The first year experience Successes and challenges

1
The first year experienceSuccesses and
challenges

• Mantz Yorke
• mantzyorke_at_mantzyorke.plus.com
• Seminar
• Students and Mass Systems of Higher Education
• 29-30 May 2007

2

• Emphasis
• The third and fourth key policy questions in the
• Seminar flyer
• What changes in pedagogy are required to meet
• the needs of a more diverse student population
  
• and enhance students experiences?
• How can we improve retention and progression
• rates while widening access?

3
The HE Academy FYE study
Phase 2 Spring 2007 Survey
of withdrawn at/before end
acad yr 05-06 All subject areas
23 institutions
Phase 1 Spring 2006 Survey mid-1st year
9 subject areas 23 institutions
4
Headlines from Phase 1

• Teaching and Learning
• Programmes generally stimulating
• Supportive teaching
• Good understanding of academic demand
• but coping with it more of a problem
• Feedback, esp. promptness, seen less positively
• Low likelihood of reading around the subject
• Differences between subject areas
• Differences between institutions

5
From Bekhradnia et al (2006)
Average FT academic engagement 768 hrs/yr
6
Headlines from Phase 1

• Demographic-related findings (a)
• SES surprisingly little difference re FYE
• Older students more motivated to study
• more positive relationship with staff
• Gender females more motivated, engaged
• Ethnic grouping some variation, but not
  consistent
• Generally confident of gaining a graduate-level
  job
• But see next slide

7
Headlines from Phase 1
Demographic-related findings (b) SEG
Ethnicity Less positive re teaching/learning Low
er Not white Lower confidence in study
skills Lower Not white Less likely to cope with
academic demand Not white More likely to say
resources are inadequate Lower Not white Less
likely to say staff are friendly Not
white Less likely to make friends Not
white More likely to worry about
finance Lower These are, however, relatively
small variations on the general run of findings
8
Headlines from Phase 1

• Risk factors
• Two main risk factors are
• Poor appreciation of programme and/or
  institution
• Worry about finance
• Part-time employment may exert an influence, and
  is
• differentially related to socio-economic
  grouping
• those from lower SEGs are more likely to take it
  up

9
Phase 2 of the FYE study
Phase 2 of the FYE study was designed to allow
comparison with findings from the 1990s when the
funding regime predated that introduced by the
government in 1997 The next few slides include
preliminary analyses of the Phase 2 data
10
Why do students leave? Factors
Yorke 1999 Davies Elias 2003 N
2151 FT/SW N 1510
FT/SW Wrong choice Wrong
choice Academic difficulties Financial
problems Financial problems Personal
problems Poor student experience
Academic difficulties Dislike environment
Wrong institution Poor institutional provision
FYE survey Phase 2 N 450 FT/SW
11
Why do students leave? Top reasons
Yorke, 1999 Wrong choice of prog
39 Lack of commitment 38 Teaching didnt
suit 39 Prog not as expected 37 Teaching didnt
suit 31 Lack of acad progress 30 Needed a
break 28 Prog organisation 27 Lack staff
support 24 Teaching quality 23 Prog not
relev/career 23 Emotion, health probs 23 Stress
re programme 22
12
Why do students leave? Top reasons
Yorke, 1999 FYE Phase 2, 2007 Wrong
choice of prog 39 Prog not as
expected 44 Lack of commitment 38 Wrong choice of
prog 40 Financial problems 37 Teaching didnt
suit 39 Prog not as expected 37 Lack of pers
engaget 36 new Teaching didnt suit 31 Lack
staff contact 36 Lack of acad progress 30 Lack of
acad progress 35 Needed a break 28 Prog
organisation 34 Prog organisation 27 Lack of
commitment 31 Lack staff support 24 Financial
problems 29 Teaching quality 23 Teaching
quality 29 Prog not relev to career 23 Instn not
as expected 28 Emotion, health probs 23 Prog not
relev to career 27 Stress re programme 22 Quality
of feedback 26 new
13
Why do students leave? Top reasons
Yorke, 1999 FYE Phase 2, 2007 Wrong
choice of prog 39 Prog not as
expected 44 Lack of commitment 38 Wrong choice of
prog 40 Financial problems 37 Teaching didnt
suit 39 Prog not as expected 37 Lack of pers
engaget 36 new Teaching didnt suit 31 Lack
staff contact 36 Lack of acad progress 30 Lack of
acad progress 35 Needed a break 28 Prog
organisation 34 Prog organisation 27 Lack of
commitment 31 Lack staff support 24 Financial
problems 29 Teaching quality 23 Teaching
quality 29 Prog not relev/career 23 Instn not as
expected 28 Emotion, health probs 23 Prog not
relev/career 27 Stress re programme 22 Quality of
feedback 26 new
14
Some comparisons Australia and the UK The
Australian evidence comes from three
surveys conducted since 1994 by the Centre for
the Study of Higher Education at the University
of Melbourne
15
Some comparisons demographic
Australia Females greater motivation,
commitment Older students generally
more positive about their FYE SES little
difference International students
differences quite marked
UK Differences in favour of females are
small Older students generally more positive
about their FYE SES little difference Students
from outside UK slighter differences Ethnicity
marked heterogeneity
16
Some comparisons motivation choice
Australia High level of satisfaction with choice
of study field Poor motivation for a
noticeable minority Modal level of
part-time employment 6-10 hrs/week High level of
expectation of getting a graduate-level job 28
considered discontinuation
UK High level of satisfaction with choice of
study field Poor motivation for a
noticeable minority Modal level of
part-time employment 7-12 hrs/week High level of
expectation of getting a graduate-level job 29
considered discontinuation
17
Some comparisons course experience
Australia 3 out of 4 students attend 4-5
days Academic programmes found stimulating by 3
out of 4 50 found teaching to be
good Substantial minority found academic work
harder than expected Comprehending coping
mean 3.02 33 found feedback helpful Wide
satisfaction with library, IT
UK 2 out of 3 students attend 4-5 days Academic
programmes found stimulating by 2 out of 3
50 found teaching to be good Substantial
minority found academic work harder than
expected Coping mean 3.28 57 found feedback
helpful Wide satisfaction with library, IT
18
Some comparisons social aspects

• Australia
• Time on campus associated with
• sense of belonging
• engaging with others re studies
• development of friendships
• enjoyment of the social side
• Slightly gt 50 felt they belonged
• to an academic community
• 71 communicated with others
• re studies
• 27 kept to themselves
• Indigenous students higher

• UK
• Time on campus associated with
• sense of belonging
• engaging with others re studies
• development of friendships
• enjoyment of the social side
• Slightly gt 50 felt they belonged
• to an academic community
• 68 communicated with others
• re studies (50 f2f 54 electronic)
• 40 kept to themselves

19

• A reminder of the emphasis
• The third and fourth key policy questions in the
• Seminar flyer
• What changes in pedagogy are required to meet
• the needs of a more diverse student population
  
• and enhance students experiences?
• How can we improve retention and progression
• rates while widening access?

20
Some challenges facing UK institutions in mass HE

• Institutional approach
• Curriculum design
• Pedagogy for student engagement
• Dealing with the part-time employment issue
• Staff development
• Research in HE (institutional and pedagogical)

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Institutional approach

• Sustained visible commitment to student
  learning
• Managing expectations
• Institutional and departmental leadership
• Institutional structures and practices
• Emphasis on 1st year in resource allocation
• Celebration of pedagogic achievement
• Learning space (active learning ICT)
• NB The demographic dip
• after 2011 (from
• Bekhradnia, 2006)

250,000
22
Curriculum design

• FYE early start on academic study
• Formative assessment
• Curricular interconnectedness

23
The holistic nature of learning suggests a clear
need to rethink and restructure highly segmented
departmental and program configurations and their
associated curricular patterns. Curricula and
courses that address topics in an
interdisciplinary fashion are more likely to
provide effective educational experiences than
are discrete courses accumulated over a students
college career in order to produce enough credits
for a degree. Pascarella and Terenzini, 2005,
p.647
24
Curriculum design (continued)

• FYE early start on academic study
• Formative assessment
• Curricular interconnectedness
• The problem of learning outcomes
• Risk-taking in study, or playing safe?
• The valuing of collaborative learning
• Employability

25
Pedagogy for student engagement

• Active learning
• Generating a buzz
• Social engagement

26
With striking consistency, studies show that
innovative, active, collaborative, and
constructivist instructional approaches shape
learning more powerfully, in some forms by
substantial margins, than do conventional
lecture-discussion and text-based
approaches. Pascarella and Terenzini, 2005,
p.646
27
Pedagogy for student engagement (ctd)

• Active learning
• Generating a buzz
• Social engagement
• Student networking
• Formative assessment (again)
• Supporting development of personal attributes
• and qualities
• Staff-student interaction

28
Student part-time employment

• Blurring of FT and PT study implications for
• - curriculum design
• - funding
• - performance indicators
• Exploiting part-time employment
• - drawing on student experiences
• - awarding credit
• - being bolder?

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Staff development

• Using the institutional working group
• Bringing part-time appointees into the loop

Close to a third (30 per cent) of
seminars in old universities are taught by
non-academics. The figure in new universities
is much lower (8 per cent). Bekhradnia et
al (2006)

• Educational leadership

30
Research in HE

• Institutional research
• Pedagogic research

31
What makes an institution successful? Four
empirically-based perspectives on FYE
32
Successful UK institutions as regards widened
participation

• exhibit characteristics from the following list
• Commitment to the student experience
• Pre-entry and early engagement with students
• Curricula attuned to widened participation
• Curriculum treated as a social arena
• Emphasis on formative assessment, esp. in the
  first semester
• Allocation of resources preferentially to first
  year studies

Action on Access (2003)
33
High-performing US institutions

• Focus on getting students engaged, especially in
  their first year
• Have a genuine emphasis on the quality of
  undergraduate teaching and learning
• Ensure that academics and administrators monitor
  student learning, taking advantage of the power
  of modern data systems, and use monitoring for
  helping individual students and for developing
  policy and practice
• Have leaders who make student success a top
  institutional priority and stick with it

Carey (2005)
34
5 key clusters of attributes Documenting
Effective Educational Practice (DEEP) Project

• DEEP involved 20 institutions whose students
  scored highly on the NSSE
• Level of academic challenge
• Active and collaborative learning
• Student-faculty interaction
• Supportive campus environment
• Enriching educational experiences
• Kuh et al (2005, p.174)

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Foundational principles

• Organisational structures etc for integrated
  FYE
• Enrolment transition practices consistent
  with
• mission
• FYE given high priority
• Serve all 1st year students according to their
  needs
• Student engagement re learning in context of
• mission
• Widen perspectives of 1st year students
• For enhancement, monitor and review student
• outcomes
• Reason et al 2006, pp.151-2

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Summing up common themes

• Commitment to student learning
• and hence student engagement
• Management of student transition
• Curriculum seen in terms of social engagement
• Appropriate curricular structures
• Emphasis on importance of FYE (incl.
  resourcing)
• Monitoring and evaluating, and acting on
  evidence
• Academic leadership (though in some cases
  implicit)