The first year experience: approaches to enhancement

Research and innovations to enhance the first year experience (FYE) are by no means new phenomena. Work in this area appears to be increasing rather than decreasing, with the Higher Education Academy funded projects (Yorke and Longden, 2007), Scottish enhancement themes (currently including the first year experience) (QAA Scotland, 2007), CETLs and various institutional-based enhancements all focusing efforts into better understanding and improving the student experience. Considerable attention has been given to student retention, progression and achievement, widening participation initiatives and the influence of funding in institutional, national and international research over the last decade. What have we learned, what aspects do we need to find out about and, more importantly, how do we adopt these at a practical level? This article focuses upon this last question by looking at some of the practical ways in which institutions are attempting to improve their first year students’ experience within higher education.