Mitacs Accelerate Research · 2026

Navigating Complexity

Meaning-Making and Adaptive Learning During the First-Year University Transition

A community-engaged qualitative research project examining how first-year university students construct meaning around learning during transition — and how those lived insights can inform the design of reflective learner support infrastructure.

In partnership with the University of Victoria · Faculty of Education

How do emerging adults construct meaning around learning during periods of educational transition and uncertainty in university — and how can these lived insights inform the design of reflective infrastructures that strengthen adaptive learning agency?

The challenge.

First-year university is increasingly complex. Students navigate shifting academic expectations, digital learning platforms, and heightened autonomy — all while constructing the emerging adult identities that will carry them forward.

Most existing campus initiatives emphasize discrete academic skills delivered through Western-centred frameworks that prioritize performance optimization over reflective integration. Critically, students' lived experiences and interpretive processes remain underrepresented in the design of those transition-focused supports.

This project addresses that gap directly — by centring student voice and lived experience as the foundation for learner-development design.

The Method

Learning Corners

Community-embedded reflective spaces, inspired by the Canadian Speakers Corner series and adapted for educational contexts. Private environments — both physical and online — where first-year students voluntarily share brief reflections on meaningful moments in their learning journeys.

i. The Prompts

A specific lived moment.

Participants share 3–5 minute reflections in response to open prompts: "Describe a specific moment when learning felt uncertain, surprising, or meaningful. How did you respond? What does it tell you about how you are learning now?"

ii. The Modes

Choose how to speak.

Audio recording (primary), written reflection, drawing with brief written explanation, or open-ended writing. Multi-modal by design — accessibility and authentic expression first, beyond traditional interview methods.

iii. The Analysis

Patterns across voices.

Reflexive thematic analysis to identify shared patterns in how students interpret and navigate transition — while attending closely to participants' language, framing, and meaning-making processes.

Who participates

First-year voices, centred.

The study recruits 60–80 first-year undergraduates at the University of Victoria, across academic programs. Recruitment partners include UVic's Psychology Research Participation System, student associations, and the International Centre for Students and English Language Centre — supporting balanced inclusion of international and multilingual students.

Participation is voluntary. Reflections are de-identified and treated with care under institutional ethics protocols.

Interested in participating?

Eligibility

Enrolled in first year of undergraduate study at UVic
OR enrolled in UVic's University Pathway Program through Continuing Studies
In initial year of post-secondary transition (gap years and alternative pathways welcome)
Across any academic program or background

What emerges

From lived experience to design principle.

Three deliverables translate participant voices into practical, evidence-informed insight for learner support design.

A thematic framework

A structured account of how first-year students make meaning of learning during transition, grounded in their own language.

ii.

Design principles

Evidence-informed recommendations for reflective scaffolds and community-based learner infrastructure.

iii.

Future scale-up plan

Recommendations for product refinement, partnerships, and the evolution of Glowing Gate's research-driven offerings.