Retention Practice Transfer Partnership (PTP)- Midlands & East Anglia
Steering Group Meeting Minutes: 14th December 2011
Horton Grange, University of Birmingham, 11am - 12:30pm
Participants:
Fiona Lamb (FL)
John Davies (JD)
Bryan Fryer (BF)
Peter Evans (PE)
Ed Stevens (ES)
Kamel Hawwash (KH)
Annette Smart (AS)
Sadaf Alvi (SA)
Engineering Education Centre
Coventry University
University of Wolverhampton
Peter Evans Associates
National HE STEM South West Region
National HE STEM Midlands & East Anglia Region
National HE STEM Midlands & East Anglia Region
National HE STEM Midlands & East Anglia Region
Apologies:
Hal Igarashi (RAEng), Henriette Harnisch (University of Wolverhampton), Michelle Morgan (Kingston
University), Liz Thomas (Edge Hill University), Mike Bramhall (Sheffield Hallam University), Alex Fenlon
(National HE STEM Programme).
Introduction
The second steering group meeting was aimed at discussing the journal paper and content write-up for the
guides. The meeting objectives were as follows:




Update the group with the progress and issues thus far.
Discuss content plan of guides.
Agree on the main output paper and timescales for the Retention Practice Transfer Partnership (PTP).
Provide an opportunity for steering group to meet Copywriter, discuss write-up plan, and editing of
the guides.
Progress of PTP
KH informed the group about the following progress since the last meeting:




The PTP proposal has been accepted by the National HE STEM Programme hub.
All proposals are signed and Birmingham is expecting all project leads to send their first
invoices.
Professor John Davies from Coventry University has agreed to co-ordinate write up for the
overarching journal paper as the key output.
SA has shared layout, structure guidelines and a Gantt chart outlining timescales with all
project leads.
By Sadaf Alvi: HE STEM Midlands & East Anglia
Page 1


There is an additional guide from Sigma on ‘Supporting provision of Maths support for STEM
students’, this gives a total of eight guides through the PTP. There is also a possibility of an
International Student Guide on Transition but it is unconfirmed and timescales may not
allow this to develop.
Peter Evans has been hired to co-ordinate write up and editing of the guides.
Content of guides
SA briefed the group with the final list of themes, universities involved and project leads. Further to
receiving project briefs from all leads, SA communicated the layout and headings for the content of
the guides, seeking input from the group. The agreed format was A4 size, 30 page maximum page
limit with the same back cover and foreword, and a number of student quotations included in all
guides to ensure consistency. The Transition Advice guide for parents and students led by
Wolverhampton would use a different format for its audience.
ES advised the Strategic Fit should be added earlier on in the guide and the maximum length for
Challenges and Reflection section should be revised as this is a key area for academics. JD added the
title should include Reflection first so the writer adds his/her reflection of the project and then
outlines challenges the academics may face during implementation, to balance own experience and
how to adopt . JD also suggested the value of the good practice should be made clearer for the
audience. KH suggested alongside the overall 10 top tips for retention included on the outside of all
guide covers, the inside could include 10 top tips from the specific guide. The group also discussed
the Mini Action Plan should be broader so it is clear how to adopt the project.
The group decided the following changes for the content:



An additional section titled Recommendations should be added in all guides, this could be a
proposed plan and/or other as appropriate to the guide.
The Reflection section should include evaluation with no maximum length set, to allow
broader discussion where relevant.
All project leads should include 10-12 top tips from their projects in the inside of the back
cover.
Dissemination
As the National HE STEM programme conference is taking place in September 2012, the group
discussed how to disseminate the guides and whether a launch event would be appropriate.
AS suggested the guides could use Quick Response (QR) Code technology so readers are able to
download it onto their smart phones. BF added it would be useful to create flyers with brief
information on all guides and a QR code pointing to the specific guide.
AS also suggested it would be useful to launch the guides during the Education Show (running in
parallel to the Big Bang Fair in March 2012) so that Secondary School Teachers are aware of the
retention work taking place in HEI’s. FL advised all National HE STEM outputs would be held at the
National STEM Centre after the programme finishes which is a direct resource for School Teachers.
It was felt that project leads would be able to suggest networks and conferences in their subject
areas where the guides could be launched/ disseminated. Also, 100 printed guides would be less and
By Sadaf Alvi: HE STEM Midlands & East Anglia
Page 2
depending on the dissemination model (to include spokes, professional bodies and relevant
conferences), 1000 guides may be more appropriate.
SA will consult Alex to decide how best we can disseminate using current audiences through
network events and/or his thoughts on the usefulness of a launch event in May/June 2012.
Key Output: Journal Paper
JD led discussion on six areas related to the academic paper; goal, time scales, choice of journal,
preference of journal or conference, general content and authors.
FL suggested a STEM edition of the Engineering Education (EE) Journal would be useful and could
include all Practice Transfer Partnerships and other key projects from the programme. This would
require funding and is a decision for the National HE STEM Programme hub. JD identified the core
areas as the student perspective, challenges and reflection and prefers to shape the content after all
guides have developed these areas.
The group decided the following:




The goal of the paper is dissemination not reputation of the journal.
It is too early to submit abstracts for the STEM Annual Conference by the HEA in April 2012,
JD will await project leads to complete guides and participate in a later journal and/or
conference.
As there are no STEM wide journals, the current choices are EE Journal (July 2012 or
December 2012), a special STEM edition of the EE journal, a general Higher Education
journal or journals recommended by project leads and professional bodies.
The paper would be disseminated through a number of conferences including SEFI
(European Society for Engineering Education) Conference 2012, ISEE Conference 2012 and
the National HE STEM Conference.
FL and JD will explore the possibility of a STEM edition EE journal.
SA will liaise with Alex and project leads to find out about other journals and networks. Else wise JD
will work towards developing content for the EE journal edition in December 2012.
Workshop and Editing
PE introduced himself as a Freelance Science Writer who has experience of radio broadcasting and
teaching post-graduate communication. PE has been hired as the copywriter for the PTP, he will run
a workshop and is responsible for editing the guides.
PE discussed the audience, language and tone of the guides to ensure his workshop and editing is
aligned with the expectations of the Steering group. The group confirmed the audience are all levels
of UK academics interested in improving retention, no HE STEM acronyms should be used and the
guides should adopt a motivational tone with a focus on student perspective (comments)
throughout.
PE requested all authors to ensure their guides have attractive titles and introductions so the
audiences want to read on, and the strategic fit motivation for the particular HEI is clear. There is
By Sadaf Alvi: HE STEM Midlands & East Anglia
Page 3
also a need to include a problem statement in the introduction for readers to know which issues are
being addressed. If relevant, authors should include employer perspectives too.
Next Meeting
The last steering group meeting will take place during the week commencing 27th February or 5th
March 2012.
By Sadaf Alvi: HE STEM Midlands & East Anglia
Page 4