Building A Sustainable Institutional Advising ... - UKATVice Chair (Research), UK Advising & Tutoring (UKAT) [email protected] @emilythemac. Tutoring Matters Webinar Series Webinar

Tutoring Matters Webinar Series


Tutoring Matters is sponsored by

Building A Sustainable Institutional Advising & Tutoring Infrastructure

Dr. Emily McIntosh, PFHEA

Director of Student Life, University of Bolton, UK

Vice Chair (Research), UK Advising & Tutoring (UKAT)

[email protected]

@emilythemac

https://www.solutionpath.co.uk/

mailto:[email protected]


Webinar Presenters

Ben WalkerHost

Emily McIntoshPresenter


Exploring the UK Context for Personal Tutoring & Academic Advising and Stating

the Case for Initiating a Culture ChangeAdd presenter name and affiliation


The (volatile) UK HE Regulatory & Policymaking Landscape

BrHExit! HERA (2017)Office for Students (formerly HEFCE)

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)

Augar Review (due Spring, 2019) – fees, league tables,

metrics, apprenticeships

OfS Registration -Improvement Plans (and

measures)

Access & Participation Plans (new format 2019), clearer focus on under-

represented groups

TEF Metrics – Student Satisfaction, Non-

continuation, Progression and Graduate Employment

A cataclysmic shift in the way that we conceptualise

HE and its delivery. The fundamental tenets of HE

are being challenged.


“it will never work” – suggests the tutoring system in UK is broken,

unfixable and a “wicked issue” in HE, a problem never to be solved

Yet, student success is now central to everything, especially achieving

personalisation in the face of increasing massification and diversification of HE and achieving metrics – this cannot be achieved without a healthy, workable

tutoring infrastructure!

Academic tutoring and advising is essential if we are to support

vulnerable and under-represented groups in HE, as expected in the Access

& Participation Plan

But, a historic lack of investment in sustainable tutoring infrastructure and a limited evidence-based knowledge

(research) about its impact means we now have a lot of work to do

And, yes, tutoring is resource intensive – but that is NOT a valid enough

argument to justify long-term neglect –you only have to read Student Minds’ Report on the Role of the Academic

(2018) to understand that this issue is now an urgent one!

So, a call to arms – every one of us is (including students!) is responsible for

building a culture of tutoring, we can all work together to grasp the problems,

build the evidence and influence positive change…..this paper will talk

about how we can go about it

Tutoring - A System in Flux?


Strategic Approaches to Access & Participation –Vulnerable Groups

Focus on under-represented groups

From an area of low HE

participationFirst in family

Low household income / low

socioeconomic status

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic

Students (BAME)Mature Students

Disabled students Care LeaversTo note: Data

Intersectionality & Disaggregation!!!


“Measures” of student transition and success

Getting in (access, transition)

Staying in (continuation)

Getting on (attainment and

graduate outcomes / progression)

Effective tutoring and advising can enhance all of these things!


If access is being invited to the party…then achievement and inclusivity is being

invited to dance…

“Marginalised learner identities” (Reay, 2010)

The Paired Peers Project – Bristol & UWE

Equitable access to co-curricular and extra-curricular enrichment activities

Those who are “earning and learning” (Nahar, 2017)

Acquired forms of capital (Jack, 2015)


Tutoring to address retention, attainment and progression

We must support tutors to understand students’

contexts

We must involve tutors (and students) in the design and delivery of interventions to

bring about change

We must be transparent about our non-continuation,

attainment & progression gaps and be clear with tutors

about disadvantage (and how to work with data)

We must engage in regular dialogue with colleagues

about what we are seeing on campus

We must empower tutors to understand how important

their role is to supporting all student groups

Our infrastructure must recognise the institutional context, support tutors to

perform the role and equip them to take on the

expected responsibilities


Welcome & Induction

Prorgramme (16 weeks)

Student Diagnostics & Early Alerts

Allocation of Personal or Enhanced

Personal Tutor

LEAP Action Plan

LEAP Online & LEAP Workshops

(supported by LEAP Framework)

Peer Assisted Study Support (PASS) & Peer

Mentoring The Six Dimensions of

the Early Intervention

& Transitional Support

(EI) Model to improve

retention, attainment

and success

Supports

transition,

orientation,

belonging and

connectedness

Identifies

students’

academic

and

wellbeing

needs

Identifies

the person

most

suitable to

support the

student

Recommended

academic &

wellbeing

activities, goal

setting

Learning development

opportunities (online and

face-to-face)

Supports

academic &

social

integration,

belonging &

connectedness

Tutoring Must “Plug In” To Other Campus-Wide Activities & Feature Heavily in the Institutional Consciousness


Academic Tutoring Components – A Strategic & Infrastructural Approach


A Tutoring Infrastructure –Six Essential Components

Tutoring Strategy

A Robust Tutoring Model

Tutoring Principles & Guidelines

Training, Support & Resources

A Tutorial Curriculum

Tutoring Benchmark Statements

• Aligned with strategy (Student Experience, Learning, Teaching & Assessment), Access & Participation Plan, Office for Students Improvement Plans

• Visible Leadership• Reward & Recognition• Integral part of student-centred

pedagogical approach

• Timetabled, effectively resourced, integrated and parity with other teaching and learning activities

• Effecting a healthy tutorial culture –providing information to support the process

• Provides the foundation for training

• Based on tutorial principles and guidelines• Tackles known barriers and challenges, a focus on

vulnerable groups• Provides challenge and support• Blended learning for tutors• Encourages reflective practice• Safe space for discussion• A case study and narrative approach

• Based on the student lifecycle

• Used to provide indicative structure

• 1:1 and small-group interventions

• Incorporates “flipped advising”

• Building evidence, identifying resource needs

• Assessing impact on vulnerable student groups

• Ensuring the infrastructure is effective, addresses needs

• Provides structure and consistency


Understand & Engage with the (Emerging) Evidence Base

Student retention literature

Student transition literature

Student belonging literature

Student engagement

literature

Student mental health

/ wellbeing literature

Pedagogical research

Academic advising

literature


Know Where You Are – Engaging with Benchmarking Tools

• https://www.ukat.uk/professional-development/professional-framework-for-advising-and-tutoring/

https://www.ukat.uk/professional-development/professional-framework-for-advising-and-tutoring/


Know Your Students and their Context – Student Characteristics & Using Data to Inform the Tutoring Process

Student Characteristics

Data

LEAP Ahead Student

Diagnostics Data

Student Engagement

Data

Student "Risk" Profile

Develop Robust Actionable Insights for Tutors


Know Your Tutoring Models(Earwaker, 1992)

Professional/Academic ModelPT provide support on professional/academic issues only

Disconnects academic and personal issuesRegular, but referral to specialist for

wider personal issues

Academic/personal boundaries unclear at times

Curriculum Model

Highly structured

Regular scheduled meetings

PT provides support on professional and personal development issues

E.g. PDP

Regular contact “ideal” model

PT provide support on a range of professional/academic/personal issues

difficult if large numbers of students

Pastoral Model


Develop an Integrated Tutoring Model & Structure


Devise Tutoring Principles


Design A Comprehensive Training & Development Programme (and Resources)

Knowledge

Skills & Coaching

Systems & Processes

Referrals

Discussion Fora

Resources


Develop a Tutorial Curriculum &Consider Flipped Advising (Using the VLE)


Harness The Student Voice & Student Feedback

NSS / UPSS Qualitative

Comments (+ve and not so +ve)

Student Tutoring “Live” Case Studies

Engaging Your Students’ Union & Course Rep System

Engage in Discussion about Mutual

Expectations, Roles & Responsibilities

Plug-in to Peer Education Systems

Student-Led Teaching Awards for

Tutoring


Understand Reward & Recognition

Reward & Recognition

Tutoring MUST have parity with other T&L activities

Linked to promotion

criteria

Linked to Academic

Performance Review Process

Not just rewarded with extra hours in

WAM

Aligned with

UKPSF

T&L Awards, External Awards

Design a senior

tutoring model


Working On Your Strategy

Gather evidence from your own

Institution

Appoint senior colleague to coordinate &

champion

Link-in, align with existing strategies

and working groups

Conduct Benchmarking

Exercises

Investigate Resource

Implications

Design guidelines and principles

Identify Stakeholders (include HR)

Use learning analytics to track impact, esp for

vulnerable groups

Ensure design takes into account evidence and

evaluation


Resources

• https://www.criticalpublishing.com/effective-personal-tutoring-in-higher-education - includes academic tutoring benchmarking tool (individual, institutional)

• Forthcoming (2020) Special Edition of Frontiers in Education“Academic Advising and Tutoring for Student Success in Higher Education: International Perspectives”: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/9684/academic-advising-and-tutoring-for-student-success-in-higher-education-international-perspectives

https://www.criticalpublishing.com/effective-personal-tutoring-in-higher-education

https://webmail.bolton.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=rjBSkHDPWB0W3HQdDryvd7Z3bzPZqitCyObcsRgTFh5mLXTZBLLWCA..&URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/9684/academic-advising-and-tutoring-for-student-success-in-higher-education-international-perspectives


References

• Hughes & Byrom (2018) The Role of an Academic Student Minds Reporthttps://www.studentminds.org.uk/theroleofanacademic.html

• Kift & Nelson (2005) Beyond curriculum reform: embedding the transition experience. HigherEducation Research & Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Conference proceedings.

• Lizzio (2006) Designing an orientation and transition strategy for commencing students (GriffithUniversity Transition Project)

• Lochtie & McIntosh (2018) Becoming an Effective Personal Tutor in Higher Education (CriticalPublishing)

• McIntosh & Barden (2019) The LEAP Learning Excellence Achievement Pathway – A Framework forStudent Learning Development in Higher Education. Journal of Learning Development in HigherEducation.

• McIntosh (2017) Working in Partnership: The Role of Peer Assisted Study Sessions in Supporting theCitizen Scholar. Active Learning in Higher Education.

• McIntosh (2016) Ideas, Concerns & Expectations: Improving the Bolton Student Journey. StudentTransition, Attainment, Retention & Success (STARS) Conference proceedings.

• Morgan (2012) Improving the Student Experience (Routledge)

• Thomas (2017) What Works 2, Student Retention and Success Programme Final Report (HigherEducation Academy)

• Whannell & Whannell (2015) Identity theory as a theoretical framework to understand attrition foruniversity students. Student Success 6(2), 43-52.

https://www.studentminds.org.uk/theroleofanacademic.html



Documents

Building A Sustainable Institutional Advising ... - UKATVice Chair (Research), UK Advising & Tutoring (UKAT) [email protected] @emilythemac. Tutoring Matters Webinar Series Webinar