HERE! Project Case Study 1

HERE!

Higher Education Retention and Engagement project

Strand B:

Programme review of good practice

at Bournemouth University

Case Study 1

BA (Hons) Business Studies

Natalie Bates and Christine Keenan

Contents

SECTION 1: Context Page 2Course data Page 3

SECTION 2: Programme/staff view Page 4Examples of practice and evaluation Page 14Summary Page 17

SECTION 3: Student view Page 18Practical examples that enhance the student experience Page 26Summary Page 28

SECTION 4: Document analysis Page 28

SECTION 5: Overall summary and key conclusions Page 30

SECTION 6: HERE! Programme Review Tool Page 31

HERE! Project – BU Case Study 1 – BA (Hons) Business Studies 1

HERE Project Programme Reviews: Case Study 1BA (Hons) Business Studies at BU

SECTION 1

Context

BA (Hons) Business Studies is a four year course located in the Business School at Bournemouth University and has been running for 31years. It is the oldest course at BU and was chosen for the review due to its high retention figures for the number of first year students who progress to year 2 (based on 2007/08 data). Four lecturers were interviewed from the programme including the course leader, the first year tutor and two course lecturers. They were invited to participate due to their close involvement with first year learning and teaching. All were interviewed by the BU project research assistant.

A placement year is completed by students in year 3 of the course and students return in year 4 to complete the degree. The course uses a first year tutor role and Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) scheme to support students and have moved away from the personal tutor system that was used in the past, as not all students utilised the tutorial support available to them.

The School has recently been affected by restructuring at the university which has resulted in staff redundancies. There has also been increased pressure on academic staff to engage in research and enterprise activities alongside their teaching. The impact of such institutional changes are considered by staff and students in this programme review.

The course team gave consent for us to survey all first year students on the 2009/10 business studies cohort. A total of 66 out of 246 students from the course completed the student survey for our project (27% response rate) which included a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data.


Course data

Student administration data BA (Hons) Business Studies

Cohort 2009/10Total no. of first year students in cohort 246UCAS tariff requested by course 2010 entry 320 points

2011 entry 340 pointsHow long the course has been running 31 yearsGender M 138

F 108Age 18 142

19-20 8821-24 1325-30 3

Mode of study (FT/PT) FT 246PT 0

UK/EU/International UK 230EU 6International 8Channel Isles

2

Disability ALN 13Non-ALN 233

No. of students taken through clearing 5No of students repeating year 1 2Professionally accredited? NoSandwich course/placement yr Yes

Retention data for previous cohorts (no. of first year students progressing from year 1 to year 2 over past 4 years):

Registry data BA (Hons) Business StudiesLeft Cont’d to yr 2 Total no. 1st years

06/07 11.3% 88.7% 22107/08 5.8% 94.2% 22508/09 6.3% 93.7% 25309/10 N/A N/A N/A


SECTION 2

Programme/staff view

This section provides a summary of the analysis of the staff interviews. Four lecturers were interviewed in total from the course team. Section 2 begins by highlighting the key factors that the staff feel contribute to their retention rate, followed by a more in-depth analysis of their perceptions on course related factors, the relationship between students and staff, feelings of belonging and students at risk of doubting or withdrawing. Subheadings have been taken from the HERE! Programme Review tool (see section 6, p.31). At the end of section 2, practical examples are listed from the staff interviews that could be used by other university programmes to enhance the student experience.

The course team share similar views on the BA (Hons) Business Studies high retention rates and emphasise that a combination of the following factors have helped:

Having a dedicated first year tutor – a first port of call for students for both academic and pastoral support

Peer support and use of the PAL scheme A good induction programme A strong course team with good relationships between the course leader, academics

and administrators, and continuity of staff Having a well organised, operationally focused programme leader Raising the entry tariff for the course Assessment methods used e.g. incorporating more coursework and group assessed

tasks than exams

Course related factors and adapting to the course

Academic transition

In terms of academic transition, the course begins with a strong induction which focuses on a range of activities which get the students working together in groups whilst helping students to understand the differences between school/college and university. The induction activity pack that students receive in the first week has 4 themes – working in groups, organising your time, coping with transition and managing your own learning – which are aimed at addressing concerns and setting course expectations. All of the staff interviewed agreed that the greatest output of induction is friendship development and forming a group bond:

How much they learn is not as important as how gelled they are as a group at the end so they’ve got a mutual support system. We think that peer support is one of the key factors of retention.

The course team place great importance on creating opportunities for students to gel as a seminar group and cohort which can often be challenging considering the large number of students enrolled on the course each year (currently 246 students). One lecturer suggests that induction should not be a one off event but continue in some form into the first term as it is a valuable approach to easing the often overwhelming nature of transition to higher education. One way in which the Business Studies course achieves this is through the ‘real life’ projects that are part of the Introduction to Management unit which aims at developing students’ team working and communication skills. Students work in groups to meet the objectives of 4 projects – one group is responsible for organising a social activity, another


group is responsible for arranging a guest speaker, one group must embark on a community project and a final group focuses on a fund raising activity. As with the course induction, this unit provides opportunities for students to continue to gel in the first few weeks of term one whilst working together on a task.

The course team believe in the philosophy of helping the students to become independent, self-managing learners, and set clear expectations about studying at university:

I think the two main messages are firstly that it’s a learning environment and not a teaching environment so they need to understand the emphasis on self managed learning, and the other thing that we try to get across to them which is really important is that lecturers aren’t clones of one another, that they’re going to have some tutors they get on better with than others, some that they have a more enjoyable learning experience with than others, and that they’ve got to get used to diversity in the delivery.

By setting clear expectations about the variety of lecturers on the course it is hoped that students will be prepared for different teaching experiences, for example, an international aspect, or blend of staff that are more research focused and those that are more teaching focused. Students are given the same messages in induction as they are throughout the course so they are able to manage their expectations. Although the students may come in at different levels at the start of the course, they all know the goal posts. It was also considered important that all staff give out the same message to students to avoid misunderstanding.

There was a clear appreciation of the programme’s management with lecturers praising the strong leadership skills of the course leader. Depicted as running ‘a very tight ship’, the course leader encourages the team to follow his professional example and high expectations. There was a strong sense of support and admiration from the team who described the course leader as ‘outstanding’, ‘remarkable’ and ‘genuine’:

[His] leadership is something that we all feel has been great because I think he’s personally supportive of us as a team…He’s a critical friend and that’s quite good for pulling a team of staff together.

Being part of a very good, well managed degree has encouraged the lecturers to ‘want’ to stay teaching on it and this has resulted in a continuity of staff for students. Having a strong course team has been crucial for providing effective support to students and has been enhanced by the good relationship between the course leader, first year tutor, lecturers and administrators. The administration team were described as ‘outstanding’ and it was claimed that there is little divide between administrators and academics in the team. The team share the same vision for the course:

We all feel committed to an enterprise which is going in the right direction. There’s a strong sense that there’s a vision here and that affects course culture because there’s no them and us.

Particularly in terms of unsettling changes at the university and staff redundancies within the school, the team have tried to protect the students and to ‘protect the product’. One lecturer believes that the students may ‘feel that the university’s quite safe. They don’t predict uncertainty or staff low morale’. It was considered important for staff to remain upbeat, positive and not take personal issues into the classroom, subsequently maintaining a professional environment for the students to study in.

A pro-active culture is encouraged within the course team and staff reflect on things that have gone well and not so well in order to constantly adopt best practice. The course team are change orientated and highlight the importance of not stagnating. In the past the School has organised a ‘learning and teaching group’ which were collaborative events, workshops


and discussions that provided an opportunity for staff to exchange practice. Due to time constraints this no longer occurs.

The BA (Hons) Business Studies entry tariff has risen over recent years from 320 UCAS point to 340 for 2010/11. There are no specific subject pre-requisites for the course. Staff reflected upon the relationship between entry requirements and retention, suggesting that the chances of retaining students is more likely when students have the right academic calibre and motivation upon entry. However, this view was also questioned in relation to the current cohort. Some staff considered the students to be ‘switched on’ with regard to ability but their motivation and engagement levels do not reflect the points they came in with.

You can’t force everyone to behave or attend or enjoy it.

I don’t know that the entry tariffs say a huge amount about the academic ability of the student.

Entry tariffs, therefore, may not always guarantee engagement of students.

Coping with coursework

To help students cope with their coursework the course team provide dedicated sessions on academic skills, such as referencing, which the students can access in addition to materials produced by the library. If students need further support in developing their academic skills they are referred to learning support within the library and staff refer students who may have additional learning needs to the Additional Learning Needs Service. Those interviewed felt that having standardised documents available to students on myBU also allows students to have access to information to support their learning. This was considered useful for diminishing the anxiety that can be involved in higher education study.

Giving students regular small tasks and feedback on units helps to build students’ confidence in coping with their work. The lecturers also have an open door policy which enables students to see them if they are struggling with an aspect of their study. The team aim to monitor those students who gain disappointing marks, particularly relating to peer assessment and non-participation in group tasks. To address such concerns, letters are sent to students to remind them that this is not what is expected on the course and asking them to contact the first year tutor if there are personal circumstances affecting their engagement with the course. In contrast, letters of congratulations are sent to students who gain high grades as encouragement for those who are excelling. ‘Outstanding students’ might also be selected to represent the School in externally funded competitions, notably the IBM Universities Business Challenge.

As well as offering plenty of support for gaining confidence in their work, some staff indicated that the type of assessment regime used on a course can have a dramatic impact on progression. In one particular first year unit on the course, pass rates were increased by changing the assessment method from an exam to course work, whilst still measuring the same intended learning outcomes. The tutors for the unit did not want to be seen as ‘dumbing their subject down’ but had to respond to criticism from senior management about large numbers of failing students. It was acknowledged that not all courses in the School have the flexibility of modifying the assessments used as some professional bodies request exams.

Another method of assessment raising debate in the interviews was group work. There is less focus on individual assignments in the Business Studies programme than there is on group work and peer assessment. As well as developing team working and communication skills, group work has helped students on the course to develop friendships and create a network of peer support. One lecturer also noted that not all students attend induction week


and therefore miss out on the opportunity to gel and bond with their peers, therefore, group work on the course is still an important method for helping students get to know each other post induction. An advantage for staff is that group work methods of assessment help to release potential for research and reduces pressure for meeting the three week marking turn-around at BU, however, the team tend to find that some students often struggle when having to write individual pieces of academic work in the second and third year:

At level I the tutors get very disappointed at the level of work that gets submitted…and I have to come back and say well you can’t be too critical of these students because they never had a chance to do this in the first year…The first proper serious academic writing might not be until they do their dissertation which is a quarter of their degree.

The lecturers recognised that the students do sometimes complain that there’s too much group work and not enough individual work but this again highlights the impact of the university’s strategic plan and pressure on staff to meet institutional requirements.

Choice of course

All of the lecturers emphasised the importance of a having a really good open day for the course. As well as using the occasion to sell the course to students, the team’s main objective is to set clear expectations up front for the students:

We enthuse the students when they’re thinking of coming to us and we sell the course really well, and we sell the philosophy and the expectations really well.

The clarity of the information given at an open day really seems to ensure that students get what they expect. So I think that’s going to be a key driver for retention, whether their expectations are met in whatever form that is.

One lecturer commented that they usually have one student per year approach them saying that the course wasn’t what they expected and most often such students hadn’t attended an open day. Parents are usually impressed by the Business Studies open day and the open day is used to address any concerns parents may have about the facilitation of placements in the third year of the course. The lecturers inform prospective students and parents that the course team will help to facilitate the search for placements by helping support the development of skills, for example, CVs, interview techniques, applications, but ultimately it is the student’s responsibility to secure their own placement. This illustrates how the course team set clear expectations even before students enrol on the course, hopefully reducing the number of students who consider leaving university due to a mismatch of prior expectations and reality.

Making the subject interesting

The lecturers reported that teaching styles and methods are at the heart of making Business Studies interesting. They highlighted the importance of captivating and engaging the students and relating the subject to things the students can understand. One lecturer labelled it ‘edutainment’. It was also considered fundamental to recruit the right people who are suited to teaching the first year:

These could be people with extensive industry experience, inspirational speakers or people who are not so experienced but at the same time add a different dimension to the education of these students.

It was regarded important for those teaching the first year to have a blend of pedagogical skills, industry experience, research experience and understanding of the younger generation. In addition to teaching style, the team utilise technology to engage students and


use a variety of different media to make a subject more understandable, including pod casts, You-Tube clips or anything visual. Some units also require students to use multi media as part of their assessment, for example, documenting project work on film as opposed to writing a formal report. Whilst the benefits of using such tools were discussed in relation to the students’ course experience, it was also acknowledged that for staff unused to using new technology it can be quite stressful and generate a fear factor – ‘it requires a lot of confidence from the tutor’s side and pro-activeness…it does involve a lot of risk as well’.

Other ways in which the course is made interesting for students is incorporating hands-on learning. The real life projects on the Introduction to Management Unit (mentioned earlier) is one example where students work together to organise guest speakers, a social event, community task or fundraising. The lecturers were ‘astonished’ and ‘thrilled’ with the outcomes from the students and report that on the whole the students loved it as it unleashed their creativity. Not all students were happy with the team work aspect with regard to the reluctance of some group members to participate in the project – levels of motivation and contribution varied. However, the lecturers reassured the students that the peer assessment grades for the projects do not contribute to the grade of their final degree and considered it a safe environment for the students to develop their team working skills, such as negotiation and leadership skills.

Plans for improvement

Although the programme team did not highlight any specific areas that they plan on improving, their main focus is to provide stability amidst external factors that may bring change. Lecturers referred to coping with loss of staff and keeping ‘the ship steaming ahead’. They are waiting to see how changes of the university are going to impact on the course.

Relationship with staff – staff/student relations

Staff on the Business Studies course have an open-door policy allowing students to access them when needed, either by visiting their office, e-mail or phone. Staff are encouraged to display their ‘surgery hours’ on their door for students on the course and the first year tutor is a first port of call for both academic and pastoral support. The first year tutor is a core part of the team and has replaced the need for personal tutors on the course. In the past, the team found that the use of personal tutors did not work well as it was only students who were already ambitious, dedicated and enthusiastic who would take advantage of the service. Those who were struggling and required support would not make contact. One lecturer highlighted that it is important for a course to adopt the most appropriate form of pastoral support for students:

It’s no good saying you’ve got pastoral support in place if the pastoral support isn’t the kind of support the students want or need.

For Business Studies, an investment was instead made into the first year tutor role and PAL. The first year tutor signposts students to relevant services and support where appropriate.Those interviewed felt that the course team respond really well to students’ problems and that everybody goes the extra mile to support the student experience. It was acknowledged that the course administrators are patient and knowledgeable and are likely to offer pastoral care and counselling in their daily role, again helping to make students feel supported. The staff believe in a combination of being supportive yet firm, and the following qualities were regarded as important:


Some of these core people of the team are extremely approachable and student friendly and they’ve been selected on that basis as well, so the infrastructures are put in place to ensure approachability, consistency, firmness, but also gentle when necessary.

I think the fact that the students trust us enough to know it will be dealt with confidentially, they do come to us.

I’d think if they got an abrupt or off hand response from me it would put them off…I’d rather be seen as a mate until you upset me!

You treat them as an individual, you treat them with respect…you talk to them like adults…as long as there’s mutual respect there.

Setting clear expectations and boundaries helps the team to develop respectful and trustful student/staff relationships. Small actions during induction, for example, explaining the unit face-to-face or putting photos of the course team on myBU help to personalise the first year experience and the course leader even plays football with the students for the university, illustrating the extent to which staff engage with the students.

The relationship between staff and students on the course is dependent on communication, in particular providing feedback to students. The lecturers noted that they are careful that they explain things to students, go through marking criteria with them and provide copious amounts of feedback on assignments. Feedback was also linked to making the students feel valued and it was hoped to boost morale. Lecturers make a point of:

Telling them what a great job they’ve done…They are looking for recognition. They are looking for feedback, immediate feedback, immediate kind of reward system even though these are intangible rewards, just appreciation of the work that they’ve done.

For students who encounter problems with their academic work, they are advised to go to the first year tutor or course leader who help to alleviate any problems. Lecturers make themselves available to tutor or counsel students who fail work:

I think we’re all encouraged to engage with them rather than feeling that isolation.

One lecturer uses the human touch when helping students overcome difficulties for their studies by relating to their own experiences. For example, when with a student who worried about delivering presentations on the course, the lecturer shared their own fears of presenting prior to their teaching career.

Course information is presented to students in both electronic and hard copy format. The course handbook is available to students on a data stick and the induction pack and timetable for the first week are given in hard copy. Unit guides and assignment briefs are given to students in written format and online via myBU. Students are taught to submit everything onto myBU and the announcements section of myBU is used effectively to pass messages to students. Texting was trialled at one point for timely communication such as reminders of due dates/milestones. In terms of communication prior to starting university, students who accept a place on the course have access to a static version of Stepping Stones2HE (a website to support transition). The website provides detail about the course team, frequently asked questions and reading lists that students may access prior to starting.

Support from friends/peers

As touched on in the discussions around induction and assessment style, the lecturers feel that developing peer support is pivotal to the first year experience for students and that it is critical that students make friends early. Group work features prominently in the course and


opportunities for developing friendships are integrated strongly through group project management tasks such as the real life projects:

Whilst they [the students] would argue that it can have its weaknesses it does allow them to engage with each other and I’m sure that friendships and social support comes out of that.

Staff remarked that the social events organised by the students as part of the real life projects were highly commended by the students and a good opportunity for bonding. People could get together in a different environment before embarking on more demanding project work. One lecturer, however, felt there were not many other activities on the course for students to get to know each other as there is no recognition for doing so in the institution. For example, in the past students on the course were taken on coach trips or to outward bound days to develop team building and leadership skills but it is no longer possible to release time or finances for that – ‘it’s a very different culture now’.

For Business Studies, the Peer Assisted Learning system works well at encouraging peer support and group bonding and is believed to help retention. The PAL leaders provide another contact point for students in the support structure of the course and the system appears to be highly valued by both staff and students:

They love the PAL leaders, having the PAL leaders to guide them through the challenging times.

Year one students always say they see the PAL leaders as their friends.

I think it’s invaluable because they can touch base with someone who’s been there and done it before…they see them as their peers and look up to them. It’s fantastic.

PAL leaders help the students to understand the assignment schedule, talk about project managing the peaks and troughs, therefore helping students cope with the coursework and academic transition. However, it was also noted that PAL could allow bad practice to be transferred, such as shortcuts that the students could make, so care needs to be taken with the implementation of PAL.

With regard to group dynamics and friendship development, age does not appear to play a significant factor. The Business Studies course tends to attract a majority of younger students aged 18-20 and mature students mix in without apparent problems. The course team have experienced more of a challenge when devising the best way of integrating international students onto the course. The course team originally kept all international students together in one group which helped them to gel with each other but not integrate with UK students. The current method is to mix the international students across seminar groups and subsequently ‘international students have managed to engage quite seamlessly with the rest of the groups’. Another form of peer support for international students has been having a dedicated international PAL leader whom the students can approach.

Fitting in/belonging

Celebrating achievement was considered a good way of making students feel a part of the university. One lecturer emphasised the importance of making more of what the students have done by promoting it via the marketing team to the wider university community and externally:

That sense of belonging, that I’m a student of the Business School, I’m a student of Bournemouth University, will come only if we have more opportunities to get out to the world


that this is what they’ve done and get back to them, build up the pride… They want this kind of community feeling. They want to feel part of a group and recognised.

It was implied that such recognition can give students a sense of feeling valued at the university, as can opportunities for students to represent the university. In the 2nd year of the course students are encouraged to represent the School and university in external competitions which may also ‘start to sow the seeds’ of that sense of institutional belonging. Taking part in activities organised by the university but outside of the course can also help students to identify with the university and break down barriers, for example, getting involved in sports at BU. Interestingly, it was claimed that students on the course identified more with the university than with their course or with the School (based on results from a course survey that staff distributed to students about their experience):

I sometimes get upset that they don’t feel a greater affinity for their course and it might be something with Business Studies. It’s such a general subject and you often find that students who come onto Business Studies don’t really have a passion for Business Studies.

This implies that a number of factors may come into play when identifying how and why students feel a part of the university and what motivates a sense of belonging.

On a more individual level, staff attention to students was considered to increase a sense of belonging. Staff on the course team respond to students with personal circumstances and hope that students know that somebody does care and has noticed them:

A bond hopefully would form whereby they’d got a significant other here that they can trust.

The administrative team know students by name and are aware of a student’s academic progress which contributes to a feeling of recognition as an individual. Lecturing staff found it more difficult to learn all the students’ names and get to know them individually due to the large cohort size. In some cases staff only get to know the ‘really outstanding individuals’ and ‘problem children’. In contrast, one lecturer felt that the programme leader and first year tutor in particular ‘know the students very well and I’m sure the students feel that they’re not just numbers, they’re individuals’.

Another factor that can impact on students fitting in and feeling like they belong is group dynamics and peers. Whilst peer support may have benefits and help to retain students, for those students who do not feel that they fit in, non-acceptance from peers may have detrimental effects:

It’s all about the very beginning. How people suss them out at the beginning.

One lecturer explained how groups can sometimes push people out, particularly if personal circumstances result in the exclusion of a student from the group. In such cases, the lecturer tries to get other students in the group to be more accepting of each other and explain that personal issues may be affecting a fellow students’ attendance and participation as opposed to disinterest in the group and the course. It was also commented upon that mature students do not always end up with a sense of belonging if they are reluctant to mix with younger students, and have been known to confide in staff.

The course team’s flexible approach to situations may also help students to fit in and engage fully in university life. If appropriate, lecturers will move seminar times to accommodate sports that the students want to attend at BU, therefore encouraging students to engage in extra-curricular activities. If a student is unhappy and does not feel part of their seminar group, the team will sometimes arrange for them to move groups and have seen students come out of themselves and develop a sense of belonging when placed among new peers. The team therefore try to accommodate students’ requests or needs where possible.


Life outside of studies

Students are given advice and guidance during induction about who they should approach if they have problems concerning their finances, accommodation or any problems with settling in. A spidergram is used to identify where students would go for support for a specific problem, for example, AskBU, student finance or student accommodation services. If in doubt as to which service they should use, students are advised to contact the first year tutor, programme leader or first year administrators who can redirect them appropriately. If students are unhappy about their social life, flat mates or have problems with other students, the first year tutor would be recommended as a point of contact. To assist international students with their cultural transition as well as their academic transition, the international office offer activities to get them orientated in the UK and at BU on arrival.

Students more likely to doubt

The lecturers felt that students at risk of withdrawing from the course were influenced by a number of factors including choosing the wrong course for the wrong reasons, choosing the wrong university, experiencing chronic personal issues, being coerced into coming to university by their parents, and missing friends or a close family network. The team did not know of any students who had left the course just because they couldn’t cope; external factors usually played a role. Students at risk of withdrawing often have differences in expectation. Some students, for example, decide they want to be on a course that has more emphasis on finance and accounting and transfer within the School. Although such students are lost from the course, they are not technically lost from the university. In this example the lecturer highlighted that content not transition influenced the risk of withdrawal. There is also a tendency that those students who have doubts and leave did not attend an open day, again indicating a possible mismatch between expectation and reality of the course. The impact of the current economic climate on students who have doubts was also discussed, with one lecturer stating that the economic environment will result in ‘a lot of pressure for them to suppress any wish to quit, and stick at it’.

With regard to the timing of doubts, the team pointed out that it is not only first year students who experience doubts on the course – the course still has students withdraw during the 3rd,

year. Although the course does not lose many students overall, they are potentially more likely to lose students in the first year, normally within the first few weeks.

It’s like after the buzz has ended from freshers’ week and [by] week 3 or 4…they’re probably coming here in floods.

Another lecturer questioned whether doubts could occur in the second semester once the initial enthusiasm dies off. Units in the second semester need to be equally challenging, engaging and testing. If and when doubts do occur, the course team are on hand to talk to students. The first year tutor in particular keeps an eye on students that the team think are at risk, along with the administration team and programme leader:

The support, the programme leader with the unit leader and the programme administration, has managed to build an excellent safety net to help anyone who has doubts to establish whether they are right for the course, what options there are for these students.

Those interviewed claimed that the course has a supportive staff team that the students become familiar with from induction and this helps students feel quite comfortable in approaching lecturers when problems emerge. Every effort is made to encourage students to stay, for example, staff help students to get themselves ‘in gear’ if they are not doing well


and therefore think they cannot continue. However, the team do not force someone to stay for whom it is not the right decision:

I think we try to be honest with them and sometimes the right decision is to leave…I certainly don’t think we’d see it as our job as keeping people here against their will. If they want to go and need to go then we would help to facilitate that in as helpful way as we can.

In such situations, the course team help to ‘soften the exit’ and help students to understand the options available if they want to leave, for example, giving advice on how to reapply another year or internal transfers if applicable. Student withdrawal was defined in two ways by one lecturer – ‘acceptable loss’, where staff have to accept they may lose some students who have personal issues, can’t cope or miss home, and ‘questionable loss’, where the course team are encouraged to look at the practices in place.

One method used to identify students at risk is attendance monitoring. The lecturers take registers for the first semester of year one, particularly for seminar sessions, and letters are sent to students who miss 3 lectures asking them to make an appointment to see the first year tutor to find out what’s happening. Monitoring is not based purely on attendance but also on overall engagement with the course. Whilst not all students respond to e-mail contact from the first year tutor and display avoidance behaviour, it is hoped the process will help lecturers catch the majority of students possibly at risk of doubting during transition and enable them to implement appropriate support if necessary. The course team also informally evaluate assessment data to highlight students having difficulties, for example, those who have not submitted work or who have failed, as this ‘will ultimately reflect on retention’. Although staff can gauge a student’s participation through their engagement in group work with fellow students during the course, they get a better indication of the students’ performance at the end of semester one once the first assignment has been marked. One lecturer stated ‘we tend to only notice they’re having difficulties when they’ve failed a unit’. Students would be advised to seek support from the first year tutor, unit leaders or course leader in this situation.

PAL has been known to have an influence on student doubters on the course, with one international student wanting to become a PAL leader in their second year due to the impact the system had for them as a new student. The student expressed that if it hadn’t been for PAL in their first year they wouldn’t have stayed. This example also illustrates the motivational aspect of the scheme with students wanting to return the support as a PAL leader by helping others in a similar situation.

Determination and internal factors

Those interviewed did not identify any specific processes for supporting students who stay at university due to a desire not to quit rather than a desire to stay. Using the course’s support structure, students in such a position and unhappy would be advised to talk to the first year tutor. The resilience of such students who have doubts was discussed, however, in relation to subject discipline and other courses within the School:

I’d say the Law students, by and large, are quite decisive and they’re quite strong willed. They know what they want and you know they’re budding lawyers. They can be argumentative, they can be quite difficult, they can be very aware of what their rights are but also quite self confident in their choices whereas you wouldn’t get that to the same extent on Business Studies. You’d probably have more doubters on Business Studies.

Doubting could be linked to the type of course and the characteristics and personal strengths required for a student to succeed. One lecturer stated that Business Studies students are not always sure why they chose to study the subject which may indicate different internal factors


in force compared to a law student for example. This may also support comments made by the team in relation to fitting in or belonging and students not having a passion for the subject or affinity to the course.

Future goals

Employability is a strong theme throughout the course owing to the subject discipline and some lecturers emphasise to students that they will be managers of the future, ‘pulling the triggers’ in relation to aspirations and future goals. Employability statistics in relation to the course are even referred to during the Business Studies open day which impress visitors and aim to inspire prospective students.

Although placements do not take place until the 3rd year, the Introduction to Management unit in the first year is dedicated to career development. The unit aims to develop skills, attributes, behaviours and competencies desired by employers. Work on the unit is usually group based and simulated business scenarios are used for building project management skills. The Management Ethics unit in the first year explores how personal morale will impinge on business decision making and the lecturers try to relate to industry as much as possible. The course also supports students in updating their CVs.

Examples of practice and evaluation


Academic transition

Induction activity – Seminar Group Directory – students gather interesting information about each other, learning names in process and attacking stereotypes, particularly with diverse groups. Helps students identify who they have things in common with e.g. music/bands, what they’re good at/not good at.

Induction activity – Mission Statement – students have to put together a statement about what they want to achieve as a group in the first year. Work in small groups.

Induction activity – The Photo Album – students are given a list of places they must try and visit. In small groups, the students have to take photos of their group at the various locations in Bournemouth. They score points for each place visited and places are graded on how difficult it is to get there e.g. a place on campus would be allocated less points than the beach for example. Has logistical implications that the teams will encounter – how will they get there? How will they help any disabled students in their group to get to the location?

Induction activity – The Shopping Basket (a variation on one of The Apprentice games) – students have to collect random items on a list and give them to the programme leader at the end of the week.

Induction activity – Brain Drain – quiz with questions about the course like how many units have an end of year exam? What’s the pass rate? What happens if you fail a piece of work? Winning group gets a prize at the end of induction.

The course team organise induction sessions and activities into 4 themes:


Working in groups – getting to know you activitiesOrganising your timeCoping with transition – managing transition and the impact on well beingManaging your own learning

Establishing a Learning and Teaching Group within the School where staff at all levels can meet for discussions and to exchange practice.


Adjusting assessment regime where appropriate – considering the most suitable and effective ways of measuring students’ learning whilst maintaining the intended learning outcomes e.g. coursework, group assignments, exams, projects, multiple choice questionnaires. Assessment methods may influence pass rates.

Academic skills sessions delivered to students e.g. on referencing.

Students given small, regular tasks and regular feedback.

Staff monitor students who gain low marks to help address the situation and implement support if necessary.

Letters of congratulation sent to students who are achieving high grades. Gives encouragement and motivation to students to continue succeeding.

Outstanding students are encouraged to participate in national business competitions .

Lots of opportunities for group work on the course. Helps the students to develop team building and communication skills, as well as form friendships and peer support.

Choice of course

Using open days to ‘sell the course really well’ to students and set expectations.

Making taught sessions interesting

Students are asked to organise guest speakers (work in groups).

Coach trips (subject to time and funding) e.g. to companies, London Stock Exchange, trade union head quarters.

Ensuring that the most suitable people are recruited to teach the first year – blend of pedagogical skills, industry experience, research experience, and understanding of the younger generation. Someone who can add a different element to the education of the students. Adapt to learning styles/preferences of the first year.

Use of technology – ‘their intelligences are more modified by this exposure to technology’. Use of pod casts, You-Tube etc.


Real life projects – students given a task as a whole seminar group. One group responsible for organising a social activity, another responsible for inviting a guest speaker, one ‘making a difference’ project and one fund raising initiative. A mix of business, social and community focus. Involves links with the Students Union. Students develop their project management/event organisation skills and team work. Split down into groups of 4 or 5 members to actually organise the event. Project documentation is recorded online. Rather than a final report, students have to provide documentary evidence of their event/project using multimedia to present it in an engaging way. The students have used narrated auto-running PowerPoint presentations, video clips, You Tube and Facebook.

Course team invite guest speakers to lectures.


Creating a first year tutor role for the course – a first point of contact for all students on the programme who require academic or pastoral support. The first year tutor can signpost students to other people or services or deal with issues as appropriate. Students are made aware of a clear line of communication – if they have a unit related query they would go to unit leaders first, then the first year tutor, then the programme leader. For personal issues, students should see the first year tutor in the first instance but do have choice if they would rather approach someone else.

Ensuring staff availability to tutor or counsel, whether face to face, phone or e-mail.

Copious amounts of feedback given to students on their work. Staff carefully communicate assignment briefs and marking criteria with students.


PAL scheme used to encourage peer support and group bonding.

Having an international PAL leader who can be another contact and support mechanism for international students on the course.

Coach trips e.g. outward bound courses to develop teambuilding and leadership skills. Good for getting to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and help the students to bond.

Setting group tasks so that students not only develop team building skills but also get to know their peers and build additional support structures.


Recognising and celebrating student success and achievement publicly across the university and externally via university newspapers, VLE. Make use of the marketing team to publicise students’ work or involvement in projects and activities.

Recognising students as individuals and learning their names where possible.


Life outside of studies

Produce a spidergram for students in induction week to identify where students would go for support for a specific problem.


Attendance monitoring in semester one of the first year – helps staff to identify students who may be at risk of withdrawing. Enables the first year tutor and other members of the course team to contact students to find out what is happening and look at how to manage the situation.

Support from PAL has influenced some students to stay who had experienced doubts. Such students in some cases go on to become PAL leaders themselves to help others in a similar situation.

Future goals

Organising external guests who can talk to the students e.g. people who have been involved in designing assessment centres (2nd year)

Supporting students in updating their CV

Career development addressed via the Introduction to Management Unit in the first year – helps students develop skills, attributes, behaviours and competencies desired by employers.

Summary

It is clear from the BA (Hons) staff interviews that the lecturers are part of a strong course team who work together to enhance the student experience and support and monitor students’ progress. The course leader, first year tutor, lecturers and administrators work together to deliver a course that is engaging and challenging for students, and different streams of support are available, including the first year tutor and PAL. Both the course open days and induction week are used to set clear expectations to students and it has been noted that students who tend to doubt or leave the course have not usually attended an open day.

A combination of methods were considered helpful for student retention on the course, such as monitoring attendance and assignment grades to help identify students who may be at risk of withdrawing, and support is implemented as appropriate. Assessment methods for units have been adapted in an attempt to improve pass rates and entry tariffs to the course have been raised. However, it was also acknowledged that having high entry requirements to the course may not always guarantee the recruitment of focused learners.

Through all of the interviews, a clear concern was expressed about current institutional changes which are impacting upon the course. The course team are no longer able to commit to some of its innovative activities due to resource implications, changes to university strategy and the restructuring of staff roles. Unfortunately, some valuable aspects of the course, such as the availability of staff and the provision of opportunities for students to


develop friendships, are not always recognised institutionally and gain limited credit, particularly in comparison to pressure on staff to develop their research profiles.

SECTION 3

Student View

This section presents the views obtained from first year students enrolled on BA (Hons) Business Studies for 09/10. A link to the online survey was given to students via the ‘announcements’ section of the VLE community for the 09/10 Business Studies cohort. 66 out of 246 first year students enrolled on BA (Hons) Business Studies for 09/10 completed the survey (27% response rate). 67 students originally completed the survey but one student did not give permission for their anonymous answers to be used and has therefore not been included in the analysis.

Students were asked to rate different aspects of their course using a Likert scale and a number of qualitative questions were included on students’ feelings about their first year experience. Following a summary of the survey results, practical examples that enhanced the student experience are listed. Responses to the quantitative survey questions are as follows:

1. How interesting the students found their course

66.7% found the course interesting25.8% found it moderately interesting7.6% did not find it interesting

2. How valued the students feel by staff

37.9% of students felt valued39.4% felt moderately valued by staff22.7% did not feel valued

3. Friendliness of the students on their course

84.4% said the students were very friendly on their course7.8% stated that students were moderately friendly7.8% felt students on the course were not friendly

92.4% had made good friends on their course7.6% had not made any good friends

4. Doubts in the first year

63.7% had never considered withdrawing in their first year25.8% had considered leaving but decided to stay10.6% had considered leaving and had not yet made up their mind whether to stay or go

5. Confidence in coping with their coursework

67.2% of students felt confident that they could cope with their coursework


25% felt moderately confident7.8% did not feel confident at allIn comparison to when the students first started the course:

26.2% felt more confident now that they could cope with their coursework55.4% felt about the same18.5% felt less confident than they did at the start of the course

6. Differences between learning at university and previous learning

92.1% of students understand how learning at university is different from their previous learning7.9% do not understand the differences

7. Future goals

84.4% of students said that the course is helping them to achieve their future goals15.6% said it was not helping them to achieve their future goals

The analysis which follows is based on the students’ responses to the qualitative questions in the survey and the points below are overall aspects of their course that the students liked best:

The variety of units and topics studied Career prospects Practical relevance to industry The staff – including availability, approachability and teaching style Flexibility of the course structure and the option to specialise in particular subjects

alongside Business Studies


Academic transition

Students found that the talks given by lecturers during induction week were most useful for helping them to understand the differences between learning at university and their previous experiences of studying. Students found that the standard of work required is much higher at university in contrast to A grade at A-level or distinction grade at BTEC level, and there are greater expectations of independent learning:

Induction talks demonstrated how as a university student I would be required to study much more independently and research topics thoroughly in order to achieve the higher grades.

Students understood that they would have to manage their own time, deadlines and workload and that it was their own responsibility to attend lectures, to be motivated and succeed. Students commented that recommended reading lists for each unit showed them how learning is different at university, in particular that more reading was expected of them in comparison to previous study. The positive aspects of independent learning were acknowledged by some students in relation to their personal development:

Before I came to university I was always sure about my capabilities when doing Business Studies because I've always been good at it but I've always been shy. Since coming to Bournemouth I have taken on the role naturally as leader and have more and more confidence after each assignment which I didn’t have in secondary school. This is purely


because of the independence the university gives to students and it’s really helped me come out of my comfort zone to better me as a leader and a person.

To give students more independence, the students recognised that they were receiving less help from tutors at university than in their previous learning. One example given was that tutors do not read assignments before students submit work. The students’ understanding of this academic transition suggests that they have absorbed the expectations of independent learning set by the course team during induction.

In agreement with the staff perspective, students highly rated the induction activities organised by the course. The students stated that the induction was good for meeting people which echoes the lecturers’ belief that the main focus of induction should be allowing groups to gel:

The freshers’ week was a great opportunity to make friends as the range of get-to-know you activities worked extremely well to bond the seminar group.

Some of the tasks set during induction week meant that we had to work together as a seminar group which I think immediately helped us to start forming friendships.

The task involving photos around Bournemouth was a brilliant way to get to know everyone.

Group activities were considered a good way of bonding with other students in seminar groups and The Photo Album and The Shopping Basket tasks were particular favourites. Whilst students enjoyed the activities and got to know people on their course over the week, they felt that it was hard to make ‘friends’ during induction as they believe friendships are built over time and not made during icebreaker or induction activities.


The majority of students (92.2%) felt confident to an extent that they could cope with their coursework and, in comparison to when they first started the course, most students’ (81.6%) confidence levels either remained the same or increased. One of the main factors that helped the students gain confidence in coping with their coursework was help from staff and their availability when needed. Students reported that staff are happy to spend time helping them if they have queries. Some students claimed that they find particular subjects difficult but noted that there are lots of places they can go for support and help. This suggests that the information given by staff during induction about available support is absorbed by most students e.g. the spidergram. One aspect that the students found hard to adjust to was lecturers not reading coursework and giving feedback to students before a piece of work is submitted. This highlights the differences between the level of support in school and higher education, and differences in expectation during transition.

On the whole, students feel that the coursework is manageable and not too intense, which they attributed to being eased into the workload and having manageable timeframes. One participant claimed that ‘the way in which it builds up in difficulty is brilliant’ and lecturers’ clarity about coursework tasks also helped them to feel confident in approaching work. Getting good results increased some students’ confidence in coping with coursework and, for others, being challenged helped:

The fact that the course has been a challenge has pushed me to cope with coursework more than my past, therefore the fact that I am able to do well with such a challenge has improved my confidence.

An additional factor helping students to cope with the challenges was the accessibility of information to support their work. Students appreciate that information and resources can be found online at myBU. They find the materials on myBU extremely helpful as it allows them


to go back over things they may not understand and gives them access to further resources e.g. text books.

Where the staff and students’ views tend to differ is on the subject of group work as a type of assessment, yet the lecturers do acknowledge that students complain about the amount of group work on the course. Students highlighted that they feel less confident in coping with group work as not all students participate equally, which they feel can affect their final grade for an assessment. Students would like to see less focus on group work or different structures in place to support effective group work:

In my opinion there is too much group work which often results in being graded unfairly due to other members of the group. This creates a lack of motivation.

I believe it would be useful if attendance was monitored more closely to help with many of the group-based tasks as many of my peers have missed a lot of contact sessions.

Whilst staff monitor student attendance in the first weeks of the term, students also feel that attendance monitoring throughout units may help their engagement in this assessment method due to the high level of group work on the course. Other areas of the course where students had difficulty or lacked motivation included content that repeated A-level work, which some found uninspiring, and exams:

There is no real preparation possibility for exams. Especially because this is first year, it would be of great help to have some practice. For example, reading a whole law book and knowing the definitions will not guide me how to write specific essays for an exam. It would be good to write practice papers and get some feedback before the real exam.

To increase the students’ confidence in exams, students would welcome more advice on exam preparation and opportunities to practise.


The students enjoy their subject most when they have engaging lecturers teaching them. Praising the teaching style of most staff as excellent and particular individuals as a credit to the department, the students like being taught by lecturers who make learning enjoyable and challenging. The hands on learning and relevance to industry contributes to students’ engagement with the subject and they enjoy the element of creativity given to students through tasks such as the ‘real life’ projects. What they like best about the course is:

How different it is from other universities’ business courses. It’s not all written work. There’s always a chance to be creative and it really brings out the best in people and helps discover who you are, whether you’re actually a good manager which you may not have considered before or that you’re creative enough to go into marketing.

The practicality. It isn’t all text book based – it’s based on real life business situations which is brilliant.

Staff were excited about the ‘real life’ projects and felt that hands-on work unleashed students’ creativity. The students appear to agree and like the way the course is applicable to life. The variety of units and topics covered in the course content make the subject interesting for the students, as well as the range of assessment styles:

I enjoy the diversity between the different units. Being assessed in a different manner for each unit allows me to find my strengths and weaknesses. I also enjoy learning a range of units as opposed to units all based on the same topic.


Keeping the course varied in terms of content, delivery and assessment clearly helps maintain the students’ engagement with the subject.

In accordance with the staff perspective, the students expressed a preference for being taught by lecturers who are more teaching focused and less research focused. Concerns were expressed over the quality of some lecturers who students did not feel were as engaging or authoritative as others, or weak communicators. The students reflected the staff opinion of having the most suitable people in place to teach first years, suggesting that those specialising in research do not always excel in teaching style:

The course needs to have tutors that can teach to a good level. PhDs infer knowledge but they do not mean people can teach. There is no substitute for experience.

Just because someone is academically brilliant doesn't mean they can 'teach'.

Although the course team sets the expectation at the start of the course that teaching styles will vary, it still seems to have a significant impact on student engagement. Other factors that made the course less interesting for students included a dislike for specific units due to personal preference, causing a lack of motivation; difficulty with particular subjects; and assessment styles, for example, some want more interactive project work, whereas others would like less group assessment.

Plans for improvement

In the staff interviews, lecturers commented upon the impact of institutional restructuring on the course and how they have tried to protect students from the impact of the university changes. In terms of future plans for improvement, the team want to provide stability and continue to provide the level of service currently offered by the course. Despite efforts to protect the students, however, the impact on them is still evident. In the survey students expressed that they do not feel valued when inspiring lecturers are forced to leave due to restructuring at the university. They were dissatisfied with the re-profiling of BU and staff redundancies which they believe is affecting the standard of teaching they receive, and jeopardising their learning. This again highlights the tensions associated with a possible research and teaching divide.


Staff made the students feel valued by listening to them and being interested in the students’ learning and enjoyment of the course. The approachability and friendliness of staff also helped students to gain confidence in their learning:

They listened to what we had to say about the marketing task and were completely interested in how we enjoyed the task.

Lecturers really listen and treat you as an individual and listen to your opinions, they never judge you.

They provide such a friendly relationship which makes it easier to learn because I feel more confident to ask questions.

The students appreciated contact with lecturers who were non-judgemental, respectful and who treated them like adults. This reflects the staff views on developing respectful and trusting relationships with the students to make them feel supported. Some students


recognised that it is a two way process which also links to the lecturers’ opinions on setting boundaries and clear expectations:

I like the fact that teachers will give me more help when I have put the effort in, they know I am willing to learn and therefore respect me more and give me the help I need when I ask.

With regard to support, the availability of staff and the ‘surgery hours’ offered were appreciated by most. Students felt comfortable approaching staff for support and advice and liked constructive feedback received from lecturers:

I specifically like some of the mark sheets which tell you what you need to do to raise your score at the next attempt.

The students also acknowledged that they feel valued when given praise which links to the lecturers’ aims of celebrating the achievement of students and recognising the work they have done. Despite acknowledging the positive elements of support from the course team, some students still believed they were not receiving value for money on the course as they did not have enough contact hours with lecturers. This may reflect differences in expectation between their previous learning and independent study at university level.

Another aspect of the student/staff relationship reflected upon was the recognition of individual students. Students reported that they felt valued by staff who get to know them and make the effort to learn names.

[One lecturer] has really impressed me with his manner around the campus with recognising, greeting and talking to students on a regular basis.

There are many students and staff make the effort to try and learn as many people’s names as possible, building a more personal relationship between staff and students.

The lecturers found it difficult getting to know all students due to the large cohort size so it is encouraging that the students noticed the effort being made. Not all students, however, felt this way. Other students believe that there are too many students on the course and not enough time for staff to get to know them individually. One student compared it to their school experience, claiming that they found it different getting used to the relationship with staff at university having known teachers directly at school.


The students listed a number of opportunities for making friends on the course. During induction, meeting their seminar group, ice-breakers and group activities helped students get to know each other and learn names. This helped them to learn a bit about others on the course and to see who had similar interests. The most popular activity during induction was the Photo Album challenge where students have to take pictures of themselves at various locations around Bournemouth. Whilst the students acknowledged that the course was a good place to make friends, they feel it is very limited to each seminar group.

Similar to the opportunities offered by the course during induction, group work and group assignments helped students make friends on the course after induction. The Introduction to Management group tasks and Marketing task were especially favoured by the students:

The SIG group project for Business Studies students was great for friendship building and was an enjoyable task.


Since induction week, many of our assignments have been group work, some in smaller groups and our marketing one as a whole seminar group. I feel that these helped us to grow closer as a seminar group, especially the marketing project, in which we all performed well as a team/group and resulted in us winning.

The group work we were set in our seminar group is very good for getting to know people. I am now friends with people who I probably wouldn’t have been friends with had I not had to work in a group with them.

The students enjoyed friendly competition during seminars and, in alignment with the staff view, could see the benefits of group work to friendship development. As mentioned previously, however, group work on the course also has the tendency to frustrate students:

Some simply fed off others in the group and did not work.

By working in groups for assignments, however, this can also show you people you don't like because they don't work, which lets the group down.

The dislike of group work was again clearly voiced by the students, yet some viewed the challenge in a positive light. One student, for example, believed the group work was helping to prepare them for their future career by teaching them how to cope with different characters.

Some students thought it was ‘brilliant’ to be together in the same seminar group throughout the course and felt that opportunities for making friends had been their own responsibility after induction, for example, students arranged social events outside of the course, went drinking or clubbing together, or participated in extra curricular activities such as MAD events or attending SU clubs and societies. Whilst 94.4% of the survey respondents indicated that they had made good friends on the course, one mature student did not express a sense of belonging or ‘fitting in’, stating ‘sometimes I feel not wanted as an old student’. This supports one of the lecturer’s views that mature students sometimes struggle to gain a sense of belonging.

In addition to group work and social events, PAL was considered to be another opportunity for making friends after induction that was welcomed by the students. PAL sessions were said to have worked well, in particular ‘get to know you’ sessions with PAL leaders:

In a PAL session we all had to say our names, where we are from and something ‘unique’ about ourselves. I found that let everybody let their guards down so we could start getting to know each other.

What brought our seminar [group] together most was PAL sessions because it wasn’t a session purely for academics and we got to mingle on a social level.

I think that the PAL sessions have worked well this year. It was useful to be able to talk to second years who have experienced what we were going through, maybe gaining advice from them.

This suggests that the combination of support from PAL and the first year tutor have benefited the students.


Of those students who completed the survey, 25.8% had considered leaving during their first year but decided to stay. Reasons for contemplating withdrawal included not enjoying the course, not finding the course good value for money, being dissatisfied with teaching quality


and performing poorly in assessments. Some students stated that the course was not as they expected it to be which matches the staff perspective of students who they consider to be at risk of withdrawing from the course. One student who considered withdrawing due to ‘lack of support’ gave the following explanation:

It seems that there is a bit too much stress on so called self-learning from books. I would deeply appreciate a more interactive approach and some workshops to practise for exams.

Other students considered leaving due to a lack of support or guidance from staff, and feeling that there was too much focus on self-directed learning and not enough lectures or contact time. This again may relate to differences in expectation of learning and support at university. It would be interesting to know if such students had attended an open day, which the lecturers emphasised as crucial for setting expectations for the course. In addition to course related reasons for doubting, some students almost withdrew because they felt isolated:

In the first term I considered leaving as it is such a big life change. Getting used to it is hard as you feel very isolated at the beginning.

This illustrates the importance of opportunities for friendship building on the course and group bonding. It also indicates the necessity of pastoral support to help students who feel this way. Personal issues or circumstances did not feature highly as a reason for doubting in the survey responses.

Aspects of their course that helped students to stay at university included support from lecturers, determination to fulfil their future plans and the friends they had made on the course. One student commented:

I talked with second and third year students who said that second year will be better - more interactive and interesting.

Although not clear whether this response is related to PAL, it does imply that contact and engagement with students from other year groups on the course has its advantages as a form of peer support. Other factors outside of the course that helped students to stay was support from friends at university and home, family and financial implications, such as the issue of grants and not wanting to pay to retake the first year. One student who had been feeling isolated decided to stay at university due to accommodation arrangements:

I was in a unilet a long way from town with two people. None of us got on and so I missed much of freshers’ week…I got transferred from a unilet to halls which was a lot better.

Staff on the course claimed that they try to be as flexible as possible in accommodating students’ needs and this practical example depicts how, in partnership with accommodation services, staff may have helped a student who was having doubts. It also emphasises that if students are unhappy with their social situation at university, it may impact on their engagement with the course and their learning.

Future goals

Career prospects were another aspect that some students rated best about the course. They stated that the course was helping them to achieve their future goals by broadening their education, knowledge and awareness of the business world to help them gain a good job and employability. The range of topics studied in the first year is also helping to inform the students’ career choices:


There is a brilliant variety of modules within my course and I like this as it gives me an idea of what options I can do in the future as I’m not sure what I would like to do for a career.

It’s helping me make business connections and consider different paths for my future. Initially I wanted to do management and had never considered marketing and international awareness but from trying them this year they are the subjects I want and am passionate to do. I feel I wouldn't have found this out if I was at any other university.

The above comments relate to the staff view that students are not always sure of their future plans when choosing to study Business Studies at university and may not always have an immediate passion for the subject. However, the student perspective illustrates how the course offers direction to students in terms of next steps and career paths even if they are unsure at the start. They appreciate the opportunities the course experience offers for building business knowledge contacts that may be influential for them in the future.

The students claimed that the course was preparing them for the future by gaining key skills to get ahead in business, including building their confidence, independence, team working skills and personal skills. They particularly valued the links to industry:

The lecturers are very good and all have lots of experience in industry. The assignments are relevant to tasks you would typically be set in the work place.

I am able to gain real practical experience into the world of business which I think will effectively prepare me for my life after university.

Staff commented that the course is employability focused and that they aim to relate their teaching to industry as much as possible. This is clearly appreciated by the students. The students also believed that the experiences on the course would help to enhance their CVs.

Practical examples that enhance the student experience


Academic transition

Talks given by the course team during induction about the differences between learning at university and previous learning.

Induction activity – The Photo Album – students are given a list of places they must try and visit. In small groups, the students have to take photos of their group at the various locations in Bournemouth. They score points for each place visited and places are graded on how difficult it is to get there e.g. a place on campus would be allocated less points than the beach for example. Has logistical implications that the teams will encounter – how will they get there? How will they help any disabled students in their group to get to the location?

Induction activity – The Shopping Basket (a variation on one of The Apprentice games) – students have to collect random items on a list and give them to the programme leader at the end of the week.


Students would like to have exam workshops to help prepare for assessments.


Having manageable timeframes for assignments.

Attendance monitoring to encourage more students to attend sessions and participate in assessed group work. Students dislike it if peers do not attend or contribute as it may affect their group mark.


Real life projects – students given a task as a whole seminar group. One group responsible for organising a social activity, another responsible for inviting a guest speaker, one ‘making a difference’ project and one fund raising initiative. A mix of business, social and community focus. Involves links with the Students Union. Students develop their project management/event organisation skills and team work. Split down into groups of 4 or 5 members to actually organise the event. Project documentation is recorded online. Rather than a final report, students have to provide documentary evidence of their event/project using multimedia to present it in an engaging way. The students have used narrated auto-running PowerPoint presentations, video clips, You Tube and Facebook.

Having engaging lecturers who make learning enjoyable and challenging and apply content to real life.


Offering surgery hours to students should they need to talk to a unit lecturer or the first year tutor

Constructive feedback– given praise as well as advice on how to improve.

Staff learning students’ names make them feel valued as individuals.


Consider how to make opportunities available for students to make friends outside of their seminar group e.g. with the wider cohort.

Induction activities that include group tasks help the students to bond, e.g. The Photo Album challenge (mentioned above).

Opportunities for group work help students to get to know each other.

PAL scheme helped students to make friends as well as talk to second year students who have experienced the course.


Finding ways of integrating mature students with peers or providing support for mature students.



Opportunities for interaction with other year groups on the course who can tell students what to expect in the years that follow.

Future goals

Providing opportunities for students to build business contacts and networks for the future.

Summary

Overall, the students on BA (Hons) Business Studies have enjoyed their first year in the course and appreciated the effort made by staff to make tasks enjoyable and challenging, such as the ‘real life’ projects. The students prefer to be taught by lecturers with engaging teaching styles, as opposed to those who may be more research focused or less able to motivate the students, and they like it when content is related to real business situations.

The students praised the support they receive from staff on the course and in particular rated the PAL scheme favourably for making friends and building a further network of support. Effective communication from the course team has helped students to understand the differences between learning at university and previous learning, and has helped to set clear expectations of study. Feedback from staff on students’ assignment was considered constructive and encouraging.

One aspect of the course that not all students supported was group work. Although the students acknowledged the benefits in terms of getting to know others on the course, they disliked the risk associated with assessed group work if not all members engage in the task.

SECTION 4

Document analysis

For each programme reviewed as part of the HERE! project, a selection of course documents were also analysed where possible to gain further understanding of how course teams enhance the student experience. Particular attention was paid to language style and clarity; the format of documents (online, CD Rom, hard copies); when documents are distributed; and information content e.g. details of academic services, library support, IT support.

Course marketing

The course leader believes input at open days has an impact on those students who succeed on the course – they know what to expect from the course.


Pre-course information

Stepping Stones2HE – webpage providing information for students about the staff, structure of the course, reading lists. The course team haven’t looked at figures to see how many students access the site.

Induction Induction pack given to students as a hard copy on day one. Also available online. Induction focuses on group work. Induction pack focuses on 4 key areas - working in group; organising your time; coping with transition; and managing your own learning. Clear breakdown of timetable content for the week e.g. sessions with PAL leaders, managing the assignment schedule. Given an activity pack with 6 projects to complete in groups. Written in style suited to students’ interests – links made to Dragons’ Den and The Apprentice.

Induction week debrief delivered to students at end of induction week. Highlights how many exams they’ll have in first year, who to talk to if having difficulties, top tips on succeeding in the first year. Informs of regular checks on attendance – 3 warning letters then withdrawn if failing to attend regularly. Includes practical details – where to collect assignments from etc. Lists winners of the group activities.

PowerPoint slides for two induction sessions

Managing Transition – indicates sources of support (year 1 tutor, student reps, library, AskBU, ALN adviser, PAL leaders, learning support etc.) and who to approach (in order) with difficulties. Explains the role of the lecturer, differing teaching methods, what happens in seminars, developing critical thinking. Students encouraged, in pairs, to share their anxieties about starting university.

Course Overview – information on course, learning, assessment, expectations of a successful business studies’ student, links with industry, information on placements. Clear diagrams to illustrate units per term each year. Strong links to careers and future options. Highlights the number of students that did not proceed last year due to not achieving the required academic credits following re-sits. Also shows number of students who passed first time in 08/09 – facts such as this highlight seriousness/reality of assessment.

PowerPoint used as part of all induction sessions – very visual – lots of photos/images used.

Course handbook

Information given to students on a data stick. The only hard copy of documents given is the induction activity pack. The course handbook contains assignment submitting procedures, directs students to the library website for referencing, explains plagiarism, provides details about the student rep system and includes a contact list and year timetable.


First assignment details/assignment schedule

Looked at an example of a group project induction task. Date and time of submission clearly stated. Students asked to upload work to myBU. Aim of project to see if students can work together to follow a detailed brief. Importance of attending induction sessions again flagged up – note on personal file for non-attendance.

Other:

Programme Specification

Overview of different Business Studies awards/pathways. Intended learning outcomes. Structure of placement year.

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Overall summary and key conclusions

When comparing both student and staff perceptions for BA (Hons) Business Studies, there is evidence that a number of factors contribute to the course’s high retention rates. As well as taking specific action to identify students at risk of withdrawing, such as monitoring attendance and assignment submissions, the course team’s relationship with the students has helped to provide a supportive learning environment. The students appreciate the friendliness and approachability of the staff, and feel comfortable contacting them for support and advice. The first year tutor role works well as a first port of call for students with academic or pastoral issues, and students also appreciate the support that they gain from their peers, for example, through PAL sessions.

Similarities between the student and staff views were apparent in relation to the course’s induction week activities. Both students and staff highly rated the Business Studies induction programme and agreed that it provided good opportunities for the students to gel as a group, as well as set clear course expectations. The students like being taught by lecturers who engage them and relate knowledge to real life business experiences, which is a view shared by the staff who emphasised the importance of recruiting people to teach on the course who are focused on the student experience. Monitoring of attendance was supported by both staff and students, particularly where group work was concerned.

One major difference in staff and student opinion is around the subject of group work. Group work is used frequently by the course team to provide opportunities for students to bond and develop their communication skills, yet it is disliked by some students due to the possible disengagement of group members. Other differences in opinion relate to the impact of institutional change on the course. Whereas the lecturers believed they had protected students from the changes, the students expressed dissatisfaction at the re-profiling of BU and staff redundancies, which they consider will affect the quality of teaching on the course in future.

As the Business Studies course continues to face changes as a result of restructuring within the School, the lecturers’ future plans are to keep the course running as successfully as it has been. They hope to retain the systems and structures that work well and remain fully committed to the student experience which has been valued by the cohort.


SECTION 6:

The HERE Project: Strand 2

Research into programmes with better than peer rates of retention

Guide for staff participants

Research Purpose

The HERE project is a 3 year research project funded by HEFCE/ PHF as part of the “What Works? Student Retention & Success” programme of work. We are interested in student retention, but unlike most studies we are primarily investigating why students stay rather than why they leave. The work has two strands: students with doubts who stay and those actions programmes can take to better support retention.

Our aim is to find out what works in your programme to support retention and help first year students to stay at university. We are primarily looking for good practice and, whilst we will seek to be rigorous, we are looking for examples of good practice, not flaws and weaknesses.

Research Design

The focus of our research is to find out what works best in your programme to support retention. We have applied the principles of the Appreciative Inquiry approach in order to do this. Appreciative Inquiry “…focuses on identifying and developing what works in an organisation rather than trying to fix what doesn’t” (Dovestone and Keenaghan, 2006, p5).

We will ask you about what you do best in your programme to support students to stay. We would then like to ask you about specific areas that we have found (from our strand one research) that appear to support retention.

Our strand one research collected feedback from just under 1,000 first year students between March & May 2009. Approximately 1/3 had, at some point, doubted and considered withdrawing from university. Importantly, the reasons for doubting were not the same as the reasons that doubters cited for remaining. For example, the most common reason for doubting related to the course (poor initial choice, dissatisfaction with some aspects of the experience etc.), but the main reason that doubters cited for subsequently remaining were associated with support from friends and family (particularly friends made on the course).

We have therefore structured the questions to reflect the need to reduce activities likely to lead to doubting and also to enhance those activities that support students who have doubts.

What would we like to find out?

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We would like to know what you do in your programme to support students with retention.

We would like to find out what you actually do (rather than what you would like to do or think would work given more time/resources etc). Where possible we would like to explore actual activities, examples and practices.

We would be particularly interested in exploring any research or evaluation that you have carried out into your own practice (formal and/or informal).

Anonymity

The information that we collect from you will be reported anonymously. A programme, for example, may be referred to as ‘a large programme within the School of Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent University’. Individuals will not be identifiable from the information reported. No incentives will be offered to staff for participation in the interview. Participants may withdraw from the project at any time and ask for their data to be destroyed.

Data will be stored according to the Data Protection Act 1998. An audio recording of the interview will be made only with permission. This will be stored safely and not made available to those outside the project. Data will be kept for six years after the end of the project in line with current ethical guidelines. After this time, the data will be destroyed.

Intended use of the research data

The data will be used to report on progress for the “What Works? Student Retention & Success” programme of work. A final report will be produced that makes recommendations (based on evaluation and evidence from all projects within the programme) about how best to support student retention across the sector.

The data will also be used to produce academic articles and conference presentations.

DOVESTON, Mary and KEENAGHAN, Marian, 2006. Improving classroom dynamics to support students’ learning and social inclusion: a collaborative approach. Support for Learning, 21(1), pp.5-11.

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SECTION 6:

Interview Structure

The structure below illustrates the areas that we would like to ask you about. We may prompt you for further details, and are happy for you to give us additional information that you feel is relevant.

Questions

Background information about the programme

Can you give us some background information about your programme, common issues, types of students, its particular challenges to retention etc.

What works?

What is it that your programme does now when it is at its best in terms of retaining students?

What is it about your programme that makes this possible?

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SECTION 6:

Programme Practice

Reducing leaving Increasing staying

COURSE RELATED

The most common reasons that students who answered our questionnaire gave for having doubts about being at university were course related, for example, wrong choice of course, describing difficulties in making the academic transition to HE and problems with the workload. Students who had had doubts about being at university (doubters) were much less likely to agree with the statement ‘I’m confident that I can cope with my studies’ than non doubters.

Could you tell us what you do in your course that you think helps students in these areas? (Academic transition, coping with work, choice of course, problems with the course).

SUPPORT FROM FRIENDS & PEERS

The most common reason that students gave for why they had decided to stay (after having doubts) was because of ‘friends and family’. Friends were mentioned most often, and students often described friends they had made at university such as ‘seminar buddies’.

Can you tell us about the kinds of things that you do that help students get to know each other?

RELATIONSHIP/COMMUNICATION WITH STAFFStudents that we spoke to in our qualitative research that had not had doubts about being at university all described that they had ‘someone they could talk to’ (be it a lecturer, personal tutor, or so on) about their work if they needed to. Student doubters were also much less likely to agree that they felt valued by teaching staff.

Could you tell us about communication between staff and students on your programme (such as written, online, informal etc)?

ADAPTING TO UNIVERSITYIn our focus groups, all students who had never had doubts could describe a time when they felt they belonged to the university, and this was often linked to recognizing faces, or places. More of these students (non doubters) described taking part of the social life of the university (student union, student ambassador) than student doubters.

Can you tell us what you do to help students feel part of the university?

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ADAPTING TO THE COURSEStudents described adapting to the course, getting to know the staff, starting to enjoy the subject and course as reasons for staying after having doubts.

Can you talk about what you do to facilitate adapting to the course?

LIFE OUTSIDE OF STUDYThe second and third most common reasons that students gave for having doubts about their course were ‘student lifestyle’ (which included problems with accommodation, with other students such as flat mates, feeling unhappy with their social life) and ‘financial problems’.

Could you tell us about how you have communicated to students where to go if they had a problem with their finances, accommodation, or problems with other students?

DETERMINATION AND INTERNAL FACTORSSome students said that it was internal factors such as their desire not to quit that helped them stay here.

Could you tell us if there is anything that you do in your programs that would support such students (some of which may be staying here mainly because they don’t want to leave, rather than a desire to stay)?

STUDENTS MORE LIKELY TO DOUBTOur initial analysis of the survey data found that mature students were more likely to have had doubts about being at university than non mature students. Students who completed our survey and said that they had a disability were also more likely to have doubts than those students that did not declare a disability.

Can you talk to us about who you see as ‘at risk’ students in your programme and tell us about anything that you do because of these students?

FUTURE GOALSThe second most common reason that students cited as a reason for staying after having doubts was ‘future goals and employment’.

We would like to hear about how the programme (and in particularly any activities you do) relates to future student goals (both employment goals and personal goals if appropriate).

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Closing questions

Can you summarise why you think your retention rate is as good as it is and what it is you do best?

What have you plans to improve on?

It would be extremely beneficial if we were able to survey some of your students, may we do so?

As this is a pilot study for further research, could you also tell us if there any questions that we haven’t asked that you think would be useful?

We are happy to share our findings with you. Is this something you are interested in? We could, for example, facilitate a workshop about the project, forward presentations, academic articles etc.

Thank you very much for taking part in this research.

Contacts

NTU

Ed Foster [email protected]

Sarah Lawther [email protected]

Bournemouth

Chris Keenan [email protected]

Natalie Bates [email protected]

Bradford

Rebecca Currant [email protected]

Ruth Lefever [email protected]

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