HEA Information and Computing Science Induction conference

1
HEA Information and Computing Science Induction
conference

• Sally Brown
• Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Professor of HE Diversity
  in Learning and Teaching
• Leeds Metropolitan University
• January 10th 2007

2
Induction really matters because

• Research tells us that the first six weeks of the
  first semester of the first year is absolutely
  crucial to the student experience
• Student retention is strongly linked to this
  period many students drop out either at about
  week 6 or after the first semester, according to
  Mantz Yorke
• Students need to feel part of a community early
  on if they are to set the foundations for a
  successful academic career.

3
What kinds of things should induction include?

• Orientation to the city, to the university
  campuses, to the programme of study, to the staff
  team, to support services, to one another
• Study skills advice, both generic and subject
  specific
• Really clear advice on where to go if things
  start to go wrong accommodation, medical advice,
  counselling, wrong-course remediation, feeling
  out of one's depth.

4
What can really help?

• Buddying, mentoring or other forms of structured
  inter-personal support
• One-stop shop for ready advice (e.g. our
  Helpzones)
• Every staff member (in all categories) who
  encounters new students committed to being
  welcoming
• A warm tone in all written communications
• Well-organised induction activities, like our
  Freshers Festival that combine social events,
  practical advice and academic support.

5
What can really hinder?

• A booze-fuelled culture that marginalises many
  and mis-orientates others
• Distant, inaccessible and unfriendly staff with
  closed doors and a reluctance to pick up problems
  outside their own areas
• Students with queries being passed from pillar to
  post
• Disorganisation information deserts
  double-booked rooms, timetable muddles, slow
  starts to IT access password hassles
• No one knowing who you are (or seeming to care).

6
Patterns of activity in the academic year?

• September, October, November especially
  supporting first year students
• December, January, February, March focussing on
  finalists
• March, April, May, June helping second years in
  transition
• July, August, September recruiting and welcoming
  new students

7
References

• Peelo, M and Wareham, T (eds.) (2002) Failing
  Students in higher education Buckingham, UK,
  SRHE/Open University Press.
• Sadler, D R (1989) Formative assessment and the
  design of instructional systems Instructional
  Science 18, 119-144.
• Yorke M, 1999, Leaving EarlyUndergraduate
  Non-Completion in Higher Education, London,
  Taylor and Francis.
• Yorke M and Longden B, 2004, Retention and
  Student Success in Higher Education, Maidenhead,
  Open University Press