Supporting students in the transition to university

1

Supporting students in the transition to
university Alinka Greasley Keele
University Kim Manderson University of
York Vanessa Parson Aston University Pete Reddy
Aston University Katherine Harrington London
Metropolitan University
PLAT2008, University of Bath, 1-3 July
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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Overview of workshop
• Outline of academic skills programme at Aston
  University
• Demonstration of key activities included
• Brief presentation of 3 years action research
  into Aston programme
• Outline of scientific skills course at the
  University of York
• Demonstration of key activities included
• Brief outline of the areas in which the two
  courses overlap
• Group discussion of 1st year 1st term study
  skills courses

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Academic Skills Programme Aston University
• Assessment Plus (A)
• www.writenow.ac.uk/assessmentplus/
• Voluntary seminars
• Compulsory seminars
• 3 years action research
• Programme as it stands today

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• 7 1 design
• Week 1 Introduction to seminars
• Week 2 Introduction to Assessment Criteria
• Referencing and Plagiarism
• Week 3 Addressing the Question
• Structuring the Answer
• Week 4 Demonstrating understanding
• Developing an argument
• Week 5 Use of evidence
• Evaluation
• Week 6 Experimental Session
• Introduction to Psychology Lab Report writing
• Week 7 Applying assessment criteria to your own
  work
• Summary
• Week 8 Top-up seminar in semester 2

5
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 1 Introduction to seminars
• Outline main aims
• to help students make the transition from
  college/school to university
• to help students stay on the course (retention)
  and to succeed on the course (achievement)
• to facilitate the building of relationships
  between the students
• to give them an idea of the level and nature of
  work expected
• Advise students to read 1st year handbook
  thoroughly
• Outline sources of support (e.g. personal tutor,
  student advice centre, careers service, health
  centre, residential services, etc.)

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 1 contd. Fact Sheet given to students
• Location of Psychology office (e.g. pigeon holes,
  how and where to submit coursework, notice
  boards)
• The Library (and printing facilities)
• WebCT (advise students to check regularly)
• Journal access (ATHENS, PsychINFO, Science
  Direct, Google Scholar)
• Outline role of BPS and explain how to join
• Explain students role and emphasise they are now
  responsible for their own learning
• ACTVITIES Speed dating
• HOMEWORK Referencing homework 1 single
  authored edited book

7
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 2 Introduction to assessment criteria
• Outline aims of assessment criteria
• To determine whether you may progress to the next
  level of study
• To work out your degree classification
• To provide feedback on your level of achievement
  to date
• To provide directions as to how you might gain
  higher marks
• ACTIVITY 1 Generating assessment criteria
  (groups of 3-4)
• ACTVITY 2 Asking students about their
  perceptions of what constitutes a good answer to
  an essay question (individually)

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 2 contd. comparing students and tutors
  perceptions (p. 2)

Norton (1990). Essay writing What really counts?
Higher Education, 20 (4),411-442)
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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 2 contd.
• ACTIVITY 3 Explaining Core Criteria for essays
  (p.3)
• commonly accepted core assessment criteria
• not discrete elements of a piece of writing
  assessment criteria overlap conceptually
• Qs to keep in mind every time you are writing an
  essay
• Specific criteria for specific assignments
• Explaining referencing / plagiarism / collusion
• Acknowledging sources correctly is essential for
  good grades
• HOMEWORK Go through last weeks homework
• Wk 2 Referencing articles provided in WebCT

10
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 3 addressing the question structuring an
  answer
• Main aim
• to convey the importance of addressing the
  question and structuring the answer when writing
  psychology essays
• Longhurst Norton (1997) 3rd yr students have
  clear understanding of the relationship between
  answering the question and obtaining a high mark
• In the 1st yr, students often fail to understand
  what a question is asking them to do or ignore
  the specific question and write more generally on
  the topic as a whole

11
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 3 contd.
• addressing the question and structuring answer
  inextricably linked
• ACTVITY 1 answering the question
• 3 different essay questions on same topic
  (students to consider what each essay is asking
  of them)
• ACTVITY 2 common instruction words in essay
  titles with definitions (p. 4)
• ask students to define the four instruction words
  on the OHP (Analyse, Assess, Examine, To what
  extent) in small groups
• ACTIVITY 3 brainstorm a plan for the essay title
  (small group work)
• Students are asked to swap with another group and
  to write supportive feedback on another groups
  plan
• Does the plan show evidence of addressing the
  question?
• Importance of introduction and conclusion

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 3 contd.
• ACTIVITY 4 assessing strengths/weaknesses of
  sample introductions
• students to assess the strengths and weaknesses
  of three sample introductions how would they
  correct these? (p. 6)
• ACTIVITY 5 assessing strengths/weaknesses of
  sample conclusions
• students to assess the strengths and weaknesses
  of three sample conclusions how would they
  correct these? (p. 7)
• HOMEWORK Go through following weeks referencing
  homework
• Wk 3 - List of references to correct (p. 8)

13
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 4 demonstrating understanding / developing
  an argument
• Main aims
• how to show you understand what you are writing
  about
• how to develop an argument
• rather than stating rules, aim is to provide you
  with tools that help you learn how to do this in
  your own style of writing
• demonstrate how understanding is linked to
  plagiarism
• ACTIVITY 1 getting students thinking
• ask students if they can think of any ways to
  show they understand what they are writing about
  in their work

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 4 contd.
• Ways of demonstrating understanding in essays
  (pp. 12-13)
• KEY POINTS
• Rather than simply referring to a specific piece
  of research, or theory, or concept, indicate to
  your reader why it is relevant to include it in
  your essay
• Avoid giving blow-by-blow descriptions of a piece
  of research and focus on presenting and
  developing selected key points
• Include relevant material from sources other than
  the set text(s) or your lecture notes
• Write about information you have gathered in your
  own words
• Use quotations very selectively, if at all
• Care must be taken to avoid plagiarism

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 4 contd.
• ACTIVITY 2 Basic English lesson!
• Personal pronouns, use of 3rd person in academic
  writing
• Using and Reporting Verbs
• Expressing a positive opinion about the quoted
  information
• Gardner (1994) demonstrates that.
• Expressing a negative opinion
• Gardner (1994) claims that
• Expressing a neutral opinion
• Gardner (1994) states that
• Gardner (1999) wide range of reporting verbs
  to choose frombest way to get a feel for these
  is to observe how they are used in the books and
  journals that you read
• E.g. argue, claim, conclude, define, demonstrate,
  discuss, examine, explain, find, identify,
  observe etc.

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 4 contd.
• ACTIVITY 3 Paraphrasing work
• Students individually paraphrase paragraph and
  then swap with peers
• Does the paraphrased account capture the
  essential argument of the original?
• Is the paragraph written in the students own
  words?
• ACTIVITY 4 Spotting plagiarism (pp. 14-15)
• ACTIVITY 5 Developing an argument from an essay
  title (p. 16)
• ACTIVITY 6 Create a paragraph on the question
  they have just discussed
• In pairs pairs to swap after 10mins evidence
  of balanced argument?

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 5 Use of evidence and Evaluation
• Important to get across to students
• Psychology is a science with a tradition of
  empirical research
• Written work should reference empirical research
  findings in journals and conceptual and
  theoretical books/papers
• It is better to paraphrase quotations in your own
  words
• Only use direct quotations when it is important
  to draw attention to the specific words used by
  someone else (e.g., when referring to terms and
  definitions used by a theorist or researcher)
• In common with most subjects in higher education,
  statements of personal opinion and anecdotal
  (untrustworthy) material should be avoided

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 5 contd. Use of evidence
• Evidence is used to support a point it is not
  simply a reference to the findings of empirical
  research
• ACTIVITY 1 Deciding what counts as good use of
  evidence (pp. 20-21)
• Students in pairs
• Each pair given a paragraph (six different
  examples) containing sample sentences showing
  use of evidence
• Questions
• What is strong and/or weak about how evidence is
  used?
• Why do you think this?
• How could each use of evidence be improved?
• Tutor to go around class helping pointing out
  good/bad use of evidence

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 5 contd. Use of evidence
• ACTIVITY 2 Detecting citation and referencing
  errors (pp. 22-23)
• Students to carry out task individually
• Paragraph (with reference list) containing errors
• Get students to spot the mistakes
• Go through mistakes/corrections provide handout
  of correct version
• Evaluation
• KEY points
• - Critical evaluation hallmark of best essays
• - Students not expected to be good at critical
  evaluation in their 1st essay
• - A critical approach develops over the course
  of the degree
• - Tutors are appreciative of attempts to
  evaluate, so it is important to work on
  developing this aspect of essay writing

20
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 5 contd. Evaluation
• There are different levels of evaluation
• Evaluating the quality of the information in a
  book/article/web link
• Assessing the value of the information (also
  detecting bias)
• Evaluation is not just a method of judging the
  individual merits of a book or journal, but is a
  tool to assist in selecting the best
  information from the vast wealth of information
  available
• ACTIVITY 3 Evaluating source material (pp.
  24-25)
• Evaluating books and journal articles provided in
  the tutorial
• Students in groups of three
• Tutors must bring a wide selection, including
• A-level texts books (emphasis on moving away from
  these)
• New and Old books
• Scholarly and popular books
• Scholarly and popular journals
• Internet print outs (poor and high quality)

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 5 contd. Qs to ask when evaluating sources
• Books
• e.g. Is the book up-to-date? Has the book been
  written by a well-known/respected author? Does it
  use mainly primary (original) sources or
  secondary sources?
• Journals
• e.g. Is the journal scholarly or popular? Is it
  national or international? Have the articles been
  reviewed by peers? Has the journal been
  recommended by any of your tutors?
• Internet
• e.g. Is the author given? Is there an e-mail link
  to allow contact with the author? Does the URL
  start with a well-known, reputable organisation?
  Does the site have any links? Do they work? Does
  it have the date it was last updated? Is this
  current? What is the purpose of the site/page? Is
  it educational or popular?

22
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 5 contd. Evaluation
• HOMEWORK Evaluating Internet sources (p. 26)
• (several websites given some poor quality some
  high quality)
• TAKE HOME POINTS
• Evaluation is a vital skill to develop in essay
  writing
• Critical evaluation is arguably the toughest core
  criterion so it is not something students are
  expected to get right first time
• Students should be evaluating at all levels (e.g.
  when finding source material, reading source
  material and using evidence)
• Evaluation is a way of extracting the most
  relevant information by assessing strengths and
  weaknesses of what is read

23
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 6 Writing a Psychology lab report (pp.
  27-33)
• A report should include all the essential
  information about the investigation
• -what was done
• -why it was done
• -what was found
• -what conclusions were drawn
• Structure/Content Outline correct procedure for
  writing following sections
• Title Page / Abstract / Introduction / Method /
• Results / Discussion / References / Appendices
• Overall presentation (i.e. APA format), writing
  style, referencing, plagiarism

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 7 Bringing it all together
• Ask students in Wk 6 to bring their first
  Perspectives essay in
• Explain that the easiest way to do this is to
  learn how to look at their own work critically in
  the context of what has been learned over these
  sessions.
• ACTIVITY 1Using the essay feedback checklist
  (EFC) (p. 34)
• EFC simple tool for focusing on assessment
  criteria
• Students to complete the EFC (on their own piece
  of work), and then pass both this and the work
  used to a peer who should also mark it and write
  positive feedback in the space provided
• Tutor to go round class helping
• students are more negative than positive of their
  own work, most will have done a lot better than
  they thought

25
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 7 contd. Bringing it all together
• ACTIVITY 2 Action plans for improvement
• Students to write a list of things they need to
  improve upon for their next essay and how they
  will go about achieving this
• Ask students to focus on things they thought they
  did not quite achieve and had trouble with
• Go round and help them if they are having trouble
  thinking of ways to improve on their essays
• ACTIVITY 3 Sample essays to mark (pp. 35-42)
• 2 essays of very different standards (Essay 1,
  74 Essay 2, 48)
• Students should read them and decide which is
  better, why and what grade they think each should
  get
• also compare them to their A-level work

26
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 7 contd. Bringing it all together
• Both essays passed, however essay 2 is
  unacceptable
• They should also note that essay 1 is not perfect
  and there are still things wrong with it
• Reassure them that they do not have to produce
  perfect work to get good grades
• Questions and Answers
• REITERATE MAIN AIMS OF COURSE (p. 43)

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Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 8 (Semester 2) Refresher session
• Outline main aims of course again
• Point out key handouts that students should use
  again and again before starting an essay / lab
  report (pp. 44-47)
• Please give feedback on the course WebCT (Qnnaire
  feedback)
• Focus groups would you be willing to give your
  views?
• STAFF feedback (questionnaire AND open-ended)
• What do you think was good about the course?
• What do you think was bad about the course?
• Any suggestions on how the course could be
  improved?
• Do you have any other comments?

28
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Brief overview of results of Aston academic
  skills course
• 3 years action research
• Version 1 results
• Half (n97) completed questionnaires on the basis
  that they had attended four or more of the six
  seminars.
• Seminars on referencing and plagiarism the most
  valued, also useful in preparing for 1st essay
  as way of meeting other students.
• Not particularly helpful in preparing for
  university study assessment generally, or in
  helping with transition to university
• Broadly positive response
• some success in getting students working in
  groups in communicating key requirements about
  plagiarism, referencing and independent study
  and in preparing for the first essay.

29
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Version 2 results
• Online questionnaire, 113 students responded
  (64)
• Focus groups, 23 students took part
• Students thought that the programme helped with
• communication with staff and peers
• increased understanding of assessment processes
  and study at university
• opportunities to ask questions in a less
  intimidating environment
• opportunity to work with peers
• Material and sessions on referencing and
  plagiarism most valued
• Some students found the course dry and dull in
  places, material on laboratory reports was
  lacking (implication more activities)

30
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Version 2 results contd. focus group quotes
• very useful that we were split into small groups
  which allowed me to ask questions without being
  so shy and concerned about group size
• The most useful part of the course was feedback,
  the ability to ask questions and get answers
  immediately
• The seminars helped with meeting fellow students,
  who I now feel I can ask for help if I am
  struggling but dont want to or cant speak to
  lecturers. Working together is helpful to get
  different perspectives on things

31
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Version 3 results
• Questionnaire -146 students (81)
• Small scale of classes valued
• Judged useful or very useful on a 5-point scale
  for
• interaction with staff 60
• interaction with other students 79
• clarifying writing at university level 78
• Clarifying assessment requirements 66
• help with referencing 96
• understanding plagiarism 97
• Materials on lab reports follow-up class well
  received
• Many students formed friendships through the
  programme

32
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Version 3 results contd. analysis of focus
  groups
• Three main themes emerged from first year focus
  groups
• Theme one Approachability of teaching assistants
  / seminar tutors
• the knowledge that my tutor was also a
  postgraduate student and could relate ....to
  our own situations. The sessions felt more
  intimate because the tutor talked to us on our
  own level and had also been through similar
  problems
• Just getting to know a member of staff well ....
  I would rather see my seminar tutor rather than
  my personal tutor if I had a problem as she
  actually knows who I am

33
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Version 3 results contd. analysis of focus
  groups
• Theme two Group interaction
• The group felt like a base where were could
  talk about problems we were all experiencing, it
  was reassuring
• I thought working in groups was good as we got
  to share out ideas and listen to one another. I
  felt I learnt more this way
• Theme three Preparation for first assignment
• I found that I used the seminar material for my
  first essay. It helped me plan, structure and
  organise the content of it and helped me keep
  focused on what needed to be in and what I
  should have left out
• The plagiarism and referencing exercises and
  handouts also proved to be very useful, this
  advice I will continue to use on future
  assignments

34
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Scientific Skills for Psychologists University
  of York
• Nick Hammond, Paula Clarke, Padraic Monaghan,
• Katie Slocombe, Kim Manderson
• Aims To provide students with a range of basic
  skills
• which underpin scientific study of Psychology
• 14 lectures
• 8 mandatory practical sessions
• 6 mandatory tutorial sessions

35
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• 8 1 design
• Week 1 Induction week
• Week 2 Skills for studying psychology
• Sources of evidence
• Week 3 Essay writing
• Literature review writing Experimental design
  I
• Week 4 Experimental design II
• Practical report writing I
• Week 5 Practical report writing II
• Data I
• Week 6 Whole class experiment (assessed)
• Data II
• Week 7 Disseminating research findings
• Preparation for mini-project
• Week 8 Mini-project support
• Preparing for assessment
• Week 9 Feedback session in Term 2

36
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 1 Induction week
• Talk led by the Head of Department introducing
• Departmental administrator
• Careers services
• Psychology subject librarian
• International student support tutor
• Chair of Psychsoc (Psychology Society)
• Library tour
• Academic supervisor meetings

37
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 1 contd.
• Practical Session 1 - Introduction to computing
• Login to University computers
• Manage personal preferences via the Electronic
  Infodesk
• Send receive emails using university system
  (webmail)
• Navigate PsychWeb especially core module pages
• Access PsychBoard
• Access Library Catalogue
• Access PsychINFO
• Access printers
• HOMEWORK Library literature search exercise (pp.
  48-49)

38
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 2 Skills for studying psychology
• OBJECTIVES
• Outline the key differences between studying
  psychology at A level and degree level
• Demonstrate knowledge of the methods of teaching
  and learning used within the undergraduate
  psychology degree at York
• Demonstrate an understanding of effective
  strategies for note taking and self study
• Understand the importance of critical thinking
• Complete self reflection exercises effectively
• ACTIVITY 1 self-reflective task on individual
  learning styles, strengths and weaknesses
  (p. 50)

39
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 2 contd. Sources of evidence
• OBJECTIVES
• Describe a range of different sources of evidence
  used by psychologists
• Demonstrate an understanding of the application
  of criteria for evaluating the quality of
  evidence
• Outline a strategy for extracting key points from
  and summarising typical research papers
• List questions to be considered when critiquing a
  paper
• ACTIVITY 2 making notes on research papers
• Using a checklist when looking at sample of
  research articles

40
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Activity 2 contd. GENERAL FACTS CHECKLIST
• What research questions or issues does the report
  address?
• Does the report specify an hypothesis? If so,
  what is it?
• Specify all the variables in the investigation
• Indicate what sort of variables they are (e.g.
  dependent vs. independent, manipulated or
  controlled, irrelevant or nuisance variables) and
  what level of measurement has been achieved
  (nominal, interval, etc.)
• What did the participants have to do?
• What design was used?
• Draw up an outline table for summarising the
  results
• What analysis was used?
• What was the main result?
• What conclusions were drawn?

41
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 2 contd.
• Practical Session 2 - Library information skills
  researching information using the web
• Reference library information
• Use search engines to locate information
• Access news groups and images
• Judge the quality of the information available
  
• HOMEWORK Create a mini literature survey flyer
• A4, double sided, proper lay-out, colour printed
• Preparation for conference posters

42
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 3 Essay writing
• OBJECTIVES
• Understand the role of essays in assessment and
  communication
• Understand what to aim for and what to avoid when
  writing assessed essays
• Demonstrate an understanding of how essay
  structure relates to its purpose
• Critique a range of essays from different sources
• ACTIVITIES 3 4 evaluating sample introductions
  and conclusions (p. 50)
• Collins Kneale (2001), pp. 95-96, and 98-99

43
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 3 Literature review writing Experimental
  design I
• OBJECTIVES
• Understand the purpose of literature reviews
• Be able to explain the differences between
  literature reviews and essays
• Understand what to aim for and what to avoid when
  writing literature reviews
• Demonstrate awareness of APA and BPS ethical
  guidelines
• ACTIVITY 5 compare review articles with other
  journal articles
• Students to work in small groups and discuss the
  purpose, structure, level of detail and critical
  thinking involved in articles they have brought
  along (psychological journal articles)

44
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 3 contd.
• Practical Session 3 - Word Processing
• Tutorial Session 1 - Critical thinking
• Utilise strategies to promote critical thinking
• Generate general critical questions
• ACTIVITY 6 critical evaluation of a fabricated
  article (pp. 50-51)
• ACTIVITY 7 gutting a paper (small groups)
• students to go through a paper trying to
  generate questions and critical comments
• HOMEWORK Create a wiki Essay-writing exercise
• Essay is half-way between an essay plan and essay

45
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 4 - Experimental design II
• OBJECTIVES
• Understand how to generate testable hypotheses
• Explain the difference between continuous and
  nominal variables
• Explain the difference between dependent and
  independent variables
• Understand potential sources of noise in
  experiments and methods for reducing them
• ACTIVITY 8 conduct a simple experiment
• Whole-class activity in which students act as a
  participant in a
• cola-tasting experiment

46
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 4 contd. - Practical report writing I
• OBJECTIVES
• Understand the typical structure of practical
  report and why it is important to conform to this
  structure
• Explain the purpose of an introduction section
  and outline its typical contents
• Understand the level of detail required in method
  sections
• Phrase hypotheses appropriately

47
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 4 contd.
• Practical Session 4 - Excel 1 Basics
• Tutorial Session 2 - Structuring an argument
• Structure basic arguments and reasoned statements
  
• Communicate ideas in a group discussion
• ACTIVITY 9 differing perspectives debate
• students are assigned to either the
  physiological or the psychological perspective to
  argue the statement Drug addiction is caused by
  physical dependence with supporting reference
  materials.
• HOMEWORK Practical report method-writing
  exercise

48
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 5 - Practical report writing II
• OBJECTIVES
• Structure a results section appropriately and
  understand the importance of clear data
  presentation
• Outline the typical contents of a discussion
  section
• Identify what information should be present in an
  abstract
• Week 5 cont. - Data I
• OBJECTIVES
• Explain the differences between different kinds
  of variables
• Give examples of quantitative and qualitative
  data
• Summarise nominal data as a proportion or
  empirical probability
• Summarise a continuous variable as a measure of
  central tendency
• Explain the concept of probability

49
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 5 contd.
• Practical Session 5 Manipulating graphs and
  images
• Tutorial Session 3 - Structuring an argument
• Structure basic arguments and reasoned statements
  
• Communicate ideas in a group discussion
• ACTIVITY 10 write an abstract
• students write a 150-word abstract to accompany
  a published paper and then provide peer feedback
  for another person in the group
• HOMEWORK Online plagiarism module certificate of
  completion Practical report results-writing
  exercise
• Plagiarism exercise based on Willmart Harrison
  (2003) exercise

50
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 6 - Whole class experiment (assessed)
• OBJECTIVES
• Understand the concept of signal detection
• Write up an experiment as an assessed practical
  report
• Appreciate the difference between sensitivity and
  bias
• Understand ways in which you can evaluate the
  success of an experiment
• Week 6 contd. - Data II
• OBJECTIVES
• Explain the concept of variability
• Explain how dispersion in a continuous variable
  can be summarised by the range or the standard
  deviation

51
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 6 contd.
• Practical Session 6 Excel 2 Functions and
  graphs
• Tutorial Session 4 - Quoting, referencing and
  plagiarism
• Create a reference section and cite publications
  according to APA format
• Understand the importance of accurate referencing
  and quotations
• Understand the concept of plagiarism and be aware
  of the departments rules regarding plagiarism
• ACTIVITY 11 spot the errors
• students are given a fabricated reference list
  and they must find the errors in the APA format
• HOMEWORK Multiple choice quiz (pp. 52-55)

52
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 7 - Disseminating research findings
• OBJECTIVES
• Understand the importance of sharing research
  findings
• Demonstrate knowledge of how to prepare and make
  a successful oral presentation
• Demonstrate knowledge of how to prepare an
  effective poster presentation
• Understand the processes involved in publishing
  research
• Week 7 contd. - Preparation for mini-project
• OBJECTIVES
• Use the knowledge they have accumulated
  throughout the module to design and carry out an
  experiment
• Complete a basic ethical approval form
• Create a participant consent form

53
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 7 contd.
• Practical Session 7 - Presentations using
  PowerPoint
• Tutorial Session 5 - APA basics
• Recognise the importance of a standardised system
  for reporting experiments
• Understand APA guidelines relating to tense,
  clarity and economy of expression, presentation
  of tables and graphs and unbiased language
• ACTIVITY 12 conforming to APA style
• students are given a fabricated, brief, report
  which they have to edit so that it meets APA
  formatting guidelines

54
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 8 - Mini-project support
• OBJECTIVES
• Prepare mini-project materials
• Data collection for mini-projects
• Prepare mini-project presentations
• Week 8 contd. - Preparing for assessment
• OBJECTIVES
• Demonstrate an understanding of effective
  revision strategies
• Understand the rules and regulations relating to
  exams and assessed work
• List a range of support services available to
  York students

55
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Week 8 contd.
• Practical Session 8 - Bibliographic software
  (Endnote)
• Tutorial Session 6 - Revision techniques
• Use a range of individual and group revision
  techniques
• Reflect on which revision techniques might suit
  their individual learning styles
• ACTIVITY 13 revising with others (small groups)
• students must create multiple choice questions
  which are them posed to the rest of the group
• Activity linked to MCQ homework task (pp. 52-55)

56
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Outline of key areas in which the two courses
  overlap (1)
• MAIN AIM to support students in transition to
  university
• HE reception classes bridging the gap (1st
  term 1st year)
• Expectations of studying at university
• Emphasising key differences between school
  university
• Both courses embedded into modules and compulsory
• Both courses developed over a number of years
  (i.e. not static)
• Same tutor throughout programme for tutorials
  (consistency)
• Preferably closer in age to students, i.e. GTA,
  PG tutor
• Lots of interaction (between tutor and students
  and also between students themselves)
• Small groups (Aston, 15-20 students York, 10-12
  students)

57
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Outline of key areas in which the two courses
  overlap (2)
• Different forms of assessment and activities (get
  students used to what will be expected of them
  over the 3 years)
• Lots of early, informative feedback (e.g.
  homework tasks)
• Task/exercise to hand in nearly every week (even
  if only small)
• Feedback emphasised over obtaining marks for the
  course
• Focus on referencing, plagiarism sources of
  info (e.g. PsychInfo)
• Emphasis on good essay writing and assessment
  criteria
• Similar activities (e.g. structure of essays
  sample intros/conclusions common directive words
  in essay titles evaluation of sources
  plagiarism exercises referencing exercises)
• Importance of critical evaluation/critical
  thinking
• Focus on lab report writing, experimental methods
• Emphasis on essential skills needed to study
  for a degree

58
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Discussion points
• Study skills programmes do they work?
• Research into Aston course provides evidence that
  shift from bolt-on course (remedial
  implication) to embedded course is beneficial
• Wingate (2006) time to do away with study
  skills? Why?
• All students have adjustment needs, not just an
  atypical minority
• Attending university is a major life transition,
  all need to engage emotionally, socially and
  intellectually with university life and work
• Whats wrong with study skills?
• Fail to engage students in epistemology and
  discourse of their discipline
• Pedal a technical quick-fix at odds with a deep
  approach

59
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Discussion points Wingate (2006)
• Study skills implies that the problem of
  academic work is essentially
• a short-term one of doing what is needed to pass
  at university
• can be easily fixed
• has little application or relevance to employment
  or adult professional life.
• Contrast between technique and understanding in
  helping students with academic writing - they are
  at different levels
• In selecting and evaluating information sources
• a technique-based approach would focus on finding
  information
• an understanding-based approach on finding
  meaning and selecting information
• Is it the best use of resources to promote
  student learning?
• Working in small groups is expensive, value for
  money?

60
Supporting students in the transition to
university

• Discussion points Key Questions contd.
• Success depends on good teaching
• Some research focused staff have little interest
  in student learning
• Traditional view If I had wanted to teach I
  would have got a job in a school.
  Laissez-faire, less-support-is-more, students
  become independent learners by being left to get
  on with it
• Research staff may be threatened by a learning
  and teaching agenda
• Broader implications Two universities?
• 1) A service culture of education and learning
• 2) A research culture of publish-or-perish
• Views that marginalize student learning need to
  be examined and confronted
• Re-balancing the mission and finding ways to
  unite the two university cultures

61

Supporting students in the transition to
university References see workshop handout
Alinka Greasley a.e.greasley_at_psy.keele.ac.uk P
ete Reddy p.a.reddy_at_aston.ac.uk Kim Manderson
kam121_at_york.ac.uk
PLAT2008, University of Bath, 1-3 July