Lost in Transition? How Orientation Days Make a Difference for the Well-Being of First-Year Students

Several difficulties characterize first-year students’ transition to higher education and can impede their well-being. An orientation day can actively engage first-year students from the first day in higher education, to support their transition to the new educational environment and their well-being. One area that needs to be explored is the effectiveness of different types of orientation days. The empirical objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of two types of orientation days: a lecture-based and a game-based orientation day. The game-based orientation day was intentionally designed to proactively enhance student experiences, particularly well-being, based on well-being principles from educational theory. Cross-sectional survey data from 1,850 students enabled to compare this game-based orientation day with a lecture-based orientation day. The effects on students’ well-being and feeling of informedness are measured, on the orientation day and 3 weeks later. The analyses show that the game-based orientation day is more effective in supporting well-being than the lecture-based orientation day, and at least equally effective in informing students. The findings from this study contribute both on a theoretical and practical level to understanding the value of orientation days for first-year students in facilitating their transition to higher education. Implications and recommendations for educational practice aim to inspire higher education institutions to rethink how to support students’ transition.