TRANSITION MANAGEMENT IN A LARGE LAW SCHOOL – A MODULE BASED SOLUTION JO BOYLAN-KEMP and JOHN HODGSON

THE BACKGROUND TRANSITION AS A ‘SOCIAL’ RITE OF PASSAGE CHANGES TO ‘A’ AND ‘AS’ LEVELS DIVERSE INTAKE ‘NON-TRADITIONAL’ INTERNATIONAL MATURE DIFFERENT STROKES

TRANSITION AS A ‘SOCIAL’ RITE OF PASSAGE

CHANGES TO ‘A’ AND ‘AS’ LEVELS

DIVERSE INTAKE

‘NON-TRADITIONAL’

INTERNATIONAL

MATURE

DIFFERENT STROKES

WHAT THEY COME WITH FEEDBACK IS ON THE WORK IN HAND

FEEDBACK IS ON THE WORK IN HAND

Submitting drafts 90% of students were able to submit drafts

Use of feedback Feedback is predominantly instructional, not developmental Feedback is used primarily to improve the piece of writing in hand No conception of taking it forward to the next piece of work At odds with the HE system “ You used feedback if it was on a draft but otherwise you didn’t because it was about one piece of work” ‘ They would write down what needed changing and then they would talk it through with you too.’ “ In all honesty, they virtually wrote it for you”

Feedback is predominantly instructional, not developmental

Feedback is used primarily to improve the piece of writing in hand

No conception of taking it forward to the next piece of work

At odds with the HE system

WHAT THEY COME WITH FEEDBACK IS ON THE WORK IN HAND MANY OTHER ‘FALSE FRIENDS’ CONTACT WITH TUTORS GUIDED NOTE-TAKING OWNERSHIP OF DEADLINES CONCEPTS AND USE OF FEEDBACK THESE DIFFERENCES NEED ACKNOWLEDGING AND ADDRESSING BY STAFF TEACHING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS Material from ‘What’s a Journal?’ Foster, Bell, Salzano http://www.ntu.ac.uk/CASQ/about/current_work/index.html

FEEDBACK IS ON THE WORK IN HAND

MANY OTHER ‘FALSE FRIENDS’

CONTACT WITH TUTORS

GUIDED NOTE-TAKING

OWNERSHIP OF DEADLINES

CONCEPTS AND USE OF FEEDBACK

THESE DIFFERENCES NEED ACKNOWLEDGING AND ADDRESSING BY STAFF TEACHING FIRST YEAR STUDENTS

Material from ‘What’s a Journal?’ Foster, Bell, Salzano http://www.ntu.ac.uk/CASQ/about/current_work/index.html

Learning environment Small groups Average class size 20 (range 6 - 58) Staff easy to contact 89% of students found it easy to talk to tutors outside class time Mobile numbers and email addresses widely available ‘ There was a good relationship between students and tutors; they were more like friends’ ‘ Really easy. We could even contact them late at night’

Small groups

Average class size 20 (range 6 - 58)

Staff easy to contact

89% of students found it easy to talk to tutors outside class time

Mobile numbers and email addresses widely available

Deadlines Coping with time management 38% of respondents stated that they had struggled with their academic workload in FE Tutors helped by creating ‘false’ deadlines Broke up tasks for the students so that longer assignments had lots of stages Responsibility owned by teachers not students Reminded students of deadlines ‘ It was due to my own time management skills’’ ‘ They would break up deadlines for you, e.g. introduction by this date etc.’ ‘ Teachers helped you keep track of everything’

Coping with time management

38% of respondents stated that they had struggled with their academic workload in FE

Tutors helped by creating ‘false’ deadlines

Broke up tasks for the students so that longer assignments had lots of stages

Responsibility owned by teachers not students

Reminded students of deadlines

‘ Teachers helped you

keep track of everything’

HOW TO RESPOND NTU IS PART OF THE LEARNHIGHER CETL: http://learnhigher.hope.ac.uk/ NTU HAS VERY WELL DEVELOPED INSTITUTIONAL INDUCTION PRACTICES INDUCTION ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH ‘GETTING THEM FROM THERE TO HERE’

NTU IS PART OF THE LEARNHIGHER CETL: http://learnhigher.hope.ac.uk/

NTU HAS VERY WELL DEVELOPED INSTITUTIONAL INDUCTION PRACTICES

INDUCTION ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH

‘GETTING THEM FROM THERE TO HERE’

THE WHOLE OF THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE PRE-ENROLMENT ACTIVITIES – SERIOUSLY UNDERDEVELOPED WELCOME WEEK

PRE-ENROLMENT ACTIVITIES – SERIOUSLY UNDERDEVELOPED

WELCOME WEEK

BUT SERIOUSLY INDUCTION IS OVERLOADED LOTS OF ‘WORTHY BUT BORING’ BOILERPLATE GETTING TO GRIPS WITH UNI LIFE

INDUCTION IS OVERLOADED

LOTS OF ‘WORTHY BUT BORING’ BOILERPLATE

GETTING TO GRIPS WITH UNI LIFE

THE FIRST YEAR A LEARNING OUTCOME SOLUTION STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO: DEPLOY AN APPROPRIATE RANGE OF SKILLS, TECHNIQUES AND SCHOLARLY PRACTICE TO EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS THEIR ASSESSMENT TASKS; AND OPERATE EFFECTIVELY AS INDIVIDUAL INDEPENDENT LEARNERS AND IN GROUP LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES.

A LEARNING OUTCOME SOLUTION

STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:

DEPLOY AN APPROPRIATE RANGE OF SKILLS, TECHNIQUES AND SCHOLARLY PRACTICE TO EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS THEIR ASSESSMENT TASKS; AND

OPERATE EFFECTIVELY AS INDIVIDUAL INDEPENDENT LEARNERS AND IN GROUP LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES.

PRE-CONCEPTIONS & MISCONCEPTIONS STAFF EXTRA WORK, EXTRA TIME, EXTRA EFFORT….. NO POINT. STUDENTS EXTRA WORK, EXTRA TIME, EXTRA EFFORT….. NO POINT.

STAFF

EXTRA WORK, EXTRA TIME, EXTRA EFFORT….. NO POINT.

STUDENTS

EXTRA WORK, EXTRA TIME, EXTRA EFFORT….. NO POINT.

SO HOW..? JUST FOR STARTERS: PRE-INDUCTION – ONLINE FORUM (THINK FACEBOOK, THINK BEBO, THINK AS THE STUDENTS DO) INDUCTION – FOCUS ON THE INTERESTING BITS WHILST NOT FORGETTING THE IMPORTANT POINTS

JUST FOR STARTERS:

PRE-INDUCTION – ONLINE FORUM (THINK FACEBOOK, THINK BEBO, THINK AS THE STUDENTS DO)

INDUCTION – FOCUS ON THE INTERESTING BITS WHILST NOT FORGETTING THE IMPORTANT POINTS

SO HOW..? THE DELIVERY: REVISION OF AN EXISTING MODULE LARGE GROUP SESSIONS INTERACTIVE, INFORMATIVE AND INTERESTING STUDENT PROGRESS FILES

THE DELIVERY:

REVISION OF AN EXISTING MODULE

LARGE GROUP SESSIONS

INTERACTIVE, INFORMATIVE AND INTERESTING

STUDENT PROGRESS FILES

SO HOW..? THE CONTENT: ACADEMIC SKILLS – LECTURES, NOTE-TAKING, REFERENCING, CITATIONS, WRITING, RESEARCH, CONNECTIONS, FEEDBACK, INDEPENDENCE…. PROFESSIONAL (AND PERSONAL) SKILLS – CV’S, CAREERS, PLACEMENTS, FINANCE, ORGANISATION, INDEPENDENCE….

THE CONTENT:

ACADEMIC SKILLS – LECTURES, NOTE-TAKING, REFERENCING, CITATIONS, WRITING, RESEARCH, CONNECTIONS, FEEDBACK, INDEPENDENCE….

PROFESSIONAL (AND PERSONAL) SKILLS – CV’S, CAREERS, PLACEMENTS, FINANCE, ORGANISATION, INDEPENDENCE….

THE ‘PROBLEMS’ (AND SOLUTIONS) STUDENT ENGAGMENT STAFF ENGAGEMENT ACCOMMODATION TIME

STUDENT ENGAGMENT

STAFF ENGAGEMENT

ACCOMMODATION

TIME