STAR Project

1
STAR Project

• Good Practice in Induction
• Tony Cook

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Program

• Tell you a bit about the STAR project
• Discuss purpose of induction
• Outline a model of retention and discuss where
  induction fits in
• Show you some data to illustrate the importance
  of the student view
• Discuss process of induction

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The STAR Project

• Four themes
• Prior to entry
• Induction
• Flexible progression
• Accessibility

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Managing transition
Independent, enthusiastic, involved,
communicative, present, sober
End point
?
Start point
5
Induction

• What do you consider to be the purpose of
  induction?
• Write down the three most important things you do
  in induction.

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A model of retention
Commitment
Pre-entry factors
Integration
Social- with peers, with staff Academic-
workload, concordance, adaptability Campus-
Finance, Domestic issues
Goals, Expectations, Qualifications, Skills
base, Institutional commitment.
Decisions about staying and Leaving. Motivation
influencing performance
TIME
After Tinto
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The story so far

• Guidelines out for consultation
• Questionnaire survey of BioScience departments
• Staff interviews
• Student focus groups
• Miniprojects
• Sponsored case studies

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Activities in the pre teaching week.
Data from questionnaires
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Why do students leave early?
Data from University of Ulster 2001/2
(institutional data)
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Student free-response
63
24 13
Consortium data
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Student comments

• At risk students
• confused, work given without explanation
  
• not what I expected- very misleading
  
• stressful because of lack of chemistry
  
• Not at risk
• challenging but a good experience
  
• interesting, exciting, but its lacking in skills
  
• enjoyed it, many new friends and learnt a lot
  

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Task

• Score your practice against the audit
• Consider questions where you scored 3 or lower.
• Does it address a relevant problem?
• How could you raise your score?