First impressions: Effective use of the first week of university

This paper focuses on the first week of the first year at university. It discusses the issues facing first year students in transitioning into university and provides ideas for lecturers about what they can do to support students’ sense of belonging at university and to engage students with their discipline. A semi-structured interview technique was used to determine what participating lecturers wanted to achieve in their discipline in the week and how they were trying to do it. Students were also surveyed at the start and end of their first tutorial to identify how they were feeling. The paper shows how student concerns can be ameliorated according to the methods employed by the lecturers and argues that a one-size-fits-all approach to transition will not work.