Juggling first year student experience and institutional change: An Australian experience

Abstract

First year students experience a range of tensions as they negotiate their new roles as university students, particularly in their first six months of study. This paper will describe how one Australian, research intensive, University engaged in a quality change process through the development and implementation of a strategic teaching and learning project. The overarching aim of the project was to implement specific, student-centred initiatives to create a learning environment which would improve first year students' experiences. Vignettes of Faculty-based initiatives will be used to illustrate how first year students' issues were addressed to improve the overall student experience.