How welcoming is ‘Welcome Week’? Enhancing Induction in the Department of Modern Languages Dr Ruth Whittle, Dr David Garcia contact: r.whittle@bham.ac.uk

What we know about induction/transition We need to build up student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change; time window 6-10 weeks (Gorard, 2007; McPhail 2015). Students are overwhelmed by the experience; no real time for digestion let alone reflection; need to provide opportunities during welcome week for small group activities which reinforce the messages they have received so far (Wednesday) so that students can form “sense-making narratives” early and build on them (O’Donnell et al 2015: 75). Get students to connect to their discipline/s and its/their ways of engaging with questions. Importance of providing socialised learning opportunities -early peer2peer interaction in an academic context.

Working as a Team Academic leads, E-learning Technologists, Student Experience Officer. Importance of reflection on event. Dissemination of practices to develop best practice. Making use of x-university developments: new Canvas Induction.

‘Our Wednesday’ Introduction to Canvas and its potential: e-portfolio, Canvas app and blogging. Live blogging event.

Which 3 key terms come to mind when you think about your feelings right now?

Findings

Listening Task

Results

Library Task

Findings Red group: familiar book

Globally Connected

Globally Spread and Connected!

On from there: Semesters 1 and 2 Skills sessions. Transition review. Develop a feedback form – any ideas?.

Plans for 2016/2017 Take part in x-University induction pilot. Make discipline-specific skills available on Canvas. Have more time for ‘Our Wednesday’ (less information-heavy, more peer interaction). Trial ‘open door’ slots with personal tutors.

What have we achieved, and where do we want to go next? Induction Pre-enrolment online engagement Academic skills development Appropriate and timely information Early contact with academic staff Developing autonomous learners Encouraging peer engagement Identifying students at risk of early withdrawal Extending induction period

Research/Reports Gorard, S. et al (2007): Overcoming the Barriers to Higher Education. Oakhill:Trentham Books. Lee, Mark / Dawson, Gale (2011): “Rethinking Student Induction”, Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Information and Computer Science. Available at http://www.ulster.ac.uk/quality/qmau/sddoct15_11.pdf. Last accessed 26 April 2016. McPhail, Ruth (2015): “Pre-university Prepared Students, A Programme for Facilitating the Transition from Secondary to Tertiary Education”. – Teaching in Higher Education 20 (6), 652-665. DOI:10.1080/13562517.2015.1062360. O’Donnell, Marcus / Wallace, Margaret / Melano, Anne / Lawson, Romy / Leinonen, Eeva (2015): “Putting Transition at the Centre of Whole-of-Curriculum Transformation”. Student Success 6 (2), 73-79. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v6i2.295.