Expectations and realities for first year students at an Australian university

Student expectations and their realization are regarded as having a significant effect on the successful transition of students into and their engagement with university. Students from the Faculties of Law (internal and external modes of study) and Information Technology (internal only) provided their expectations (week 1: 918 students) and reported the realities (week 13: 680) in the areas of experiences, challenges and management of their learning during their first semester at the Queensland University of Technology. While their expectations were diverse and the match and mismatch of expectations and reality were complex, and while they expected and reported having an overall rewarding and positive experience, they indicated that their expectations about developing new learning skills were not fulfilled. Implications of this for curricula and the design and management of learning environments are discussed