1 / 23

HE Achievement

HE Achievement. Jo Maher and Iqbal Ullah. “Inspiring success and enriching lives”. Presentation Outline. Aim To examine the student journey through Higher Education and to explore how effective and differentiated support leads to the achievement of excellent outcomes.  Objectives

lara
Download Presentation

HE Achievement

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. HE Achievement Jo Maher and Iqbal Ullah “Inspiring success and enriching lives”

  2. Presentation Outline Aim • To examine the student journey through Higher Education and to explore how effective and differentiated support leads to the achievement of excellent outcomes.  Objectives • To examine to the relationship between academic support and delivery • To use a case study to analyse good practice and areas to develop related to academic support • To describe the psychological characteristics that inform outstanding delivery and support

  3. “Vocational teaching, learning and assessment is a sophisticated professional occupation and demands, therefore, robust initial and continuous development of expertise.” “The best vocational teachers and learners have dual identities, as occupational specialists and pedagogical experts” DUAL PROFESSIONALISM (Source: It’s about work…Excellent adult vocational teaching and learning: the summary report of the Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning 2013)

  4. Leading the Student Experience - Foreword “Marketisationof higher education, contrary to expectation, has not led to a highly differentiated sector. Students see that they are paying more for their education and consequently have greater expectations of their university experience. The reality for institutions is that they are having to spend more on attracting and retaining students, whilst financial drivers tend toward cost savings, efficiency and greater cost effectiveness. Institutions are convinced of the need to provide a high quality student experience but in the most cost effective way. However, many of the things that students expect and value in relation to their time at university involve more contact time with academic staff and greater personal support.” (Eales-Reynolds, 2014 In Parkes, Young, Cleaver and Archibald, 2014)

  5. Importance of holistic support “With the overall cost of a higher education remaining similar whichever institution students choose, HEIs now have to differentiate themselves in other ways. Bulpitt (2012) identifies that one way to achieve this is by developing and investing in the academic, support and social dimensions of the student experience.” (Parkes, et al., 2014)

  6. The role of an Academic Tutor • What is your understanding of the role? • How would you define Academic Support?

  7. Academic Support (AS) • What is it? • According to Penn-Edwards and Donnison (2011) AS consists of: • - encouraging students to realise their full learning potential • - assisting engagement (i.e. active involvement) with academic resources and services • - developing academic skills through online formative programmes • - consulting with tutors.

  8. Academic Support “Although few institutions fail to offer academic support (McInnes, 2003), significant numbers of students do not avail themselves of these opportunities in their first year (Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), 2010; Harvey, Drew, & Smith, 2006). Failing to take advantage of such support is a factor in first-year student attrition (Tinto, 2006–2007).” (Penn-Edwards & Donnison, 2011, p. 566) “Recent evidence shows that when professional support - interactions with services and student development activities - are introduced and delivered through the academic sphere, students are more likely to engage and access them in the future (Thomas 2012).” (Parkes, et al., 2014)

  9. Research findings Academic tutors are at the frontline of student support in a cohort of students succeeding in HE. Walsh, Larsen and Parry (2009) investigated the student support services used by 1st year students in comparison to 2nd year students at a single university, the frequency of access and the reasons for use. Findings: • Students contacted academic tutors more often that any other university-provided support • 90% sought academic advice, primarily from academic tutors and peers on their course (and first year students were particularly dependent on tutors’ advice) • 88% of students sought support (Walsh, Larsen &Parry, 2009)

  10. What is the secret of success? • What can we do to help students be successful and prevent them from dropping out of their studies? • Findings of the ‘What Works?’ (2012) project concluded there was three key points of intervention: • Induction • Learning and teaching • Academic development and support

  11. Cycle of academic support engagement in HE

  12. Critical Points for academic support engagement (Adapted from Penn-Edwards & Donnison, 2011)

  13. Case study – 1st year student • One of the issues currently facing UK education is the difficulty students have in making the transition from writing at A level/BTEC to degree level. This is much more than a simple study skills concern, involving as it does, adjustment to university, and the expectation of self-regulated learning (SRL) (Norton et al, 2009).

  14. Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) • Post-16 education alone does not sufficiently prepare students for university study. • Smith (2004) found the majority of first year university undergraduates felt that A levels/BTECs had not prepared them for university. • Ballinger (2003) found that level 3 students were not expected to study autonomously. • HE students were expected to be more autonomous

  15. Feedback is the vehicle of development • The quality of feedback provided to students about their academic performance is a fundamental element high quality learning and teaching. UCAS Clearing Feedback from PL/CT Feedback from PL/CT Feedback from PL/CT

  16. Case study - final year student • Collaborative approach • Student experience • Cross-college support services • Effective management

  17. Collaborative approach B,M&P • Aim: To develop students who can independently self-manage, proactively interact and apply their knowledge and skills in a work-related context. • Tailored academic skills focus/collaborative • Open forum/student involvement • Preparation for life aftercollege with support • Help with CV writing and finding out what opportunities are available • Information about money issues including student loans, council tax and overdrafts

  18. Critical points of academic support engagement – Final Year • 5 stage structure of support remains • Greater emphasis on SRL

  19. Characteristics of outstanding teaching Respond and adapt The first is the ability to respond and adapt planned lessons to meet the needs of the students. All lessons carefully planned, but the lecturer is skilled enough to “improvise” where necessary, adjusting the lesson plan according to student reactions whilst also maintaining focus on the planned learning outcomes. Subject and pedagogy Excellent subject knowledge is another common characteristic among the best lecturers. However, this is not just excellent knowledge of the subject in itself, it is a pedagogical subject knowledge that recognises how to engage students with the subject. Relating to students Ability to relate to students. They recognise them as individual students and are therefore able to make the subject feel relevant to what is going on in their lives.

  20. Characteristics of outstanding teaching Striking the right balance Balance of lecturer input and independent learning, and pacing the lesson for both engagement and reflection. The profession has moved beyond the idea that great teaching should be “student-centred” and not “teacher-centred”. This is a false dichotomy. The best lecturers are able to strike an appropriate balance between opportunities to work independently, to use focused collaboration in groups or pairs and for direct input from the lecturer. There is no “ideal” lesson formula, what is important is that the balance of activities works to achieve the learning outcomes. Similarly there also needs to be a balance in the pace of the lesson, one that maintains energy but also allows time for reflection. Energetic and high-octane teaching can be impressive but there is a danger that opportunities for reflection – and hence learning – are missed in the pursuit of pace.

  21. Psychological Characteristics of outstanding • Self-confidence • Emotional control • Arousal regulation • Self-presentation: body language, verbal projection

  22. References • Walsh, C., Larsen, C., & Parry, D. (2009). Academic tutors at the frontline of student support in a cohort of students succeeding in higher education. Educational Studies, 35,405-424. • Penn-Edwards, S., & Donnison, S. (2011). Engaging with Higher Education Academic Support: a first year student teacher transition model. European Journal of Education, 46, 566-580. • Thomas, L. (2012). What Works? Student Retention & Success: Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change.HEA [online]. Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/What_works_summary_report_0.pdf (Accessed 13/08/14).

More Related