LEARNING HOW TO BE A UNIVERSITY STUDENT: TIME OF CONSTITUTION OF THE NEWCOMER INTO HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

This qualitative research aims to understand how the admission into the university influences the subject’s formation as a student, based on the theoretical perspective of the Critical Educational Psychology. Three freshmen psychology students from the Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil, took part in this research. Their admission to the university was the main purpose of the interviews, which were held at three different occasions: during the beginning of the first semester of the course, at the end of the first semester and at the beginning of the second semester. We selected four main axes of analysis: a) time of hesitation; b) time of unfamiliarity; c) time for learning; and d) affiliation time. These periods address the moment before the admission into the university and the student’s professional choices; the alienation caused by the need to understand the rules of the institution; the learning process of a student’s duties and the absorption of the university standards; as well as the apprenticeship of scientific concepts; relationships with colleagues, teaching staff and course coordinators.