NON-DYSLEXIC AND DYSLEXIC NURSING AND MIDWIFERY STUDENTS EXPERIENCES OF THEIR PERSONAL ACADEMIC TUTOR SUPPORT, THEIR NEEDS AND HOW BEST THEY COULD BE MET ANNA CROUCH SENIOR LECTURER The University of Northampton © 2010 A. Crouch

Aim To give an overview of the methodology and discuss the preliminary findings of a study which explored nursing and midwifery students experience of their personal academic tutor support, their needs and how best they could be supported Reasons for the study: Requirement by Disability Commissioning Rights (2004) NMC requirement © 2010 A. Crouch

Aim/s of study To explore the students experience of their personal tutor support To compare the experiences and needs of non- dyslexic with those of students with dyslexia To find out how the personal tutor support could be enhanced for the students with particular emphasis on those with dyslexia. © 2010 A. Crouch

Methodology: Methodology Qualitative Ethical Issues: Consent sought and obtained from University research ethics committee -Informed verbal and written consent from participants obtained prior to study Sample StudiedSample Studied -15 Non-dyslexic nursing & midwifery students -7 nursing & midwifery students who have been formally diagnosed with dyslexia © 2010 A. Crouch

Experiences of students, their needs and how those needs could be met by their personal academic tutors Data CollectionData Collection -Tape recorded face to face interviews which were then transcribed Data AnalysisData Analysis -Constant comparative method manually first -Computer software QRS Nvivo 8 used for tree node formation, categorisation and regrouping of themes © 2010 A. Crouch

THEMES ARRANGED UNDER 3 MAIN HEADINGS FOR BOTH NON-DYSLEXIC AND DYSLEXIC STUDENTS STUDENTS EXPERIENCE OF SUPPORT PROBLEMS & NEEDS HOW THE PERSONAL ACADEMIC TUTOR COULD HELP MEET NEEDS Figure 1: Diagram showing the categories under which themes were grouped © 2010 A. Crouch

NON-DYSLEXIC STUDENTS EXPERIENCE OF SUPPORT: THEMES GENERATED ‘She's also good in terms of she's friendly and approachable, and is happy to give me the time. She's not just doing it because she has to. Um, she seems very approachable so that’s what I mean by marvellous. She's very friendly as well’ ‘(N8.4) ‘’’I had a personal issue in the beginning of the year and he helped. So, there’s that as well’ (N14.37) ‘I have found that she's very interested in what I have been up to’ (N12.1) ‘My personal tutor has always been there for me’ (N6.6) ‘I have never been turned away; if I have needed support they have always been there’ (N9.2) Accessible and or available Helpful / Gives holistic support Approachable and friendly SUPPORTIVE Explains things / guides ‘When I have met with them, yeah that has been more to give me guidance on the practical side of the course rather than academic’ (N3.3) ‘Basically when I am facing any problem academic wise, he tries to support me, to explain things to me better’ (N1.3) © 2010 A. Crouch

DYSLEXIC STUDENTS EXPERIENCE OF PERSONAL TUTOR SUPPORT:THEMES Proof reads my assignments ‘ I've seen him about other things like my assignment and he's ready to make some corrections… It’s just proof reading my assignments (D1.4) Helps with portfolio ‘…My portfolio is a prime example, I hate reflective accounts and she always prompts me to do a bit more (D6.1) Other sources of help ‘Well, they are the ones that actually suggested that I go to get tested... obviously I went to the accessibility team and they've been really good in supporting the whole process through the diagnosis and I've met with them since and they've gone on to the next stage of the DSA so they've been very supportive (D3.6) Approachable SUPPORTIVE ‘When you go she makes you feel comfortable like you're not putting her out or she always gives you acknowledgement (D5.5) © 2010 A. Crouch

THEMES GENERATED: PROBLEMS & NEEDS NON-DYSLEXIC STUDENTS Academic problems & needs Difficulty with writing Understanding guidelines Professional needs Knowledge* Progress to/achieve required levels* *= Just under a third of sample STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA Academic problems & needs Difficulty/help with writing Forgetfulness Slow at doing things Problems with maths Coping strategies Professional needs As above + problems with drug calculation © 2010 A. Crouch

HOW BEST COULD THE PERSONAL ACADEMIC TUTOR HELP MEET NEEDS OF THE STUDENTS: THEMES GENERATED Academic:- (Miscellaneous) -No need to bother tutor / happy with ongoing support -One to one with tutor* -I can ask for help/different ways of doing assignment* -Give extra lecture/s to explain things (APEL Students) Professional: It’s a mentor /practice issue -More tripartite meetings (Std Mid) Academic: -Help with all assignments, e.g. proof read, check assignment plan Professional: -It’s more to do with mentor NON-DYSLEXIC STUDENTSSTUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA © 2010 A. Crouch

Summary/Conclusion Analysis of project is still in progress so conclusions and recommendations are yet to be made. The preliminary findings do however appear to suggest that some of the non-dyslexic students, like their counterparts with dyslexia, identified writing difficulties as an academic problem but reasons given for such difficulties for each group appeared to be different. Although students with dyslexia reported to have more academic problems than the non-dyslexic students, both groups reported that support given to them was appropriate to their respective needs, but some suggestions of how the support could be enhanced were made by each group. © 2010 A. Crouch