Supporting students during the transition to university in COVID-19: Five key considerations and recommendations for educators

Abstract

As coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) continues to disrupt pretertiary education provision and examinations in the United Kingdom, urgent consideration must be given to how best to support the 2021–2022 cohort of incoming undergraduate students to higher education. In this paper, we draw upon the “Five Sense of Student Success” model to highlight five key evidence-based, psychology-informed considerations that higher education educators should be attentive to when preparing for the next academic year. These include the challenge in helping students to reacclimatize to academic work following a period of prolonged educational disruption, supporting students to access the “hidden curriculum” of higher education, negotiating mental health consequences of COVID-19, and remaining sensitive to inequalities of educational provision that students have experienced as a result of COVID-19. We provide evidence-based, psychology-informed recommendations to each of these considerations.

The Listening Project: A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Pre-Registered Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Scotland

“…Sharma & Yukhymenko-Lescroart (2018) stress that awakening student's sense of purpose contribute to the degree of commitment, academic performance, and persistence in their education. Furthermore, having sense of purpose is also tied to the psychological well-being of the student to achieve success in their education (Pownall et al, 2021). In the context of this study, sense of purpose was aligned to how the students perceived themselves as student health professionals and the mental health consequences of COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…A sense of purpose refers to the student's ability to develop goals, understand the relevance of what they are doing, personal values and mental health. A sense of resourcefulness refers to the ability of the student to balance study and other activities, and ability to navigate university system and the sense of academic culture ties all the four other senses together and ability to understand inclusion, equality, and diversity for personal and professional development (Lizzio, 2011;Pownall et al, 2021).…”

“…In the context of this study, the student success model suggests that succeeding in the university includes mastering of core concepts, theories and practical skills in nursing that enable the students to perform confidently in giving care to the patients and navigate distance learning during the pandemic (Pownall et al, 2021). Previous literature clearly emphasized that student's transition to higher education can be challenging because of the need to adjust and adapt to the university ways of learning, academic workloads, and meeting academic standards and expectations, which is exacerbated by the current pandemic (Pownall et al, 2021;Zimmerman et al, 2019). The findings of this study shows both positive and negative effects of the pandemic on the student's capability as manifested on their confidence and perceptions of their learning process.…”

“…Additionally, face-to-face sessions with students and staffs were also implemented to reconnect post lockdown. Previous literature suggest that academic institute should ensure promotion of effective learning experience during a pandemic by creating opportunities of interactions as well as positive attitudes and perceptions through creating learning strategies such as peer-to-peer support and mentoring, and discussion boards to give students an opportunity to collaborate, build opportunities to interact, and foster sense of belonging (Jorgenson et al, 2018;Pownall et al, 2021). Student's interpersonal connections to peers and staff enable better quality of relationship, better adjustments, attachments, and achievement of the students in higher educations (Makara et al, 2015).…”

Pivoting academic skills support online: a critical reflection on practice

“…• Creating a sense of belonging: the lack of a physical 'university space' impacts on students' self-discipline, wellbeing and sense of belonging; universities need to consider how to create a sense of community and belonging when delivering teaching and support online (Stadtfeld et al, 2019;Elmer et al, 2020;Hodges et al, 2020;Nordmaan et al, 2020;Raaper and Brown, 2020;Lederer et al, 2021;Pownall et al, 2021).…”