The first year experience in Australian universities: Findings from 1994 to 2009

The 2009 First Year Experience survey is the fourth national study of the first year experience, undertaken at five-yearly intervals since 1994. This report therefore presents findings on the changing attitudes and experiences of first year students in Australian universities across a period of 15 years. Longitudinal datasets of this kind are rare in Australian higher education. As the tertiary education sector commences a decade of significant transformation, the 2009 report will provide important benchmark data. The first year students who participated in the 2009 study are the last 'pre-Bradley Review' cohort to be surveyed by this research project. Future studies will take place in a vastly different tertiary education environment if the federal policy targets for expansion and social inclusion are progressively being achieved. The transition, teaching, support and curriculum responses of universities in the first year will be pivotal in achieving the new national goals that have been set for the higher education sector. The 2009 First Year Experience data offer significant reference points for monitoring the effectiveness of university efforts to cater for a larger and more diverse group of incoming first year students.Full Tex