A presentation from the STEM Annual Conference 2014.
At the point of transition into Higher Education across all academic disciplines there is the imperative to enable student participation and engagement in the new educational environment. The first year in H.E. should be a time of transformation with learner identity gradually changing as a consequence of participating in the valued practices of the academy. This presentation will discuss data from an ethnography which followed Psychology undergraduates through their first year. The data sources included observation informal conversation semi structured and focus group interviews and document analysis. A socio-cultural approach to teaching and learning was taken to understand the practices which influence transition. Narrative and theoretical thematic analyses were undertaken. The analysis revealed that whilst some practices were enabling students also struggled to participate in taken for granted practices and this negatively impacted on their learner identities. Some continued to employ familiar practices from their previous learning communities leaving their learner identities unchanged. A central recommendation was made to reconceptualise the foundation year as a transition year. This would involve critical reflection on practices at the institutional departmental and individual level. The findings whilst focused on the specific practices of Psychology are generalizable to teaching and learning across STEM subjects.
