Transitions to tertiary education: Measuring and minimising inequality between private and public school students in a university outreach program

Much of the literature concerned with evaluating public and private schooling focuses upon year 12 examination results. Investigating the transition to university, some studies have compared these results with first-year university marks. Very few researchers, however, have looked beyond students’ marks. This paper examines how “school type” affects student performance, participation, and experience in a university outreach program – SmARTS. SmARTS is run through The University of Western Australia’s (UWA) Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (FAHSS). It engages year 11 students in a six-month research project, facilitated by the use of both e-learning and more traditional face-to-face methods. This paper is based on research that evaluated the 2009, 2010, and 2011 programs. The methods employed include analyses of student completion rates and results, as well as 198 student surveys, ten school coordinator surveys, and three group interviews with tutors. Based on schools’ socio-economic backgrounds, fees, and examination results, we have divided schools into four types: top-tier private, second-tier private, top-tier public, and second-tier public. Our findings suggest that top-tier private and top-tier public school students have the highest levels of participation, the lowest drop-out rates, and gain the highest results in SmARTS, while the opposite is evident for second-tier public school students. We also found, however, that second-tier public school students reported to have gained more generic skills from the program than did other groups. Our findings suggest that analysing examination results provides only a limited picture of how students experience the transition to university. We argue that through research and practice such as ours, inequalities can be more accurately measured, and thus minimised, before students enter university

Enhancing learning for research higher degree students

Universities’ push toward the production of high quality research is not limited to academic staff and experienced researchers. In this environment of research rich agendas, Higher Degree Research (HDR) students are increasingly expected to engage in the publishing of good quality papers in high impact journals. IFN001: Advanced Information Research Skills (AIRS) is a credit bearing mandatory coursework requirement for Queensland University of Technology (QUT) doctorates. Since its inception in 1989, this unique blended learning program has provided the foundations for new researchers to produce original and innovative research. AIRS was redeveloped in 2012, and has now been evaluated with reference to the university’s strategic research priorities. Our research is the first comprehensive evaluation of the program from the learner perspective. We measured whether the program develops essential transferrable skills and graduate capabilities to ensure best practice in the areas of publishing and data management. In particular, we explored whether AIRS prepares students to be agile researchers with the skills to adapt to different research contexts both within and outside academia. The target group for our study consisted of HDR students and supervisors at QUT. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used for data collection. Gathering data was by survey and focus groups with qualitative responses analyzed using NVivo. The results of the survey show that 82% of students surveyed believe that AIRS assisted their research process and helped them learn skills they need as a researcher. The 18% of respondents who expressed reservation about the benefits of AIRS were also examined to determine the key areas of concern. These included trends related to the timing of the program early in the candidature and a belief among some students that their previous research experience was sufficient for postgraduate study. New insights have been gained into how to better support HDR learners in partnership with supervisors and how to enhance learning experiences of specific cohorts, including international students and mature learners

Study Hacks: a creative initiative for student partnership in higher education

The transition into higher education can be challenging for new learners, with many students navigating new disciplines and encountering unfamiliar academic practices. There is no one method for successful study, and students take diverse approaches to their university learning. The Study Hacks postcard project sought to capture the individual study methods and learning approaches used by students. Students were invited to make short, postcard-sized messages that communicated their own study advice and strategies for peers. These postcards were displayed at multiple sites, on campus and online, and were incorporated into support for learning workshops at QUT Library. Students partnered with staff in the project design, implementation and dissemination of findings

Passport to study: Flipped library orientation for international students

This paper presents a flipped learning approach to library orientation for international university students. The approach was trialled through the project Passport to Study with 98 new international students at a Queensland University in 2015 to support the university’s First Year Experience programme. Drawing upon contemporary flipped learning pedagogy, it aimed to raise international students’ awareness of the library as a supportive social learning space and develop foundational information and academic literacies. Although a relatively small-scale project, it provides an authentic model of cross-divisional student-focused collaboration between librarians, academic skills advisers and lecturers. After a brief literature review, the paper explains how the project team developed and implemented the flipped library orientation that involved international students in a self-guiding library quest and follow-up briefing. Evaluation findings of the flipped library orientation highlight its strengths and limitations and support a set of recommendations for further developing this innovative approach. The final discussion suggests opportunities for further pedagogical development and research. The insights gained through this project will be of potential interest to library managers, librarians and information literacy educators. They could inform innovative initiatives to support the successful transition to university of first-year students across culturally diverse university populations

Shifting Cultures to Create Student Partnerships

Engaging staff and students who are not practitioners, champions, or the usual suspects, requires an enquiring mind and nuanced approac

A Third Space Approach to Integrated Academic Student Success Advising (ASSA)

The Academic Student Success Advising (ASSA) project enacted an integrated academic and pastoral approach to advising using McIntosh’s (2023) fundamental principles of advising. This research conducted at two Australian universities explores how shared principles of advising can provide an underpinning structure to pan-university advising approaches as a mechanism of student development. Forty staff were interviewed, exploring understandings and experiences of advising. Data were analysed through the four key advising themes: inclusive, personalised and integrated, developmental, and student-centred. The findings suggest that staff perceive value in integrated advising approaches that connect students’ academic and pastoral experiences through an ‘advising as teaching lens’ and that link areas of the university to enhance student success. Recommendations highlight the value of investing in staff understandings of advising to enhance student development, the intentional embedding of co-curricular skills, and the continued need to develop systems to track advising outcomes