1. Evaluation of S294 Early start
Jane Loughlin, Katja Rietdorf, Diane Butler

2. Aims of the S294 Early start
To help students to consolidate their prior study and gain confidence before embarking on the main programme of study
To give students a chance to reflect on, and potentially adjust, their study plans for 18J in advance of the module start
To potentially improve retention among participating students and thereby improve the overall completion/ pass rate for the module

3. What was the S294 early start?
From 9th July – 10th Sept – registered students had access to the 18J website and could…….
brush up on the core concepts from level 1 study to make sure that they started their study of S294 with a good understanding of the relevant background material
attend online tutorials on some of the core topics and skills to get them started
start to read the online versions of the S294 books
access online activities and quizzes
communicate with experienced S294 tutors - tackling student questions, worries or concerns
communicate with other students to offer and seek support and advice and share experiences
take part in a journal club to learn more about some interesting topics in cell biology and to gain confidence in preparing and delivering presentations.

4. Evaluation Student engagement:
Qualitative analysis of student activity and contributions on ES forum: observations on student expectation and student experience; nature of posts (chat / questions or observations on relevant topics / News).
No. students registered at each of the times when the invitations were issued
No. students accessing key discussions in the forum during the ES
No. of posts overall and by student
No. students attending ES tutorials / watching recordings / participating in JC
Levels of concurrent study among ES participants vs registered non-participants
Impact:
Withdrawals before module start. Are the early starters still studying or more likely to withdraw?
Survey of participating students with follow-up interview / focus group.
Survey of all ALs on 18J presentation: impressions of early start students; attitudes of non-early start students; cohesiveness of tutor group
Focus group for the ALs who ran the early start to gather experience and impressions
Comparison of ES participants and non-participants: retention / TMA submission / TMA scores / final grade
Correlations with probability of success (SST tool)?