1. Theory, Practice & Impact in Widening Participation
A praxis based framework for evaluation
Access to Higher Education and
Student Success Summit 2017
Annette Hayton, University of Bath
Marian Mackintosh, University of Bath
Emily Warwick, Oxford Brookes University

2. Increases in rates of progression
Trends in young participation in higher education: core results for England. HEFCE 2010/3 Figure 10: Trends in young participation rate for areas classified by HE participation rates (POLAR3 classification, adjusted)

3. Monitoring
Participant characteristics are monitored to assess and demonstrate success in attracting students who fulfil the targeting criteria.

4. Process Evaluation Did they have a good time? Were they safe?
Can organisation be improved?
Did they like the lunch?
Was the session engaging?
How was it for the staff and ambassadors?

5. Tracking: HEAT
Bath admitted 600 students who participated in outreach with other HEAT member universities
Participants in Bath outreach activities were much more likely to go to a high tariff university than disadvantaged students nationally
Twice as many participants from low progression areas went on to university compared with the average for LPN students in the counties surrounding the university.
Participants in Bath outreach activities were awarded an average of two grades higher in their GCSEs than students in the same schools who had the same attainment at KS2 who had not taken part.

6. Impact Evaluation
Evaluation of an HE outreach activity means assessing the impact of the activity on its participants, measured against its intended objectives.
Footnote iv The NERUPI framework provides a very rigorous theoretically-informed methodology for linking WP aims and objectives to impact evidence

7. WP activity: a transformative experience?
Overcoming feelings of fear
Experiencing university life and a sense of belonging
Confidence in their capacity to achieve
Challenging perceptions and overcoming doubts
Living away from home and meeting new people
Developing the capacity for academic and learning challenges
Enhancing and contextualising subject knowledge
Developing the capacity to make informed choices
Experiential impact
Transformational effect on learners
Pedagogy
Active learning and critical pedagogies
Content
Accessible yet challenging content

8. The NERUPI Framework
Designed to maximise the impact of Widening Participation interventions providing:
a robust theoretical and evidence-based rationale for the types of intervention that are designed and delivered
clear aims and learning outcomes for interventions, which enable more strategic and reflexive design and delivery
an integrated evaluation process across multiple interventions to improve data quality, effectiveness and impact

9. Bourdieu’s Theories Bourdieu – Field, Capitals and Habitus
Cultural model of Widening Participation that locates interventions within a wider field of engagement
Capitals - expressions of differences within an unequal social system – enable/restrict engagement with education
Intellectual capital (Scientific capital) - subject expertise
Academic capital - understanding of rules/customs within academy
Social capital – social connections
Habitus – situated cultural identity/set of dispositions

10. Field of HE Progression

11. The NERUPI Framework SOCIAL AND ACADEMIC CAPITAL HABITUS
SKILLS CAPITAL
INTELLECTUAL & SUBJECT CAPITAL
PROGRESSION CURRICULUM
STUDENT IDENTITIES
SKILLS CURRICULUM
KNOWLEDGE CURRICULUM
KNOW
CHOOSE
BECOME
PRACTISE
UNDERSTAND
Develop students' knowledge and awareness of the benefits of higher education
Develop students' capacity to navigate Higher Education sector and make informed choices
Develop students' confidence and resilience to negotiate the challenges of university life
Develop students' study skills and capacity for academic attainment
Develop students' understanding by contextualising subject knowledge

12. Aims and Objectives Level 3

13. Reflexivity
Framework enables us to share aims and develop activities with
Participants
Parents
School teachers
WP outreach workers
University academic and professional support staff

14. Residential Summer School Evaluation
Increased understanding, subject knowledge and skills are evaluated through assessment of group projects by academic staff
Engagement with the summer school and university life is evaluated by surveys (including open-ended questions) interviews, focus groups, ambassador feedback and observations
Knowledge of HE and how to choose a course is evaluated through surveys, discussion and also ‘quizzes’ i.e testing

15. completely different from any
Residential Summer School Evaluation
Academic staff completed a post- event questionnaire
Before coming to this
summer school I was very apprehensive about going to university as I was not sure how different life would be there compared to the life I live currently. This summer school has made me more confident that I can fit into university life and has given me advice about applying to university that I would not have received otherwise.
‘They all grasped the concept and then went over and above that - showing knowledge I would associate with undergrads’
Project was
completely different from any
school projects and so this insight into engineering was really useful and furthered my interest. I also learnt new formulas and concepts that involved some of the chemistry from school. .

16. Embedding NERUPI How we approached it
Embedding into new activities vs pre existing ones
Making it part of planning and evaluation processes
Getting buy-in from the team & wider university

17. Brookes Engage

18. Brookes Engage: Aims Links to all aspects of Level 3 of the Framework
Increase students’ awareness of HE opportunities, and sense of belonging within the University.
To improve participants’ confidence in academic skills and knowledge of the university application process: to make them successful students
Provide students with an understanding of industries they are interested in, with work shadowing, placements or contacts in those industries.
Create a peer group of like-minded students
Showcase the links between Brookes courses and employability
Provide students with access to high-quality enrichment activities
Links to all aspects of Level 3 of the Framework

19. Brookes Engage: Evaluation
Methods: Pre and Post Evaluation Diary Study Control Group
Quote from Diary Study summarising Brookes Engage:
“A lot of the workshops from Brookes Engage have stuck with me, including note taking and University structure, equally ideas including staying organised have really helped me remain under control of my assignments and work, and I still find myself using the mindfulness techniques to calm down after stressful times which has helped on more than one occasion.
All in all really thriving in the University environment and cant wait to see what the future holds.”
Objective from framework:
Develop students’ confidence and resilience to negotiate
the challenges of university life and graduate progression

20. Next Steps Extend the levels to Student Success and Progression
Apply the Framework in different contexts
Use with a wider range of methodologies
Explore the how the ideas underpinning the framework can be applied to cross- cutting topics e.g. Ambassadors
Invite more universities to join NERUPI
Event and website launch on the 7 February
Hayton, A and Bengry-Howell, A (2016) Theory, evaluation, and practice in widening participation: A framework approach to assessing impact London Review of Education, Volume 14, Number 3, November 2016, pp. 41-53(13)