Going to uni is no longer a pipedream: How an interprofessional project transformed learners and prepared them for their next destination in higher education Dr Jane McKay, Academic Development Tutor Dr Lina Petrakieva, Academic Development Tutor Lynn Sheridan, Lecturer in Social Work Dr Jane McKay, Academic Development Tutor Dr Lina Petrakieva, Academic Development Tutor Lynn Sheridan, Lecturer in Social Work School of Health & Life Sciences Glasgow Caledonian University

Interprofessional context GGAP Greater Glasgow Articulation Project Enhancing 1 st generation student articulation pathways CUSP College University Subject Partnerships Working groups of staff from FE and HE Research Funding to explore pathways Led to identification of support needs Needs identified Academic Psychological 2

Scottish system National Certificate SCQF level 4 Higher National Certificate SCQF level 7 Higher Education 3

Literature  Students may feel sense of ‘dislocation and loss’ as find themselves less prepared than traditional entry counterparts (Cree et al., 2009)  FE-HE Differences may include:  Very different approaches to L&T  Emphasis on critical appraisal and independent learning  Staff may be perceived to be unapproachable (Barron & D’Annunzio- Green, 2009)  Social work students tend to be first generation, mature and often have care commitments so have additional challenges (Cree et al., 2009)  Without early targeted support, these students are at increased risk of drop-out and failure (Gale & Parker, 2014)  Students may feel sense of ‘dislocation and loss’ as find themselves less prepared than traditional entry counterparts (Cree et al., 2009)  FE-HE Differences may include:  Very different approaches to L&T  Emphasis on critical appraisal and independent learning  Staff may be perceived to be unapproachable (Barron & D’Annunzio- Green, 2009)  Social work students tend to be first generation, mature and often have care commitments so have additional challenges (Cree et al., 2009)  Without early targeted support, these students are at increased risk of drop-out and failure (Gale & Parker, 2014) 4

What we did  Academic skills enhancement:  Development of a package of web-based academic skills tutorials to support the college to university transition. Key features:  Auditory and visual components – video format  Sequential  Contextualised  Integrated learning activities to consolidate learning  Academic skills enhancement:  Development of a package of web-based academic skills tutorials to support the college to university transition. Key features:  Auditory and visual components – video format  Sequential  Contextualised  Integrated learning activities to consolidate learning 5

What we did  To address confidence and anxiety issues:  Student videos  Staff welcome videos  All materials hosted on website:  To address confidence and anxiety issues:  Student videos  Staff welcome videos  All materials hosted on website: 6

Demonstration 7

Evaluation  Pilot – 88 questionnaires completed by college students. Preliminary feedback all very positive, e.g.  51% students reported that it had made them more likely to consider going to university  Final evaluation  Qualitative (3 college staff interviews and 3 student focus groups with college students)  Quantitative (from 3 different sources)  Pilot – 88 questionnaires completed by college students. Preliminary feedback all very positive, e.g.  51% students reported that it had made them more likely to consider going to university  Final evaluation  Qualitative (3 college staff interviews and 3 student focus groups with college students)  Quantitative (from 3 different sources) 8

Example of theme building process Raw data 1st order theme 2nd order theme General dimension Positive outcomes Increased psychological preparedness for higher education Made university seem achievable It makes it seem easier to achieve….I think it is just such a helpful tool Increased confidence in writing ability It’s not just like you’re going to this big place and you’re all alone, like people have done it before Normalised feelings of anxiety I felt like well there must be other people that feel the way I’m feeling and needing this sort of help 9 (Berg & Lune, 2012)

Student focus groups – commonly reported issues  Use of examples “cemented understanding” and discipline specific – “easy to relate to”  User-friendly and simple language “…it’s like an easy guide to writing” “…no kind of unnecessary complications or jargon”  Format  Real-life staff and student videos “I think as well there’s so many horror stories about going to uni…but the bit I liked was that every lecturer said that they were looking forward to meeting us and that if we ever needed support just to ask…” “Nobody in my family has ever been to uni; it’s still a wee bit of a taboo so I expected it to be really posh with people using big words, maybe a bit snooty, but nobody seemed like that, they were just like your average people.”  Use of examples “cemented understanding” and discipline specific – “easy to relate to”  User-friendly and simple language “…it’s like an easy guide to writing” “…no kind of unnecessary complications or jargon”  Format  Real-life staff and student videos “I think as well there’s so many horror stories about going to uni…but the bit I liked was that every lecturer said that they were looking forward to meeting us and that if we ever needed support just to ask…” “Nobody in my family has ever been to uni; it’s still a wee bit of a taboo so I expected it to be really posh with people using big words, maybe a bit snooty, but nobody seemed like that, they were just like your average people.” 10

Student focus groups – commonly reported issues  Enhanced understanding of academic skills “…it’s actually taught me how to write. I now know why a paragraph is there and how you use a paragraph properly. I’ve been ranting about it – ‘you need to go and see this website!’”  Increased psychological preparedness for HE “I think it was good because I sometimes I think about going to uni as a pipedream but I think with that it showed you what’s expected and it didn’t really seem as scary if I’m to progress on to uni, I found that quite useful.”  Enhanced understanding of academic skills “…it’s actually taught me how to write. I now know why a paragraph is there and how you use a paragraph properly. I’ve been ranting about it – ‘you need to go and see this website!’”  Increased psychological preparedness for HE “I think it was good because I sometimes I think about going to uni as a pipedream but I think with that it showed you what’s expected and it didn’t really seem as scary if I’m to progress on to uni, I found that quite useful.” 11

Staff interviews – commonly reported issues o Supported teaching “You’re always struggling with how to pitch it but when I watched the video I realised I was making it too complex” o Useful in other learning contexts (e.g. academic levels/subjects) o Engaging features – echoed student feedback o Positive outcomes, e.g. freeing up staff time, building confidence “I think it took away some of the fear by showing that there are support mechanisms and I thought that confidence building was a big thing for them.” o Supported teaching “You’re always struggling with how to pitch it but when I watched the video I realised I was making it too complex” o Useful in other learning contexts (e.g. academic levels/subjects) o Engaging features – echoed student feedback o Positive outcomes, e.g. freeing up staff time, building confidence “I think it took away some of the fear by showing that there are support mechanisms and I thought that confidence building was a big thing for them.” 12

Quantitative findings  Sources  Feedback survey on website  Website traffic - Google Analytics  YouTube traffic  Sources  Feedback survey on website  Website traffic - Google Analytics  YouTube traffic 13

Evaluation – quantitative Feedback survey on website 97% found it useful or very useful 14

Evaluation – quantitative Google Analytics  Page views >4000  More than 86% from UK (other popular are USA and Russia)  Average visit duration 5:22min  Average number of pages visited 3.92  Visits:  from a computer >76%  From mobile devices 19%  Page views >4000  More than 86% from UK (other popular are USA and Russia)  Average visit duration 5:22min  Average number of pages visited 3.92  Visits:  from a computer >76%  From mobile devices 19% 15

Evaluation – quantitative YouTube statistics  Total views >5800 views  Accessed by a variety of countries  Total views >5800 views  Accessed by a variety of countries CountryViewsAverage view duration United Kingdom550 (41%)3:06 Canada185 (14%)1:09 United States162 (12%)2:24 Australia149 (11%)2:33 Ireland45 (3.4%)3:51 New Zealand36 (2.7%)2:07 Jamaica17 (1.3%)5:23 Malaysia11 (0.8%)2:14 Singapore10 (0.7%)1:39 16

Evaluation – quantitative YouTube statistics  Skills for Uni – Reflective practice views  97% from YouTube directly  Most traffic through YouTube recommendation and direct YouTube searches (66%)  Top websites to navigate to video:  destinationsocialwork.com (44%)  edgehill.ac.uk (21%)  deakin.edu.au (16%)  Skills for Uni – Critical thinking ≈600 views  Skills for Uni – Features of academic writing ≈480  Skills for Uni – Reflective writing ≈480  Skills for Uni – Reflective practice views  97% from YouTube directly  Most traffic through YouTube recommendation and direct YouTube searches (66%)  Top websites to navigate to video:  destinationsocialwork.com (44%)  edgehill.ac.uk (21%)  deakin.edu.au (16%)  Skills for Uni – Critical thinking ≈600 views  Skills for Uni – Features of academic writing ≈480  Skills for Uni – Reflective writing ≈480 17

Conclusion and reflections  A relatively simple intervention can have a transformative effect on students’ academic and psychological preparedness for higher education.  Lessons learned:  The psychological component of support needs cannot be underestimated; academic and psychological preparation should be addressed collectively.  Promote engagement with contextualised examples  Keep teaching simple; avoid complex language and jargon  Select formats that students will be familiar with. Using established, open platforms like YouTube will increase accessibility.  A relatively simple intervention can have a transformative effect on students’ academic and psychological preparedness for higher education.  Lessons learned:  The psychological component of support needs cannot be underestimated; academic and psychological preparation should be addressed collectively.  Promote engagement with contextualised examples  Keep teaching simple; avoid complex language and jargon  Select formats that students will be familiar with. Using established, open platforms like YouTube will increase accessibility. 18

References  Barron, P. & D’Annunzio-Green, N. (2009). A smooth transition?: Education and social expectations of direct entry students. Activity Learning in Higher Education, 10,  Berg, B.L., & Lune, H. (2012). Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences, 8 th edn. New York: Pearson.  Cree, V. E., Hounsell, J., Christie, H., McCune, V. &Tett, L. (2009). From further education to higher education: Social work students' experiences of transition to an ancient research-led university. Social Work Education, 28(8),  Gayle, T. & Parker, S. (2014). Navigating change: a typology of student transition in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 39(5),  Barron, P. & D’Annunzio-Green, N. (2009). A smooth transition?: Education and social expectations of direct entry students. Activity Learning in Higher Education, 10,  Berg, B.L., & Lune, H. (2012). Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences, 8 th edn. New York: Pearson.  Cree, V. E., Hounsell, J., Christie, H., McCune, V. &Tett, L. (2009). From further education to higher education: Social work students' experiences of transition to an ancient research-led university. Social Work Education, 28(8),  Gayle, T. & Parker, S. (2014). Navigating change: a typology of student transition in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 39(5),