Transcript The Nature of Student Transition

Student Retention and Transition
STAR
Tony Cook
[email protected]
The STAR project
(Student Transition and Retention)
• Documenting and disseminating good
practice associated with student transition.
– Guidelines
– STAR Studies
– Web site (www.ulster.ac.uk/star )
– Active dissemination
Take home messages
• Students have to change quickly and in
many different ways
• Some of the problems are of our making
• Solutions can be applied before and after
entry
TRANSITIONS
Managing transition
End point
Independent, enthusiastic,
involved, communicative,
present, reflective sober
?
Start point
Student journey
Choosing subject
Choosing pre entry qualifications
Choosing degree subject
Choosing institutions
Teacher
Parent
University
Applying
Selecting
Passing
Enrolment
Induction
Engaging
Succeeding
Dimensions of Transition
• What changes do we expect of our first
year students?
– Social adjustment to independence
– Work/study/student lifestyle balance
– Intrinsic motivation
– Curriculum changes
– Assessment changes
– Cope with staff relationship changes
The effect of A level score
A level points on entry
35
30
25
20
15
10
R2 = 0.9754
5
0
0
2
4
6
8
% non-continuance
10
12
14
Pre entry qualifications
• Most do precisely what they say
– And no more.
• Many students are ill prepared
• Pre-HE performance can be a proxy for
other background variables
• Pre-HE performance may not measure
what we value.
Disadvantage
• Mostly first generation students
– Lack of cultural capital
• Poor advice
• Low expectations of themselves
• Inaccurate expectations of University.
Causes of poor transition
• False prospectus
• Buyer’s remorse/ survivor’s syndrome
• Events
Solutions
• Better information to applicants
• Courses delivering what is advertised
• Developmental teaching of literacy and
numeracy
• Better communication of standards through
formative assessment.
Information to applicants
• Start induction on application
• Influence the advisors
– Parents and teachers
• Get prospective students on campus in
term time (interviews, taster courses)
• Put them in contact with existing
students
Effect of pre entry mentoring
December
2003
First term
retention
June 2004
Year One
retention
June 2005
Year Two
retention
Subject group
(56)
With mentors
54 (96%)
51 (91%)
51 (91%)
Control group
(34)
Without mentors
30 (88%)
26 (76%)
22 (65%)
Dan Bennett (2009) Brighton
Homestart
• Aimed at students living at home
– A programme of workshops and social
events
• “good, because in Freshers’ week, people in Halls had
made friends already, and we had friends through
Homestart.”
• “It gave me a sense of belonging and a chance to
meet others who understood the travelling.”
Induction
• Start at Application… sometimes before
– Newsletters/ information
– Interviews/ visits/ taster courses
– Initial induction
• Extends to semester 2.
– Social events -student/ student- student /staff
– Small group teaching
– Study skills
Don’t lose sight of the goal- independence.
Longer term solutions
• Merge full-time and part-time students
– Accounting at the module level
• Funding
• Student success
• Post Qualification Application
– Start at Christmas?
• Design a course to suit those who attend it
STAR Products
• Davies, Cook & Rushton (2007) How to
get your kids through University. Accent
Press
• Cook & Rushton (2009) How to Recruit and
Retain Higher Education Students: a
handbook of good practice. Routledge
• STAR Studies- www.ulster.ac.uk/star
And finally
• Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's
the transition that's troublesome."
– Isaac Asimov
• Of course there's a lot of knowledge in
Universities: the freshmen bring a little
in; the graduates don't take much away,
so knowledge sort of accumulates
– Lawrence Lowell