1. The data landscape of a small specialist institution
Stephanie Burns Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

3. Data landscape?
Does our small specialist institution fit into the usual success metrics?
Combat metrics-driven interpretation of success.
Lots of data + confusion around what is valid among staff/students.
- Internal/external data sources
- ”Potentially misleading, we have very small cohorts”
- “Not always easy to understand and put into practice”
- ”I chose to come to the conservatoire based on data”
Data to guide ongoing enhancement + achieve “success”.
Build an evidence-informed data set - better understand learners, their expectations + aspirations.
Rich source of information on the priorities for learners - guiding programme design + employability

4. Question - 1st year UG (Feb 2018)
Where do you see yourself in 15 years?
In your own words, how can the institution help you to be fully prepared for success? (Support, placements, quality and quantity of teaching, variety of choices, coursework, facilities, student welfare).

5. Response 67.8% response rate
Survey responses-reflective of the population
95% Confidence interval
4% margin of error
Methodology:
Collate qualitative responses.
Exploratory method, coding responses to represent their meaning.
Rich data of quotes and expressions gathered to aid understanding.

6. Question 1 Themes Subject + pathway = Teaching Sustained employment
Individual, positive, defined aspirations.
E.g. Principal ballerina with Royal NZ ballet
Teaching
Education course + pathway of career
Sustained employment
Enough money to live off, consistent work
Promoted roles
Managerial roles - own business + Second career

7. Question 2 Themes Curriculum Industry connections Opportunities
Tuition. Broaden knowledge and experience variety of subjects
Industry connections
Networking, professional advise, industry experience
Opportunities
Performance, large scale projects, learn from mistakes.
Support
Alumni, mental health, personal
“Inspire me to inspire others”
“Ensure quality and content of the teaching is preparing us for the future”

8. Enhancing the student experience -Student priorities
Experiencing a variety of subjects and styles
Cross-curriculum
Self-development
Creative exploration and independence
Learn from mistakes
Working with professionals + networking
Industry-ready
Support mechanisms

9. Key findings - data in a small specialist institution
Do we understand our own data landscape?
Is the first year view of success different from metric models?
Evolution over time (3 years)?
Are we prepared to fulfil the expectations?
Staff
a rich source of information on the priorities for their learners, and delivery to maximise engagement.
Student
opportunity to reflect on the breadth of responses received but also on their changing responses over time.
Next steps?
Do the findings support staff hypotheses? Differences?
Engage students and staff with findings.
Analyse over 3 years + engage Postgraduate students

10. Thank you Stephanie Burns s.burns@rcs.ac.uk