Presented at LILAC 2015

1. Bridging the Gap
Monday, 13 April 2015 1
an outreach project
Ellie Roberts
Heather Barker
Simon Lambe
Vivien Sieber

2. Overview
2
Bridging the Gap I:
2011/12
Attitudes to HE
Bridging the Gap II:
2013
Create classroom
resources
Information literacy
WP workshops
Follow-on
activities:
2014/15
Recruiting
Learning Advisor
(Outreach)

3. Bridging the Gap I (BtG I)
What are the study and academic skills pupils need to
develop for university-level study?
3
A pathfinder project

4. BtG I Objectives
1. Student aspiration and understanding
2. Insight into progression in an academic environment
3. Information literacy and study skills: expectations and
experience of academic staff
4. Collaborative approaches to online support for students
in WP categories
5. Skills development for transition: explore and develop
OER resources for VLE platforms
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5. Participants BtG I
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School/College Year groups
The Warwick School Years 7-11
Godalming College 6th Form

6. BtG I Methodologies
1. Online surveys:
• ‘Attitudes to HE’
• ‘Technology experience’
2. Development of resources and methods for collaboration
via school VLE:
• Live chat; Wiki; Forum
• Links to online resources
3. Academic staff & undergraduate student perspectives on
transition issues:
• Focus groups
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7. Surveys & Student views
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0 5 10 15 20 25
Expand knowledge/learning/thinking/study
Prepare career/get job
Qualification (Degree, master's, PhD)
FE
Get HE
Study specific subjects/specialise/depth knowledge
Cost/bankrupt
Prepare for career (subject specific study)
Prepare for real world/life skills
Social
Contacts
Aspirational e.g. "make world a better place"
Grow up/learn important stuff of life
Confidence
Number of Responses
What do you think university is for?
Godalming College The Warwick School

8. BtG I Findings
Pupils had limited understanding of:
• information literacy, search skills
• independent study
• need for support with basic life and study skills
Pupils wanted e-learning to be:
• interactive/engaging
• short blocks of activity
• limited text with pictures and videos
Teachers:
• limited experience using technology in teaching
• needed support and ideas for use of OERs
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9. Bridging the Gap II (BtG II)
Create online resources,
with a focus on Open Educational Resources (OERs),
to help school and college students
develop independent learning skills for study at university.
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A continuation project

10. Participants BtG II
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School/College Year groups
Ashcombe School 6th Form
Esher CofE High School Mixed
The Warwick School Years 9 and 10

11. Methodologies
1. Develop, pilot, evaluate and modify online resources;
principally OERs
2. Learning Sequences
3. Teacher Toolkits
4. Develop Information Literacy materials and workshop
for Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)
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12. Learning Sequences & Toolkits
Image!
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http://libweb.surrey.ac.uk/library/Skills/BtG/index.html

13. Independent Learning Toolkit
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Mini
Lecture
Multiple
Choice
questions
Time
Maths!
Time
Audit
To do
lists
Learning
Sequence
Testing
understanding
Reviewing time
spent on tasks
Skills development:
Keeping track of time
Planning and
evaluation
Time Management
Adapted from Time Management by Nadia Rattoo; UCLAN; E-VOLVE is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales
License. Based on a work at open.jorum.ac.uk.

14. Information Literacy Toolkit
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http://libweb.surrey.ac.uk/library/Skills/BtG/Information%20literacy%20-%20teachers'%20toolkit.pdf

15. Findings from younger students
“I find it very useful because I didn’t know you could do
some of those things. It’s really helpful”
“It shows you step by step how to do the work”
“…learning how to search and use reliable sources”
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Survey responses from 13 – 16 year olds:

16. Information Literacy Extended
“Extended Project Qualification” (EPQ)
• Recently introduced into the ‘A’ Level curriculum
• Identify research topic
• Research skills: finding and evaluating
• Dissertation; composition; report; artefact
Information literacy intervention opportunity identified with
partner schools
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17. Information Literacy for EPQ
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EPQ for research = Evaluate, Process, Quality
Quality
Process
Evaluate

18. EPQ Workshop
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Case study: Ashcombe School (6th form students)
Keywords Evaluating sources
Reproduced, with permission from: Hill, V. & Edwards, E. (2013). Games used
in teaching information literacy skills. Middlesex University
http://dspace.jorum.ac.uk/xmlui/export?itemID=20754
Reproduced, with permission from: Hill, V. & Edwards, E. (2013). Games used in
teaching information literacy skills. Middlesex University
http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/18121

19. Recommendations
• Relevance
• EPQ: first independent research project
• Guidance on classroom use
• Teacher support with e-learning
– Continued specialist support for remote teaching
– Offer teacher training sessions
• Resources potentially useful to undergraduates
• Resources need to be maintained
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20. Impacts of BtG
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Bridging
the
Gap
Recruitment
Transitions
Lifelong
Learning

21. What next?
• Liaise with librarians in schools
• Speak with students in their first year at University
• Work with widening participation & outreach to
evolve resources
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Wider participation

22. Bridging the Gap
Monday, 13 April 2015 22
an outreach project
Vivien Sieber v.sieber@surrey.ac.uk
Heather Barker h.barker@surrey.ac.uk
Simon Lambe s.lambe@surrey.ac.uk
Ellie Roberts e.j.roberts@surrey.ac.uk

23. Project participants, BtG I & II
Vivien Sieber, Head of Learning Research Support & Development
Steven Rolt, Assistant Head, The Warwick School
Simon Lambe, Learning Advisor
Sharon Markless, Senior Lecturer in Higher Education
Roberto Di Napoli, Associate Dean Learning & Teaching
Renata Eyres, Widening Participation and Outreach
Morag Walling, Careers Advisor, Warwick School
Keira Sawyer, English teacher, Warwick School
Jane Savidge, Director, Library & Learning Support
Joe McCarthy-Holand, Teacher, Godalming College
Julia Anthoney, Project Officer
Heather Barker, Senior Project Librarian (Widening Access)
Gill Downham, Academic Liaison Librarian
Evi Tramantza, Academic Liaison Librarian
Ellie Roberts, Academic Liaison Librarian
Caroline Cooper, Project Administrator, BtGII
Alistair Morey, Learning Development Co-ordinator
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24. References:
Library & Learning Support Services, University of Surrey (2012)
Bridging the Gap: From School to University, collaborative
approaches to study skills development to address the needs of students
in widening participation categories. Internal University of Surrey
report. Unpublished.
Library & Learning Support Services, University of Surrey (2013)
Bridging the Gap II. Internal University of Surrey report. Unpublished.
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