IUPUI is Indiana's premier urban research university. The campus enrolls more than 30,000 students in 21 schools and academic units.
Drew Appleby
Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
dappleby@iupui.edu
Diagnosing and treating the deadly 13th grade syndrome
I have presented the results of my research to high school students, high school teachers, IUPUI freshmen, IUPUI faculty, psychology faculty from around the country, and faculty from many academic disciplines on other campuses. My qualitative research has identified what college freshmen say are the most challenging academic differences between high school and college. I have used these results to create strategies that students can use to minimize and/or overcome these challenges so that they can experience a successful freshman year and return to IUPUI the next year as competent and enthusiastic sophomores. It is evidence-based because it is based on the actual testimony of IUPUI freshmen. It is cross-disciplinary because the students from whom I collected testimonies were from many different academic disciplines and the data I collected can be useful to freshmen in any acadedemic discipline. The primary goal of my research is to provide freshmen with compelling advice from their peers that can help them to adapt successfully to their new academic environment (i.e., higher education).
