Transitions:

From High School to University

Presentation to Guidance Counsellors of Ontario

Shannon Payne, Learning Skills Counsellor

Counselling and Development Centre
Goals for this presentation

• To reacquaint guidance counsellors

with aspects of the transition to
university

•To encourage high-school staff to

begin to address the issues with
students when and where they can

•To underscore target outcomes of

transition programming
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Contents

•Changes that students face

•Beginnings: transitions from high
school
•Continuations: transitions to university
•What to include in transition
programming
•Target outcomes for transition
programs
•Resources
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Changes that students face

Students undergoing the transition to

university face changes in many life
areas

•Academic
•Personal
•Social
•Cultural

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Changes that students face

Academic
•larger classes, with potentially less contact
with instructors
•change to lecture format
•reading load and volume of learning
increase
•responsibility: “nobody’s going to take
attendance”
•time outside class increases & time inside
classes shrinks
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Changes that students face

Academic (cont’d)
•need to structure own time and study
•need to balance work, school and social
life
•essay writing issues (e.g., academic
honesty, citations, the writing process,
argument versus exposition etc.)
•understanding how ideas of the course go
together and how they will be examined
•learning how to study effectively
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Changes that students face

Academic (cont’d)
•learning how to read and listen actively
•need to develop critical and analytical
thinking skills
•changes in ways of knowing and with it
a change in the meaning of learning
and education
•consequent change in perception of
their own roles, the roles of teachers,
and the level of difficulty of school work
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Changes that students face

Personal/Social/Cultural
•entering new phase of adulthood;
relationships with parents and peers
change towards interdependence
•being/studying away from home
•life, career, and academic goal setting
•“freedom” issues – drinking, social
activities, time, etc.

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Changes that students face

Personal/Social/Cultural (cont’d)
•developing awareness of the new
environment
•fitting in and making new friends
•navigating the help sources available
on campus
•becoming comfortable with size and
diversity of campus

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Changes that students face

Personal/Social/Cultural (cont’d)
•new institutional processes (e.g.,
services offered in the GUIDANCE
office now divided into Counselling,
Advising, Student Affairs, Career
Services, etc. )
•changes in the way learning is
institutionally organized
•potential lack of connectedness on the
larger campus; feeling like a number

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Changes that students face

Personal/Social/Cultural (cont’d)
•understanding the “culture” of post-
secondary education
•encountering new ideas in an environment
that challenges students’ beliefs
•reflecting on values and lifestyles and
connection of education to career paths
•deciding on a belief system that is
personally valid
•developing social responsibility
•beginning as the first-year student again
after being the high school senior
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 Beginnings:
transitions from high school

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 Beginnings:
transitions from high school

Students report being concerned about:

•Eligibility for post-secondary study
•Choosing the right program and the right
school
•Finances: tuition fees, scholarships,
bursaries
•Relationship of academic study to career
aspirations
•Influences from others regarding
what/where to study
•Knowing what to expect
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 Continuations:
transitions to university

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 Continuations:
transitions to university

Students report being concerned about:

•Finding their way around, fitting in, making
friends
•Being successful, meeting the expectations of
the university
•Understanding course requirements and
degree regulations
•Balancing school, work, and social time
•Locating and using supports on campus
•Relating to their professors and instructors
•Are they taking the “right” program
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 What to include in
transition programming

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 What to include in
transition programming

Transition programming typically

involves some of the following:

•Academic skills
•Skills for living
•Knowledge about purpose of higher
education

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 What to include in
transition programming

Academic Skills
•Note-taking
•Preparing for exams & test-taking
•Effective reading
•Research and library skills
•Time management and planning skills
•Self-regulatory skills (emotional,
academic, motivational)
•Writing skills
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 What to include in
transition programming

Academic Skills (cont’d)

•Public speaking skills
•Critical thinking
•Understanding learning styles
•Computing skills
•Connecting with faculty

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 What to include in
transition programming

Skills For Living

•Career exploration
•Learning in diverse community
•Health and wellness
•Self knowledge and personal
awareness
•Relationship and interpersonal skills
•Stress and anxiety management

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 What to include in
transition programming

Skills For Living (cont’d)

•Values clarification/decisions
•Goal setting
•Listening skills
•Volunteerism and community service
•Awareness of current societal issues
•Conflict resolution
•Money management

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 What to include in
transition programming

Knowledge About Higher Education

•Purpose of higher education and
institution
•Value of liberal arts and pure and
applied sciences
•Concept of disciplines and inter-
disciplinary studies
•Value of community involvement

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 What to include in
transition programming

Knowledge about About Higher

Education (cont’d)
•Location of campus resources and
facilities
•Policies, procedures, regulations (e.g.,
dropping courses)
•History of the university/college
•Institutional traditions

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 Target outcomes
for transition programs

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 Target outcomes
for transition programs

Any transition model should aim to

provide students with as many of the
following outcomes as possible...

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 Target outcomes
for transition programs

•an eagerness to attend, take part, and

get involved on campus
•a sense of belonging and
connectedness to the university
•an ability to identify those skills that will
lead to success and a commitment to
use them
•an awareness of success-supporting
resources on campus and how to access
them
•an openness to change and exploration
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 Target outcomes
for transition programs

•an acceptance that they are not alone,

that others are experiencing the same
kinds of changes
•the confidence that they can be
successful
•the knowledge that success doesn’t just
happen, but that success largely depends
on them taking responsibility for their
learning
•an inkling of some of the differences
between high school and university
•an understanding that the transition isn’t
a singular event in time, but that it takes
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place over time
Transition Program Models

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 Transition Program Models

Facilitating students’ transitions to

university:
•Person to person models
•One-day and Extended campus visits
•Visits to Graduating Classes
•Orientations
•Early Start Programs
•Prep Courses
•1st-Year Experience Programs
•Web-based resources
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 Transition Program Models

Person to person models:

•Guidance staff, Admissions and
Liaison staff sharing their
understanding of the transition to
university
•Informing students about the various
support services their institution has to
offer

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Transition Program Models

One-day campus visits:

•Students and their families visit
prospect campuses during March Break
to tour facilities, and ask questions
about the programs available
•School visits to tour facilities
•The impression they develop from the
visit fosters thinking and discussion
about the pros and cons of the various
schools
•They get a sense of the differences
between high schools and universities
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 Transition Program Models

Extended campus visits:

•Some high schools arrange with a
college or university to permit students an
extended visit (e.g., one week) on campus
•Typically, such visits occur during May
after the conclusion of the regular
Fall/Winter academic term
•Students stay in residence, visit classes
or attend specially designed programs
that give them a snapshot of what it is like
to live the student experience
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 Transition Program Models

Visits to Graduating Classes:

•Westview Project - an initiative put
together by a team of people at York
University to reach out to students at
feeder schools under-represented in
the first-year cohort
•In the spring of each year, a number of
academic skills and post-secondary
school awareness sessions presented
for students in the graduating class as
part of their ongoing final-year courses
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 Transition Program Models

Orientations: Don’t Crash Courses

•One- or two-day series of workshops on
academic skills and orientation to the
university environment
•Work with students transferring from
community college programs or from high
schools
•Emphasis on their expectation for
differences, and equipping them with
resources and knowledge about how to
succeed in the university environment
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 Transition Program Models

First Year Orientation:

In its ideal form, orientation:
•Combines both the academic and
social components of university life
• Equips students with knowledge of
important resources
•Helps students to feel at home on the
large campus
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 Transition Program Models

Early Start Programs:

•Senior students enroll in one course for credit
at York University while completing their final
year at high-school
•Gives students first-hand experience of
learning at university and blends directed
support for learning with immersion experience
•Extensive support for students exists at the
high school, including campus orientation,
advising and course selection assistance, study
skills training and time management training

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 Transition Program Models

Steps/University Prep Programs:

•These kinds of programs offer admission to
students whose grades would not typically earn
them entrance to a university, and offers
additional advising and supports
•Usually, students in these programs take a
reduced course load (usually 60%) and among
that load is a first-year course focused on
developing the basic and critical skills needed
at university
•Some programs admit students only upon
successful completion of the prep course
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 Transition Program Models

1st-Yr. experience courses & York’s

Foundations model:
•Especially popular in the USA, first-
year experience courses are offered for
credit to incoming students
•In some cases the course is
mandatory
•The curriculum of the course focuses
on the kinds of study skills, critical
thinking and writing skills, and life skills
essential for success at university
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 Transition Program Models

Computer/web-based transition
resources:
•Canadian university web sites host
various web pages set up to enable
students to find the information they need
•Included among these materials are
academic skills information, tips on
making a smooth transition, links to help
sources on campus, organizations, and
so on
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 Resources

Downing, Skip. On Course: Strategies for

Creating Success in College and in Life -- A
Guided Journal Approach. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 1996.

Ellis, David. Becoming a Master Student.

Canadian Second Edition. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 1997.

Fleet, Joan, Fiona Goodchild, and Richard

Zajchowski. Learning For Success: Skills and
Strategies for Canadian Students. Toronto:
Harcourt Brace and Company, 1994.
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 Resources

Fraser, Lisa. Making your mark. 5th Edition. Port Perry:

LDF Publishing, 1996.

Gardner, John N., Jewler, Jerome A., and Robb,

Andrew. Your First-Year Experience: Success
Strategies for Canadian Students. Toronto:
International Thomson Publishing, 1995.

Kolb, David. Learning Style Inventory. Boston: Hay

McBer & Company. 1985.

Holkeboer, Robert. Right from the start: Managing your

college career. 2nd Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth
Publishing, 1996.
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 Resources

Nemiroff, Greta Hofmann. Transitions: Succeeding

in College and University. Toronto: Harcourt Brace
and Company, 1994.

Pauk, Walter. How To Study In College 5th

Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1993.

Rehner, Jan. Practical Strategies for Critical

Thinking. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1994.

Ruggerio, Vincent R. Becoming a Critical Thinker.

2nd ed. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1996
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