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Examines why strong high school performance can still lead to large grade declines, affecting engagement, satisfaction, and retention.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/high-to-low-tide-the-high-school-university-transition/598633/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/high-to-low-tide-the-high-school-university-transition/598633.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"awa","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-03","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What was the main focus of the three-year study described in the paper?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The study examined the high school–university transition for students taking first-year chemistry, within the broader context of higher-education success research.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How did the author collect data for the study?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The study used mixed methods: online questionnaires completed by 1,270 of 5,356 students across three first-year chemistry courses, plus semi-structured group interviews with about 40 students.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why do many students fail despite high school excellence, according to the paper?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Many students face a substantial drop in grades after entering university, described as “sticker shock,” and the paper highlights that demographic factors alone do not explain the wide grade spread compared with high school performance.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},598633,1792190963,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":106,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},3985747858093,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","22  \nHigh to Low Tide: The High School–University Transition  \nDavid C. Stone  \nUniversity of Toronto  \nIn this paper I summarize some key findings from a three-year study of the high school-university transition for students attending a large arts and science faculty, within the context of their first university chemistry course. I then discuss these results within the broader context of research on success in higher education. Final conclusions are drawn from both my own observations and participant discussion from the session at the 2009 Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) conference at the University of New Brunswick.  \nConsidering  \nEehy yeas inst,tautliargonefcohromorthiof studgh scheonoltsawirihveshiatgh  \ngrades and higher expectations. Many of these students intend to pursue a life sciences degree, with the ultimate aim of a professional medical career. As a result, some 1,500 to 1,800 students enrol annually in our first-year chemistry courses. This is a relatively smooth transition for some, but extremely traumatic for others who find that high school excellence does not translate into university success. While many instructors grumble about the declining quality of students, or their lack of work ethic and sense of “entitlement,” this really does not do justice to the majority of students who devote long hours to their studies. What, then, are we to make  \nof that sizeable group of students who, despite their best efforts, find themselves failing those courses that are so essential to their dreams? And, more importantly, what can we do to identify and assist those who, in the words of one student, come to feel that university is the “place where hopes and dreams come to die”?  \nGetting an Education…  \nThe genesis of this paper comes from an educational research project I began in 2006 to look specifically at those students taking first-year chemistry (Stone, 2009). The goal of this mixed-mode study was to an-  \nswer the questions:  \n1. What factors contribute to a successful highschool–university transition?  \n2. What can schools and universities do to help students manage this transition?  \nOver a three-year period, 1,270 out of 5,356 students enrolled in one of three first-year chemistry courses during the Fall semester completed on-line questionnaires. Additionally, some 40 students participated in semi-structured group interviews run by second-year students through our undergraduate research opportunity program. For the second and third years of this study, I was also able to match individual student surveys with final course grades.  \nIn some respects, the survey findings were unsurprising, particularly given current trends in university admissions and the competition for admission to our life science programs (Table 1) . The majority of students completed high school in Ontario,  \nobtaining high marks in Grade 12 chemistry with an average around 87% . Students experience substantial“sticker shock” when they see university large class averages for the first time: for the two single-semester courses taught here, the averages over the study period were 67% and 64%, respectively. Of course, many quite rightly expect university to be harder than high school – though individually not expecting to find it that much harder! In fact, students report being warned to expect a drop of from 10 to 20 percentage points in grade average from high school. What is disturbing is the number of students who experience a much greater drop in academic achievement (Figure 1). Indeed, fully one quarter of students participating in the survey reported their chemistry grade dropping from 30 to 60 percentage points – and that does not include those who did not write the final exam. Such a reversal of academic fortunes is clearly devastating for the student, and has significant implications for student engagement, satisfaction, and retention.  \nTable 1  \nSummary of Survey Cohort Characteristics  \n\n| Category | 2","cbCairxfJTpxyljB","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairxfJTpxyljB","pdf",600335,"English","# Introduction\n## Study origin and research questions\n## Survey and interview methodology\n## Findings: sticker shock and grade drops\n## Survey cohort characteristics and tables","[{\"question\":\"What was the main focus of the three-year study described in the paper?\",\"answer\":\"The study examined the high school–university transition for students taking first-year chemistry, within the broader context of higher-education success research.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the author collect data for the study?\",\"answer\":\"The study used mixed methods: online questionnaires completed by 1,270 of 5,356 students across three first-year chemistry courses, plus semi-structured group interviews with about 40 students.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do many students fail despite high school excellence, according to the paper?\",\"answer\":\"Many students face a substantial drop in grades after entering university, described as “sticker shock,” and the paper highlights that demographic factors alone do not explain the wide grade spread compared with high school performance.\"}]","High to Low Tide: The High School - University Transition | PDF",1792087290,18]