CHANGE MANAGEMENT Exploring early indicators of ‘at risk’ students; using JISC SETL (“Student Engagement Traffic Lighting”) as a case study Jean Mutton, Project Manager & Jake Hibberd, Project Assistant “Digging for Gold” HEA Conference, NTU, June 2012

CHANGE MANAGEMENT Builds on work of the DERBI project – student enrolment (1 st year JHS) Service design & enhancement techniques e.g. blueprinting, story-telling, modelling Current students – focussing on retention, progression and achievement Project runs from 1 March 2011 to 31 August 2012

CHANGE MANAGEMENT Intended Outcomes Scoping out of an IT solution to ‘traffic light’ students who may be in need of additional support ultimately improving retention, progression and achievement Academic and support staff access to this information: not intended to be a student facing/self diagnosis tool – but that may come later Supportive, university-led interventions Review of support mechanisms and communications

CHANGE MANAGEMENT Methodologies Project committee Academic literature Statistical research –Withdrawal calendar –Progression & completion statistics –“Risks” of changing study Student personas and storyboarding Service mapping Face-to-face contact with students and staff Sector practice and JISC clusters

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CHANGE MANAGEMENT Academic background The concept of “engagement” is too difficult to pin one single definition to (Trowler, 2010) “…one of the most significant periods of crisis for first year undergraduate students is at the immediate commencement of their studies.” (Fitzgibbon & Prior, 2006, p.18) Dropping out is not always negative for the student; an institution’s perception of withdrawal is not always reflected in certain individual experiences (Quinn et al., 2005) “Institutions often use assessment to explain why something has failed but pay little attention to explaining why something succeeds.” (Siegel, 2011, p.13)

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CHANGE MANAGEMENT Bringing all of this together… Student Dashboard – both staff- and student- facing versions Improving support mechanisms (formal and informal) Identifying areas of good practice Informing other projects where relevant Ongoing recommendations to the University’s Executive

CHANGE MANAGEMENT References - Fitzgibbon, K. and Prior, J. (2006) Students’ early experiences and university interventions – a timeline to aid undergraduate student retention, Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 8 (3), pp Quinn, J., Thomas, L., Slack, K., Casey, L., Thexton, W. and Noble, J. (2005) From life crisis to lifelong learning: Rethinking working-class ‘drop out’ from higher education, (York; Joseph Rowntree Foundation). - Siegel, M. J. (2011) Reimaging the Retention Problem; Moving Our Thinking from End-Product to By-Product, About Campus, 15 (6), Trowler, V. (2010) Student engagement literature review (York: Higher Education Academy). - Yorke, M. and Longden, B. (2008) The First-Year Experience of Higher Education in the UK; Final Report (York: The Higher Education Academy). - Zepke, N., Leach, L. and Prebble, T. (2006) Being learner centred; one way to improve student retention? Studies in Higher Education, 31 (5), pp

CHANGE MANAGEMENT For further information visit: projects or