Kick Start is a program to facilitate the transition to university for students who are the first in their family to attend university. Previous research has identified the achievement gap between first-in-family (FiF) and non-FiF students and the unique challenges FiF students encounter. This research focuses on the social dimension of learning using the community psychology framework of sense of community (SoC) and the individual-place relationship, and explores how familiarising FiF students with the university settings can improve their social integration into the university community. Social constructionism was used to frame the research. Seven Kick Start participants were interviewed, and thematic analysis was utilised to explore how the program facilitated the process of building environmental understanding upon their transition to university. Six themes were identified that were relevant to SoC, namely, confidence, competence, feeling settled, connectedness, relaxed, and relatedness. The findings have suggested that place familiarity can strengthen the link between individuals and the community, where an increased SoC leads to motivation to utilise resources to achieve positive university outcomes. One implication of the current research is to support the efficacy of contextualised learning opportunities like Kick Start to provide FiF students with hands-on experience of university when assisting with their transition.
Keywords: first-in-family students; first-generation students; sense of community; transition to
university
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