Michael Allardice and Tom Cunningham Scottish University of the Year 2017 Becoming, Being and Belonging: Learning Gain through Transition Support for Articulation Students Michael Allardice and Tom Cunningham 11th May 2017

CASTLE: Centre for the enhancement of Academic Skills, Teaching, Learning and Employability Michael Allardice I am an Academic Skills Tutor based in CASTLE. I came to the University of Dundee as a mature student in 1993 and graduated with a single Honours degree in Modern History in July 1997. My second degree is in the Philosophy of Education. I teach on many courses across the University and have continued to study, most recently Theology by Distance Learning. Dr Tom Cunningham I am the University Transitions Officer, also based in CASTLE. I help students make successful transitions from Further Education College courses to degree studies at University. My PhD is in Philosophy, I was a lecturer in Philosophy for a short time at the University of Stirling, and I have also worked in widening participation to Higher Education in High Schools across Fife and Tayside.

Introduction Background What is STEP UP? How did it operate? Who were the students? “Becoming, Being, Belonging” in Higher Education (Thomas, 2012)

Teaching the STEP UP Module Pilot cohort of 20 students, from a range of backgrounds and disciplines. This presented challenges and opportunities for the teaching team. The optional nature of the module created concerns to begin with.

Discussions What would ‘Becoming, Being and Belonging’ mean for this cohort of students? How might this compare and contrast with other students making the transition into University? How should we best understand the potential Learning Gain for students taking the STEP UP module? How does this relate to access programmes, academic skills modules, or other courses offered in HE? How can we measure and assess the Learning Gain of students taking academic skills modules like STEP UP?

STEP UP Research Project A Mixed Methods approach using a range of tools and indicators to track student performance (HEFCE, 2015): Self-Evaluation Exit Questionnaire Focus Group  

Measuring Learning Gain: Quantitative Data

Measuring Learning Gain: Qualitative Data Academic Skills “It has allowed me to see the importance of self-study and learning and shown me that I can achieve more if I work on it.” “Becoming familiar with how to use library and better at referencing.” “It’s working for me so well. I would never have known about that if it wasn’t taught to me in STEP UP. I feel like now my revision is so much more effective because of that way of notetaking. […] I’ve never done well in my exams. That’s why I’m on this course so it did help.”

Measuring Learning Gain: Qualitative Data FE to HE Transition “I feel much more confident having done the module to come to university.” “I think the separate module was good for motivating us because we obviously want to be at uni so once we were on the course, we are actually are in uni now so you’re more inclined to do our work so we can actually pass the HNC.” “A lot of worries that I had were sorted. A lot of questions I had have been answered. I’ll still be nervous going in there because I’m not quite sure what to expect.”

Measuring Learning Gain: Qualitative Data Teamwork “Worked with members of the class that we haven't met before, allowed for a better class togetherness.” “It forced us to work with people we normally wouldn't which made us have to actually work in order to get along and achieve success.” “My team working skills have had the opportunity to develop significantly thanks to the final group project.”

Becoming, Being and Belonging? “We actually stood outside the five of us until half past because none of us knew where we were going. No one wanted to make that first move. No one wanted to go into reception and ask where to go […] now we’ve been in about three or four different buildings, we know the library back to front, we know where to find computers and different things like that. We know where the humanities are based. We know at least five or six members of staff now that we recognise if we pass them.” “For the first time you actually felt like you were a uni student rather than a college student.” “it wasn’t even compulsory, we could have bailed out of it if we wanted to but no one did. [...] you’d expect that some people would have said, ‘I’ll just focus on the course stuff and ditch this’, but no one did. I think it was just different. It took our day off, what was our day off, but no one seemed to complain because it wasn’t like college, it was different. It was more enjoyable than college.”

References Brewer, N., Booth, D., Morris, L. & Coates, D. (2015) “Widening access to HE in partnership with FE Colleges: Supporting, developing and enabling students to succeed from disadvantaged backgrounds and make successful transitions” available at: http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/docs/paper/widening-access-to-he-in-partnership-with-fe-colleges-supporting- developing-and-enabling-students-to-succeed-from-disadvantaged-backgrounds-and-make-successful-transitions.pdf?sfvrsn=6 , last accessed 6th May 2017 Chien, Y. (2016) “After six decades: Applying the U-curve hypothesis to the adjustment of international postgraduates students” in Journal of Research in International Education, 15(1), pp.32-51 Cunningham, T. (2015) “Not Getting Lost in Articulation”, available at: http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/docs/paper/not- getting-lost-in-articulation.pdf?sfvrsn=6 , last accessed 6th May 2017 HEFCE (2015), “Learning Gain in Higher Education”, available at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/HEFCE,2014/Content/Pubs/Independentresearch/2015/Learning,gain,in,HE/Learning_gain.pdf , last accessed 5th May 2017 Pancer, S M, Hunsberger, B, Pratt, M W and Alisat, S (2000), “Cognitive Complexity of Expectations and Adjustment to University in the First Year”, Journal of Adolescent Research, 15 (1), pp 38-57 Risquez, A, Moore, S and Morley, M (2008) “Welcome to college? Developing a richer understanding of the transition process for adult first year students using reflective written journals” in Journal of College Retention, 9 (2), pp 183-204 Thomas L (2012) Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention & Success programme, Paul Hamlyn Foundation: London.

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