Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations.
This study explored undergraduate students' transition to college from a holistic perspective of the person, environment, occupation, and performance. Results indicated resources to promote organization, time management, friendship and community development, and effective communication for engagement in occupation support a successful transition experience. OTs can aid students during the transition by facilitating communication management between the university and students.
Primary Author and Speaker: Megan Nicole Hutson
Additional Authors and Speakers: Kendall Horan
Contributing Authors: Suzanne Holm
PURPOSE: Research on students' successful transition into college from a holistic perspective is limited, despite 66.2% of United States high school graduates pursuing college (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). This study identifies the factors that help first- and second-year students to adapt and persist in college when faced with challenges and promote overall student engagement and satisfaction. Using the Person-Environment-Occupation-Participation (PEOP) model (Christiansen & Baum, 1985), we investigated the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that facilitated or impeded the transition into college. The students' constructive behaviors, routines, roles, study habits, resources, and social connections were explored. We aimed to discover: (a) What resources do students need to be successful? (b) What factors, occupations, and activities enable occupational performance and participation?
DESIGN: A descriptive, sequential mixed-methods approach was used to evaluate students attending a mid-sized, private, Catholic university.
METHOD: Convenience sampling was used to recruit students. A total of 47 students completed a self-developed online survey. Additionally, four students participated in a focus group to explore their transition to college. The 74-item survey used a 5-point Likert scale to rate factors that supported a transition to college, access to university resources, satisfaction with participation in daily routines and roles, and the level of disruption and satisfaction in engagement in daily routines related to a cyberattack. The focus group interviews centered around six semi-structured questions related to the initial survey. Data analysis was used to rank the six constructs from highest to lowest based on the mean Likert score. Data Analysis Spiral Activities by Creswell and Poth (2017) was used to analyze qualitative data through a review of the transcript, coding, application, and theme development. Intrinsic characteristics, social supports, and leisure participation were identified as the most beneficial factors in a successful transition to college.
RESULTS: Over 90% of students reported being organized, keeping to a schedule, and effectively managing time as crucial traits to support a successful transition. Similar themes of adaptability, time management, and organizational skills were identified from focus group participants. Social supports were a key factor in a successful transition. However, over 80% of survey participants indicated that the most significant social support was engagement with family. Students in the focus group defined social support in terms of friends, community, and mental health professionals. Focus group participants indicated a desire for more opportunities for leisure and extracurricular activities.
CONCLUSION: Although this was a limited study in scope and number, preliminary findings indicated that students identified a need for resources that promoted organization and time management skills, the development and maintenance of friendships, fostered a healthy community, and encouraged student engagement in basic activities of daily living. Within higher education settings, prioritizing these areas may give students the best opportunity to transition into college successfully. Occupational therapy practitioners working with youth can address the development of social support, personal and academic characteristics, and engagement in occupations and routines through program development, targeting late adolescents transitioning to college. Additionally, occupational therapy practitioners can support communication development to promote partnership and effective communication between the student and their university.
References
Baum, C. M., Christiansen, C. H., & Bass, J. D. (2015). The Person-Environment-Occupation- Performance (PEOP) model. In C. H. Christiansen, C. M. Baum, & J. D. Bass (Eds.), Occupational therapy: Performance, participation, and well-being (4th ed., pp. 49-56). Thorofare, NJ: SLACK Incorporated.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020). College enrollment and work activity of recent high school and college graduate summary-2019. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/hsgec.pdf
Creswell, W. J. & Poth, N. C. (2017). Qualitative Inquiry and Research design: 4th edition. Thousand Oaks, California. SAGE Publication, Inc.
