Improve Retention and Achievement by Enhancing the Student Experience

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Improve Retention and Achievement by Enhancing
the Student Experience

• Eileen Trotter
• University Student Retention Project Coordinator
• http//www.edu.salford.ac.uk/retention/
• e.trotter_at_salford.ac.uk

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Context

• Widening participation
• Recruitment
• Increased student numbers
• Student retention in first year

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The Research at Salford

• Enhancing the early student experience
• identify programmes with high and low retention
• explore the key issues that influence retention
• discover if there are activities common on
  programmes with good retention that are not
  prevalent on programmes with poor retention
• Enhancing the early student experience the
  student voice
• conduct focus groups with students throughout
  their first year
• Interview programme managers

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Influences on retention

• Pre-entry
• Induction / Integration
• Tutor Support (personal and academic)
• The Impact of Undertaking Paid Employment and
  Other Commitments
• Attendance
• Teaching And Learning Activities
• Assessment

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Pre-entry

• I came for an open day and I saw XXX and I
  thought he was a really lovely guy and I got on
  really well with him and he seemed to know what
  he was talking about and just in general - I got
  a nice feel from the place. I just thought I can
  see myself here and that was basically what sold
  it to me then
• The course is a bit different than what I thought
  it was going to be (from the prospectus).

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Induction / Integration

• It was good, cause it helped knowing the group
  and introducing yourself to the lecturers and
  getting to know each other
• This course has been so much more out going. I
  have just got to know everyone- there is hardly
  anyone on the course that I dont know or speak
  to or at least be able to say hello.
• I think we could have all done better to meet
  each other in induction week, cause we didnt
  actually have any sort of - oh this is whoever
  sort of things
• Yeah no one met anybody

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Support (personal and academic)

• Whenever we e-mail anyone, we always get a reply
  and if I phone anyone, I always get a reply
• I dont like how it is self-directed work a lot
  of it, it would just be useful to have help when
  you need it rather than when it is available.

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The Impact of Undertaking Paid Employment and
Other Commitments

• My boss went wild at me. He was not very happy-
  cause I wanted to cut down my hours. He was
  literally going to sack me cause I couldnt do
  the hours that he wanted
• if they have invented any new classes that week
• I know my career is more important than my job,
  but my job pays for me to come here and learn,
  and I couldnt just ring up work and say, sorry I
  cant come in tomorrow theres something going on
  at uni

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Attendance

• I chase them up and colleagues chase them up as
  well, yes we are quite rigorous
• Well you can't, there's no way on earth you can.
  You can try telling them that you really need
  tutorial feedbackSo I try to tell them in a
  firm but friendly way
• I have pulled all the stops out all the way from
  XXX to get here in the traffic for an hours
  lecture and people who cant be bothered coming
  and they do not get pulled up for it

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Teaching and learning activities

• We'll talk about an area of the subject, we'll
  demonstrate an area of the subject, set them a
  piece of work to do in the class and we'll go
  around and help them
• Its been very didactic, speaking to them
• Students
• You learn more doing stuff
• Its just death by power point all he does is
  read it from a power point
• It is power point but you listen and he is
  interesting, he does not just repeat what is on
  power point

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Assessment

• Every assessment we do, we mark, so it's not
  strictly formative assessment. Some modules will
  have a low value assessment at the start
• We tend not to do assessments that are not
  contributing to the module mark at the end of the
  semester

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Conclusion

• There are differences in the operation of
  programmes with good and poor retention rates
• There is clear correlation between recognised
  activities and programmes with good retention
  rates
• Implementation of the recommendations will result
  in an enhanced student experience

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Recommendations

• Recommendations from the Enhancing the Early
  Student Experience report are in your pack
• Full report is available on the university web
  page http//www.edu.salford.ac.uk/docs/enhancing_s
  tudent_exp.rtf

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Support for You

• Staff development sessions
• Bespoke staff development
• Supporting students section of EDU web page
• Mentoring (students)
• PDP
• Personal Tutoring
• Student Induction
• Student Placements
• Study Skills
• Volunteering at Salford