STARTING A COURSEWORK POSTGRADUATE DEGREE: THE NEGLECTED TRANSITION

The focus of most research into student transition relates to the important transition that students face when they move from high school to first year at university. This particular transition is also the focus of much support given by LA units, both in terms of workshops and academic preparation programs offered, and individual consultations. From my experience of working with postgraduate students over a number of years it has become apparent that the transition to higher degrees (both coursework and research) can prove to be just as daunting a transition. The problems faced by students making the transition to a coursework postgraduate degree were examined in 2000 at Glasgow University and are currently being compared to those faced by postgraduate students at the University of Queensland (UQ). A questionnaire, interviews and focus groups were used to gain a picture of this transition at Glasgow University and similar methods are being conducted at UQ. The results suggest that students face significant problems when beginning a coursework degree related to the worry about expectations, the ‘step-up ’ in standards, the break from study they have had due to time in the workforce, and in some cases because they are moving into a new discipline area