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Professor Karen Nelson Director, Student Success and Retention
Queensland University of Technology
Informa 2nd Annual Student Health and Welfare Forum 29-30 July 2013, Sydney
Bradley, Noonan, Nugent & Scales (2008) Review of Australian Higher Education: Final Report
Higher education can transform the lives of individuals and through them their communities and the nation by engendering a love of learning for its own sake and a passion for intellectual discovery
“... We have now reached the stage where universities must recognise the need for institution-wide approaches to enhancing the first year experience. Responsiveness to the needs of demographic and cultural subgroups demands that student support staff, academics and administrators work together to integrate their efforts and initiatives for the benefit of all students”...
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Krause, Hartley, James & McInnis, 2005, ¶8.8.6
Current state of HE in Australia
• 2nd radical change in just over two decades – Dawkins reforms 1988 elite to mass HE sector – Bradley review (2008) and Govt’s responses
• Increasing pressures – student numbers Trow’s notion of universal higher
education – student diversity – preparedness for and experience of
higher education – regulatory pressures –compacts, increased attention to HE
reputation, quality ... – funding pressures - performance based funding, recent
funding cuts (e.g. UK & Australia), deregulation of places, fixed fees … caps on places?
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Can Any Of Us Do All This Alone
Focus on two key student learning outcomes: The first year experience Student learning engagement
First year is when learning environment is the most challenging & it is when student learning engagement begins.
The first year experience
Why focus on first year students “student success [at university] is largely determined by student experiences in the first year” (Upcraft, Gardner, & Barefoot, 2005, p.1).
• And that student expectations “impact [on] successful student transitioning” (Alexson & Kemnitz, 2004, p. 20)
• “The transition to university is therefore a particularly significant period for understanding student expectations and their consequences” (James, 2002 p. 76)
• Expectations are highly individual and diverse. (James, 2002)
• These diverse expectations are the “defining characteristic of the student experience” Byron (2002)
Scoping and defining
• A first year student is a student who has not completed the equiv of 1 f/time year of study in their current course at their current institution
• The first year curriculum is a subject that is intentionally designed and placed in the curriculum to assist transition ...
• A student’s first year experience extends from offer until commencement of >equiv 1f/time year of study
What we would wish for … All students have qualified for a place and we
have a moral, ethical and legal obligation to provide the best possible opportunity for them to succeed .... That students have a good experience because they are engaged in their learning. No student leaves because of an issue with their course or curriculum or a staff member or admin or because of issues with access or support or because they lost confidence or didn’t know how to … xxx.
How can interconnectedness assist with...
Unfamiliarity with university
Diversity in preparedness for higher education
Various pre- and mis-conceptions about university life
Self doubts about ability, course choice, careers …
Demographic variables (inc. equity groups) ...
Changing patterns of participation & engagement ...
Increased work hours, travel time ...
Increasing levels of poverty
Large very large classes (massuniversal system)
What we know
Commencing students need …
• Encounters with challenging ideas and people
• Active engagement with these challenges
• In a supportive environment
• Real-world activities
• Includes social activities
• Unbounded by time or place Terenzini, P and Pascarella, E, 2007
Factors influencing success in FY
• Institutional climate and commitment
• Preparedness to respond to the changing nature of student engagement
• Recognition of the social dimensions of learning
• Good course design and teaching practice
• Assessment: relevant, consistent & integrated;
• Feedback: early, prompt & constructive
• Student support: coordinated, just-in-time, life & learning, normalised
(Yorke, M. & Thomas, L., 2003, Tinto 2006)
Generational approaches to the FYE (Kift, Nelson & Clarke, 2010; Kift, 2009; Wilson, 2009)
1st generation FYE Essentially co-curricular – professionals on curriculum’s periphery – or as adjunct to the core learning experience
2nd generation FYE Curriculum focus – recognizes entering diversity and supports student learning experience via pedagogy, curriculum design, & L&T practice – requires faculty & professional partnerships
3rd generation FYE 1st and 2nd generation FYE quality assured and seamless across institution, across all its disciplines, programs & services via faculty & professional partnerships
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Reviewing the evidence (Nelson, Clarke, Kift & Creagh, 2012)
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• ~400 empirical reports
– 2000-2003 – isolated or siloed, 1st generation = orientation, peer mentoring, transition programs
– 2004-2007 – transition pedagogy – (Kift & Nelson, 2005) and focus on curriculum, design, assessment and engagement
– 2008-2010 – trend towards university-wide foci for research, focus on clarifying expectations, dramatic increase in curriculum mediated engagement and partnerships
Example 1 Transition pedagogy & Shared strategies
Design
Transition
Engagement
Diversity
Assessment
Evaluation
Cu
rric
ulu
m t
hat
en
gage
s st
ud
en
ts in
lear
nin
g
Pro
acti
ve a
nd
tim
ely
acc
ess
to
le
arn
ing
and
life
su
pp
ort
Inte
nti
on
ally
fo
ste
rin
g a
sen
se o
f b
elo
ngi
ng
Su
stai
nab
le a
cad
em
ic-
pro
fess
ion
al p
artn
ers
hip
s
Cu
rric
ulu
m P
rin
cip
les
(FYC
Ps)
Key Strategies
Kift & Nelson, 2005, Kift, 2009, Kift , Nelson & Clarke (2010)
Transition Pedagogy – 3rd Generation FYE Policy and Practice
Example 2 Focus on inclusive practices
A philosophical position
Launch of the Good Practice Guide 26 March 2013
Example 3 from learning support to support for learning
Curricula Co-
curricular
Discipline specialists Discipline content
Professional educators Academic literacies
Extra-curricular
Academic L&L specialists Language proficiency
Embed Integrate Align
Academic languages & literacies in curriculum Cultural competence for domestic students Aboriginal and Torres Strait knowledge systems Intercultural competence for all students
Strategically placed to meet needs Aligned with course learning outcomes Threshold skills and concepts Cohort needs
24/7 access to on-line resources and information Drop-in style learning support Peer and staff mediated High priority students Intensive specialist support
Discipline academic staff and professional educators design and enact in collaboration
Formal cultural competence training Informal knowledge exchange & capacity building
Student learning engagement
Disengagement failure attrition
Engagement learning retention
“The time and effort students devote to activities that are empirically linked to desired outcomes of college and what institutions do to induce students to participate in these activities (Kuh, (2001, 2003, 2009a) in Trowler, 2010)
“the interaction between the time, effort and other relevant resources invested by both students and their institutions intended to optimise the student experience and enhance the learning outcomes and development of students and the performance, and reputation of the institution.” (Trowler, 2010. p. 3)
Individual and Institutional Characteristics Influencing Student Retention and Engagement (IICISRE)
Student Factors
Individual Contextual
Students & Staff
Knowledge Skills
Attitudes Actions
Input / Presage Factors Transformation
Process
Output / Product Factors
Institutional Experiences
Mediated by
curriculum & co-
curricular activities
Institutional Context
Curriculum Institution
Teacher Factors
Individual Contextual Nelson, K., Kift, S., & Clarke, J (2012) A transition pedagogy for student
engagement and first year learning, success and retention. In Ian Solomonides, Anna Reid and Peter Petocz (eds) Engaging with Learning in Higher Education (ELHE) Faringdon, UK Libri Publishers.
engagement is critical for learning
10 Proposals Improve Engagement
1. Enhance students self belief 2. Enable students – work autonomously & together, to
build and feel competent 3. Recognise that L&T are central to engagement 4. Create active, collaborative learning 5. Create challenging, enriching educational experiences 6. Ensure institutional cultures are welcoming 7. Invest in support services 8. Adapt to changing student expectations 9. Enable students to become active citizens 10. Enable development of social & cultural capital
Zepke & Leach (2010) ALHE, 11(3), p169
Interconnectedness
enhances learning
engagement
Example 4 Interconnectedness in curriculum design
How will students come to understand themselves and the range of employment and career options relevant to their course?
What mechanisms will be in place to support
students as they transition into the course?
What mechanisms will be in place to ensure the early identification and support of students who may be at risk of not meeting unit and course learning outcomes or disengaging from their studies?
Which faculty and central support areas will be
consulted /involved in the course to maximise the
student learning experience?
• Career modules • Individual attributes • Guest lectures • Internships, PL, WIL • Experiential & PB
learning • Capstones experiences
• Peer led orientation experiences
• Course specific peer learning in and out of classroom – physical & virtual
• Discipline specific academic languages and literacies development
• Threshold concepts, knowledge and skills explicitly identified and developed
• Cohort specific strategies for high priority and at-risk cohorts
• Universal monitoring of student engagement
• Academic skills • Peer programs • First year experience • Careers and counselling • Academic language &
learning & international • Digital / eLearning • Library • Health and wellbeing
Given engagement is the key then we should monitor students’
engagement in learning
Example 5 Interconnectedness in monitoring student learning engagement
• Early intervention programs increase student learning engagement & retention.
• Use data and information (proxy indicators) to:
– monitor student learning engagement
– make highly tailored action-oriented supportive interventions with high priority students
– connect students with learning and personal support services and network
– promote help seeking behaviour
Monitoring learning engagement
Sustained and at scale
Impact on student engagement (2011-2012)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
2011/1 2011/2 2012/1 2012/2
20112012 = 245 students
500 students retained @$16,500 /
student / year = $8 250 000
retained income
2012 2013 = 255 students
An interconnected
Institutional conditions
http://studentengagementmaturitymodel.net/
45
Category Process
Dimensions
Pro
vid
ing
Pla
nn
ing
Inst
itu
tio
nal
fra
min
g
Mo
nit
ori
ng
Op
tim
isin
g
Learning Assessment ## ## ## ## ##
Curricula ## ## ## ##
Teaching Techniques ## ## ## ##
Pedagogical Style ## ## ## ## ##
Supporting Information about ## ##
Services & resources ## ## ## ## ##
People rich ## ## ## ## ##
Belonging Interaction ## ## ## ## ##
Inclusive activities ## ## ## ## ##
Identity development opportunities ## ## ## ## ##
Integrating Academic literacies ## ##
Personal literacies ## ## ## ## ##
Activities ## ## ## ## ##
Resourcing Staff development ## ## ## ## ##
Roles and responsibilities ## ## ##
Evidence base ## ## ## ## ##
Communication ## ## ## ## ##
Learning environments ## ## ## ## ##
Example SESR Maturity Model
1 2
3
Student Engagement Success & Retention Maturity Model
Organisational Practices
Categories 18 Processes (e.g.) 63 Practices (e.g.)
Learning Assessment Design, feedback, relevance
Curricula Design, enactment
Supporting Information about Courses, key milestones, services
Services & resources Financial, personal, skills
Belonging Interaction, Inclusivity Communication style, community
Identity development Capacity building, ‘apprenticeships’
Integrating Academic literacies Peer learning, skills integrated , people
Personal literacies Cohort dev, personal dev, profess dev
Resourcing Staff development Corporate info, specific roles, innovation
Roles and responsibilities Providing tools & tech, specialist roles
C= Integrating: Process = personal
literacies
Description of practice
Institution Dimension
of
Practice interpreted for
dimension
Evidence is …
No
t ad
eq
uat
e
Part
ially
ad
eq
uat
e
Larg
ely
adeq
uat
e
Fully
ad
equ
ate
Cultural and social competence are cultivated within the curricula e.g. understanding and esteeming other cultures, indigenous ways of knowing, individual learning styles
Providing The curricula cultivates …
Planning There are plans to cultivate …
Institutional Framing
Institutional policies or standards guide …
Monitoring The cultivation of … is monitored
Optimising The cultivation of … is improved
Assessing Institutional SESR Maturity
48
Example SESR Maturity Model
Pro
vid
ing
Pla
nn
ing
Inst
itu
tio
na
l fr
am
ing
Mo
nit
ori
ng
Op
tim
isin
g
Learning Assessment ## ## ##
Curricula ## ## ## ##
Teaching Techniques ## ## ## ## ##
Pedagogical Style ## ## ## ##
Supporting Information about ## ## ## ##
Services & resources ## ## ## ## ##
People rich ## ## ## ## ##
Belonging Interaction ## ## ## ## ##
Inclusive activities ## ## ##
Identity development opportunities ## ## ## ##
Integrating Academic literacies ## ## ## ## ##
Personal literacies ## ## ## ##
Activities ## ## ## ## ##
Resourcing Staff development ## ## ## ##
Roles and responsibilities ## ## ## ## ##
Evidence base ## ## ## ## ##
Communication ## ## ## ##
Learning environments ## ## ## ##
Key:
No data ##
Not adequate ##
Partially adequate ##
Largely adequate ##
Fully adequate ##
QUT Student Engagement Success and Retention
Maturity Model Summary
Dimensions
Category Process
What Might This Look Like In Practice
Academic –Professional Partnerships
D
isci
plin
e A
cad
emic
Sta
ff a
nd
Student recruitment Academic developers Learning advisers Academic language and learning advisers Learning designers Survey specialists Evaluation coordinators Counselling Careers counsellors Central and faculty student support Equity services Disability services
Fostering a sense of belonging
Uni-wide orientation & transition
Uni-wide visible
physical & virtual peer programs
Proactive, timely access to support & development
Campus life
Universal Monitoring of Student
Engagement with
Intervention
Support for Learning
Curriculum that engages students in learning
Transition pedagogy Work
integrated learning Capstone
experiences
Professor Karen Nelson Director, Student Success and Retention
Queensland University of Technology
Informa 2nd Annual Student Health and Welfare Forum 29-30 July 2013, Sydney