Changes and transitions are very difficult to manage and to navigate. Any change or transition implies that there is some type of innovation that the individual is going to experience. Change management and the management of innovation can provide insights for how to help manage the transition from high school to university. Best practice is usually to restrict the number of innovations and severity of innovation at any one time to reduce the variety and cascading effect. Unfortunately, students will experience at least 50 types of innovation (change) compared to their high school experience. Some of the changes will be relatively minor, but some will be quite significant.

Almost everything about their existence in high school will be different. The students would have experienced some of the changes when they moved from junior schooling to middle school to senior public school. But rarely, may they find that all of their friends are elsewhere, and that all of the rules and processes are different.

Around 2007, we were part of a team looking at the incoming students across campus, and around 2015 we led a task force within the faculty looking at the first year experience. Prior to this, we were supervising graduate work looking at millennial’s and what was happening with millennial’s at University and upon graduation. These activities help to inform us about the issues facing the students and the transition challenge. We also regularly talk to the incoming students about what they did in high school, how they were taught, how assessed, experiences with critical thinking, time management, and how they approached learning in general.

The students will be worried about what they have to do in the immediate future and what their day-to-day is like, as well as what they can expect in the near to intermediate future, such as preparing for co-op or internships. Some will be worried about making friends. Some will be worried about the horror stories they have heard about final exams. Lots of worries.

In 2015, we launched a redesign of our first-year concept course and we baked in activities and support for the students as they transitioned from high school to university. Eventually, the notes and teaching material were collected and placed in an online website that could be used as part of the course and accessed by others known as the Owner’s Manual For The Student Brain.

Thoughts...

Here are some of the thoughts behind the student website and the material. There is a separate, complementary note on onboarding students into first year. And, a note on the incoming students.

• It doesn’t matter what you tell a student about the transition and what will happen, they will believe that your points are for other students and not for them; they can handle it, they will do well.
• They will generally listen to their peers, not to instructors, senior students, or anyone else. The material we prepared was created with the help of other junior students, in their second year to create the necessary voice and tone that hopefully the incoming students will listen to. The most credible, and the most relevant.

• Students will need help managing the transition and all of the changes. They have never experienced so much change, so quickly; especially about what they consider to be their biggest decision in their life; choosing their program at University.
• Since 1970, grade inflation has seen the average in high school go from the high 60s to the low 90s. Our belief is that this inflation makes it difficult for the average high school teacher to red ink everything that should be brought to the student’s attention. The students are used to being told how to think, what to think, when to think, how to do things the right way, and in most cases they have never had serious, critical feedback. Grade inflation at University has also happened, but at a slower rate with averages now in the mid-to-high 70s and low 80s from the previous high 60s in the 1960's. This difference in grade inflation creates a gap for the incoming students. They will get more red ink and get more critical feedback. Many students will not know what to do with their first failure, or even the first mark in the 80s.
• There are currently nine themes on the student side of the website: how to learn, how to solve problems, best student practices, planning and perspectives, working in teams, job hunting, on the job, mental health, and online learning. We have created the themes and content based on student demand and demonstrated behaviour. We cannot assume that they know how to learn, how to study, how to listen for comprehension, etc. They need to develop these cognitive skills.
• We have used reflection exercises in the first lecture to help start the transition. E.g., reflect on why they were successful in high school. And then, refer back to this during the term.
• We have also done a first assignment exercise based on the website which is released before the term starts, due in the first week of class. In this assignment, the students have to summarize approximately 30 of the web topics in 3 to 4 sentences each. This forces them to be comfortable with the website and be aware of the contents. In the beginning they do not think they will need the website, but they will.
• The students require an early shock for the transition in terms of what they did in high school will not work. We do a mock but serious midterm in the second week of class, perhaps an hour long, and which is marked seriously. The midterm is carefully designed so that they should be able to answer the questions, but the average is often in the 40s. This wakes up some of the class. However, the early shock must be matched by an early win where they will have some success and feel good about the program and what they are in for.
• It will take many of the students 10 to 12 weeks to adjust from high school. There are many habits to change and adapt. And there are new habits to create. For example, the students will not know what to do with teaching assistants or what professors do. They are used to teachers who are dedicated teachers whereas university faculty are often only 40% teachers. They are also used to teachers who have a certificate in teaching and who have studied education. They will not be used to instructors who have not.

Further reading

• Birnie-Lefcovitch, S. J. (1996). Adaptation during the transition from high school to university: An examination of selected person, environment and transition perception variables. Wilfrid Laurier University.
• VanderLind, R. (2017). Effects of Mental Health on Student Learning. Learning Assistance Review, 22(2), 39-58.