Don’t Panic: A Psych/Soc student’s guide to surviving 4th Year The Development and Evaluation of a Student Transition Support Guide Clare Uytman, Karl Johnson, Hope Christie Enhancement Themes conference, Thursday 9 June 2016 John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh

Guide aligns with the Enhancement Themes current focus of ‘Student Transitions’. Initial Transition Map showed less attention paid to student transitions within university career. Currently QMU mainly focuses on transitions: Into undergrad study initially; From study into employment; Into postgrad study. enhancement-theme/transitions-map

Background and Purpose For some level 3 Psychology/Sociology students, transitioning into 4th year can be a daunting prospect. Honours experience is potentially stressful and/or isolating. Common concerns/issues each year. The Guide has been developed to help QMU students: Prepare for, and successfully navigate their Honours year; Feel reassured and motivated by past student experience; Be aware of support and options available to them. Presented on Don’t Panic 1 st draft at HEA conference in December 2015 Featured in March ‘16 Enhancement Themes Newsletter.

Student involvement We felt it was important to engage current fourth year students in the development of the guide Asked students “if there was one thing you could have told yourself at the start of fourth year, what would it have been?” Important for students to hear the experiences of other, more recent students The work of Dr Catherine Bovill at University of Glasgow highlights significance of co-creation of curriculum, for student engagement and learning

“To be honest, I think the best advice I received at the beginning of 4th year was to keep at it! It’s a hard year there is no doubt about it, but by sticking with it they will get there! Also if students know they pretty much have to cancel their life for the period end of January to beginning March then that might help! The last couple months are the hardest but it will all come together! Also I wish I hadn’t been so stressed at the beginning as the first few months I made more difficult for myself I can see that now.” “I wish I'd have been prepared for how hard and busy the last semester was and that I didn’t take on as much outside uni and stretch myself so thin. I also got really anxious and it got worse throughout the year so being reminded to look after myself and take time away from it too. Being super organised was handy too (even if your friends do slag you off for having a spreadsheet!)”

Some thoughts on formatting The guide was produced for 3 rd /4 th year students across the three Psychology and Sociology undergraduate degrees offered at QMU. To reflect the occasional differences in practice or expectations of each we chose to use pink boxes for Sociology content and blue for Psychology. This continues through the guide.

“Fourth year starts in summer” Guide begins with sections ‘setting the scene’, offering advice on preparing for Honours. Highlight that interests and aptitudes from previous years – particularly 3 rd year – can inform direction in 4 th year. Emphasise the value in time management and organisation. Direct links to reference guides for psychology and sociology.

“Dissertation” Likely the biggest single piece of work students will have had to produce; hence the largest section of the Guide. Tried to provide as much useful information, and personal experience (useful?) as possible. Related sections follow this, on the merits of Qualitative vs. Quantitative, QMU’s online research repository, and some tips on coping emotionally with workload.

Just keep swimming…. The section ‘It is Perfectly Natural to Feel Completely Overwhelmed Most of the Time, and Feel like you’re Not Going to Finish’ marks a turning point. “Reconsidering the path you are on, is still a step in the right direction” “Life after fourth year” offers pointers on where to find help/inspiration for the next significant transition in the students’ lives. Encourage students to reflect on their acquired skills. Suggestions for finding jobs, further education, including QMU’s careers staff.

Feedback on the guide “I found the additional guide really helpful. It helped me to realise that this dissertation thing is really possible and I especially liked the comments from the current students.” Anna (Undergraduate Public Sociology Student) “I liked the style that they wrote the booklet in. The language was easy to understand and it really helped me to make sense of a lot of the stuff that was mentioned in the Dissertation booklet that the module coordinator gave to us’. (Peter, level 4 Psychology & Sociology student) “It was really helpful for me to read through the booklet and understand a bit more about fourth year in Psych & Soc at QM myself […] and certainly a really significant help to students.” Maddie (Lecturer in Public Sociology) “Brilliant! […] I wish we had one when we were doing it.” Julie (PhD student)

Funded Developments Thanks to Projects for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (PETL) funding, we have been able to: Cover staff hours to develop the Guide, and meet with representatives from various departments within QMU for feedback on the first draft. This has helped make corrections and add further detail. Print 100 hard copies of the final version of the guide for distribution to students. Funded staff time to design, implement and analyse a Bristol Online Survey (BOS) to evaluate the guide and allow tailored workshops based on feedback The use of informal, friendly “welcome to 4 th year” brunch in order to present the guide and assess student needs further.

Moving Forward Workshops based on Guide content will begin with new 4 th year students in the new academic year. Development of a template to be used in other departments throughout QMU. A version is in development for the Psychology Department at University of Bath. Interest from other departments at both QMU and UoB; other UK institutions. Article currently in press in The Psychologist describing the development and production of the guide. Investigate possibility of developing App.

In closing… Guide developed to support student transition from level 3 into their fourth and final year Student centered, student lead guide pilot project has been well received by current fourth year students at QMU Guide has now been developed for further use and evaluation in the coming academic year. Keen to implement the guide in other universities across Scotland – positive approach to innovative teaching methods

Acknowledgements Mr Duncan Robb, former Head of Division of Psychology and Sociology at QMU Mr John Docherty-Hughes, Acting Head of Division of Psychology and Sociology at QMU QMU Student Transitions Enhancement Theme for funding via Projects for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (PETL) Grant 2015/2016 QMU Psychology and Sociology students 2014/2015.

Thanks for listening. Any Questions? Feel free to contact us directly: Clare Uytman, Karl Johnson, Hope Christie,