Adjustment to the first year of university involves engaging with the university culture and developing a sense of belonging or attachment. Difficulty making the transition to university can result in students deferring or withdrawing from their courses. While mature-age students experience many of the challenges of all first-year students such as social dislocation, academic anxiety, and unrealistic expectations, they are more likely than school-leaver students to have family responsibilities and time constraints. The ability to manage competing demands on their time can affect their participation in campus-based activities and negatively impact their sense of belonging to the university. This paper reports on the adjustment to the first year of university of 40 mature-age students, measured through an analysis of their responses on a 55-item survey questionnaire. The findings suggest that the mature-age students adjusted well, academically; however, they had lower measures of adjustment in their social and personal adjustment. The challenge for universities is to identify and respond to the needs of mature-age students during their transition to university.

The collaboration between Museum Victoria and ReMSTEP partners: the University of Melbourne and Deakin University has enabled the development of the Reconceptualising Rocks project, designed to enhance the teaching of Earth Science for pre-service Science teachers. This study sought to determine how perceptions and understandings of Earth Science can be enhanced through immersion in the contextual learning in the Museum. Furthermore, the project aimed to explore how science ideas and practices can be translated for educational purposes. The findings revealed that participants found Earth Science interesting and were able to identify links to other Science areas. These findings have implications for the teaching of Earth Science across the curriculum.

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