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Progress on Using Student Ambassadors to Broaden Maths Support Services John Little

Progress on Using Student Ambassadors to Broaden Maths Support Services John Little supported by the MSOR Network and sigma http://studentmathssupport.wordpress.com/. overview definition of role aspects of recruitment planned & actual activities outcomes to date recommendations.

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Progress on Using Student Ambassadors to Broaden Maths Support Services John Little

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  1. Progress on Using Student Ambassadors to Broaden Maths Support Services John Little supported by the MSOR Network and sigma http://studentmathssupport.wordpress.com/

  2. overview definition of role aspects of recruitment planned & actual activities outcomes to date recommendations

  3. definition of role “ambassador” = a diplomat sent on a mission to a foreign country?

  4. definition of role to promote services at library sites to gather student proposals for new resources and workshops to evaluate existing and proposed tutor developed resources to make own resource proposals

  5. definition of role to be ambassadors for target groups to help broaden services for target groups e.g. distance learners to work as partners in service development

  6. redefinition of role • anticipated direct student engagement • at library sites did not materialise • changed emphasis towards • development of ambassadors’ own • ideas and evaluation of tutor resources • in future a mix of the two

  7. aspects of recruitment • initial aim was to recruit one ambassador • for each of eight Schools that make use • of maths/stats/numeracy support • recruiting seven meant this really • was a recruitment process and not a • selection process • probably better to have fewer • ambassadors and more selection

  8. aspects of recruitment • probably better to have fewer • ambassadors and more selection: • to ensure commitment to tasks • to maximise ambassador availability • to make management and • communication easier • UG 1 or 2 possibly more flexible than PG • consider recruiting FT UG for the • summer for non face to face activities

  9. aspects of recruitment meet the ambassadors: each contracted for 35 hours at £7/hour plus shared access to two moodle materials developers

  10. planned & actual activities • (in addition to role definition) • contacting Student Union reps to promote role • => positive engagement via phonecall/e-mail • contacting class reps as a source of resource • proposals => very little response • development of management reports for year • on year comparisons as update of less efficient • predecessor process

  11. planned & actual activities • (in addition to role definition) • four ambassadors attended one of our two • departmental annual planning days and so are • directly feeding into our annual plan • -mainly in a recommendation on how to • improve our communication with students

  12. planned & actual activities • the main departure from what was • planned was creation of mini projects: • blog maintenance => not much engagement • moodle viewing figures follow up • => eventually passed to moodle developer • evaluation of third party resources • => aiming to match to resource proposals • an internal policy review • => awaiting report from ambassador

  13. planned & actual activities • the main departure from what was • planned was creation of mini projects: • a review of what other HEIs do • => awaiting report from ambasaador • creation of a communications strategy • => awaiting final proposal from ambassador • comparison of different moodle content styles • => three detailed responses from ambassadors

  14. outcomes to date ambassador blogged feedback on / evaluation of up to 22 proposed resources ambassador creation of five new potentially usable resources ambassador feedback on / evaluation of up to 6 generic YouTube clips => probable re-recording of audio

  15. outcomes to date • ambassador distillation of resource • feedback / evaluation => • slides for Articulate conversion • too bland • positive about links to video, quizzes • and third party resources

  16. outcomes to date broadening of service? capacity to share data quickly recruitment of one or two maths/stats/ numeracy ambassadors confirmed as part of departmental annual plan

  17. outcomes to date broadening of service? we have gained more insight into “hard to reach” faculty through having Business School ambassadors

  18. outcomes to date capacity to share data quickly we can now not only produce automatic year on year comparisons; we can also categorise our data according to target groups and share with management

  19. outcomes to date recruitment of one or two maths/stats/ numeracy ambassadors confirmed as part of departmental annual plan => organisational learning

  20. indirect outcomes to date • filming of five students’ service feedback • (including some from one ambassador) • -partially arose from discussion at • meeting with MSOR mentor • realisation that thesis acknowledgement • helps promote stats support

  21. recommendations • beware that you will get a mix of levels • of commitment and productivity • wordpress blog works quite well as a • means of collating and sharing project • information

  22. recommendations • try to get a mix of UG and PG students • a maximum of 4 ambassadors to 1 staff • consider FT UG summer ambassadors

  23. summary definition of role aspects of recruitment planned & actual activities outcomes to date recommendations

  24. bibliography BBC NEWS, 2009. UK University drop out rate increases [online] BBC. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8083373.stm [Accessed 21 May 2012] COOPER, B., GILLARD, J., GRAHAM, D., WHITE, J. and WILSON, R., 2011. Summer Internships in sigma-sw. MSOR Connections. [online] 11(3). MSOR. Available from: http://mathstore.ac.uk/headocs/Connections_11_3_Cooper.pdf [Accessed 28 May 2012] HEWSON, P., 2011. Preliminary Analysis of the National Student Survey. MSOR Connections. [online] 11(1). Available from: http://mathstore.ac.uk/headocs/Hewson.pdf [Accessed 21 May 2012] STREETING, W. and WISE, G., 2009. Rethinking the values of higher education –consumption, partnership, community? [online] Gloucester. QAA. Available from: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/Rethinking.pdf [Accessed 28 May 2012] NUS, 2012. Student Experience Research 2012 Part 2: Independent Learning and Contact Hours [online] London. National Union of Students. Available from: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/Student-Experience-Research-2012-Part-2.pdf [Accessed 28 May 2012] TAYLOR, M., BOND, O., ANDERSON, C., KENNEDY, A., 2012. Summer Internships in sigma-sw. MSOR Connections. [online] 12(1). MSOR. Available from: http://mathstore.ac.uk/headocs/Connections_12_1_Taylor_et_al.pdf [Accessed 28 May 2012] SWAIN, H., 2012. Should students be given the power to decide how universities are run? [online] Guardian.  Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jun/11/universities-giving-students-more-power [Accessed 14 June 2012] 

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