EXPLORING ACADEMIC SUPPORT NEEDS FOR TRANSITIONAL ADJUSTMENT OF NEWLY ADMITTED STUDENTS IN CAMEROON STATE UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The study was carried out on academic support and its influence on the social adjustment of newly admitted students in Cameroon state Universities. The transition from secondary school to the University is one of the most stressful events in adolescents’ life and can have a negative impact on their social adjustment. The researcher made used of be mixed method with a concurrent nested research design. The instruments used for data collection was questionnaire, interview guide and open group discussion. The sample was made up of 759 students and 13 Guidance counsellors proportionately selected five state Universities (Univerity of Bamenda, University of Buea, University of Maroua and University of Yaounde 1 and university of Betoua). The quantitative data were analyzed using the descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The descriptive statistical tools used are frequency count, percentages and multiple responses set which aimed at calculating the summary of findings for each variable for a quick comprehension of the overall findings. To test the hypotheses of the study, the Spearman rho test was used. In addition to the Spearman’s rho test, the Cox and Snell test was equally computed to explain the explanatory between the variable in the hypothesis in terms of percentage to ease comprehension. On the other hand, the qualitative data derived from open ended questions were analysed using the thematic analysis approach with the aid of themes, groundings/frequency and quotations. Finding showed that academic support (r-value 0.280**, p-value < 0.001) influence the social adjustment of newly admitted University students. The positivity of the influence implied that newly admitted University students are more likely to be socially adjusted when they have good academic support. The implications of this finding is that an increase in academic support will increase the student level of social adjustment in the state Universities in Cameroon. Based on the finding, it was recommended that the guidance counselors, lecturers and the community should help adolescents in their transition process from secondary school to the University so that the can easily adjust in their social and learning environment.