Chapter 4. From First to Second Year
A sub-sample of the first year students surveyed in 1994 were also surveyed in 1995 and 1996 as part of a longitudinal study of their university experience. For the transition study this data set is valuable for the insights it provides into the patterns of student attitudes that endure into second and subsequent years. The present discussion is limited to an analysis of the school leavers who responded in both 1994 and 1995, a total of 481 respondents. For the purposes of comparing satisfaction levels between 1994 and 1995, 20 respondents in the sub-sample were no longer enrolled and six respondents had not completed the relevant items on both the 1994 and 1995 questionnaires, leaving a total of 455 useable responses.
Students who become satisfied during their second year at university Once again, student responses to the items ‘Overall, I am really enjoying my course’ and ‘Overall, I am very satisfied with my university experience so far’ have been used as a broad indicator of satisfaction with the university experience. Students who disagreed or strongly disagreed with either or both of these statements have been defined as ‘dissatisfied’. Of the 455 students in the sub-sample whose responses in 1994 and 1995 can be compared, 88 (19.3 per cent) were dissatisfied in their first year. Of these students, 59 reported satisfaction the following year. Against this, 34 students became dissatisfied in their second year after previously reporting overall satisfaction. In total, on the basis of our indicator of student satisfaction, 14 per cent of the sub-sample reported dissatisfaction in second year, an improvement in the overall level of satisfaction over the previous year. These data suggest that while there is some consistency of student attitudes between years one and two, many students who experience difficulties in first year may overcome these concerns—at least, that is, those who continue with their studies. Clearly, a substantial number of students take some time to adjust to university. One student wrote to us after finding her questionnaire that she had mislaid a year after the return date, and said: "On reading through my answers ... I'm surprised at how negative and miserable I was feeling then. Things have improved dramatically since then". The new attitudes and judgements of students who become satisfied in second year after expressing reservations the year before are especially noteworthy for the insights they might reveal into possible steps to ameliorate transfer difficulties. Although the direction of causality cannot be established from this present study, and the number of students is somewhat small, there are nevertheless apparent associations between improved satisfaction with university and certain variables that warrant consideration. An obvious explanation for a significant change in student attitude is new enrolment circumstances, such as enrolment at another institution, commencement of a new course, an adjustment in enrolment load, or repeating first year. Of the 68 students who became satisfied, well over half had continued into second year of the course they had begun in 1994. Five students were repeating the first year of the same course they began in 1994 and 22 had changed courses. Of the students who had changed courses, 13 had transferred to another institution.
Table 1: Student entry goals and context of course
Students who became satisfied in second year compared with all others (%)
*= Statistically significant difference between students who became satisfied in second year and all other school leavers, Pearson Chi-square, two-tailed test <0.01 Table 1 compares key aspects of transition and adjustment for school leavers who become satisfied in second year and all other school leavers, showing sizeable and statistically significant differences between the two groups. The students who became satisfied expressed a growing goal clarity in second year; over half (53 per cent) reported less agreement in 1995 than in 1994 with the statement ‘Studying at university is just marking time while I decide my future’, compared with only 22 per cent of the others. They also reported increased enjoyment at being a university student, and more relish for intellectual challenge. Half the students who became satisfied were in more agreement in second year that they were finding their course stimulating (cf. 23 per cent of others). As Table 2 shows, however, there were fewer differences in the learning and study habits of the two groups.
Table 2: Learning and study habits
Students who became satisfied in second year compared with all others (%)
*= Statistically significant difference; Pearson Chi-square, two-tailed test <0.01 While there were apparent differences in the responses to items ‘work with other students’, ‘discuss study with others’, ‘regularly seek assistance’, ‘read suggested material’ and ‘only study what’s required’ which paint a more positive picture for the students who became satisfied, some caution is needed in interpreting the findings since these differences were not statistically significant. The exception is the item ‘encouraged to become an independent learner’, to which students who become satisfied in second year expressed greater agreement than they had the year earlier. The upswing in attitude in the second year is also associated with changing perceptions of the teaching and learning environment. Table 3 reports the sub-sample’s responses to items relating to staff-student interaction, expectations and standards, the learning climate, and the overall quality of teaching. The responses to the item ‘I have a clear idea of where my course is going’ show that the students who became satisfied were more likely than the others to have developed a clearer sense of the objectives of their course during second year.
Table 3: Perceptions of the teaching and learning environment
Students who became satisfied in second year compared with all others (%)
*= Statistically significant difference; Pearson Chi-square, two-tailed test <0.01 Table 3: (Cont) Perceptions of the teaching and learning environment
Students who became satisfied in second year compared with all others (%)
*= Statistically significant difference; Pearson Chi-square, two-tailed test <0.01 They were also finding the staff more approachable than they had the year before, and increasingly were agreeing that the staff tried hard to make the subjects interesting. Almost half of the students who became satisfied (47 per cent) were in more agreement in second year than the year earlier that the teaching was generally good, compared with 22 per cent of all others. Significantly, these comparisons show the extent to which student perceptions of university life and their satisfaction with it change over time, markedly for some students. No doubt some of these changes can be attributed to the renewed commitment of students who had changed to a course or institution better suited to their needs. This reinforces the significance of the student-course match to the overall level of student satisfaction with university and points to the importance of appropriate course advise and counselling during selection processes. As well, as we might expect, improved satisfaction is closely associated with increasingly positive impressions of teaching quality. On simple measures of effective teaching, such as the enthusiasm of teaching staff and their capacity to offer clear explanations and to make the subject matter interesting, the perceptions of students who had became satisfied in second year had changed a good deal more than those of their peers. As we have pointed out, the causal relationships cannot be revealed by this study, but it is possible that the perceived quality of teaching is a determinant of overall satisfaction rather than vice versa. |
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