1
Id rather read the lecture notes than go to the
lecture First year social science students
engagement with their degree and implications for
teaching and learning

• Dr. Carl Walker, Stephanie Fleischer
• Dr. Sandra Winn
• School of Applied Social Science
• Educational Development Research Group

2
Rationale

• A need to better understand University of
  Brighton SASS student study requirements
• Improve learning environment
• Embrace virtual learning environment

3
The cultural and political context

• The expansion of higher education in the UK
• Attempts to widen participation
• Rapid growth in student numbers and greatly
  increased class sizes
• Shifting costs of higher education to students
  and their families
• For some, term-time employment now occupies more
  time than academic work
• Virtual Learning Environments

4
What is student engagement?

• Participation in learning activities
• Intensity of effort and emotional investment in
  learning
• A significant positive relationship exists
  between attendance and degree result (Woodfield,
  2006)
• Is attendance a proxy for other factors such as
  ability?
• But.. research has shown that attendance has an
  independent effect on academic outcome (Gatherer
  Manning, 1998)
• The extent of the relative importance of
  attendance?
• Reasons for non-attendance, illness, inconvenient
  timing of classes, assignments for other modules
  and lack of perceived
• value of attending
• Factors that encourage attendance include
  interest
• in the subject matter, wanting to achieve a high
  
• grade, liking the tutor

5
Virtual learning environments

• Number of hours engaged in study unrelated to
  academic performance (Schuman et al, 1985, Plant
  et al, 2005).
• Virtual learning environments
• Those posting messages outperform those not using
  or passively using bulletin boards (Hoskins van
  Hooff, 2005)
• StudentCentral What effect does it have at the
  University of Brighton?

6
Gender and prior academic performance

• Gender has been shown to be related to degree
  achievement (Simonite, 2003)
• Women more likely to get good degrees than men
  although not for all ages (Richardson Woodley,
  2003)
• More focussed learner identity of females
• Lead them to work harder and more consistently,
  less likely to be distracted (Woodfield, 2006)
• Male attendance is believed to be poorer
  complicates the picture
• Devadoss Foltz (1996) noted that students
  previous
• grade point average was a strong predictor of
• current grades

7
An investigation into student engagement

• Most UK research has investigated the student
  experience of study, rather than attempting to
  quantify relationship with academic outcomes.
• 1. Quantitatively examine the relationship
  between measures of engagement and level 1
  academic outcome
• 2. Qualitatively investigate factors contributing
  to, and mitigating against students engagement
  with their degree
• 3. Suggest strategies that may help to enhance
  undergraduate students engagement with their
• academic work

8
The sample
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Data analysis

• Data on prior academic performance, attendance,
  engagement with information technology learning
  materials, gender and level 1 academic outcome
• Path analysis allows the simultaneous estimation
  of multiple regression equations
• Provides estimates of direct and indirect impact
  of variables
• Extension of the simple regression model
• Model fitting was hypothesis-driven and exogenous
  variables were chosen from the literature
• Exploratory rather than confirmatory
• The hypothesized model was run using Amos 6.0
• Several goodness of fit measures were used to
  test the fit of the model chi-square,
  comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis index
  (TLI) and the root mean square errors of
  approximation (RMSEA)
• Path coefficients fully standardized and
  comparable within the model
• This model had 23 parameters with a sample size
  of 388.
• This yielded a ratio of 17 to 1

10
Results

• The model resulted in a good fit without
  modification indices
• Since the model is exploratory and
  theory-dependent, non-significant effects have
  not been eliminated (Abd-El-Fattah, 2006)
• Chi-square was not significant
• The CFI and TLI are derived from the comparison
  of an hypothesized model with the independence
  model
• TLI and CFI were above 0.95, suggested as indices
  of choice (Byrne, 2000)
• RMSEA provides sample-size adjusted estimates
  indicating
• good fit when smaller than 0.05

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A model for level 1 academic outcome
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What does this mean?

• Model was significant as measured by all standard
  criteria
• Engagement via attendance and VLE important
  influence exam score
• Attendance also important due to relationship
  with IT engagement
• Gender important to academic outcome via previous
  academic performance
• Learner identity
• Almost via attendance (Relatively small sample of
  males)
• Prior grade important directly and via attendance
• Due to ability AND though attendance

13
Qualitative Interviews

• Aim Exploring students experience of academic
  engagement
• 25 interviews carried out on campus
• Selection on measures used in the quantitative
  analysis
• Attendance and StudentCentral usage
• Length of interview 30-45 minutes
• Tape recorded and transcribed in full
• Constant comparative analysis
• All interviewees are identified by pseudonyms

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Qualitative Findings

• Transition to university
• Attendance and Independent study
• StudentCentral and attendance
• Attendance and confidence
• Peer support

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Transition to University

• Adjusting to independent study
• When I was at school somebody made sure that I
  sat down and did the work, but here I just have
  got so much of a free rein. If people dont
  knock at my door and get me out of bed at 9 am,
  God knows what time I will be up. (Martin, 23)
• More anxious about social aspect then academic
  work
• Its been really interesting, quite scary at
  first and a bit worryingMeeting new people
  really. I am living with people I didnt know
  and settling into the place and things like that,
  being so far away from home. Its kind of
  daunting.
• The social life is quite important as you are
  here starting a
• new life away from everything else. (Katy, 20)

16
Attendance and independent study
Attendance and little independent study No I
dont do the specific tasks for independent study
each week. We have been told in some of the
lectures to do homework as it were, but,
no. Interviewer Did you read anything from the
reading list? I think I read one, something
about qualitative and quantitative data
analysis. (Paul, 19) Infrequent attendance and
no independent study Interviewer Have you
looked at the example answer to exam question
13? I dont even know what that
is. Interviewer Did you read the set readings
for Sociology? No, I didnt even realise there
were readings, because I just would do my
homework from textbooks. I just do my own
studying from the textbook, each week from the
textbooks, but I dont understand it. (Amy, 20)
17
Attendance and lack of confidence
Consequence of poor attendance When I do attend
it just gives me a headache Everyone was so far
ahead and it didnt make any sense to me.
Everyone was already ahead on their projects, and
I had no idea. (Martin, 23) Lucy attempts to
study without attending When I have gone to
lectures its knocked my confidence back, its
made me more confused Id rather read the
lecture notes than going to the lectures. So I am
just doing the work in my own time and I go and
get the notes off StudentCentral. (Lucy, 21) I
dont understand the module and I dont get on
with reading too much. Stuff I dont understand.
It gets all muddled up in my head. (Lucy, 21)
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StudentCentral and Attendance

• StudentCentral instead of attending
• All the lectures Ive missed I would go to
  StudentCentral and see what I have missed.
  (Wendy, 19)
• To be honest, Social Policy I missed a few
  lectures because I find the teacher just reads
  of the lecture notes. So I dont find that he
  gives me anything different. He literally just
  reads off the lecture notes. Sometimes I wont go
  to
• the lecture, just get the lecture notes and do
  the work
• myself at home. (Nicky, 18)

http//eig.edina.ac.uk
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StudentCentral and Attendance
Importance of lecture notes and attendance I
think they are definitely useful to have before
the lecture. You have a lot more time to listen
rather then getting everything down what people
are saying. I find it quite hard as I cant write
as quick as the lecturer is going. So its a help
and you just write your extra bits on the side,
its quite useful. (Helen, 18) If you get the
notes from StudentCentral theyre not so
comprehensive as if you go yourself and write the
notes. Just like you add annotations into it. If
you have the notes its really, really basic. I
found when I go to the lecture and have the
lecture notes in front of me, I found it easier
when I write my own notes. Sometimes its like a
meaning or a phrase I can put in my own words
which I find easier to understand. (Andy, 29)
20
Peer support

• Students who do not engage academically rely on
  their friends to keep up with their course

Interviewer Do you do the independent study
tasks? Yeah, I did the qualitative interview. I
did the interview with my friends and I did that
going out and do the research thing, and took
notes from that. (Amy, 20) To be honest I
reckon if it wasnt for my friends I wouldnt
actually have a clue what I was doing, because
they sort of tell me when Im supposed to do
things. (Sarah, 19)
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Peer support Sues case
Friend helps to develop study skills My friend
really helped me, like how to study, how to
revise, how to set an essay out, stuff that I
could have done by myself but didnt know quite
how to get there. (Sue, 23) Cultivate a
regular study pattern She is next to me on my
floor, we have our doors open and we sit and
really work. She always works from 2 to 5 in the
afternoon, so I tend to do that as well. We do
assignments or read or go on the internet and
look at stuff. (Sue,23) Integrate other flat
mates We all have set study times at home and
the rest of the time we go completely mad and go
out, go to pubs and cinemas and stuff. They are
really good because they support me and we
support each other. (Sue, 23)
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Conclusions

• Model was significant as measured by all standard
  criteria
• Better idea of some of direct and indirect
  effects that influence level 1 academic outcome
• Engagement via attendance and VLE important
• Learner identity, attendance and gender
• Not only academic factors determine students
  engagement
• Need to understand the student life as whole and
  bring together academic and social integration
  into university life
• Social and academic transition
• Confidence
• Peer support and learning

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What are the implications?

• Access students
• Future work with age and IT use especially
• Engagement in IT learning on SS103
• Ethnocentrism
• Emphasise attendance
• Involvement in VLE
• Tie attendance to assessment or ability to take
  exam?
• Retention
• Student Support and Guidance Tutor monitors
  attendance/submission
• Creating a social network and learning
  environment for
• students
• Learning groups, confidence and competence

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Learning Groups

• Learning Group Objectives
• Address student support needs by introducing peer
  support
• Increase time students spend in learning
  activities
• Enhance the quality of student learning
• Vocational benefits for students working in
  groups
• Introduced induction week across L1 modules
• Groups of 5 students
• Structured tasks each week

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Learning Groups preliminary questionnaire

• My experiences of learning groups as a way to
  learn and study have been mostly
• 61 positive
• 23 negative
• 14 no opinion
• My experiences of learning groups as a way to
  make friends have been mostly
• 79 positive
• 10 negative
• 11 no opinion

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Learning group positive experience

• Interviewer Can you tell me more about your
  learning group?
• I think the idea of learning groups is actually
  very good because when I
• first started I thought it was horrendous but
  actually going into it and
• having a group of people you work with is
  actually a very good idea
• that helps a lot and there are lovely people.
• Interviewer In what way did it help?
• It was nice to have people in the same
  situation, especially as I was not
• living on campus. It was nice to have people
  around you who are in a
• similar situation, who start university at the
  same place,
• doing the same course and everything. Its a good
  way
• of making friends. (female, aged 18-20)

27
Learning group mixed experience

• Interviewer How would you describe your
  experience with
• learning groups?
• There should have been more lectures and less
  time in
• learning groups. We pay and do not get enough
  time.
• (male, aged 18-20)
• Oh, we didnt really meet up that much.
• Interviewer Did you make friends with people in
  your
• learning group?
• Yeah, I was friends with them.
• Interviewer And why didnt you meet up?
• Because we all lived quite far away from
• each other so we did it individually.
• (female, 18-20)

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Id rather read the lecture notes than go to the
lecture First year social science students
engagement with their degree and implications for
teaching and learning

• School of Applied Social Science
• Educational Development Research Group
• C.J.Walker_at_brighton.ac.uk
• S.Fleischer_at_brighton.ac.uk