The role of faculty in first-year students‘ orientations and anticipated continuance

Abstract

The first year of university is significant with respect to students‘ orientations toward university and further study. While the correlation between student engagement and retention is well-established, literature specifically addressing self-reported concerns of first-year university students is sparse. A need exists to examine factors impacting the retention of first-year students and to discuss factors capable of mitigating student attrition. The literature highlights interpersonal communication between students and faculty, beyond the communication of course material, as influencing students‘ commitment and even decisions regarding continuance. Given the centrality of faculty impact on first-year students, there is a need not only to impress upon faculty an awareness of the first-year context and of the impacts of our teaching, but also to broaden the research focus from student characteristics that predict academic success, to instructor strategies that can positively impact first-year students' orientations toward their studies. In short, how do faculty and faculty-led classroom dynamics/characteristics impact first-year university students‘ orientations toward their university experience, and with respect to anticipated continuance? This question suggests that instructors can strategically implement non-curricular elements in their instruction in order to positively impact orientations of first-year students toward university.