Tools for Transition What do students want and need? The University of Greenwich Wall planner project

What is important to and for students, in the first weeks at University? clear useful information having their timetable fixed getting started on their courses knowing when their deadlines are knowing what is expected getting to know their tutors and get support from them engagement with other students feeling secure and feeling they belong having help when they need it being able to balance study / work / personal / family demands developing independent learning skills being self-diagnostic and pro-active being equipped for employment Introduction

Transition and tools Understanding transition: Theories of and metaphors for transition Rites of passage; journey; separation & attachment the big leap the long leap small steps Cook & Rushton (2008); Keenan (2006,2009) Tinto (1993); Youell & Bell (2010)

UoG Wall Planner project Transitions in time management white rabbits lateness bizarreness “…….the culture shock of independent learning is often the most challenging because the fact that they are not being nagged and chased about coursework, leads many students into a false illusion of freedom; they do not allow themselves enough time to research their coursework and as a consequence experience the stress of trying to manage a bottleneck of coursework deadlines.” Andrew Sinclair, Study Skills, University of Greenwich

white rabbits…. “These are just a few of the sort of problems students complain of: Oversleeping/getting up and getting to lectures on time Finding the time to study and how to study How to find information Selecting and evaluating information Managing deadlines (they generally come all at once) Prioritising work How to give themselves enough time to write Procrastination Perfectionism.” Andrew Sinclair, Study Skills, University of Greenwich

UoG Wall Planner project Context and origins Development process

Students’ perspectives Why they need a Planner What they would gain Why not use an alternative?

A wall planner for: clear useful information having their timetable fixed getting started on their courses knowing when their deadlines are knowing what is expected getting to know their tutors and get support from them feeling secure and feeling they belong having help when they need it being able to balance study / work / personal / family demands developing independent learning skills being self-diagnostic and pro-active being equipped for employment Meeting students’ wants and needs

Discussion Questions & discussion What kinds of tools most successfully address the wants and needs of students in transition?

“This sounds like an excellent idea - I am all smiles about it….. When I do my study skills course I still extract a promise from my students that they will buy a wall planner and use it. The ones that do it all swear by it…. GREAT IDEA. ” Andy Gould, University of Greenwich Study Skills Lecturer

University of Greenwich wall planner project Sally Alsford, Educational Development, University of Greenwich Jeff Blackwell, 3 rd year (graduating), BA Politics, University of Greenwich

References: Cook, A & Rushton, B (2008) Student Transition: Practices and Policies to Promote Retention. London: SEDA Foster (2010) “Induction to transition” Planning for Transition Workshop, University of Greenwich Lowe, H & Cook, A (2003) “Mind the Gap: are students prepared for higher education?” Journal of Further and Higher Education, 27: 1, Tinto, V (1993) Leaving College: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press Youell, B (2006) The Learning Relationship: Psychoanalytic thinking in Education, London: Karnac Bks. (2010) “Developmental tasks of early adulthood – transitions in University life – an inner world perspective” Moving Beyond Induction conference, , University of Sheffield. Bell, E (2010) “Getting connected: attachment and separation in the learning process”, Moving Beyond Induction conference, , University of Sheffield. Keenan, C. (2006), Role of Habitus in student transition, Presentation to LearnHigher Research Symposium, Liverpool Hope University. Currant, B. and Keenan, C. (2009) Evaluating Systematic Transition to Higher Education. Brookes eJournal of Learning and Teaching [online]. 4 (2).