Orientation has been acknowledged as a key instrument during
the initial transition for new students as they enter third level education. An
effective and well-planned orientation for new students has the potential to
develop a foundation which can support students’ attachment to their third
level institute and in turn support retention.
For the purpose of this workshop we will focus on early
transition and discuss orientation as the period from which a student accepts
their place in a third level institute to the end of the first week of lectures.
This time period aligns with that transitionary and bounded liminal space of
early transition.
This workshop will outline the relationship between
orientation and retention and the theoretical underpinnings of the challenges
of early transition.
Using a gallery-walk approach in small groups, we will
explore two specifics areas with participants;
Levels of communication with first year students
before they accept their CAO offer and after they accept. What do varying
institutions do in these spaces and what more should/ could they do?
What are the components of orientation across institutions
and what else should/ could be done? This is divided across the personal,
social and academic.
The gallery-walk model has stations with specific headings where
groups read the contributions of the groups who contributed before them and
only add new content. A feedback session will take place.
Following this activity, evidence-based practice will be
shared with participants about the features of effective orientation for early
transition.
The workshop facilitators commit to photographing the
content generated in the workshop and will share it amongst participants.