Innovative perspectives and approaches for enhancing the student experience Hamish Coates Linda Corrin Paula Kelly Ryan Naylor

Project overview Rationales Aims Focus and scope Major activities Outputs Outcomes and impact

Rationales Student survey response rates are low and shrinking, variance explained is small, and more effective electronic footprints are available Institutions and stakeholders are increasingly unresponsive to results from student surveys, which are increasingly used for external purposes The student experience is highly individual in nature, yet prevailing analytical myths emphasise crude group-level generalisations Australia is seriously lacking data on who students are, how people approach higher education, the ways in which they learn, and how people change as they progress Most work on this front is framed within the context of institutions and fields, but higher education is increasingly trans-disciplinary and trans- institutional in nature

Aims This study aims to bring about sustainable strategic change through improving institutional capacity to enhance the 21st century student experience by: – building new concepts for understanding Australia’s higher education students – identifying new data sources and approaches for measuring the student experience – engaging institutions in enhancement work and new conversations about students

Focus and scope By blending earlier work on students with more contemporary perspectives the project validates new concepts and new methods for helping institutions lead the student experience Substantively, we will investigate who students are and what they expect from higher education—inquiry that goes beyond stereotypes, generalities and dated assumptions about demography and contexts Methodologically, we will develop sustainable new approaches for Australia to measure and report on these new constructs and profiles by developing the field of education analytics and helping institutions leverage under- utilised existing data for quality enhancement

Study design Education analytics Student experience Study success

Model of success Admission Awareness Access Engagement Subject completion Quality learning outcomes Quality student experience Completion Timely qualification Broader capabilities Work readiness Postgraduation Employment outcomes Further study Societal outcomes

Hyper-intersectionalities Gender Engagement Ethnicity Socio-economic Year level Discipline

Student data Education analytics Personalised advice Study success Analytical leadership

Major activities Phase 1: Development – Detailed project planning – Background research Phase 2: Validation – Student interviews – Institutional scan – Model development Phase 3: Engagement – Enhancement Framework – 21st Century Students Report – National Engagement Workshops

Deliverables Phase 1: Development – Detailed Project Plan – Background Research Report Phase 2: Validation – New Perspectives and Prospects Report Phase 3: Engagement – National Engagement Workshops – Enhancement Framework – 21st Century Students Report – Project Website Progress to date…  Established research and management team / resources  Obtained ethics approvals  Developing project identity  Several team meetings  Convened first PRG meeting  Completed detailed project planning  Finalising background reviews  Secured several international and several national conference presentations  Drafted institution and student instruments  Prepared fieldwork plans  Published three scholarly papers  Prepared a book proposal  Initiated a new international network  Specified project impact, stakeholder engagement and publication plans

Outcomes and impact Outcomes – new constructs and profiles for understanding undergraduate students – expanded data sources and approaches for measurement – framework, guidelines and case studies for institutional enhancement Delivered to have widespread and sustainable impact: – national awareness of student identifies and expectations – different conceptions and dialogues about Australia’s students – more effective means for monitoring and enhancing education – new foundations for substantial further work – national involvement in an area gaining momentum internationally – papers in media and academic journals detailing the processes and outcomes of the project

Questions What are the main opportunities and challenges shaping this research? In what ways could the model of study success be improved? How could hyper-intersectionality best be framed to advance thinking and practice? In what better ways can institutions use big data to enhance student success? What are the main obstacles and facilitators of institutional change?

melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au © Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne 2015