Q&As - A Conversation with the Editors

A conversation piece among the guest editors on their experience of collaborating between two Special Interest Groups for this Special Issue of the journal

RAISE Special Interest Groups (Early Career Researchers and Research & Evaluation) Collaboration: A Case Study

In the academic year 2022/23, the RAISE Special Interest Groups for Early Career Researchers and Research & Evaluation collaboratively developed a professional development programme for HE colleagues new to writing about student engagement. The diverse audience ranged from Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to colleagues new to academic writing including those interested in writing about Student Engagement. The programme featured three online events (alongside virtual on-demand support) covering themes around barriers and challenges to publication; enabling collaboration and co-creation across institutional/disciplinary contexts and the opportunity to participate in an academic writing workshop. This case study will present an account of the process and experiences of delivering these events looking into the barriers and challenges experienced by ECRs, the community-based, peer-learning approach adopted (CoPs) to address these with the aim to facilitate the publication process and make it more inclusive and accessible for (a diverse range of) participants. The example is framed and contextualised through relevant literature and a wider higher education backdrop of work-life balance, principles of staff-student partnership and a ‘publish or perish’ culture

Realising Engagement through Active Culture Transformation: An Introduction to the REACT Programme

The REACT programme was designed to make a significant impact on student engagement and the student experience in the Higher Education (HE) sector in England and Wales over a two-year period, from July 2015 to July 2017. The focus, in particular, was on the engagement of so-called hard to reach students, and the programme included: investigation into the term hard to reach and a consideration of which students are characterised in this way; a formal research project looking at links between student engagement, retention and attainment; and a development programme as a collaboration between fifteen UK universities. Outcomes from each of these were disseminated at a final conference at the University of Winchester in May 2017, where practice and findings from the programme as a whole were shared. The programme also included the creation of a website of case studies and tools for use by the sector. The programme was funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and was formally evaluated by an external team from GuildHE

Getting into the flow of university: a coaching approach to student peer support

As Keenan (2014) reports, peer-led learning schemes are gaining momentum globally, bringing benefits to both peer leaders and their mentees. Such schemes can also be vehicles for student engagement and supporting successful transition. In its Peer-Assisted Student Success (PASS) scheme, London Metropolitan University has developed a course-embedded model in which trained Success Coaches provide academic and personal guidance to first-years on all undergraduate degree programmes via in-class groups and one-to-one support. Another distinctive feature is its adoption of a coaching philosophy in the role of student mentoring. This case study explores the experiences and benefits accrued by both first-year students and Success Coaches from this coaching style, drawing on rich data collected via focus groups using images as a form of arts-based inquiry. Themes emerging from the data illuminate the nature of the peer relationship. The paper also considers implications, for peer-mentor training, of incorporating a coaching approach

Exploring the role of co-curricular student engagement in relation to student retention, attainment and improving inclusivity

Throughout the REACT project, the core institutions of Winchester, Exeter and London Metropolitan have been conducting an in-depth, multi-faceted evaluation of selected co-curricular student engagement activities Student Fellows, Change Agents and Peer-Assisted Student Success respectively. This involved the collection of survey data to explore key concepts related to the motivations of students to participate in these initiatives. This survey explores areas including employability, academic study and partnership, with an aim of improving co-curricular initiatives to make them more inclusive of hard to reach students. These motivations to participate are used to contextualise data about the attainment and continuation of active student participants. Rather than seek to assert or confirm that various groups are hard to reach, this research seeks to understand better what does and does not make co-curricular activities inclusive of hard-to-reach students. In this sense, the aim is to have a greater understanding of how students are successfully reached. Discussion will focus on how attainment and retention can help us to explore whether a wide range of students is benefiting from participation