7/30/2019 Let's start IT - More than a good start for academic studies

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FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Panu Moilanen, Mikko Jkl, Teija Palonen, Jaana Markkanen & Eija IhanainenUniversity of Jyvskyl, Finland

Our framework to support academic studies consists of different phases

and stages, which together cover the path of a student from a high-

school graduate to the alumni of the university. In this framework, pre-

sented in the figure above, the relationship with the students is initiated

before they enter the u niversity: it is of vital importance to meet the pro-

spective students as they are considering their different study options.

This is supported with PR and promotion in the form of commercials,

advertisements, campaigns, raffles, etc. We have discovered that many

high-school graduates do not have enough information to make an in-

formed decision on where to study. This is in accordance with the find-

ings of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland: the most severeshortcomings of study counselling in high schools are lack of personal

counselling and inadequate information on study opportunities after

high school. To compensate for this, we provide prospective students

with information in various forms and occasions.

The first study term begins with an integrated kick-start course, which

includes the following tasks: 1) assignments asking students to describe

and reflect on their expectations and experiences at the beginning of

their studies, 2) taking part in different kinds of lectures, tutorials and

briefings, 3) outlining a personal study plan, 4) meetings with the stu-

dent counsellor and 5) having a wrap-up discussion with teachers and

peers. The most important goals of the course are to provide the first-

year students with sufficient academic study skills, facilitate community-

building between the students and encourage them to seek counselling

and guidance whenever needed.

Study counselling is of vital importance after the initial phase of studies

as well. In accordance with the Bologna model, we offer personal coun-

selling for the students at both Bachelors and Masters degree levels. To

ease the transition between the degrees, these counselling stages are

partly simultaneous and overlapping.

Universities exist to produce researchers. The first independent but su-

pervised research project is the Masters thesis, which quite often is al-

so one of the most challenging parts of the degree. Therefore, the stu-

dent is supported by both the study counsellor and the thesis supervi-

sor.

All these different stages described earlier are important parts in build-

ing an academic identity and a network of peers. During the studies,

the students identity as university alumni is constructed and strength-

ened. It is often thought that students are alumni only after they gradu-

ate. However, becoming an alumna/alumnus is a process of socialisation

and it includes all the formal and informal experiences as a member of

academia from a first-year student to a graduate.

As stated earlier, the high school graduates have a remarkable need for

information when selecting their field of studies. Who would be better to

tell them about university studies than those who have already experi-

enced university life themselves the alumni. The circle is complete.

THE KICKSTART-COURSE is unique in Finnish universities in both its

content and structure. Traditionally, Finnish universities have had a

strong belief that the transition from high school to university is man-

ageable, and that the students are able to start their studies inde-

pendently without excessive extra support. However, current research

and our own experiences show this belief to be unjustified on the con-

trary, it seems that the students nowadays do need a lot of support atthe beginning of their academic life and particularly in building commu-

nities of peers within the university.

THE CONTENT OF THE COURSE was designed to include activities or-

ganised in cooperation with various actors from the University of

Jyvskyl (departments, faculty, student services, the library, the Lan-

guage Centre and University Museum), the student union, subject asso-

ciations and the City of Jyvskyl. The structure of the course emphasis-

es cooperation, communication, community building and hands-on ac-

tivities. The course is organised biannually for freshmen and this au-

tumn 2012 it will be arranged for the 7th time. The design and develop-

ment of the course has been an iterative process: feedback from stu-

dents and staff is collected regularly and actively used to recreate each

offering of the course.

STUDENT FEEDBACK has been extremely positive: students are satisfied

with the effectively guided and supported start of the studies, thorough

personal student counselling, student-centred infrastructure and posi-

tive, respectful atmosphere. According to the students, one of the most

important aspects of the course has been the familiarisation with the ac-

ademic studies, which differ substantially from their study experiences

in e.g. high school. The course has provided them a smooth transition

to academia and helped them to effectively plan their studies as regards

degree structure, scheduling and courses. The kick-start course also

helps to orientate them to the career choices within the IT field and

helps students to start building their professional identity.

FROM THE VIEWPOINT of the Faculty of Information Technology and its

departments, the course has succeeded in overcoming one of the most

critical problems concerning the students of IT the lack of attachment,

motivation and commitment. The students have found their place in the

academic community and feel empowered from participating in its activ-

ities and supporting its development. This can be seen in the interaction

between the students as well: students are actively instructing each oth-

er, sharing experiences and changing everyday study practices. This has

created expectations and pressure to mobilise the teaching of the other

courses as well: the participatory practices used during the kick-start

course are expected to replace the traditional, teacher-centred methods

of mass teaching.

THE COURSE has gained a lot of positive attention within the universityas well as among the student counsellors in secondary education. We

are thrilled with this feedback, as it signals that we are achieving the

goals we set and are moving in the right direction

Starting academic studies is one of the most dramatic events in a persons life. This transition comprises ofmultiple forces of change: moving to a new place, leaving friends and family behind, becoming responsiblefor organising ones own life and facing a different way of studying compared to e.g. high school. This maycause a high level of uncertainty in addition to the joy of entering a completely new phase of life.

In the field of information technology, students are often uncertain of their choice of study field and hence may lackthe motivation and goal orientation. This is because of the fact information technology (IT) being highly diverse andpossibly difficult to comprehend for first-year students as an academic discipline, career track and field in general.

To cope with this problem, we created a framework to support information technology students at the University ofJyvskyl. The first step of the framework is an integrated kick-start course, which was organised in collaborationwith various actors and partners. It consists of activities designed to help students begin their academic careersmoothly and join the academic community.

Experiences and comments