Transition in, Transition out: a sustainable model to engage first year students in learning. A Practice Report

Abstract

Peer mentoring, presented as an inclusive teaching approach, embedded in the curriculum, has been successfully implemented to support first year student learning. Developing sustainable and scalable models for large first year cohorts, however, provides a challenge. The Transition in, Transition out model is a sustainable peer mentoring model supporting the transition of both first and final year students. The model has been implemented in two Australian psychology programs, one face-to-face and one delivered online. The focus in this Practice Report will be on the outcome data for on-campus first year student at one university. Participants were 231 first year students (166 females and 65 males). Results suggest positive changes in academic performance and learning approaches as well as positive endorsement of the model.

Keywords

• peer mentoring, first year experience, transition, peer mentoring evaluation, learning approaches