ADSHE Conference - Access to Study Skills

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AccessAbility Centre

Access to Study SkillsOnline Study Guides

Claire Graham and Matthew Mobbs

www.le.ac.uk/accessability

BackgroundAccessAbility Centre offers:

• Face-to-face study support for students with Specific Learning Difficulties

• 4 Study Advisers offering 6 hour long appointments per day

• 591 students with splds registered with Centre

University of Leicester

• 22,048 students in total

• 8,651 (39%) distance learners

• Only 27 distance learners with splds registered with Centre

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New ApproachTo engage and support DL students and a new approach for campus based

• 10 Online Study Guides

• Designed based on most frequently requested study support sessions

• Multisensory approach was essential. – Visuals – colour, images and subtitles

– Audio – Voice over

– Kinaesthetic – Interactivity

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The GuidesWriting an Essay 376 hits

Active Reading 280

Exam Skills 212

Improving Concentration 208

Writing a Dissertation 188

Time Management and Organisation 181

Spelling Strategies 174

Note Taking Skills 162

Improving Memory 144

Making Notes 98

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Example

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How they were made

PowerPoint

Adobe Presenter

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How they were made

Adobe Presenter

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How they were made

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

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How they were made

Adobe Presenter• PowerPoint Plugin• Combine Audio and visuals• Published to the Web

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Alternative Free Tools

www.screenr.com

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Alternative Free Tools

www.slideshare.net

http://www.slideshare.net/uolssds/writing-an-essay

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Raising Awareness• Cards - posters

• Web

• Bb

• YouTube

• Podcasts

• Course Handbooks

• Direct mailing to distance learners

• Email to all dyslexic students

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Feedback• Feedback gathered in a variety of ways

• Students have been positive about the resources:

• appreciating different elements of the delivery depending on learning styles;

• using the guides in a variety of ways, ie.

1) when it was difficult to get a face to face session,

2) to prepare for a meeting with a Study Adviser,

3) as consolidation after a study advice session.

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Feedback• Some students viewed the guides a number of times.

• They appreciated being able to access the support 24/7.

Comments included:

‘I liked the ‘Improving Memory’ one in particular: they had a sort of practical memory test right there and then. You can see that it actually works; and it stayed in my memory for longer…’

‘…it’s nice to have this preliminary stuff done and out of the way so you can really concentrate on a specific area…You’ve built on something so when you get to the study adviser she can push you further’.

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Feedback – Points for improvement• Students didn’t like the fact that the text that mirrored the

audio input was very small and in Times New Roman. There is no ability to change this on Adobe Connect.

• Some students wanted to be able to skip whole sections of the presentation.

• Students wanted more control over the pacing of the material.

• Some students wanted more examples.

• It was suggested that more in-depth presentations follow on from these ‘short intro’ guides

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Future Developments• Study guides to be signposted to every student booking

a study advice session

• iTunes U

• One to one study advice sessions to be offered remotely using adobe connect.

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Examples of study guides• Improving Memory

http://connect.le.ac.uk/memory

• Essay Writing

http://connect.le.ac.uk/essaywriting