Solutions for atrisk former Foundation students Alex Dawson

Solutions for at-risk former Foundation students Alex Dawson English Language Programmes Poll. Ev. com/alexdawson 692 1

Outline Investigation Results: At-risk and successful students UG Course Directors’ views of at-risk international students Solutions: Personal Development Planning (PDP) Employability Internationalisation Undergraduates as resource 2

Research aims and objectives • To explore how former Foundation students engage with feedback and results • To discover what they perceive to be the greatest challenges • To analyse any other factors contributing to their success/failure • To compare this with Course Directors’ perceptions of failure for international students at UG level 3

Differences: at-risk and successful students At risk Successful Explanation for marks from tutors Analysis of feedback and criteria Skimming comments at end of assignment Engaging with written comments at end, plus annotations, discussing with peers and tutors Focus on surface level problems (e. g. lecturer accents) Breaking problems into sections and analysing challenges (e. g. links between course elements) English level reason for failure (understanding assignment, lectures) Content and assignment construction reason for failure L 1 dependence Able to break away from L 1 4

Similarities: at-risk and successful students • Time pressure: all respondents complained of assessment-driven study and deadline overload • No preference between exams and coursework • No regular discussions with personal tutors about work • Neither group spent time looking back at notes and feedback from previous years/semesters unless necessary • Poor in-sessional engagement 5

Course Directors’ view of at-risk students • Difficulties seeing links between course aspects / ‘bigger picture’: connection of lectures, lectures feeding into research. Poor organisation of notes and ability to pick elements out of them • Also unable to find links between different sections of reading and bring together abstract parts • Reliance on one source instead of finding multiple sources to support points • Not enough analysis of questions: not breaking down instructions, poor ability to find links between aspects of instructions 6

Course Directors’ view of at-risk students • Not seeking advice after failing assignments • Failure to see annotations as feedback; desire for explicit comments on ‘how to get 80%’. Students too used to teachers telling them how to improve? • Too much focus on marks and relative position in class, rather than using feedback to improve • Cultural silos and failure to interact adequately 7

PDP audit 1) Review own approaches: • • • Highlight implicit PDP and soft skills clarify to self and students Resources, e. g. HEA toolkits Identify future improvements 2) Soft skills that international students want: • • • Resilience and adaptability Willingness to accept one’s own limitation and respect others Confidence and leadership skills Flexible behaviour and thinking Information gathering Intercultural awareness and communication (Land 2016; QS Intelligence Unit 2016) 8

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PDP 1) Integrated Study Skills – 10 credit module: - Portfolio of PDP worksheets and sample work (40%) Poster presentation analyzing development (30%) Open book writing task based on study skills learner training (30%) 2) 10% of other modules (targets specific skills): - Sample worksheets relevant to isolated assessments and skills. 3) Enhanced PDP focus in coursework assessment: - Essay tasks contain portfolio of planning, drafting, tutorial record etc. Low stakes tests = poor motivation for students (Harrington and Roche, 2014) 10

Sample worksheet 11

Sample worksheet 12

Sample worksheet 13

PDP Employability Teachers should exploit marketing literature, business approaches, and student voice: • International Student Barometer; NSS • ICEF monitor • Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Graduate Recruitment and Selection Evidence Report • Business / careers websites: jobs. ac. uk; UN HR portal careers workbook • University graduate employability strategy • University Careers Service 14

Internationalisation – University agenda? 15

Internationalisation – marketing literature • “Internationalisation has become increasingly the norm for universities around the world, albeit with varying interpretations of the term” - Jones and De Wit, 2012 • Few examples of successful curriculum internationalisation initiatives due to a lack of clear top-down approach and understanding – Jones and Killick, 2013 • Internationalisation can be determined by stakeholders: goals, resources and individual institution will decide the way that internationalisation is pursued Kishun, 1998 16

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Internationalisation – Foundation assessment 22

Internationalisation – the project 23

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UG students as resource 1) UG mentors • • • Symbiotic relationship: employability skills for home and Foundation students Home students experience acculturation problems (Thomas 2008) Intercultural awareness and communication Ph. D students = employees? (Else 2017) Why not UG? Students as partners: ‘the university’s unspent resource’ (Bovill 2015); ‘change agents’ (Healey 2013) • Strategic collaborations with target departments (Helmer 2013) 2) Alumni as collaborators on IFP • Course input • Role models 25

Former Foundation students as role models 26

Conclusion 1) PDP review • Link to employability skills • PDP assessment and certification for future employers? 2) Student action • Student participation initiating change = student voice • Mentoring system to reduce L 1 and enhance awareness 3) Localise internationalisation • Do it ourselves! • Engage more with marketing research 27

We are very firm in the belief that the university is not a vocational training institute. So the purpose of the university is not just to prepare you for jobs. The purpose of the university is really to give students a skill so that they can go and find a job but, more importantly, it is really to prepare students for what happens after they get a job. In other words, whether they can adapt to the job and adapt to changes that the world requires of them. That is where innovation, creativity and attitude come in. Eden Woon, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s vice-president for institutional advancement. 28

References Bovill, C. 2015. Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching: challenges and opportunities. Available at: https: //www. heacademy. ac. uk/engaging-students-partners-learning-andteaching-challenges-and-opportunities [Accessed 9 July 2017]. Else, H. 2017. Ph. D students: time to make them university employees? Available at: https: //www. timeshighereducation. com/news/phd-students-time-to-make-them-university-employees. [Accessed 9 July 2017]. Harrington, M. and Roche, T. 2014. Identifying academically at-risk students in an English-as-a-Lingua-Franca university setting. Journal for English for Academic Purposes (15), pp. 37 -47. Healey, M. 2013. Students as change agents. Keynote Presentation to Conference on ‘Student-Staff Partnerships: What is Partnership? ’ University of Leicester 27 November 2013. Available at: https: //www 2. le. ac. uk/projects/genie/working-as-partners-conference-2013/mick-healey-keynote-handout. [Accessed 9 July 2017]. Helmer, K. 2013. Critical English for academic purposes: Building on learner, teacher and program strengths. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 12 (4), pp. 273 – 287. Jones, E. and De Wit, H. 2012. Globalization of Internationalization: Thematic and Regional reflections on a Traditional Concept. The International Journal of Higher Education and Democracy (3), pp. 35 -54. Jones, E, and Killick, D. 2013. Graduate Attributes and the Internationalized Curriculum: Embedding a Global Outlook in Disciplinary Learning Outcomes. Journal of Studies in International Education 17 (2), pp. 165 -182. Kishun, R. 1998. Internationalisation in South Africa. In: Scott, P. ed. The Globalisation of Higher Education. Buckingham: SRHE and Open University. Land, K. 2016. Internationalising the Curriculum – the international students’ voice. MA Dissertation, University of Portsmouth. QS Intelligence Unit. 2015. How Do Students Use Rankings? Available at: http: //www. iu. qs. com/product/how-do-students-use-rankings/ [Accessed 9 July 2017]. QS Intelligence Unit. 2016. What Matters to International Students? Available at: file: ///C: /Users/caird/Downloads/Focus%20 Groups%20 Report%20 Series_Global%20 Overview. pdf [Accessed 9 July 2017]. Thomas, L. 2008. Learning and teaching strategies to promote student retention and success. In Crosling, G. , Thomas L and Heagney. eds. Improving Student Retention in Higher Education. Routledge. 29

Solutions for at-risk former Foundation students Alex Dawson English Language Programmes dawsona@cardiff. ac. uk Acknowledgements for IFP materials: Rachel Davies, Huw Evans Johns and David Wood. 30