First year and adjustment in university life: A qualitative study to determine the needs of first year university students

Abstract

This study was conducted to identify the adjustment needs of first-year university students during their transition to university. The first year at university is a time when students review and organize their needs, their expectations from the university, the quality of their communication with other students, academic and administrative staff, the rules and working methods of the new academic environment, and the personality traits that students bring to the university. In the first year, most university students have to deal with many stress factors such as economic difficulties, academic difficulties, loneliness and homesickness, and difficulties in establishing social relationships. Based on this information, this study aims to explore in depth the needs and experiences of first-year university students in Turkey. In this study, the case study model, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used to determine the adjustment difficulties and first-year needs of first-year university students. The participants were asked 11 open-ended questions with a semi-structured interview form. Content analysis, which is a qualitative data analysis method, was conducted by creating themes and codes for the data obtained from the interviews. The findings from the research were discussed in the context of the literature.