Report
from break-out groups.
There were three break-out groups each of which were asked
to consider three issues:
1. Ways of identifying students at risk - before
it is too late. Is this possible?
2. Providing an on-campus learning experience in
spite of competing commitments like casual work; family matters etc - how do
we achieve this and cope with the competition?
3. What strategies can
we use to "rescue" students?
The discussion is summarised below.
Importance of setting
the scene with new students
- Agree
on responsibility for learning is shared between students and staff but is
ultimately the students’ responsibility; set contracts for learning
- Develop
a safe student-centred learning environment; this may require appropriate
resourcing
- Be
overt about the need for good English skills
Importance of
specific discipline preparation
- Does
a lack of this put students at risk?
- How
do we respond?
- What
about the advanced students? Need
to cater for them as well.
Issues:
*
increasing percentage with no specific preparation from HSC/
school level
*
should groups be streamed by prior background?
*
what should be the starting point for a unit/course?
*
poor previous experiences may disadvantage students
* “re-education”
may be needed anyway if the school material is not suited to the university
culture
*
motivation of students may be more important than prior knowledge
*
are external students more motivated?
* advanced
students may be bored
Importance of
teaching staff
- How
approachable are they?
- Will
“at risk” students approach staff?
- Students
with disabilities may be a special “at risk” category
Issues:
* students
listen to students more than teachers (gap between students is small; intellectual
gap between student and teacher is often huge and almost impassable)
Importance of the
ability of students to use both the English language and the scientific English
of the discipline
- International
students pose a special category – often problems with written/spoken English
- Local
students with English as a second language often struggle
- Local
students with poor English skills
Importance of
tutorials as a teaching strategy
Issues:
- structure
of tutorial may influence the outcome
- participation
levels may be of concern
Importance of
students knowing their own risk category
- How
to get them to assess their own abilities
- Need
to avoid the negativity of “at risk” image; otherwise becomes a
self-fulfilling prophecy
Issues:
*
part-time work and academic workload issues
* Persuading
all students to accept it is important to find out how they are going early
enough (overcoming the male attitude that there is no problem)
When do you
intervene?
- Mid
semester?
- Random
targeting during semester
- Use
of self-assessment feedback; peer assessment
How reliable are any of these indicators?
- After
semester 1 exams (ie after failure of first course)
How do you persuade students to come and see you? The general view is that it is very difficult
to get students to take up an invitation to discuss their poor performance.
The failure has already given a negative message to the student and often
they are not very interested in talking about it.
Possible solutions –
investigate the use of:
- Peer
mentoring – use senior year undergraduates or postgraduates
- Peer
assisted study support (PASS) useful in providing small group experience
with non-threatening response with respect to feedback
- Contracts
- Use
smaller groups in large classes to help with the social and
identity/interactions
- Better
orientation at beginning of the year; invited or compulsory sessions
- Offer
personal skills management programs to help increase students confidence
