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Resources
Here is a list of contact details and links for referring students to the services they frequently need.
UTAS, recognising the link between a positive orientation experience and improved retention rates, asks teaching staff to implement a student centred approach and give student orientation high priority. Here is basic information for the FAQs When? Where? What? Who? your students are likely to ask, up to date contacts and links at your fingertips for:
You can print out a handy list of phone contacts here. This is a Word document so you can customize it when necessary.
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Student Services
Student Services are a valuable resource for staff as well as students. Just a few examples:
Visit the Student Services and Support website for more information.
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More Resources for Staff
The UTAS homepage will have most of what you will need. Here are some shortcuts:
Guide to the use of online systems:
Students sometimes need support when the expectations of the course don’t match their existing skills. You can refer them to:
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Some Practical Help
The following includes some basics useful as handouts:
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The First Year Experience
This section provides some practical strategies for improving the teaching and learning experience and the integration of the academic and social aspects of university life. Also included are more in depth resources to provide some of the philosophical underpinnings for what you are doing and why you are justified in doing it well.
The University of Wollongong has developed a useful handbook for teachers: Teaching at UOW. In this document you can find lots of practical suggestions. The sections on Planning using First Year Experience Principles and Troubleshooting – a proactive approach for new teachers, may prove of interest.
Griffith University has a wealth of resources. See for example their pages for
The University of Sydney’s Plan for First Year Academic Orientation and Transition
The University of Sydney has developed four objectives based on the First Year Experience Principles.
These are:
Objective 1: To familiarise students with the University’s physical environment, academic culture and support services
Objective 2: To develop students’ sense of purpose and direction by promoting their understanding of what their courses involve; where their courses will lead them; and what their learning in those courses will involve.
Objective 3: To promote and support students’ engagement with the university, including with their peers.
Objective 4: To enhance students’ learning by developing their knowledge and skills, including generic skills, and by taking into account students’ diverse backgrounds and abilities.
In the following links you can find examples of how some faculties put these principles into action.
Improving your Teaching Skills – find out what’s available at UTAS just in time and just for you
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Research & Publications
Keep up to date with the most recent research on the first year experience, transition and orientation.
Some Tasmanian Research
Analysis of Results for the First Year Experience Questionnaire, 2004
Carstens, Chris (2004) Building the UTAS Student Experience – an enabling role for students and academic services
Poot, Alison (2005) Improving Student Orientation and Transition at UTAS Student Services UTAS.
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