Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training

Trends in the First Year Experience

Executive summary

This report provides an analysis of trends in the perceptions and behaviours of first year undergraduate students in seven Australian universities. Drawing on a 1994 study conducted by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) at the University of Melbourne, 2,609 first year students in the same universities were surveyed in the second semester of 1999. While the two survey questionnaires were identical in most respects, a series of additional items related to student expectations and use of learning technologies provides some new benchmarks for future monitoring. In the five years since the 1994 survey the pace of change in higher education has been dramatic on all fronts. The conjunction of the pressures arising from the expansion in student numbers, innovations in teaching and learning, and intense market competition between universities, have changed the landscape of higher education. In particular, the context for undergraduate students commencing university has been changed with increased choice and flexibility in course design and modes of delivery, and the introduction of a range of institutional strategies to improve transition from school to university.

The following summarises the major patterns of stability and change from 1994 to 1999:

Students’ reasons for coming to university remain quite stable. Intrinsic interest in a field of study combined with the desire to improve their job prospects are high on the agenda of most first year students; around three-quarters are clear about the reasons they come to university.
There has been little change in the considerable number of students who have a very uncertain start at university. This is generally through a combination of factors, which can include lack of accurate initial information, poor course choices, failure to get their first choice, or unrealistic expectations of the amount of work and time involved in university study. One in five of the 1999 first year students hoped to change to a different course after their first year, and, as in 1994, about one-third seriously consider deferring during their first semester.
Despite widespread and concerted efforts to improve the links between school and university, it is still the case that about one-third of the students who go direct from school to university do not feel they were ready to choose a course, and two thirds are of the view that they were not well-prepared for university study.
However, there are some indications that the gap between school and university noted in the 1994 survey may not now be so wide. More students in 1999 found university study more fulfilling than school (61 per cent) and fewer felt it was more demanding than school (57 per cent). Students have relatively realistic expectations about the amount of new material they will experience at university; they both expect and find a significant amount of such material.
On the whole, there has been little change in the level of students’ academic orientation or their academic application between 1994 and 1999. Around
60 per cent continue to enjoy the intellectual challenge of their subjects and some 40 per cent enjoy the theoretical content of their subjects. However, the proportion of students who say that they get a lot of satisfaction from study has decreased from 43 per cent to 40 per cent; and the proportion who find it difficult to motivate themselves to study has increased significantly, from 42 per cent to
48 per cent.
The 1999 survey included a new set of questions regarding the use of teaching and learning technologies. Overall, web-based resources and information designed specifically for courses, and interactive multi-media software designed specifically for courses are relatively widespread (although between 25 and over 40 per cent of students say they have not as yet used these learning tools). On-line discussion groups and virtual tutoring are much less well developed and used by a relatively small minority of students. There are fairly clear indications of different patterns of use by students across fields of study.
Perhaps the most striking difference between the 1994 and 1999 responses is an increased proportion of students who are enrolled full-time and engaged in part-time work, and an increase in the average number of hours students are employed. There has been a 9 per cent increase in the proportion of full-time students who work part-time, and a 14 per cent increase in the mean number of hours they work. While the average hours worked is 12.5 hour per week, the proportion who say they work between 11 and 20 hours has increased from 32 per cent to
42 per cent since 1994. Fewer students are spending five days per week at university and average course contact hours have dropped slightly since 1994.
Despite some of the negative perceptions of specific aspects of the first year experience reported in the study, there are some positive trends with respect to the overall perceptions. The proportion of students who say they find their course intellectually stimulating—around two-thirds—is unchanged from 1994, and there have been small but significant increases in the proportions of students who are enjoying their course overall (from 61 to 64 per cent) and in those who are very satisfied with their initial university experience (from 61 to 63 per cent).

The data in the report provide an exceptionally strong basis for reflecting on the effectiveness of initiatives over the last five years aimed at improving the first year experience. It is now possible to monitor the ongoing and rapid changes in the student experience. The findings suggest a trend of less attachment and commitment to a range of aspects of university life and academic work on the part of those who work longer hours in paid employment. This requires closer investigation. It appears that university study occupies a smaller proportion of a growing number of students’ lives. The slight but noteworthy decline in motivation to study, the increase in the hours of paid work, and the trend towards less engagement with the university have implications for policy and practice concerning the first year experience at both system and institutional levels.

Full report (PDF 334KB)

*Note: You need Acrobat Reader 3.0 to read PDF files.
Free Acrobat PDF reader software is available for downloading from the DETYA ftp site. Acrobat and the Acrobat logo are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated

Return to the Top of the Page