2. This session
⢠A story of loss
⢠Summary of data in brief
⢠The symptoms
⢠Three key areas to enhance retention through L&T:
1. Relationships
2. Sense of belonging
3. Active learning
⢠Devising strategies
3. Every student that drops out of their higher education course
is a loss: a loss to their university or college, a loss to the
future economy and, above all, a loss to that individual.
Equally, students who donât actually drop out but who fail to
achieve their full potential also represent a significant loss to
both themselves and society.
(Thomas et al 2017)
4. Data in brief
⢠About 8% of UK students drop out in first year (1 in 12)
⢠Retention is a persistent problem
⢠SSU figures for withdrawn students: 7.7% (2016)
⢠SLBC figures for withdrawn students: 8.4% (2016)
5. Why do students withdraw?
Go to www.menti.com and use the code 57 74 18
Select your top three reasons why you think
students withdraw
11. 1. Being Known
It is the human side of higher education that
comes first â finding friends, feeling confident
and, above all, feeling a part of your course of
study and the institution â that is the necessary
starting point for academic success.
(Liz Thomas, What Works, 2012)
12. Mass HE is squeezing out dialogue
with the result that written feedback,
which is essentially a one-way communication,
has to carry almost all the burden of
student-teacher interaction
David Nicol 2010
13. What students say
Because they have to mark so many that our essay
becomes lost in the sea that they have to mark.
It was like âWhoâs Holly?â Itâs that relationship
where youâre just a student.
Here they say âOh yes, I donât know who you are.
Got too many to remember, donât really care, Iâll
mark you on your assignmentâ.
14. Feedback as dialogue
The many diverse
expressions of
dissatisfaction with
feedback can be taken as
symptoms of an
impoverished and
fractured dialogue
David Nicol 2010
16. A two-way dialogue?
Your essay lacked structure and
your referencing is problematic
Your classes are boring and I
donât really like you ďď
17. We know thatâŚ.
Feedback is the single most important factor in
learning (Hattie 2009).
Formative feedback contributes to significant
learning gains (Black and Wiliam 1998).
18. So what are the marks of good
feedback?
⢠âŚfeedback which helped
you to grow and see new
angles
⢠âŚ.feedback which landed
like a lead balloon
⢠âŚthe characteristics of
good feedback.
Chat to your
neighbour
about
19. Dialogic feedback
⢠Who starts the conversation?
⢠Cycles of feedback
⢠Personalise, and use technology
Lecturers to
students
⢠Peer feedback
⢠Peer feedback with rebuttals
⢠Comments and Q&A
Students to
students
⢠âOne minuteâ papers
⢠Mid-module feedback
⢠Critical Incident Questionnaires
Students to
lecturers
21. Students to lecturers:
Critical Incident Questionnaire
Stephen Brookfieldâs Critical Incident Questionnaire http://bit.ly/1loUzq0
22. Sense of Belonging
⢠Relationships single best predictor of student success
(1 x academic; 2 x peers = more likely to stay on)
⢠5000 students cf. Male White with Male African
American Identical critical feedback. AA students:
âProof I donât belongâ
23. Pedagogic strategies to develop
a sense of belonging
⢠Knowing student names
⢠Carefully structured and lively group work
⢠In class activities which involve group tasks
⢠Curriculum design which speaks to diversity
⢠Academic relationships through RIT
24. Active Learning
Student learning sticks
more when the same
content or skills are learned
through multiple methods.
An approach which adopts
one pedagogic strategy is
at odds with the reality of
studentsâ multiple
intelligences.
25. Your strategies
⢠What approaches could you use (or are you already
using) to enhance studentsâ sense of belonging, active
learning and being known?
⢠Discuss your ideas and make a poster representing your
key strategies
26. References
Barefoot, B. (2004) Higher education's revolving door: confronting the problem of student drop out in US
colleges and universities, Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 19:1, 9-18.
Felten, P. (2016) Mind the Gap. Keynote at University of Glasgow. Annual L&T Conference.
http://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/leads/events/annuallearningandteachingconference/2016keynoteaddre
ssprofpeterfelten/
Mann, S. (2001) Alternative Perspectives on the Student Experience: Alienation and engagement, Studies
in Higher Education, 26:1, 7-19,
Nicol, D. (2010) From monologue to dialogue: improving written feedback processes in mass higher
education, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35: 5, 501 â 517.
Thomas, L. (2012) Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change. ..
Funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and delivered in partnership with the Higher Education Academy
and Action on Access.
Thomas, L., Hill, M., Oâ Mahony, J. Yorke, M. (2017) âWhat works? Student retention and successâ.
Summary Report, What works 2.. Funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and delivered in partnership with
the Higher Education Academy and Action on Access.
Editor's Notes
Tansy
Impoverished dialogue
Being known is a real challenge
Students can increase their understanding of the language of assessment through their active engagement in: âobservation, imitation, dialogue and practiceâ (Rust, Price, and OâDonovan 2003, 152), Dialogue, clever strategies, social practice, relationship building, relinquishing power.