Welcome
International Conference on Enhancement
and Innovation in Higher Education
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow
9-11 June 2015
Fiona Milne
Transitions:
The Dwell Project and Time Spent on Campus
Fiona Milne
School of Media, Culture and Society
University of the West of Scotland
Empowering Students through Transitions
Presentation 8.4.3
UWS?
SCMS?
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Ayr
• BA (Hons) Broadcast Production
• BA (Hons) Commercial Music
• BA (Hons) Filmmaking &
Screenwriting
• BA (Hons) Journalism
Hamilton
• BA (Hons) Criminal Justice
Paisley
• BA (Hons) Psychology
• BA (Hons) Social Sciences
• BA (Hons) Social Work (also Dumfries)
Ayr
• MA Creative Media Practice
• MA Broadcast Journalism
• MA Music: Innovation &
Entrepreneurship
• MA Song writing & Performance
Paisley
• MA Applied Social Sciences (with
named pathways)
• MSc Drugs & Alcohol Studies
• MSc Psychology (Conversion)
• MSc Career Guidance &
Development
Empowering Students
Excellence and quality of the student
experience is a key element in the
retention of students and has been
widely explored in the literature
(Yorke 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, Trotter 2004, May & Bousted 2004, 2007; Grebennikov & Shah 2012)
Research Shows…….
• retention and withdrawal are not purely due to the
characteristics of the individual (Floud 2003) but can also be
influenced by the processes, procedures and systems of the
institution (Tinto 1982; Trotter 2003; Parmer & Trotter 2005)
• if students do not have the opportunity to interact with
others, they cannot properly connect with their academic or
social environment; they will have a poor experience and may
drop out (HEA 2004; Tinto 1993, Atin 1993; Braxton 1993; Emmitt 2002; McInnis 2001 2003)
• being part of a community and having a sense of belonging
are the most important environmental aspects for students
(Kandiko and Maxwell, 2013)
Ladder of Student Participation in
Curriculum Design
Students increasingly active in
participation
• Students control decision-making and have substantial influence
• Students in control
• Partnership - a negotiated curriculum
• Students have some choice and influence
• Student control of some areas of choice
• Students control of prescribed areas
• Tutors control decision-making informed by student
feedback
• Wide choice from prescribed choices
• Limited choice from prescribed choices
• Tutors control decision-making
• Participation claimed, tutor in control
• Dictated curriculum – no interaction
(Bovill and Bulley 2011)
Transitions for
Staff
• Excitement v
trepidation and
insecurity!
• Changes in
practice
• Changes in culture
• Changes in
attitudes and
demands of
students
Empowered Students in
the School of Media,
Culture & Society at
UWS – building their
own ladder of
participation to support
and enhance
transitions
References
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Astin A (1993). What matters in college? San Francisco: Josey-Bass
Bovill C, Morss K, Bulley C (1998). Curriculum design for the first year. Quality Enhancement Themes: The First Year Experience. Mansfield: QAA
Braxton J, Sullivan A, Johnson R (1997). Appraising Tinto’s theory of college student departure in Smart J (ed) Higher Education: Handbook of Theory
and Research 12. New York: Agathon, pp107-164
Emmitt M, Callaghan V, Warren W & Postill K (2002). First year: the Deakin way. Pacific Rim First Year in Higher Education Conference. New Zealand:
University of Canterbury
Grebennikov L & Shah M (2012). Investigating attrition trends in order to improve student retention. Quality Assurance in Education 20(3) pp223-236
HEA (2005). Responding to student needs. Gloucester: QAA
May S & Bousted M (2004). Investigation of student retention through analysis of the first year experience of students at Kingston University.
Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning 6(2) pp42-48
McInnis C (2001). Signs of disengagement? The changing undergraduate experience in Australian Universities, Inaugural Professorial Lecture, Centre
for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne
McInnis C (2003). New realities of the student experience: how should Universities respond? In 25th annual Conference European Association for
Institutional Research , August, Limerick
Parmer D & Trotter E (2005). Keeping our students: identifying factors that influence student withdrawal and strategies to enhance the experience
and retention of first year students. Learning and Teaching in the Social Sciences 1 pp149-168
Tinto, V (1993). Leaving college: rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Tinto, V (1998). Colleges as communities: taking research on student persistence seriously. Review of Higher Education 21(2), pp167-78
Trotter E (2004).Enhancing the early student experience. Proceedings of the Education in a Changing Environment conference, 13-14 September
2004
Trotter E & Cove G (2005). Student retention: an exploration of the issues prevalent on a healthcare degree programme with mainly mature
students. Learning in Health and Social Care 4(1), pp29-42
Trotter E & Roberts C (2006). Enhancing the early student experience. Higher Education Research and Development 25(4), November, pp371-386
Yorke M (2001). Turn first semester assessments into richer learning experiences. Innovations. Education and Teaching International 38(3) p277
Yorke M (1997). A good league table guide? Quality Assurance in Education 5(2), pp61-72
Yorke M (1998). The Times league table of universities 1997: a statistical appraisal. Quality Assurance in Education 6(1) p 58-60
Yorke M (1999). Leaving early: non-completion in higher education. London: Falmer
Yorke M (2005). Smoothing the transition into Higher Education: what can be learned from student non-completion. Journal of International
Research 9(1), pp35-47