Ready for University

Evaluation of an Intervention to Prepare Students for First Year University Assessment

Prof. James Elander & Anna JessenWolverhampton9th May 2008

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Background• EU:

– need 20.000.000 skilled workers over next 20 years

• UK goal: – 50% of youth complete university– Widening participation

• More support needed:– Often given at university– This project: support at pre-university

• Further Education (FE): A-level and access • EU: Gymnasium

• 1st year university students felt A-level did not prepare them for university(Smith, 2004)

• 1st year university students;– 47% expressed difficulties with essay writing– 78% did not know what markers were looking for in their

essays (Pain & Mowl, 1996).

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

• Core assessment criteria for essay writing:• Addressing the question• Demonstrating understanding• Critical evaluating• Developing argument• Structuring• Using evidence• Using language (Elander et al, 2004)

– Require complex skills and deep approach to learning (Elander, 2004)

– Assessment Plus: workshops to help 1st year psychology students understand criteria evaluated positively (Harrington et al., 2006)

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Project aims• Prepare students for 1st year university

assessment• Improve progression to, and retention in university

By

• Extending the Assessment Plus approach to FE• Evaluating workshops on university assessment

criteria for FE psychology students

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Study design

Direct evaluation (n=33)

Post-intervention questionnaire (n=50)

Standard tuition (n=35)

University students: Pre-intervention questionnaire (n=189)Qualitative interviews

FE students: Pre-intervention questionnaire (n=74)Qualitative interviews

Workshops (n=43)

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Pre-intervention:Qualitative comparison

• FE– Selection & inclusion of

material– Surface approach to

learning– “if you write correct

information, and we have it all in we are demonstrating understanding”

• University– Analysis and

transformation– Deep approach to

learning– “You basically need to

interpret what you read instead of simply just rewriting what you read”

Pre-intervention questionnaire-essay writing belief

• “In order to ‘answer the essay question’ structuring some relevant material to the essay title is more important than including ALL the right information”– University students with A level psychology 44% agree– University students without A level psychology 62% agree

(Chi-squared = 4.1, p= .04)

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Pre-intervention questionnaire-self-rated understanding & ability

Proportion of students agreeing

FE Uni

I know what is meant by ‘structuring’ my essay

88% 79%

I understand how to critically evaluate 53% 47%

I understand what it means to build an argument in an essay

78% 70%

I know how to detect bias in written sources 72% 34%

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

The intervention

• Workshop content:– Session 1:

discussion of assessment criteria homework of 2 essays– Session 2:

work in group with 2 essays discuss in class how they met the assessment criteria

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Participants

• Total number of students taking part: 43– 31 A level students– 12 Access students

• Mean age: 19 Years (16-52)• 29 females, 14 males

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Feedback questionnaireProportion of students agreeing or strongly agreeing to: “The workshops helped me...”

39 % …structure36 % …develop an argument

23 % … demonstrate understanding

40 %… to… critically evaluate

20 %… feel more confident about writing65 %… understand what makes a good essay

55 %… understand assessment criteria

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Qualitative feedback

• “helped more than many books that I’ve read about essay writing”

• “…a waste of time, go revise and pass your A-levels instead”

• “come to one it may help you because it helped me”

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Change in self-rated understanding & ability

Time: F = 8.3, p= .015Group: F = 0.1, p= .75Interaction: F = 3.6, p= .08

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4

Pre-intervention Post-intervention

Mea

n sc

ore

Workshops

Standard tuition

2 x2 ANOVA (pre-intervention vs post-intervention X workshop vs standard tuition)

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Change in essay writing beliefProportion agreeing that 'in order to “address the essay question”, structuring some relevant material to the essay title is more important than including ALL the right information'.

2 5

4 0

5 5

7 0

Pre - in te rve n tio n Po st- in te rve n tio n

Per

cent

of s

tude

nts

W o rksh o p s

Sta n d a rd tu itio n

G2 (log linear chi-square) = 11.75, p< .025

9th of May 2008Thames Valley University

Conclusion

• FE students more confident about assessment criteria than university students

• But demonstrated more surface approach to learning & limited understanding of criteria

• Workshops– Broadly appreciated by students– Reduced self-rated understanding– Changed belief about essay writing

Please visit our websitewww.writenow.ac.uk/readyforuniversityj.elander@derby.ac.ukjessen.anna@gmail.com