Experiences of first year students at Nazarbayev University, using Tinto’s model of academic and social integration

• In Event: Poster session 2

Proposal

This mixed-method study of a recent graduate examines and develops an in-depth understanding of first-year university experience of undergraduate students at Nazarbayev University, an elite international university, located in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. This study examines how students perceive their first-year experience in an elite international university. The purpose of this study is to understand and analyze the potential impact of student personal and pre-enrollment characteristics, and university environment (support services, opportunities for involvement and engagement, living conditions) as perceived by students on their transition and adjustment to the university and their overall success during their first year. Specifically, the purpose of the study is to enhance existing knowledge of patterns that shape first-year student experience at NU. To these ends, the study addresses one overarching research question “What are students’ perceptions of their first year experience in an elite international university?” and two research sub-questions:
1) What are the common challenges that students encounter in their first-year? What causes those challenges? How do they deal with those challenges?
2) To what extent does the scope of support provided by the University meet students’ needs? What are the other sources of support that students perceive as meeting their needs?
Thus, the study is based on the investigation of students’ perceptions of their first-year experience with a focus on challenges and opportunities that students encounter during their first year in university and the ways they address them.
The students’ perceptions have been investigated through an online survey as an initial stage of the study that identified preliminary themes and categories to build on further through in-depth focus groups and individual interviews that eventually comprised the main body of the study.
The study has revealed that first-year experience is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon which is shaped by a number of various aspects and factors. According to students’ perspectives the success of their university experience, which they largely define as feeling comfortable academically and socially, and remaining motivated and confident in own abilities to progress in studies, greatly depends on such factors as early communication of information and orientation of prospective student, comprehensive new student orientation, quality of curriculum and classroom instruction, and good campus facilities. On the top of it appears to be interactions with peers and faculty, and academic and social support that students receive at the university from peers, faculty and staff.
The study suggests some important areas that higher education institutions in Kazakhstan may find useful to focus on when addressing challenging and promoting opportunities that students face during their first-year in university. Those areas include clear communication of information, continuous support and encouragement, and every effort to integrate students into an institution both academically and socially in order to ensure enriching and rewarding first-year experience.

Author

• Aray Saniyazova, Nazarbayev University