Experiences of First Year University Students Regarding Institutional Mentoring Programme during COVID-19 Outbreak: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis
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Date
2022-06-05
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Abstract
Universities had to ensure that students were well supported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the years, peer mentors have provided one-on-one psychosocial support to first-year students. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, it became difficult to provide face-to-face assistance. As a result, new forms of communities, networks, and interactions, that student can develop and participate in, emerged to cope with the crisis. The problem is that students encounter unexpected challenges from the moment they arrive at university, owing to the substantial shift in roles and complex responsibilities that comes with being a student at a university. The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ first-year experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak so as to provide insights that could be useful for institutional policy and practice. The study was undertake a Qualitative Evidence Systematic Review, which is a summary of research literature focused on a single subject that claims the role of systematic reviews in evidence-based practices. A qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted using the PICO framework (Population/Place; Intervention; Comparator; Outcome) so as to seek to answer the question: “What are the experiences of first-year university students regarding the institutional mentoring programme during the Covid-19 Outbreak?” Articles were critically reviewed for eligibility using the PRISMA flow diagram, with relevance screening and duplicate removal using the CASP assessment tool. This is a method that allows the researcher to evaluate data both deductively and interpretively to better understand phenomena. In total fifteen articles were selected for this study; they were chosen through purposive sampling and then subjected to thematic analysis. The findings of this study are expected to add to the existing body of knowledge on the first-year university student experience.
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COVID-19, First-Year Experience, Qualitative Evidence Systematic Review, Student transitions, Transition support