Presented at LILAC 2019

1. “You get out what you put in”: how
students perceive their “learner
journeys” at the University of
Worcester
Kathryn Devine BA (Hons), MA, MSc, PGCHE, FHEA
Academic Liaison Librarian,
University of Worcester

2. Definition of “learner journey”
 Not limited to student’s module and assessment pathway
 Rather, encompasses the whole skillset they build as they
navigate the course
 Information literacy is a key part of this “journey”, and one in
which librarians are “uniquely qualified to help”(Pritchard,
2010, p.273; see also Owusu-Ansah, 2004)

3. Why is the learner journey significant?
 Today’s graduate requires a more complex and varied skillset than
ever before
 “Graduates need to be more creative, more media literate, more
skilled cross-culturally, and more capable of leadership” and have
the ability to think “critically about an enormous amount of
information” and solve “complex, multidisciplinary, open-ended
problems” (Poole, 2013, p.348)
 This means the learner journey becomes more complex, “starting
from an earlier point and journeying to a more distant one” (Poole,
2013, p.348)

4. What is the library’s role in the student
experience?
 Increased teaching focus – and importance of embedded and aligned
information literacy instruction
 Librarians need to collaborate with academic staff to “address the
complexity of the current information environment” (Gibson and
Jacobsen, 2018, p.183)
 Information confidence makes for a better student experience. With
student experience “high on the national agenda” (Douglas et al., 2015, p.
330) the role of the librarian in increasing this confidence has never been
more important
 Widening participation agenda: supporting a range of student needs

5. Research background
 The student learner journeys project
followed a similar exercise carried out with
academic staff
 This led to the development of a Teaching
Menu, into which the present research is
feeding

6. Some students still
have referencing
“issues” or get
“caught on cheating
offences”
Students should be able
to refine and put into
practice the research
skills taught in L4 and L5
Students should use a wider
range of resources and
critical materials, i.e.
googling less and using a
wider range of journals and
databases
Students become
better at synthesising
information, though
many still struggle
Students need
to use the
library
“proficiently”
Some students lack
basic academic
writing skills
Students … need the
resources to cope when a
search doesn’t work the
first time … to embrace
academic debate rather
than “find the right
answer”
Academics

7. University of Worcester context
 Post-1992 university in the English Midlands
 10,747 enrolled students in the 2016-17 academic year
 12% of the student body identify as having a disability
 Nine academic schools (7 “institutes” at the time of the
research)
 Four campuses
 One library – The Hive

8. Research aims and objectives
 Sought increased understanding of student perceptions of their
learner journeys by asking:
 What are the issues, roadblocks, pressure points along the way?
 When do these occur?
 Concurrently, asked students for their understanding and opinions
on Library Services’ role within the journey
 From this information, consideration of how library teaching and
support could be improved, realigned, or retimed

9. Research design and method
 Qualitative – focus groups/focused interview
 Gathering rich data around student perceptions rather than
testing a hypothesis; a holistic “feels right” analysis (Corbin
and Strauss, 2015, p.57)
 Aimed to recruit participants via purposive sampling

10. The participants
 5 participants
 2 female; 3 male
 1 first year (level 4)
 2 second year (level 5)
 2 third year (level 6)
 3 mature students (2 male, 1 female)
 5 White British
 1 declared disability (Autism Spectrum Disorder)

11. The focus groups/interview process
 Discussion allowed to flow organically
 Guiding questions in place but used sparingly

12. Emergent themes
 Five principal themes emerged during analysis:
 Transition to, and preparedness for, university
 Progression
 Personal responsibility and engagement
 Employability
 Communication

13. Transition
 Academic writing
 Critical thinking skills
 Disconnect between secondary/Further Education and
Higher Education
 Library anxiety
 Finding appropriate sources and using them well

14. Students
Some first
years had
“no idea”
A levels meant
I ”knew how to
write essays”
I was
“referencing
complete
rubbish”
“You just feel
like you don’t
know what it is
you’re asking”
I didn’t feel we
were “treated
like students”
until second
year
Tutors thought I had a
“higher level” of
academic writing skill
than I really did.
Transition from A-
level to university is
like moving from “a
paintball game to
the Falklands War”

15. Progression
 Scaffolding of learning
 Students’ sense of clear progression (or otherwise) through
modules to create a cohesive whole
 The perceived “jump” in difficulty/expectations of tutors at
level 5 in comparison with level 4

16. Students
At level 5, I’m
expected to “go
away and figure it
out for myself”
I’m “scared stiff”
of writing my
dissertation
Moving up to level
5 is a “sudden
sharp drop”
Modules seem to
be “just slotting
into any year … a
complete
mismatch”
Going from first to
second year it’s just
like 100% more
workload
It was “explicit that each
assessment built on (to)
the next one”
They didn’t
prepare us, but
they did warn us

17. Personal responsibility/engagement
 The need for students to do things for themselves
 Seize opportunities
 Taking responsibility for seeking help when things go wrong
 University should encourage students to do this from the
outset

18. Students
At A-level you get
factsheets for everything;
at university you need to
get out there and form
your own opinion
Tasks are set with a
purpose but
student don’t
always do them
Staff can only
do so much
You need to
“go out there
and actually
ask for it”
“Mature students …
know what it’s like to
work for deadlines …
they know (how) to
deal with stress”
A baseline expectation of
my course is a willingness
to learn and listen, to try
new things

19. Employability
 Readiness for the “real world”
 Can the university environment replicate real world
experience?
 The learner journey as a lifelong experience

20. Students
“Are we just using the
term ‘learner journeys’
as an academic phrase
for ‘life’?”
I’m in third year but I
don’t feel like I’m
completely finished …
there are options out
there; there’s
progression
There is no
sense of
urgency at
university
University is “a
surreal
experience …
between school
and the real
world”
After the
course I feel
like the journey
is just going to
stop
Law is “all geared
towards getting that
job”

21. Communication
 Impact of communication failure
 Importance of clearly communicating what services are
available to students and who is responsible for delivering
them
 Most dissatisfaction was in some way a product of a
communication breakdown or failure

22. Students
“It’s a very
bureaucratic
institution”
“There’s obviously been
a lot of dialogue
between the library and
my lecturers, but they
don’t seem to have got
anywhere”
“The biggest
thing for me …
is talking to
someone”
“Sometimes it feels
like … the library
and the university
are separate
entities”
“Just go out there and
say ‘I need some help’”
“There’s nothing
worse than asking
questions … and
not getting the
answers”

23. Implications for information literacy
practice
 Need for clarity around extent and remit of service
 Taking services to students rather than waiting for them to
come to us
 Meaningful partnerships with academic staff
 Need for timely, aligned teaching interventions

24. References
 Corbin, J. and Strauss, A. (2015) Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. 4th
edn. London: Sage.
 Devine, K. (2018) Undergraduate students’ perceptions of their “learner journey” at the University of Worcester and Library
Services’ role in this journey. MSc thesis. Robert Gordon University. Available at: https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/6907/ (Accessed: 30
March 2019).
 Douglas, J.A. et al. (2015) ‘Understanding student satisfaction and dissatisfaction: an interpretive study in the UK higher
education context’, Studies in Higher Education, 40(2), pp. 329-349. doi: 10.1080/03075079.2013.842217.
 Gibson, C. and Jacobsen, T.E. (2018) ‘Habits of mind in an uncertain information world’, Reference & User Services Quarterly,
57(3), pp. 183-192. doi: 10.5860/rusq.57.3.6603.
 Knapp, J.A., Rowland, N.J. and Charles, E.P. (2014) ‘Retaining students by embedding librarians into undergraduate research
experiences’, Reference Services Review, 42(1), pp. 129-147. doi: 10.1108/RSR-02-2013-0012.
 Owusu-Ansah, E.K. (2004) ‘Information literacy and higher education: placing the library in the center of a comprehensive
solution’, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 30(1), pp. 3-16. doi: 10.1016/j.jal.2003.11.002.
 Poole, G. (2013) ‘The coming and going: the work of educational developers when admission criteria and desired outcomes
change simultaneously’, International Journal for Academic Development, 18(4), pp. 344-355. doi:
10.1080/1360144X.2012.696195.
 Pritchard, P.A. (2010) ‘The embedded science librarian: partner in curriculum design and delivery’, Journal of Library
Administration, 50(4), pp. 373-396. doi: 10.1080/01930821003667054.

25. Kathryn Devine
Academic Liaison
Librarian
University of Worcester
Email: k.devine@worc.ac.uk
Telephone: 01905 542919
Twitter: @katdevine76