Velda McCune

Patterns of response to an approaches to studying inventory across contrasting groups and contexts

The development of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) is reported, which incorporates a revised version of the Approaches to Studying Inventory. This questionnaire was completed by three separate samples; 1284 mainly first-year students from six British universities, 466 first-year students from a Scottish technological university; and 219 students from a ‘historically disadvantaged” South African university. Analyses of these data were designed to explore the patterns of response found in sub-groups which varied in terms of their levels of attainment and contexts. Maximum likelihood analysis of the largest sample confirmed the expected three factors of deep, surface apathetic, and strategic approaches to studying, and almost identical patterns were also found in the other two samples, and in students having contrasting levels of attainment. There were, however, some interesting minor differences in the South African sample. K-means relocation cluster analysis was then carried out on the largest sample and produced clusters with generally coherent patterns of response. However, one persistent low attainment cluster showed unexpected, dissonant patterns of response, combining moderately high scores on the sub-scales of both deep and surface apathetic approaches, associated with low scores on the strategic approach.RésuméLes auteurs rendent compte du développement d’un questionnaire intitulé ‘Approaches and Study Skills Inventory’ for Students’ (ASSIST) qui incorpore une version révisée de ‘Approaches to Studing Inventory’. Le questionnaire a été rempli par trois échantillons distincts: 1284 étudiants de première année de six universités britanniques, 466 étudiants de première année d’une université technologique écossaise, et 219 étudiants d’une université sud-africaine connue pour son public socialement défavorisé. Les analyses de données ont été conduites pour explorer les patterns de réponses trouvées dans les sous-groupes présentant des variations dans leurs niveaux d’acquisition et dans leurs contextes. L’analyse des données réalisée sur le plus grand échantillon confirme l’existence des trois facteurs attendus d’indifférence profonde, d’indifférence de surface et de stratégies d’approche dans les études; des patterns presque identiques ont été également trouvés dans les deux autres échantillons et pour des étudiants ayant des niveaux contrastés d’acquisitions. On a cependant trouvé quelques différences mineures intéressantes dans l’échantillon sud-africain. Une analyse de cluster a ensuite été effectuée sur le plus grand échantillon et a produit des clusters avec des patterns de réponse en général cohérents. On a cependant observé un cluster récurrent et inattendu chez les étudiants en difficulté concernant un pattern dissonant de réponse combinant des scores modérément élevés aux deux sous-échelles d’indifférence profonde et de surface associés à des scores faibles d’approche stratégique.

‘A real rollercoaster of confidence and emotions’: learning to be a university student

Accounts of emotion and affect have gained popularity in studies of learning. This article draws on qualitative research with a group of non‐traditional students entering an elite university in the UK to illustrate how being and becoming a university student is an intrinsically emotional process. It argues that feelings of loss and dislocation are inherent to the students’ experiences of entering university, and that ‘coming to know’ a new community of practice is an emotional process that can incorporate feelings of alienation and exclusion, as well as of excitement and exhilaration. A broader understanding of how students learn then depends not just upon the individual’s emotional commitment to developing a new learning identity, but on the emotional interaction between the student and the learning environment of the university.

The quality of guidance and feedback to students

The paper presents research findings on students’ experiences of the provision both of guidance and feedback, and with respect to examinations as well as coursework assignments. A first‐ and a final‐year bioscience course unit were surveyed in each of three contrasting university departments. The resulting dataset comprised 782 completed student questionnaires and 23 group interviews with a total of 69 students. Although the questionnaire data provided a robust overall picture of the students’ perceptions of guidance and feedback across the six units, the interview data made possible a much finer‐grained analysis of their experiences. At the core of this analysis was a guidance and feedback loop, within which six interrelated steps have been picked out, beginning with the students’ prior experiences of cognate assessments and closing with the potential of what has been learned from a given task to feed forward into subsequent work. By pinpointing potential troublespots, the framework can serve as a valuable diagnostic as well as analytical tool.

Final year biosciences students’ willingness to engage: teaching–learning environments, authentic learning experiences and identities

The research reported in this article investigates what students perceive as influencing their willingness to engage actively with their studies. The semi‐structured interviews which form the basis of this analysis are a subset of the data from the Enhancing Teaching–Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses (ETL) Project, a large‐scale project funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council. The findings from the analysis were drawn together in a multifaceted conceptual model, which describes the interplay between aspects of students’ identities and facets of their learning contexts in university and on work placement. The notion of ‘authentic learning experiences’ is used to illuminate the students’ perspectives on how key learning experiences influenced their identities and willingness to engage with their studies.

From college to university: looking backwards, looking forwards

This paper reports on the first phase of a study of the experiences of a small group of students (35) that have entered an ‘elite’ Scottish university directly from Further Education (FE) colleges where they have studied Higher National Certificate and Diploma courses. Students’ experiences were gathered through in‐depth interviews and a standardised questionnaire on entry to the university. Students typically reported positive experiences of their previous courses, with good support from staff. A key concern was balancing study and other commitments, with support from families particularly important. Despite these concerns, the students’ responses to questionnaire items on their approaches to learning in FE were similar to the patterns of responses reported by successful Higher Education (HE) students in other studies. The students’ hopes and fears about HE encompassed both a sense of excitement about this stage as well as considerable anxiety at leaving the highly supportive FE environment.

From Further Education to Higher Education: Social Work Students' Experiences of Transition to an Ancient, Research‐Led University

In 2004, as part of its initiative to widen access, a Scottish university offered places for the first time to a group of students coming from further education (FE) colleges with Higher National Certificates (HNCs) and Higher National Diplomas (HNDs). A longitudinal study has followed the experiences of transition and subsequent progression of this cohort of students. The study, entitled ‘From FE to HE’ has interviewed and surveyed 45 students at key points since 2004. This paper reports on findings from the study overall, giving particular attention to the views and experiences of the nine Social Work students within the cohort. It will be argued that whilst FE colleges provide considerable support for their students, there is no easy transition to an ancient, research‐led university such as this one. The findings of this study have implications for all those involved in social work education.

It All Just Clicked: A Longitudinal Perspective on Transitions within University.

This paper explores the transitions that a group of students, admitted from further education colleges as part of broader widening access initiative at a Scottish research-intensive university, made across the lifetime of their degrees. It investigates how they negotiate their learning careers beyond the first year, and how they (re)define their approaches to independent learning as they progress to the later years of their courses. Evidence is drawn from 20 students who were interviewed during each of their three or four years of study to provide a longitudinal account of their experiences of engagement and participation at the university. We draw attention to three ways in which the students made transitions across the course of their degrees: to increased knowledge of the conventions of academic writing; to enhanced critical skills; and to practical strategies to prioritise learning.

Facing an uncertain future: curricula of dualities

This article considers how best to conceptualise higher education curricula in a world marked by uncertainty, where knowledge and the foundations of knowledge are strongly contested. We then draw on conceptions of agency that derive from socio-cultural theorising to consider what ‘tools’ for thinking and practising individuals may need to deploy if they are to engage with a fast-changing world. The article highlights the large challenges that students may face in developing the forms of being and the orientations to knowledge associated with an age of supercomplexity. The concluding section, Curricula of dualities, addresses the question of how best to achieve curricula and pedagogic practices in higher education that may enable students to embark on an open-ended journey from their present ways of knowing and being. We contend that curricula for an age of uncertainty can be productively conceptualised in terms of pairs of contrasting elements that are in creative tension, e.g. play and discipline, support and challenge. Conceptualising curricula in such a way allows students’ present circumstances and orientations and their possible futures to stay in central focus.

Learning from feedback? Mature students’ experiences of assessment in higher education

This paper draws on a longitudinal study of students who entered an ancient Scottish university directly from further education colleges (FECs) to discuss the role that different assessment regimes played in their university careers. It illuminates aspects of learning from feedback from the perspective of students whose pre-university experiences of assessment provided a major contrast to that of the majority of their peers. Overall it shows that students do learn from feedback and become able to self-assess and monitor their own learning and develop their own standards. It argues, however, that their experiences can be much more productive if there is more emphasis on feeding forward to meet changing expectations over time. This enables students to develop as independent learners and means that different strategies are appropriate at different stages of students’ university careers.

Academic feedback in veterinary medicine: a comparison of school leaver and graduate entry cohorts

This study analysed the expectations and experiences of students on a five-year undergraduate (n = 91) and four-year graduate entry (n = 47) veterinary medicine degree programme relating to academic feedback. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used to explore new students’ expectations and prior experiences of feedback and capture experiences across one academic year. The majority of the students expect no less feedback at university than at school. Students’ experiences of the course highlighted themes of not knowing what was expected of them, a perceived need for more guidance and the importance of timely feedback. The impact of the staff–student relationship on how students obtain and perceive feedback and the emotional impact of positive and negative feedback were also highlighted. In addition, a recurring theme was the social context of veterinary medicine with issues relating to high academic achievers, competition between students and the need to gain professional and clinical skills. This study confirms a mismatch in student expectations versus experience. The paper draws on a rich data-set based on both quantitative and qualitative methods and is the first study of this type to be carried out in the context of students of veterinary medicine.