1. Professor Karen Nelson
Director, Student Success and Retention
Queensland University of Technology
Informa 2nd Annual Student Health and Welfare Forum
29-30 July 2013, Sydney
2. Bradley, Noonan, Nugent & Scales (2008)
Review of Australian Higher Education: Final Report
Higher education can transform the
lives of individuals and through
them their communities and the
nation by engendering a love of
learning for its own sake and a
passion for intellectual discovery
3. “... We have now reached the stage where
universities must recognise the need for
institution-wide approaches to enhancing the
first year experience. Responsiveness to the
needs of demographic and cultural subgroups
demands that student support staff,
academics and administrators work together
to integrate their efforts and initiatives for the
benefit of all students”...
3
Krause, Hartley, James & McInnis, 2005, ¶8.8.6
4. Current state of HE in Australia
• 2nd radical change in just over two decades
– Dawkins reforms 1988 elite to mass HE sector
– Bradley review (2008) and Govt’s responses
• Increasing pressures
– student numbers Trow’s notion of universal higher
education
– student diversity – preparedness for and experience of
higher education
– regulatory pressures –compacts, increased attention to HE
reputation, quality ...
– funding pressures - performance based funding, recent
funding cuts (e.g. UK & Australia), deregulation of places,
fixed fees … caps on places?
4
9. Why focus on first year students
“student success [at university] is largely determined by student
experiences in the first year” (Upcraft, Gardner, & Barefoot, 2005,
p.1).
• And that student expectations “impact [on] successful student
transitioning” (Alexson & Kemnitz, 2004, p. 20)
• “The transition to university is therefore a particularly significant
period for understanding student expectations and their
consequences” (James, 2002 p. 76)
• Expectations are highly individual and diverse. (James, 2002)
• These diverse expectations are the “defining characteristic of the
student experience” Byron (2002)
10. Scoping and defining
• A first year student is a student who has not
completed the equiv of 1 f/time year of study in
their current course at their current institution
• The first year curriculum is a subject that is
intentionally designed and placed in the
curriculum to assist transition ...
• A student’s first year experience extends from
offer until commencement of >equiv 1f/time year
of study
11. What we would wish for …
All students have qualified for a place and we
have a moral, ethical and legal obligation to
provide the best possible opportunity for them to
succeed ....
That students have a good experience because
they are engaged in their learning.
No student leaves because of an issue with their
course or curriculum or a staff member or admin
or because of issues with access or support or
because they lost confidence or didn’t know how
to … xxx.
12. How can interconnectedness assist with...
Unfamiliarity with university
Diversity in preparedness for higher education
Various pre- and mis-conceptions about university life
Self doubts about ability, course choice, careers …
Demographic variables (inc. equity groups) ...
Changing patterns of participation & engagement ...
Increased work hours, travel time ...
Increasing levels of poverty
Large very large classes (massuniversal system)
14. Commencing students need …
• Encounters with challenging ideas and
people
• Active engagement with these challenges
• In a supportive environment
• Real-world activities
• Includes social activities
• Unbounded by time or place
Terenzini, P and Pascarella, E, 2007
15. Factors influencing success in FY
• Institutional climate and commitment
• Preparedness to respond to the changing nature
of student engagement
• Recognition of the social dimensions of learning
• Good course design and teaching practice
• Assessment: relevant, consistent & integrated;
• Feedback: early, prompt & constructive
• Student support: coordinated, just-in-time, life
& learning, normalised
(Yorke, M. & Thomas, L., 2003, Tinto 2006)
16. Generational approaches to the FYE
(Kift, Nelson & Clarke, 2010; Kift, 2009; Wilson, 2009)
1st generation FYE
Essentially co-curricular – professionals on curriculum’s
periphery – or as adjunct to the core learning experience
2nd generation FYE
Curriculum focus – recognizes entering diversity and
supports student learning experience via pedagogy,
curriculum design, & L&T practice – requires faculty &
professional partnerships
3rd generation FYE
1st and 2nd generation FYE quality assured and seamless
across institution, across all its disciplines, programs &
services via faculty & professional partnerships
16
17. Reviewing the evidence
(Nelson, Clarke, Kift & Creagh, 2012)
17
• ~400 empirical reports
– 2000-2003 – isolated or siloed, 1st generation =
orientation, peer mentoring, transition programs
– 2004-2007 – transition pedagogy – (Kift & Nelson,
2005) and focus on curriculum, design, assessment and
engagement
– 2008-2010 – trend towards university-wide foci for
research, focus on clarifying expectations, dramatic
increase in curriculum mediated engagement and
partnerships
26. Embed Integrate Align
Academic languages &
literacies in curriculum
Cultural competence for
domestic students
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
knowledge systems
Intercultural competence
for all students
Strategically placed to meet
needs
Aligned with course
learning outcomes
Threshold skills and
concepts
Cohort needs
24/7 access to on-line
resources and information
Drop-in style learning
support
Peer and staff mediated
High priority students
Intensive specialist support
Discipline academic staff and professional
educators design and enact in collaboration
Formal cultural competence training
Informal knowledge exchange & capacity building
30. “The time and effort students devote to activities that are
empirically linked to desired outcomes of college and what
institutions do to induce students to participate in these
activities (Kuh, (2001, 2003, 2009a) in Trowler, 2010)
“the interaction between the time, effort and other
relevant resources invested by both students and their
institutions intended to optimise the student experience
and enhance the learning outcomes and development of
students and the performance, and reputation of the
institution.” (Trowler, 2010. p. 3)
31. Individual and Institutional Characteristics Influencing
Student Retention and Engagement (IICISRE)
Student
Factors
Individual
Contextual
Students
& Staff
Knowledge
Skills
Attitudes
Actions
Input / Presage Factors
Transformation
Process
Output / Product Factors
Institutional
Experiences
Mediated
by
curriculum
& co-
curricular
activities
Institutional
Context
Curriculum
Institution
Teacher
Factors
Individual
Contextual Nelson, K., Kift, S., & Clarke, J (2012) A transition pedagogy for student
engagement and first year learning, success and retention. In Ian Solomonides,
Anna Reid and Peter Petocz (eds) Engaging with Learning in Higher Education
(ELHE) Faringdon, UK Libri Publishers.
33. 10 Proposals Improve Engagement
1. Enhance students self belief
2. Enable students – work autonomously & together, to
build and feel competent
3. Recognise that L&T are central to engagement
4. Create active, collaborative learning
5. Create challenging, enriching educational experiences
6. Ensure institutional cultures are welcoming
7. Invest in support services
8. Adapt to changing student expectations
9. Enable students to become active citizens
10. Enable development of social & cultural capital
Zepke & Leach (2010) ALHE, 11(3), p169
36. How will students come to
understand themselves
and the range of
employment and career
options relevant to their
course?
What mechanisms will be
in place to support
students as they transition
into the course?
What mechanisms will be in
place to ensure the early
identification and support of
students who may be at risk of
not meeting unit and course
learning outcomes or
disengaging from their studies?
Which faculty and central
support areas will be
consulted /involved in the
course to maximise the
student learning
experience?
37. • Career modules
• Individual attributes
• Guest lectures
• Internships, PL, WIL
• Experiential & PB
learning
• Capstones experiences
• Peer led orientation
experiences
• Course specific peer learning
in and out of classroom –
physical & virtual
• Discipline specific academic
languages and literacies
development
• Threshold concepts,
knowledge and skills explicitly
identified and developed
• Cohort specific strategies for
high priority and at-risk
cohorts
• Universal monitoring of
student engagement
• Academic skills
• Peer programs
• First year experience
• Careers and counselling
• Academic language &
learning & international
• Digital / eLearning
• Library
• Health and wellbeing
38. Given engagement is the key then
we should monitor students’
engagement in learning
40. • Early intervention programs
increase student learning
engagement & retention.
• Use data and information (proxy
indicators) to:
– monitor student learning
engagement
– make highly tailored action-
oriented supportive interventions
with high priority students
– connect students with learning
and personal support services and
network
– promote help seeking behaviour
Monitoring learning
engagement
46. Student Engagement Success &
Retention Maturity Model
Organisational Practices
Categories 18 Processes (e.g.) 63 Practices (e.g.)
Learning Assessment Design, feedback, relevance
Curricula Design, enactment
Supporting Information about Courses, key milestones, services
Services & resources Financial, personal, skills
Belonging Interaction, Inclusivity Communication style, community
Identity development Capacity building, ‘apprenticeships’
Integrating Academic literacies Peer learning, skills integrated , people
Personal literacies Cohort dev, personal dev, profess dev
Resourcing Staff development Corporate info, specific roles, innovation
Roles and responsibilities Providing tools & tech, specialist roles
47. C= Integrating:
Process = personal
literacies
Description
of practice
Institution
Dimension
of
Practice
interpreted for
dimension
Evidence is …
Not
adequate
Partially
adequate
Largely
adequate
Fully
adequate
Cultural and social
competence are
cultivated within
the curricula e.g.
understanding and
esteeming other
cultures,
indigenous ways of
knowing,
individual learning
styles
Providing The curricula cultivates …
Planning There are plans to
cultivate …
Institutional
Framing
Institutional policies or
standards guide …
Monitoring The cultivation of … is
monitored
Optimising The cultivation of … is
improved
Assessing Institutional SESR Maturity
48. 48
Example SESR Maturity Model
Providing
Planning
Institutionalframing
Monitoring
Optimising
Learning Assessment ## ## ##
Curricula ## ## ## ##
Teaching Techniques ## ## ## ## ##
Pedagogical Style ## ## ## ##
Supporting Information about ## ## ## ##
Services & resources ## ## ## ## ##
People rich ## ## ## ## ##
Belonging Interaction ## ## ## ## ##
Inclusive activities ## ## ##
Identitydevelopment opportunities ## ## ## ##
Integrating Academic literacies ## ## ## ## ##
Personal literacies ## ## ## ##
Activities ## ## ## ## ##
Resourcing Staff development ## ## ## ##
Roles and responsibilities ## ## ## ## ##
Evidence base ## ## ## ## ##
Communication ## ## ## ##
Learning environments ## ## ## ##
Key:
No data ##
Not adequate ##
Partiallyadequate ##
Largelyadequate ##
Fullyadequate ##
QUT Student Engagement Success and Retention
Maturity Model Summary
Dimensions
Category Process
50. Academic –Professional Partnerships
DisciplineAcademicStaffand
Student recruitment
Academic developers
Learning advisers
Academic language and learning advisers
Learning designers
Survey specialists
Evaluation coordinators
Counselling
Careers counsellors
Central and faculty student support
Equity services
Disability services
Fostering a sense of belonging
Uni-wide
orientation
& transition
Uni-wide
visible
physical &
virtual peer
programs
Proactive, timely access to support &
development
Campus life
Universal
Monitoring
of Student
Engagement
with
Intervention
Support for
Learning
Curriculum that engages
students in learning
Transition
pedagogy Work
integrated
learningCapstone
experiences
51. Professor Karen Nelson
Director, Student Success and Retention
Queensland University of Technology
Informa 2nd Annual Student Health and Welfare Forum
29-30 July 2013, Sydney
