Introducing an induction fieldtrip: did it work

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Introducing an induction fieldtrip did it work?
Anne-Marie Nuttall1, Jenny Jones1 Martyn
Stewart12

• 1 School of Biological Earth Sciences,
  Liverpool John Moores University
• 2 JMU Learning Development Unit, LJMU

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Introduction

• Faculty funded project
• To investigate the effect of an induction
  fieldtrip on retention
• Level 1 geoscience students
• Two day fieldtrip to Shropshire during induction
  week i.e. pre teaching
• 40 students 6 staff in 2005
• 50 students 9 staff in 2006

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Context

• Geoscience degree programmes
• Geology (GLY) 15
• Physical Geography (PHG) 11
• Hazards Geoscience (HAG) 4
• Palaeobiology Evolution (PEV) 2
• In 2006 expanded to include
• Environmental Science (ENS) 5
• Wildlife Conservation (WC) 15
• Biology Geography (BAG) 3

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Rationale

• Induction known to be a difficult transition time
• Crucial to retention gt worth investing in?
• 20 of our students live at home, which can be
  an isolating experience. Social integration could
  help.
• HEA First Year Experience Survey (Yorke
  Longden, 2007) shows
• 29 of first year students considered withdrawing
• Best feature of first year? 45 said making new
  friends
• Worst feature? 16 said workload, 12 said making
  friends, 4 homesickness

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Structure of trip

• Aims were (a) to provide a gentle introduction to
  field work and (b) to help students settle in
  socially
• Range of subject related field activities (not
  assessed)
• Staff were around during working day and in the
  evening
• Social events in the evening
• A slide show of field work on the programme to
  provide a taster of what they may experience
• A pub quiz (with prizes) in tutorial groups
• Self-organised events

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Approach

• Quantitative and qualitative approaches to
  evaluation
• Questionnaires were completed by the students
• (i) before starting the field work
• (ii) after the final field location
• (iii) at the end of the first year (after a
  one-week residential fieldwork module in Arran)
• Retention stats analysed for cohorts before
  after fieldtrip was introduced

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Pre tripEvidence of student expectations
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Student views at end of trip
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Student comments What have you enjoyed about the
trip?

• Enjoyed getting to know everyone
• The opportunity to work in groups
• Meeting my tutors
• Learning new fieldwork techniques
• Wading in the river
• Taking part in all aspects of science
• Benefiting from the experiences of all the
  lecturers, its awesome being able to have people
  that can answer all your questions

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Student comments What have you NOT enjoyed about
the trip?

• Many did not answer this question!
• Walking
• Lack of sleep
• Missing the Liverpool match
• Losing the quiz
• Drawing rocks
• The talks that had nothing to do with animals
• Sometimes feeling a little lost or left behind
  having never studied geology before (BUT now less
  worried than before, even more excited)

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Student views at end of year
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Staff reactions/comments

• Overwhelmingly positive all in favour of
  continuing
• The cohort seems socially more integrated.
• The tutorial group 'gelled' more quickly than in
  past years
• They seemed more confident in talking to me
• By the end I knew more students by name
• Attendance (at modules) was worse this year than
  last year
• They all enjoyed the induction trip but possibly
  it encouraged friendships too soon - social
  friendships rather than study friendships
• Coalescing into groups seems in some cases to
  drag the whole group down and into a culture of
  poor attendance/absence
• We may have lost proportionately fewer students
  but whether this has anything to do with the
  field trip is impossible to say

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Stats students starting degree
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Stats students withdrawing
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Stats students progressing to level 2
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Conclusions

• We know from experience that fieldwork is good
  for social bonding
• Literature shows that worries about fitting in
  are a major factor for retention
• Hence the plan to use fieldwork as part of
  induction
• Did it work? Maybe, maybe not
• Qualitative evaluation of staff and student
  comments show it was successful
• Quantitative data show the opposite

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Complicating factors (excuses.)

• Small sample sizes, noisy dataset
• Change of student database, reliability of data?
• Students dont always tell us that they have
  withdrawn
• Introduction of top-up fees in 2006-07
• Many who dont complete level 1 at first attempt
  complete over the summer or continue part time
• Change in the no. range of programmes involved
• Only 2 years of data so far
• 2006-07 cohort just finishing level 1 now

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Conclusions

• Do the data reflect the impact of the trip or
  wider factors?
• Evaluation is inconclusive. Contradictions have
  highlighted key questions to follow up
• Need to evaluate over longer timeframe
• Need to triangulate against wider reference
  points, e.g. comparing with institutional data or
  other programmes that do/dont have an induction
  fieldtrip
• If the drop in progression is real, it is
  important to get to the cause of this (i.e. is it
  the fieldtrip or other factors?)

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Future plans..?

• Continue to run induction trip
• Introduce more challenging activities
  (opportunities to succeed)
• e.g. presentations in groups on how the subjects
  interact
• Teach them how to do group work?
• Pep talk on expectations, taking your studies
  seriously
• Take students from previous cohorts along to act
  as mentors dont do what I did

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Recommendations

• High staff-student ratio (16 or thereabouts)
• Stay overnight
• YHAs practical cheap (30 pppn food accom)
• Dont charge students if at all possible
• Mix of work-based activities social activities
• Be ready to accommodate students with special
  needs
• May need CRB checks (if any under 18s) takes
  ages

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Issues for discussion

• Is induction field work part of your programmes?
• What kind of activities would you incorporate?
• Any suggestions for structured group work..?
• Yorke, M. and Longden, B. (2007) The first year
  experience in higher education in the UK, Higher
  Education Academy http//www.heacademy.ac.uk/FYEsu
  rvey.htm