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Ready for University

Ready for University. E valuation of an Intervention to Prepare Students for First Year University Assessment. Prof. James Elander & Anna Jessen Wolverhampton 9th May 2008. Background. EU: need 20.000.000 skilled workers over next 20 years UK goal: 50% of youth complete university

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Ready for University

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  1. Ready for University Evaluation of an Intervention to Prepare Students for First Year University Assessment Prof. James Elander & Anna Jessen Wolverhampton 9th May 2008

  2. Background • EU: • need 20.000.000 skilled workers over next 20 years • UK goal: • 50% of youth complete university • Widening participation • More support needed: • Often given at university • This project: support at pre-university • Further Education (FE): A-level and access • EU: Gymnasium Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  3. 1st year university students felt A-level did not prepare them for university(Smith, 2004) • 1st year university students; • 47% expressed difficulties with essay writing • 78% did not know what markers were looking for in their essays (Pain & Mowl, 1996). Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  4. Core assessment criteria for essay writing: • Addressing the question • Demonstrating understanding • Critical evaluating • Developing argument • Structuring • Using evidence • Using language (Elander et al, 2004) • Require complex skills and deep approach to learning (Elander, 2004) • Assessment Plus: workshops to help 1st year psychology students understand criteria evaluated positively (Harrington et al., 2006) Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  5. Project aims • Prepare students for 1st year university assessment • Improve progression to, and retention in university By • Extending the Assessment Plus approach to FE • Evaluating workshops on university assessment criteria for FE psychology students Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  6. Workshops (n=43) FE students: Pre-intervention questionnaire (n=74) Qualitative interviews Direct evaluation (n=33) Post-intervention questionnaire (n=50) Standard tuition (n=35) University students: Pre-intervention questionnaire (n=189) Qualitative interviews Study design Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  7. Pre-intervention:Qualitative comparison • FE • Selection & inclusion of material • Surface approach to learning • “if you write correct information, and we have it all in we are demonstrating understanding” • University • Analysis and transformation • Deep approach to learning • “You basically need to interpret what you read instead of simply just rewriting what you read” Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  8. Pre-intervention questionnaire-essay writing belief • “In order to ‘answer the essay question’ structuring some relevant material to the essay title is more important than including ALL the right information” • University students with A level psychology 44% agree • University students without A level psychology 62% agree (Chi-squared = 4.1, p= .04) Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  9. FE Uni I know what is meant by ‘structuring’ my essay 88% 79% I understand how to critically evaluate 53% 47% I understand what it means to build an argument in an essay 78% 70% I know how to detect bias in written sources 72% 34% Pre-intervention questionnaire-self-rated understanding & abilityProportion of students agreeing Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  10. The intervention • Workshop content: • Session 1: discussion of assessment criteria homework of 2 essays • Session 2: work in group with 2 essays discuss in class how they met the assessment criteria Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  11. Participants • Total number of students taking part: 43 • 31 A level students • 12 Access students • Mean age: 19 Years (16-52) • 29 females, 14 males Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  12. … understand assessment criteria 55 % … understand what makes a good essay 65 % … feel more confident about writing 20 % … to… critically evaluate 40 % …develop an argument 36 % …structure 39 % … demonstrate understanding 23 % Feedback questionnaireProportion of students agreeing or strongly agreeing to: “The workshops helped me...” Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  13. Qualitative feedback • “helped more than many books that I’ve read about essay writing” • “…a waste of time, go revise and pass your A-levels instead” • “come to one it may help you because it helped me” Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  14. Change in self-rated understanding & ability 2 x2 ANOVA (pre-intervention vs post-intervention X workshop vs standard tuition) Time: F = 8.3, p= .015 Group: F = 0.1, p= .75 Interaction: F = 3.6, p= .08 Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  15. Change in essay writing beliefProportion agreeing that 'in order to “address the essay question”, structuring some relevant material to the essay title is more important than including ALL the right information'. G2 (log linear chi-square) = 11.75, p< .025 Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  16. Conclusion • FE students more confident about assessment criteria than university students • But demonstrated more surface approach to learning & limited understanding of criteria • Workshops • Broadly appreciated by students • Reduced self-rated understanding • Changed belief about essay writing Thames Valley University 9th of May 2008

  17. Please visit our website www.writenow.ac.uk/readyforuniversity j.elander@derby.ac.uk jessen.anna@gmail.com

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