Enhancing First Year and Easing Transition: A LearnerCentred Approach'

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Enhancing First Year and Easing Transition A
Learner-Centred Approach.
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www.qut.com
2004 Teaching Matters, University of Tasmania

• Sally Kift
• Assistant Dean, Learning Teaching,
• Law Faculty,
• Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

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FYE - A Challenge for us all!
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• As someone at the Faculty LT interface
• How do we assure actual impact?
• How gaping is the gap between
• Institutional rhetoric
• AND
• Teacher/student impact given reality!

Sally Kift
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Overview
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• Current context re KPIs, risk management,etc
• Once upon a time
• In all their diversity, learners come to us to
  learn
• Some (more) guiding principles
• Exemplars of strategies
• Curriculum engagement and ors

Sally Kift
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A long long time ago
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• Undergraduate self 16 yr old, 1st gen
• No sense of overall direction/purpose/fit
• Lack of study skills
• Hierarchy of knowledge???
• Notion of mastery?????
• Paralysed by fear of failure

Sally Kift
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Experience redeemed by
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• Happenstance of circumstances (in 70s-80s)
• Identity
• Res. college on campus living learning
  community
• Lack of diversity
• Generational cohesiveness
• Sound familiar??

Sally Kift
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Today (now that Im a swan)
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• Same happenstance unlikely
• BUT Same hurdles ( )
• Esp complex teaching environment
• External drivers
• No major academic buy-in
• Change-weary OR change-adverse
• Student patterns of engagement changing

Sally Kift
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Think about that diversity
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evolving diversity
OVERLAY EQUITY GROUP
age
disability
family status
generation 1.5
work
NESB
non-traditional area
rural or isolated
gender
ethnicity
Indigenous
social and educ background
Low SES
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To manage these factorsEngaging learners as
learners
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• Common to all is desire to learn
• FY students special needs b/c of transition
• Use curriculum as organising device
• Intentionally interventionist approach
• Intellectual interpersonal in tandem
• Scaffold for foundation
• In- and out-of-class

Sally Kift
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Ethos
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• Universities need to carve out a new model for
  the undergraduate curriculum conceived broadly
  so as to embrace what is taught, how it is
  taught, and how learning is assessed based on
  sound educational principles and an understanding
  of the new realities of the social context for
  higher education.
• (James, 2002 81 my emphasis).

Sally Kift
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Broad curriculum design principles (1)
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• Renewal to take control of curr agenda
• constructive alignment for cumulative benefit
• Curr informed by new realities
• Who our students are
• With understanding of fears, preconceptions, etc
• Accepting their multiple roles and desire for
  workplace preparedness
• Design to ease transition for LLL

Sally Kift
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Broad curriculum design principles (2)
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• Create engaging learning environments
• Allow students to make personal meaning of their
  learning context
• Individual courses/units designed for cumulative
  benefit esp re skills acquisition.
• Emphasis reflective, independent, self-managed
  and LL learning.
• Holistic program approach to fostering student
  engagement.

Sally Kift
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First/Central tenet of curriculum renewal new
customised 1st Year.
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• Explicit links in design
• Oriented around transferable generic skills
• 2003 set DEST Ryan Watson http//www.dest.gov
  .au/highered/eippubs.htm
• Facilitates
• Active to passive learning authentic learning
  environs
• Reduce mismatch b/w trad grad and modern wplace
• Acknowledge modern grad reality
• Diverse cohort to achieve basic competency levels
  

Sally Kift
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New customised 1st Year
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• Platform for whole of course coherence
• Vertical and horizontal integration of content,
  skills and values across year and entire degree
• Embedding generic skills in curr/students
• Scaffold early acquisition of desirable acad
  skills
• Increment for authentic wplace
• Basis for LLL, reflection knowledge-management
• What employers look for grads want

Sally Kift
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Sample FYE strategies across varying
levelsInstitutional (1)
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• Institutional commitment critical
• Includ. insisting on stakeholder consensus
• QUT LT Development Grant Scheme
• Supports enhanced LT 8 million since 1992
• Student portfolio www.studentportfolio.qut.edu.au
• Electronic tool for students to record,
  catalogue, refect on, retrieve present
  activities and experiences re skills acquisition
  for ultimate release to employers

Sally Kift
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Institutional (2) student portfolio
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• 10 skills areas that employers value highly.
• Based on 2002 Employability Skills Framework AND
  on skills valued by employers in Canada, USA
  UK.
• Explicitly linked to skills embedded in programs
  such as Law, Creative Industries Nursing
• Obvious, authentic motivating wplace
  relationship w curr from 1st day of FYE.

Sally Kift
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Sample FYE strategies across varying
levelsFaculty (1)
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• Quality assurance of course documentation
• Policy development in support of FYE
• Eg training Casual/Sessional teaching staff
• Policies to promote scholarly T scholarship of
  T T Awards value student feedback
• Tailoring the O-Week message

Sally Kift
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Faculty (2) Training sessionals
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• For many 1st years
• first point of personal contact often casual
  tutor.
• For many casuals
• 1st year is where they first teach
• McInnis, James and McNaught (1995) 1st years
• Criticised 1st year small group teaching
• Thought that lt half tutors good at explaining
• Only 53 thought teachers were enthusiastic
• Sense of injustice re lottery of tutor quality

Sally Kift
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Faculty (3) tailoring the message
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• Gen X
• Gen Y
• Part-time
• External
• Diversity
• etc
• etc

Sally Kift
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A Typical Students 1st Sem
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Week 1
New strategies
Week 5
Week 2
Stick with the old ways
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Strategising for adjustment
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• Personal
• Social
• Academic
• Physical
• Career

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Faculty (4) - Keepads
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• The TL engagement problem
• Large cohort at internal law Orientation
• How to engage in 2 hr session of talking heads?
• External orientation
• Always difficult to strike right note
• Full ext degrees
• Try keepads for engagement

Sally Kift
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Approach different for two groups
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• For Internals
• Tried to intermingle silly questions with easy
  law questions with transition issues raises as
  questions
• Get them to talk to one another
• Start create new learning community
• For externals
• Less questions
• Use questions as discussion starters

Sally Kift
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Final Evaluation Q - internal

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I found using the keypads like this a good way to
get me thinking about my approach to study this
year

• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Neutral
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree

Sally Kift QUT Faculty of Law Transition
Program
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Final Evaluation Q - external

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I found using the keypads like this a good way to
get me thinking about my approach to study this
year

• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Neutral
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree

Sally Kift QUT Faculty of Law Transition
Program
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Sample FYE strategies across varying
levelsSchool (1)
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• Quality of teaching staff critical to engagement
  
• Interest-ed -ing, passionate teachers
• Other support possible
• Stream webcam on exam technique
• E-mail aliases for first year units
• First year contact/coordinator
• Peer assisted learning support/mentoring
  /buddying

Sally Kift
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School(2)
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• Weekly emails to all 1st year students
• Modelled on Deakin Infoflow Program
  but Faculty (cf Uni) based
  JIT info
• Response (see paper at 12-14)
• motivational
• made explicit requirements for success
• put things in perspective
• created sense of belonging
• reduced isolation
• normalised stressful experience
• felt like real students

Sally Kift
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Sample FYE strategies across varying levelsUnit
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• Same pedagogical requirements for coherence and
  cumulative explicit
• Particularly what is required for success
• Assess requirements clear, esp in skills aspect,
  eg
• Which skills explicitly implicitly developed in
  unit
• Why these skills chosen how relate to wplace
  practice
• Learning objectives re these particular skills?
• How will skill be developed in unit? and
• This units skills broader curr relationship?

Sally Kift
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Sample FYE strategies across varying
levelsIndividual teacher
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• Make all transitional stages easier.
• Deconstruct barriers
• humanise learning experience cf aloof expert
• Impact on quality of FYE by engaging in prof
  activities eg
• Facilitate culture shifts
• Promote scholarly teaching thru scholarship
• Mentor others
• Engage with extra-faculty and divisional
  colleagues.

Sally Kift
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FYE Survey 2003
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• Surveyed entire first year unit in Wk 12 Sem 2.
• 450 qual quantitative responses (F/T, P/T
  Ext)
• Survey for
• Demographics
• Study commitment (hrs study/ hrs wkd/ time on
  campus
• About FYE re engaging learning and assessment
• Open ended Qs re
• 3 best and 3 worst things 1 thing that I would
  change 1 piece of advice to 2004 cohort.

Sally Kift
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AND In 2003, 450 FY law students say
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• Overall - FYE in Law School
• Very poor 2 Poor 7
• Satisfactory 35 Good 45 Very good 11
• T, L assessment engaged/interested me
• Disagree strongly 1 Disagree 8
• Neutral 25 Agree 55 Agree strongly 11
• As FY can see clear alignment b/w expected
  learning outcomes, what is taught learnt, and
  knowledge skills assessed
• Disagree strongly 2 Disagree 6
• Neutral 28 Agree55 Agree strongly 9.

Sally Kift
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Use of services by 450 law students
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• 33.6 - A/D emails/website
• 43.8 - Law Admin staff
• 68.1 - Library staff
• 15.3 - TALSS
• 7.2 - Counselling
• 16.7 - No answer.
• 1.6 - None

Sally Kift
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Some ramifications of this approach
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• Manage student expectations re student-as-client
  
• cf clients dictating curriculum and grades
• Manage culture-shift for all staff
• As professional teacher staff development
• Workloads
• Adequate resourcing
• Quality and accountability
• Necessity of HARD evid linking outcomes to
  process
• (eg data GDS CEQ KPIs evals benchmarking)

Sally Kift
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To conclude To enhance the FYE
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• McInnis (2001, 11)
• The curriculum is the glue that holds knowledge
  and the broader student experience together and
  enables the knowledge to be used effectively by
  the student.
• Here curriculum design and management with some
  out-of-class contact seeking to compensate for
  what traditionally occurred between students and
  staff under (now) superseded patterns of
  engagement.

Sally Kift
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Enhancing First Year and Easing Transition A
Learner-Centred Approach.
0
www.qut.com
2004 Teaching Matters, University of Tasmania

• Sally Kift
• Assistant Dean, Learning Teaching,
• Law Faculty,
• Queensland University of Technology, Australia.