Don’t Panic: The Psych/Soc Student’s Guide to Fourth Year Hope Christie & Karl

Why Did We Write This?  For level 3 Psychology/Sociology students in Scotland, transitioning into 4 th year:  The prospect can be daunting and pressured  The experience can be stressful and potentially isolating  To help these undergraduate students:  Make the most of their potential  Prepare for, and successfully navigate their fourth and final year  Feel supported and motivated by past student experience

 Our Guide aligns with Scottish Enhancement Themes current focus of ‘Student Transitions’  Transition map shows less attention paid to student transitions within university career  QMU mainly focuses on transitions:  Into undergrad study initially  From study into employment  Into postgrad study

Cover and writing style

‘Dissertation’  Biggest piece of work they’ve had to produce  Roughly ¼ of a 4th year student’s final grade  Bound to be roadblocks along the way  Stress inducing!  Tried to provide as much information as possible  Included 6 sub-sections covering:  Ethics; Data collection; Analysis; Writing up; Formatting, and; Draft submissions

‘It’s Okay to Feel Overwhelmed’  This section – following ‘Tips on how to cope with stress’ – is all about providing an important reminder to students  They can do it  They will do it  They are not alone  If they are feeling challenged, then try to be positive about it  “Reconsidering the path you are on, is still a step in the right direction”

‘Student Advice’  We felt it was important to engage current fourth year students in the development of the guide  Asked students “if there was one thing you could have told yourself at the start of fourth year, what would it have been?”  Important for students to hear the experiences of other, more recent students  The work of Dr Catherine Bovill at University of Glasgow highlights significance of co-creation of curriculum, for student engagement and learning

“To be honest, I think the best advice I received at the beginning of 4th year was to keep at it! It’s a hard year there is no doubt about it, but by sticking with it they will get there! Also if students know they pretty much have to cancel their life for the period end of January to beginning March then that might help! The last couple months are the hardest but it will all come together! Also I wish I hadn’t been so stressed at the beginning as the first few months I made more difficult for myself I can see that now.” “I wish I'd have been prepared for how hard and busy the last semester was and that I didn’t take on as much outside uni and stretch myself so thin. I also got really anxious and it got worse throughout the year so being reminded to look after myself and take time away from it too. Being super organised was handy too (even if your friends do slag you off for having a spreadsheet!)”

‘Life After Fourth Year’  One of the final sections in the guide  Discusses another transition period for students  Understandably students do not tend to think of what they will do when they have finished their degree  We offer our own experiences  Reality is often rather different from expectation – we wanted to make students aware of this  Freedom to start small (new hobby), or take a big step (move abroad for work/study)

How are we doing so far?  This is a pilot project – currently being trialed at QMU  Almost at the end of semester 1 for current students  Asked for feedback thus far on the guide

How are we doing so far? “I LOVE this guide!! Hope and Karl have succeeded where many academics would struggle. They have highlighted the issues that they KNOW students will be struggling with, not only because they have been there themselves but because they asked the students and listened. It is engaging, candid and encouraging. It tackles issues from isolation to imposter syndrome. And it made me laugh” “I found the additional guide really helpful. It helped me to realise that this dissertation thing is really possible and I especially liked the comments from the current students” (Anna, level 4 Public Sociology Student). “I liked the style that they wrote the booklet in. The language was easy to understand and it really helped me to make sense of a lot of the stuff that was mentioned in the Dissertation booklet that the module coordinator gave to us’. (Peter, level 4 Psychology & Sociology student)

What Are Our Next Steps?  Looking forward – what are our plans?  Conduct a BOS at the end of the academic year  Work with students to develop it further  Possibility of running workshops at the beginning of the next academic year (2016)  Outside the QMU environment  Work with students in other universities, to adapt the guide so it can be implemented elsewhere in Scotland  Potential publication

In Closing  Guide developed to support student transition from level 3 into their fourth and final year  Student centered, student lead guide pilot project is well received by current fourth year students at QMU  Keen to implement the guide in other universities across Scotland – positive approach to innovative teaching methods

Acknowledgements  John Hughes  Duncan Robb  Clare Uytman  QMU Psychology & Sociology students (2014/15)

Thank you for listening Any Questions?

References  Cham, J. (2013). My Thesis is Written in. Retrieved from  Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. (2015). Transition Map. Retrieved from themes/current-enhancement-theme/transitions-map