A Mobile App in the 1st Year Uni-Life

A Pilot Study

Abstract

The transition process that students undergo from high school to university, especially during the first year has a significant impact on their academic success. Higher education institutions try to cater for the needs of these students with a variety of initiatives. Although there are numerous resources made available in university websites, in most cases, they are underutilized. With the high adoption rate of smart phones among university students, mobile apps can be used to provide personalised support during the transition from high school to university. But, questions such as what is the truly relevant information that should be given to students, how should the information be delivered, and how should such a mobile application be designed remain unanswered. To explore these issues, we have developed a prototype mobile application called “myUniMate”. We conducted a pilot study in which 13 first year engineering students used the app for 6 weeks during a normal semester. Both qualitative and quantitative data was gathered to analyse the usability and feasibility of the app and to identify the features that were more useful. The obtained results have provided clear guidelines for the evolution of the application.