The conference theme for the European First Year Experience Conference 2023 relates to establishing the foundations for student success through the first year experience. This can be broken into 4 key areas:
We need to understand the strengths and challenges that face each individual student. In addition, students need to be able to reflect upon and know their own strengths. In this regard, the conference wants to hear how you personalise your approaches to curriculum within the first year. You may utilise formal or informal diagnostic approaches to personalise student transitions and build the academic and social foundations for student success. We want to know about your approaches that enable individual and cohort success.
Students value engagement with their peers and we know that the supporting scaffolding of peer to peer relationships supports the foundations of resilient behaviours. We welcome proposals that share how collaborative approaches to learning, support student development. This may draw upon the creation of first year learning communities for academic and social integration. In addition, co-creation and the work of student organisations play a significant role in ensuring students develop the support structures and the confidence to be successful. A sense of belonging is likely to be enhanced and generated by peers, student societies and activities.
University is a place for students drawn from the whole of society and it prepares graduates to engage with the world as global citizens. We would like to know about practices that enable this global perspective throughout the early years of a student’s journey. In particular, the conference would like to hear of activities that promote learning around inclusiveness, equality and anti-racism as we ensure students are valued and contributing members of the whole university community.
The pandemic has forced many of us to rethink about how we engage with our students. Under this theme we would like to hear of the ways you have engaged with new technologies to better support student success into and through university.
