Final Report:
Undergraduate ‘Student Identity’ Scheme – School of Education
Coordinator: Laura Black
Aims and Objectives of the Scheme
This project involved students on the BA (Hons) Language, Literacy and Communication programme. The main objective was to develop a series of student led social and academic activities which would i) foster a stronger sense of community amongst students on the programme and ii) establish a clear LLC identity for new Year 1 students in their transition into university life. We felt that inter-relating both academic advice and social activities was particularly useful for students’coming on to the BA LLC because a) the programme adopts many alternative teaching and assessment forms (e.g. reflective writing) which they may not have encountered before coming to university and b) the programme recruits a fairly small cohort offering the opportunity to establish a clear programme identity. The scheme adopted the structure of peer mentoring but went beyond this to look at how different mentoring practices might foster the sense of community and student identity referred to above.
What was achieved?
The scheme was organised by two Year 2 student co-ordinators and one member of academic staff. Together they organised and facilitated partnerships between 11 students from Year 2 who took on the role of ‘mentor’ to 40 students who were entering Year 1 in the 2010/11 academic year. In co-ordination with the Humanities Sabbatical Officer (Mike Smith) from the Students as Partners Office all ‘mentor’ partners received training in peer mentoring and peer support. The student co-ordinators then set up partnerships through contact with prospective students during the summer vacation and a talk given by the student co-ordinators during Welcome week. Meetings were then arranged between partners every six weeks during the semester so that both parties could exchange information about the course and share experience. In addition, several other activities were organised:
1)A noticeboard in the undergraduate area (now the undergraduate ‘hub’) of the School of Education which gave details about the scheme, and what was expected of the partnership arrangement (see photo below).
2)The purchase of polo-shirts and mugs which identified the School of Education and the BA LLC programme in order to visibly emphasise the LLC student identity.
3)A welcome booklet was compiled by the student co-ordinators which highlighted key information they felt was important about the LLC programme and being a student in Manchester. This was sent to all LLC students.
4)A presentation during welcome week which explained how the LLC programme worked and shared experience on the 20 credit free choice options students can take across the School of Education and Faculty of Humanities.
5)A pub quiz arranged during Semester 1 which was well attended.
Student Identity Scheme notice board
Any obstacles that were encountered and how they have been addressed
Two challenges were identified in terms of implementing the scheme.
1)The staff member responsible for overseeing the scheme, Dr Laura Black, undertook maternity leave during the academic year (March 2011 onwards). This role was then taken on by the BA LLC programme director at the time, Dr Alex Baratta, but obviously this entailed a small amount of disruption.
2)The student co-ordinators felt the timing of the announcement regarding funding availability for the scheme meant it did not get off the ground as smoothly as they had hoped. They felt they needed more‘lead up’time to recruit Year 2 and Year 3 partnersin order to prepare them for initial contact with prospective students during the summer vacation.
Any evidence of impact on the student experience (I appreciate formal data such as UEQ and NSS responses are not yet available)
Whilst we do not have NSS results for the relevant academic year and UEQ response rates are too low to provide useful data, we have looked at the results from the UG Barometer Survey for the School of Education.N.B. we recognise that this does not offer programme specific information but we feel this does reflect a general view which LLC students have contributed to (the BA LLC being one of the larger programmes in the School of Education). Here, questions relating to student arrival at the university are viewed as most relevant to this reportsince the scheme aimed to ease transition into university for Year 1 LLC students. In total, 92% of students reported feeling either very satisfied or satisfied in the ‘arrival’ section of the survey. More specifically, 100% of students said they were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied ‘with the information given about how their course of study would work and 94% were satisfied or ‘very satisfied’ regarding university orientation. These particular items we feel our important to our evaluation of the scheme since they relate to student transition towards their academic identity as an LLC student. Overall, we would argue that the scheme has contributed to a wider suite of activities within the school which have produced high levels of student satisfaction upon arrival at the university (n.b. the School of Education was the highest ranking in the Student Barometer Survey).
On an anecdotal level, the Year 1 students’ response to the presentation by student co-ordinators in Welcome week regarding free choice options was very positive since it gave incoming students advice on how to successfully navigate the diverse range of options available across the faculty. For example, in the School of Education, all undergraduate students are guaranteed a place on any unit on any of its four degree programmes. This makes it by far the easier pathway for selecting options since in the past LLC students have encountered difficulties in obtaining a place on units outside of the school. Students viewed the sharing of this information as particularly useful. We view this as evidence of success for the scheme since one of its remits was to share academic experience and information amongst students as a way of fostering an LLC student identity.
How the project will be embedded within the School to continue to improve the student experience and improve retention
The scheme has now become part of wider peer mentoring arrangements which are set up across all undergraduate programmes in the School of Education. For the BA LLC, two new student co-ordinators have been identified for the upcoming 2012/13 academic year and they will utilise and develop the resources from this original scheme. These being: the LLC welcome bookletetc. They have also planned a number of activities for Welcome Week including a scavenger hunt around campus (social/academic), a Manchester tour (social) and a presentation to students on choosing their 20 credit free choice options (academic). The emphasis remains on providing an LLC student identity or role model both for the academic aspects of the degree programme and socially as part of a close knit student community.
If the project is still ongoing, which aspects are still outstanding and when you anticipate to have completed the project
Part of the original plan was to conduct some research into students’ perceptions of peer mentoring schemes and the mentoring practices which might help foster a course identity. The rationale being that by generating such an identity, we might improve student retention for all students but also specifically for those considered ‘at risk’ of drop out (e.g. based on family income or prior family experience of entering HE). Evidence suggests that developing a student identity requires long term exposure to a practice or group of practices – therefore, we intend to conduct a number of focus groups and individual interviews with the incoming 3rd year LLC students during 2012-2013 (i.e. those students we began their university life when this scheme was implemented). We hope this data will provide insights into how students experience peer mentoring and whether it played a role in their decision to continue studying on the LLC course.