe, M., Galvin, J., Mjali, S. and Rogers, J. (2013) Listening to student voices: student researchers exploring undergraduate experiences of university transition. Higher Education. 66(2), pp. 139-152. 1573-174X.

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Abstract:

This exploratory study presents a different approach to studying transition by involving students as researchers. The aim was to investigate how students talked about their experiences of transition in university. Nineteen first and second year undergraduate psychology students participated in focus groups and semi-structured interviews, conducted by student researchers, to provide in-depth accounts of their transition experiences. Findings showed that students held internal images about university, shaped through cultural experience, which were used to form expectations and interpret experiences. Social relationships were crucial, with the formation of groups facilitating adjustment in an unfamiliar environment. Students also described how negotiating transition contributed to personal changes. The research emphasises the salience of sociocultural factors in transition, and the relationship between transition and identity. Additionally, the value of including students as researchers to provide authentic access to student voices is highlighted

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Transition, university, sociocultural, student researchers, staff-student partnership, student voice

Subjects:

B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF77 Study and teaching
L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1050 Educational psychology

Creators:

Maunder, R., Cunliffe, M., Galvin, J., Mjali, S. and Rogers, J.

Publisher:

Springer

Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: