Setting the Standard to Support Retention Mairin Nicell Heather Sayers Derek Woods Jennifer Hyndman

In-TUNE ▫Investigating Transition to UNdergraduate Education ▫September 2009-June 2010 ▫Investigating factors affecting academic performance of Year 1 students

STIR ▫Socialisation To Improve Retention ▫September 2010-June 2011 ▫Team-building and social activities to improve social integration among Year 1 students

Teaching Facilitated Learning Development Programme ▫April – September 2012 ▫Theme: Assessment and Feedback for Learning

Creative Workshop Brainstorming suitable ideas Concentrate on Year 1 initially Visual framework which can be extended to cover all year groups

Student Consent Given or Withheld

Audit of Year 1 Assessment Practice 5 Degree programmes ▫BSc Hons Computer Science ▫BSc Hons Information and Communication Technologies ▫BSc Hons Creative Computing ▫BEng Hons Electronics and Computer Systems ▫BEng Computer Games Development 9 Modules

Audit of Year 1 Assessment Practice Written Assessments Reports Class Tests Group work Software Demonstrations Presentations Portfolios/Lab Books Examinations

Evaluation Student Focus Groups in December 2012 Video record student responses

Evaluation Sample of Questions ▫Which modules did you use? ▫Were you able to distinguish the different categories of exemplars? ▫Were you able to understand where and why marks were allocated? ▫Did you find the feedback comments helpful? ▫Did you make use of the model solutions provided? ▫Do you have any suggestions for improvements to the grid?

Findings Initial feedback has been very positive Break down of categories Written feedback comments

Findings Need to alter the location of the grid in the Course Support Area Need to provide instructions for use Need to consistently promote the use of the tool

Semester Roll out semester 2 modules Monitor use of exemplars End of semester evaluation