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Students First Year at TAMUQ

Problems and Solutions




Noor Al-Suwaidi
June 24, 2014

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Abstract
This report investigates the problems associated with the transition from high school to university.
Freshman students suffer at their first year to cope with the new environment. This sudden change
in the level of education, style of teaching and examination methods cause many student to stress
and experience difficulties. The difficulties like stress and anxiety could cause the student to
depression and even failing some freshman year courses. According to American College Testing
(ACT), one in every four college students leaves before completing their sophomore year - and
nearly half of all freshmen will either drop out before obtaining a degree or complete their college
education elsewhere. This static was found on an online article by Dr. Randall S. Hansen (Hansen,
2014). Therefore, this study has been carried out to investigate the possible solution for this
problem and the major solution was to create TAMUQ First Year Program. The First Year Program
will be responsible in solving and avoiding all freshmen problems during their first year in
university.



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Table of Contents










Contents Page number
Cover Page 1
Abstract 2
Table of Contents 3
1. Introduction 4
2. Understanding the differences between university and high school 4
2.1 The teaching facilities 4
2.2 The learning environment 4
2.3 The grading 5
2.4 The examination methods 5
2.5 The level of independency 5
2.6 The flexibility of deadlines 5
2.7 The multicultural level 5
3. TAMUQ First Year Program 6
3.1 Coping with a new environment 6
3.2 First Year Seminar 6
3.3 Time management 6
3.4 Grades and Exams 7
4. Research Constraints 8
5. Conclusion 8
6. References 8
7. Appendix 9
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1. Introduction
Transition from high school to university is not easy and therefore solutions have to be found to
make this transition as smooth as possible. Experiencing the first year in university can be very
challenging and difficult for many reasons such as the change in the learning environment, the
multiculturalism, the change in the exam structure and the level of difficulties of the courses. In
this report the difficulties that freshmen experience during their first year at university has been
discussed. According to an online article by Sally Kift Decades of research tell us that students
consider leaving for many complex and often inter-related reasons. Most frequently, these
center on perceptions of course and teaching quality, lack of clarity about what is required for
success, limited engagement and expectations mismatch. (Kift, 2014). Therefore providing
solutions to the problems that freshmen face during their first year is essential. These solutions
will be provided and supervised by TAMUQ first year program (See Section 3).
2. Understanding the differences between university and high school
Experiencing the first year in university can be very challenging and difficult. One of major reasons
freshmen have difficulties in the first year of university is that they are unfamiliar with the
differences between university and high school. University and high school are at a different
educational level and therefore the teaching facilities, the class and learning environment, the
grading, the examination methods, the level of independency, the flexibility of deadlines and the
multicultural level are all different.
2.1 The teaching facilities
The people who are teaching students in universities are not supposed to be called Mr. or Mrs.
anymore, instead they are referred to as Dr. or professor. The style of teaching of professors are
different than school teachers. In high school, teachers give the students all the class notes,
homework, assignments and exams time. However in university the professor posted most of the
course material such as assignments, projects and exams time on blackboard system at the
beginning of the course and the students are responsible to get them from there.
2.2 The learning environment
In high school most of the learning is done inside the class however in the university most of the
learning is done outside the class through reading and solving problems. The professors in the
university uses the class time to guide the students on how to learn the subject and the student
is responsible for teaching him/herself. In university discussion and opinions about the class
subject are more encouraged than high school. Good communication and conversation skills are
important during class discussions.


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2.3 The grading
The third difference is the grading whereas in high school it is easier to get high grades than
university. In high school, the student can still get good grades in the assignment even if it was
done in the last minute. In university the academic completion is greater and the professor have
higher expectations from students. Therefore, student have to work hard to earn grades because
delaying the work for the last minutes will not get the student a good grade.
2.4 The examination methods
High school exams are easier than university exams because the high school exams are similar to
the class practice problems. On the other hand, the exams in the university have higher level of
difficulty than high school and they include questions that are more difficult and new ideas than
the ones given for practice. The transition from the different methods of examination cause a
drop in the freshmens grades.
2.5 The level of independency
In high school the students parents are more responsible in time managing the schedule of their
son/daughter. In University the student have to learn to manage time by him/herself and
therefore if the student had not learned time management he/she will have difficulties in
university. In addition, the student in high school are strictly committed to attend all classes
however in university the student have the option to attend or skip classes.
2.6 The flexibility of deadlines
In high school the deadlines are more flexible and submitting assignment after a deadline is
accepted with a reduction in the total grade. However in university most deadlines are not
flexible and the student has to submit assignment on time. University students have to avoid
delays because most of the assignments are not accepted after the deadlines.
2.7 The multicultural level
Most high schools include similar cultures and according to an article How culture affects
teaching & learning published on Viewpoint Innovation website learning style is influenced by
culture. High school students that are used to a certain learning style transfer to a different
learning style in university. TAMUQ is an American University so it adapts the American style of
teaching in most of the courses. Freshmen may have difficulties adjusting with the new style of
teaching. In addition to that, the university environment is more multicultural than high school.
Students have to learn how to interact with people from different culture and how to respect
other people cultural differences.


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3. TAMUQ First Year Program
TAMUQ First Year Program is a program responsible to provide all the solutions to the problems
that freshmen face during their first year at TAMUQ. The program includes junior and senior
students (Student Counselors) that supervise, help and freshmen in study sessions, three First
Year Seminars that will help student in developing necessary skills such as time management,
and a 3 week orientation to introduce the student to life in university. The following problems
are stated with the solutions that will be provided and supervised by TAMUQ First Year
Program:
3.1 Coping with a new environment
It is difficult to ask for help especially in a new environment with new people. Freshmen
experience difficulties in their first year of university. Not being able to deal with the new changes
can cause the freshmen to feel stress and anxiety about university courses, assignment and
exams. Rather than assuming that freshmen will ask for help if needed, we should come to them
and help them cope with new environment to avoid the stress and the anxiety. Helping them to
cope with the university can start by making them more familiar with the university environment
through three weeks orientation sessions. The orientation sessions will involve the rules, the
regulation, the history of the university, how to register for courses, Understanding the schedule
of the classes, how to prepare for classes and etc.
3.2 First Year Seminar
Offering seminars to freshman students based on their area of weakness is not effective unless
the seminars are credited. Students are not welling to attend seminars or workshops that are not
credited because they will prioritize spending that time doing the work of credited courses. A
program is applied in Kennesaw State Universitys First-Year Program Freshman where four First
Year Seminar courses are offered. The four seminars are Traditional, Globally Focused,
Community Engagement and Leadership Development Seminar. Traditional seminar, Community
Engagement and Leadership Development Seminar should offered in TAMUQ in their First Year
Program. Traditional Seminar helps to develop and improve many skills such as academic skills
and time management. Community Engagement Seminar allow student to experience individual
and group projects in the community. Leadership Development Seminar Freshman develops the
leadership skills through knowledge and projects (First year Seminar, n. d.). Students will be
required to take one of these first year seminars. Student counselors will help students to choose
the right seminar for them based on their interest and weakness.
3.3 Time management
In high school parents are more involved in the time management of their son or daughter. In
university the student is responsible in managing his time by his own. This is the most difficult
problem that freshman students face for many reasons. One of the reasons behind the time
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management problem are that the high school students managed to delay their work for the last
minute in high school and still managed to get good grades. Managing your time wisely in
university is important because it is unlikely to get a good grade if you delayed your work for the
last minute. Freshman students should be aware of the important of managing time and how to
manage their time effectively. The solution to the time management problem is to help freshmen
schedule their study time by offering group work sessions that is assigned by the university and
supervised by student counselors to solve homework and study for exam. These group work
sessions is from Sunday to Thursday from 6pm-10pm.
3.4 Grades and Exams
Getting grades in high school is easier than university. In university you have to work harder to
get good grades. Freshman students are more probably to get lower grades than what they used
to get in high school in the first year of university. Graph 1 shows a comparison between high
school grades and university grades of Portland University (Mascorro, 2013).

Graph 1: shows the GPA of high school versus Portland University students
The reasons behind the lower grades of freshmen are because the exams is harder, they are still
adjusting with the new environment and they dont know how to study for their courses and the
exam structure of university is different than high school. Freshman Students are not familiar
with the structure of exams in university. Sample exam questions should be given during lectures
or recitations to make the student more comfortable about what to expect in the exam.



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4. Research constraints
Due to time constraints, many resources and data to support the research could not been
collected. Examples of those resources and data are freshmen responses to a surveys about their
first year experience at TAMUQ, the amount of student dropping out after the first experience
from Dr. Kerry (See Appendix) and interviewing high school students and viewing their
expectations about universities.
5. Conclusion
Transition from high school to university is a process that need researching and studying.
Freshmen students are experiencing difficulties in their first year of university. The difficulties
have been outlined and their solutions have been provided in the research. Creating TAMUQ First
Year Program to deal with all freshmen difficulties during their first year is the main solution to
the problem. The program will help the students to go through their first year as smoothly as
possible. Because the first year at the university can decide whether the student stay in or leave
the university, it is very important to resolve the problems from the beginning of the students
first year.
6. References
Hansen, R. S. (n.d.). 25 Tips to Help You Survive and Thrive Your Freshman Year. Quint Careers.
Retrieved June 21, 2014, from http://www.quintcareers.com/first-year_success.html
Kift, S. (2014, February 19). Student success: why first year at uni is a make-or-break
experience. The Conversation. Retrieved June 20, 2014, from http://theconversation.com
First-Year Seminars. (n.d.). University College. Retrieved June 20, 2014, from
http://www.kennesaw.edu/fyts/seminars.html
Mascorro, K. C. (2013, October 1). Portland University. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from
http://www.up.edu/







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7. Appendix
A request form to get information about the amount of students dropping out from university
after the first year in TAMUQ.