TY - JOUR
T1 - Social Integration in First Year Undergraduates
T2 - The Role of Peer Learning
AU - Byl, Emmeline
AU - Topping, Keith
AU - Struyven, Katrien
AU - Engels, Nadine
N1 - The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, Department of Education, through a grant from the Central University Department of General Strategy Planning, at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
Availability of Data: The data can be made available to other researchers on request.
Code Availability: Codes within MAXQDA available to other researchers on request.
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - This study investigated the social integration (in relation to academic integration) of rst-year stu- dents during the rst semester at university. Six- teen focus group sessions with 93 students and 37 individual face-to-face follow-up interviews were conducted with rst-year psychology and educa- tional science students from a Dutch-speaking university in Belgium. rough the lens of appre- ciative inquiry, student-facilitated strategies such as welcome activities, campus tours, workshops, and extracurricular and cocurricular activities seemed important in enhancing both social and academic integration. Contact with older students was highly valued, but this did not involve all students and may have had negative e ects for some. Participants emphasized the need for inclusivity of activities. Information technology, such as Facebook, could provide an important informal bridge. Partici- pants also valued opportunities to develop age-peer friendships, which sustained their well-being and academic motivation throughout the rst year. However, the peer interaction and learning pro- vided did not fully address the social developmental needs among all newcomers. e consequences of these ndings for future research, peer learning practices, and institutional policy are discussed.
AB - This study investigated the social integration (in relation to academic integration) of rst-year stu- dents during the rst semester at university. Six- teen focus group sessions with 93 students and 37 individual face-to-face follow-up interviews were conducted with rst-year psychology and educa- tional science students from a Dutch-speaking university in Belgium. rough the lens of appre- ciative inquiry, student-facilitated strategies such as welcome activities, campus tours, workshops, and extracurricular and cocurricular activities seemed important in enhancing both social and academic integration. Contact with older students was highly valued, but this did not involve all students and may have had negative e ects for some. Participants emphasized the need for inclusivity of activities. Information technology, such as Facebook, could provide an important informal bridge. Partici- pants also valued opportunities to develop age-peer friendships, which sustained their well-being and academic motivation throughout the rst year. However, the peer interaction and learning pro- vided did not fully address the social developmental needs among all newcomers. e consequences of these ndings for future research, peer learning practices, and institutional policy are discussed.
KW - university
KW - socialization
KW - social development
KW - social learning
KW - academic integration
KW - transition
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132835123&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1353/csd.2022.0008
DO - 10.1353/csd.2022.0008
M3 - Article
SN - 0897-5264
VL - 63
SP - 85
EP - 100
JO - Journal of College Student Development
JF - Journal of College Student Development
IS - 1
ER -