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Becoming a Psychology Undergraduate

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We designed an action research intervention (2003 on) to address these concerns ... able to achieve it; to allow interest, engagement, commitment to flourish ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Becoming a Psychology Undergraduate


1
  • Becoming a Psychology Undergraduate
  • integrating study skills and integrating students
  • Peter Reddy (Aston)
  • Vanessa Parson (Aston)
  • Alinka Greasley (Keele)
  • Katherine Harrington (London Met.)
  • James Elander (Thames Valley)
  • Lin Norton (Liverpool Hope)

2
An action research intervention Applying the
Assessment Plus project at Aston
  • In 2002 we expanded our intake and became
    concerned about our first year students
  • Poor referencing
  • Poor essay writing
  • Plagiarism
  • Collusion
  • First semester drop-out
  • not to mention misuse of the apostrophe.
  • We designed an action research intervention (2003
    on) to address these concerns which has
    increasingly dovetailed with the Assessment Plus
    FDLT 4 project.
  • Has now run for three years

3
The Assessment project
  • Helping students improve essay writing - focus on
    assessment criteria
  • Interpretation of assessment criteria within
    disciplinary context
  • Help students tap into epistemology of discipline
  • Facilitates acquisition of academic and
    disciplinary identities
  • Three main resources downloadable at
    www.assessmentplus.net
  • 1. A student's guide to assessment.
  • 2. Assessment workshops.
  • 3. Benchmarking manual for staff.

4
What are core assessment criteria?
  • Addressing the question
  • Structuring the answer
  • Demonstrating understanding
  • Developing argument
  • Using evidence
  • Evaluating sources
  • (Use of language)

5
Formulating the problem
  • Informal staff discourse in this context -
    students are ignorant
  • lack skills knowledge
  • And unscrupulous
  • liable to behave strategically, plagiarise,
    collude and cheat if not restrained or policed.
  • plagiarism approached only as a crime detection
    problem
  • And quite possibly lazy, unmotivated, stupid and
    uneducated
  • Students not seen as in transition to
    professional standpoint and values
  • Staff not much concerned with education and growth

6
Mind the gap The school to university shift
  • Major transition (Tinto 1975)
  • Shift in responsibility for learning from teacher
    to student.
  • Fewer opportunities to interact with staff or
    students.
  • University can be intimidating, hierarchical,
    unwelcoming.
  • First 6 weeks important in forming relationships,
    embedding students onto their course impact on
    motivation, approach to study, achievement and
    continuation (Cushman 1996).
  • A significant life transition loss of
  • Familiar intimacy of structured school routine
  • Teachers who know you personally
  • Classes on a human scale
  • Friends at home and school
  • Parental support and living at home

7
Aims
  • Belonging, involvement and excitement to promote
    scholarship and engagement
  • Convey norms, expectations, rules of the game
    the hidden curriculum of undergraduate study, how
    to be a student - what is expected, what is
    approved, what are the short cuts, what students
    really do, what is out of order.
  • Locates support where it should occur naturally
    in student peer group
  • Support both campus and home-based students

8
The problem with study skills
  • Norton and Crowley (1995), McCune and Entwistle
    (2000) - stand-alone study skills were not always
    successful.
  • Unpopular and boring especially for more able
    students.
  • May be seen as promoting the official
    curriculum, rather than the real / hidden
    curriculum
  • Australian research (Biggs 1987, Watkins and
    Hattie, 1985) suggests that students start with
    an intention to take a deep approach to study but
    this declines as they progress
  • Final years more likely to take a
    surface/strategic approach.
  • We would like to convert first year good
    intentions into long term practice.

9
Three Versions
  • Version 1 Six optional 1-hour Study skills
    classes
  • Problems with stand-alone study skills
  • Big investment by tutors - has a pay-off
  • Version 2 Compulsory 1-hour Study skills
    classes, Assessment material integrated into
    1st year
  • Version 3 Eight 90-minute classes, Assessment
    material as basis for activities, increasing
    focus on embedding students socially and
    emotionally into their programme.

10
Content
  • A range of tasks, activities, resources, topics
    and slides representing a guide to running the
    seminars put together by Alinka Greasley and
    Vanessa Parson on CD for tutors.
  • Key topics are assessment criteria, essay
    writing, report writing, referencing, using the
    library literature search, plagiarism. We make
    good use of the Assessment material
  • Content is important has to be credible - but
    primary aim at start is to find / create
    activities that are business-like, relevant and
    pitched at the right level to allow students to
    make relationships, engage in social comparison

11
Version 3 (05/06)
  • Designed to give students a transitional
    experience, resemble an A level class, last 90
    minutes.
  • Compulsory, marks given for attendance
  • 71 model weekly for first 7 weeks, follow-up at
    the start of semester two.
  • 20 students per class (two tutor groups), lots of
    classroom activity and interaction so
    opportunities to form relationships with peers
    and teacher, same groups throughout year.
  • GTA / PG tutors - have credibility with students

12
..continued
  • Classes prepare for university study and initial
    assessed essays in weeks 5 10.
  • Immediate credibility and usefulness of formative
    tasks and activities as they help to build the
    first essay
  • Key topics referencing, library / literature
    search, plagiarism, assessment criteria, essay
    writing, report writing, marking exercises (peer
    marking feedback)
  • Fast feedback of classroom and homework formative
    tasks enables social comparison and security
  • Cognitive change is important but secondary to
    and consequent on social and emotional foundation
  • Social emotional needs make relationships,
    feel safe to ask questions, compare yourself with
    others

13
Social and Emotional Context of Learning
  • Growth requires the right social and emotional
    context. (Rogers)
  • Learning and reflection requires students to feel
    safe, comfortable, relaxed and that they belong.
    (Maslow)
  • Anxiety provokes surface approach to learning
    (Gibbs)
  • Outcomes we seek
  • Knowing what is expected, feeling able to achieve
    it to allow interest, engagement, commitment to
    flourish
  • We dont want students being bored, intimidated,
    talked down to and turned off

14
The Studies
  • Programme is expensive 240 students 12 x 90
    minute classes for 8 weeks 144 hours, so needs
    to be evidence based
  • Cannot isolate variables to seek cause and effect
    so build a picture from multiple perspectives
  • Attendance data related to
  • focus group questionnaire response on
  • grades for first two essays, 1st year overall
    grade
  • second year overall grade for 2004 entry group
  • progression
  • friendship networks, belonging
  • Combined honours students compare CH psychology
    with CH non-psychology.

15
Results version 1 (03-04)
  • 74 completed questionnaires
  • Positive response
  • Suggested that programme had met its aims and
    should be developed
  • Most valued seminars (also of greatest concern to
    staff) were
  • Referencing
  • Plagiarism
  • Least valued seminars
  • Library activities
  • Précis and note taking
  • Students found the seminars most useful
  • in preparing for the first essay
  • as a way of meeting other students

16
Figures version 1 (03-04)
17
Results version 2 (04/05)
  • 138 completed student questionnaires
  • Response again positive
  • Most valued seminars were again
  • Referencing
  • Plagiarism
  • Students found the seminars most useful
  • in preparing for essays
  • for understanding what was required
  • as a way of meeting other students
  • Seminars sometimes too dry dull

18
Results version 3 (05/06)
  • 192 questionnaires completed on-line
  • Again, very positive response
  • Main outcomes
  • Students felt the course benefited them in essay
    writing and understanding what was required
  • Students still associated with others met on the
    course integration considered to be a key
    benefit
  • Improvements (as requested by the students)
  • Integrate tuition of WebCT into study skills
    tutorials
  • All tutors should be available for office hours
    so students can go and see them outside of
    sessions, particularly during 1st semester
  • Shorter sessions (60mins instead of 90min
    sessions)

19
Results version 3 (05/06)
20
Second Year Results from Study 3 Student
Questionnaires
21
End of year grades attend (all or most) Vs.
non-attend (few or non)
  • HP 04/05 t (30) 7.623, plt0.001
  • Sig. diff. in end of year grades
  • CH 04/05 t (30) 7.120, plt0.001
  • Again, sig. diff. in end of year grades
  • HP 05/06 100 attendance (CH less)
  • (5 out of 8 sessions)

22
Figure 4 HP grades (04-05)

23
Figure 5 CH grades (04-05)
24
Grades pre and post programmeintroduction
  • End of year grades over the last 3 years show
    that students who attend this course, in all
    formats, do better overall than those who do not.
  • Single honours 2002 entrants (year before the
    course first offered) achieved grades that were
  • not significantly different from those of the
    2004 cohort non-attenders
  • significantly worse than those of the 2004 cohort
    attenders
  • t(132)-6.8, plt0.001

25
Fig. 6 Progression - CH psy. vs. CH non psy.
26
Conclusion so far
  • Main purpose of tutorials was to
  • Help students make transition to university
  • Introduce them to the level of and nature of work
    expected from them
  • Explain assessment criteria, and core criteria
    in order to help students improve essay writing
  • Teach students about referencing plagiarism
  • Data analysis demonstrates that we have met these
    aims, 4th Version being developed

27
Version 4 2006/7 in planning
  • Links to RLF Writing Fellow
  • places professional writers in higher education
    institutions to offer writing support to all
    students
  • Developed from version 3
  • New learning support centre with Write Now CETL
  • Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
    (CETL) is a collaboration between London
    Metropolitan, Liverpool Hope, and Aston
    Universities .
  • It aims to improve student achievement and enrich
    students learning experiences through the
    development of innovative, evidence-based
    provision focused on writing for assessment.
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