Abstract
Transitioning from high school to college has been a challenge for most students. The inability to make successful transitions has affected students' ability to integrate and graduate from college. Higher educational institutions look to programs such as new-student orientations to support students as they learn to navigate their new academic (and for many, new living) environments. The COVID-19 pandemic changed how new-student orientation worked as all traditional institutions switched completely to online orientation activities from completely in-person activities. As institutions emerged from the aftermath of the pandemic, they implemented blended new-student orientation modalities consisting of both online and in-person activities. This case study looks specifically at how a university's new-student orientation blended modality affects social connectedness as perceived by first-year students. Twenty criteria-based students were randomly selected and interviewed. From these interviews, we discovered three main findings on the impact of blended new-student orientations: (a) they supported students to feel more motivated to transition from high school to college, (b) they helped students develop a sense of belonging, and (c) they showed that the combination of online and in-person orientation activities provided a holistic experience for students. We conclude that blended modalities can help build and strengthen connections and a sense of belonging between students and institutions, especially for marginalized students. We also give suggestions on how to adapt blended modalities from current standards to activities that may result in higher transition successes and retention.
Degree
MS
College and Department
David O. McKay School of Education; Instructional Psychology and Technology
Rights
https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Smalley, Pamela Potoma, "The Impact of Online Orientation Activities in a Blended New-Student Orientation Modality on Social Connectedness" (2024). Theses and Dissertations. 10700.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/10700
Date Submitted
2024-03-22
Document Type
Thesis
Handle
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd13536
Keywords
blended orientation modality, new-student orientation, sense of belonging, transitioning
Language
english