As educators, we are aware of the transition periods our students experience throughout their university journey. It is clear that a successful transition into higher education can be fundamental to a student’s ultimate success at university. Moving from secondary education to university can be a stressful time where students experience multiple stressors including the need to meet and make new friendship groups. During this transition, developing a sense of belonging with peers, staff and the institution is crucial and, if successful, can provide academic benefits, increased retention, and wellbeing benefits.
In October 2022, Biological Sciences introduced a residential field course into their degree programme, this not only included key biological skills training but a strong focus on community building. Since the field course, they have been following their current year 1 cohort to understand and explore exploring whether attending a residential field trip at the start of a degree programme influences their sense of belonging at university. Preliminary analysis of their survey, focus groups and one-to-one interviews data has identified four themes where students found the field course to be impactful, these include 1) the importance of building social relationships and connections between students; 2) the removal of barriers in education; 3) creating a meaningful study environment and 4) a perceived level of care and respect by the School.
This project is two years into the three-year project. The field trip was been funded by the School of Biological Sciences with the Researcher Assistants being funded through a BILT Education Development Fund.
View the infographic below to find out more about this brilliant initiative. Click here to download it.
Get in touch with Dr Emily Bell, principal investigator, if you have any questions.
