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Preparing for University: What do Preparing for University: What do students want to know?students want to know?
An Exploration of Needs of Students entering Health Care Programmes
Leslie Robinson, Gilly Mehraban, Jackie Taylor, Sue Braid, Helen Matthews
Carena Eaton, Julie Evans, Lynn Geelan, Laurie Perrins, Roz Howard, Jen Earle
Aims and objectivesAims and objectives
Take evidence-based approach to pre-induction activities to support transition
1. Literature review: identify key requirements for pre-registration student support for diverse students
2. Question year one students to determine additional support mechanisms students might have found useful prior to attending University.
3. Recommendations for development of information and materials in appropriate format
Findings from literature
Reasons cited• Wrong choice of course• Financial• ‘Personal’ Davies & Elias (2003)• Socialisation• Accommodation (Trotter 2003)• Academic preparednesss (Yorke 1999)
Successful strategies• Improving admissions procedure• Providing pre-entry information (Martinez, 1997)
“very few problems that leavers face make it impossible for them to stay…. It is the perception of leavers that the
problems cannot be resolved” Mackie (1998)
MethodMethod
1. Literature review: attrition and retention
2. Questionnaires to all full-time first year students (~400) in week 0
3. Focus groups mixed representation week 0 and week 10– What were their concerns prior to attending?– Information/communication methods
AnalysisAnalysis
• Themes from qualitative interviews
• Triangulated with questionnaire data for generalisability
• Comparison with literature
Profile of students in the school and Profile of students in the school and representativeness of respondentsrepresentativeness of respondents
School (2002-2005)* Questionnaire returns
Black and minority ethnic (BME)
9.5% 15.6%
Disability 4.4% 7.6%
Gender (females) 69.5% 71%
Young (<21years) 60% 44%
Total 400 327 (82%)
* Figures for the actual cohort (2006) were not available at the time of the analysis. Figures presented therefore represent the mean of the previous four years. Trend analysis shows that these figures are fairly steady for all categories except ethnicity which is has gradually increased from 8% in 20002 to 12% in 2005.
Areas of investigationAreas of investigation
• Concerns– Finance– Academic work– Fitting in with home life– Accommodation– Cultural and religious needs– Making friends
• Information/communication– How – When– What – Who
Empirical data – concerns overallEmpirical data – concerns overall
1 No concern2 Little concern3 Neutral4 Some concerns5 Strong concerns
Empirical data specific concernsEmpirical data specific concerns
Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data
• Concerns: Finance– Most commonly cited concern– 28% students rated it as strong concern– NHS Bursary
• Complex administration
• Lack of guidance
• Inconsistent and untimely advice
– General, managing personal finance– Suggested solutions
• More specific guidance/guidelines
• Typical budget statement
• Availability of other sources of funding
“More bursary in
formatio
n as did
not receive fo
rms in
post”
Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data
• Concerns: Level of academic work– 2nd Highest scoring concern for all age
groups and both genders– Of increasing importance with age– Unsure what to expect– Unsure whether they were ‘up to it’– Pre-course reading suggested as a
solution/taster
“the workbook …gave me an idea of the work”
Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data
• Concerns: Fitting in with home life– 30-39 years of age scored more than ‘3’– Students wanted to know more about work
commitment and timetabling
“Semester timetable for booking cheap flights home”
Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data
• Concerns: Accommodation– Not a big concern due to student profile– Those in accommodation would prefer to
have input into who they would be sharing with
– Information on non-university accommodation and surrounding areas would be useful
Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data
• Concerns: Cultural and religious needs– Not a big concern due to student profile– Ethnic minority students were slightly more
concerned– Concerns scored less than neutral
Concerns regarding cultural and Concerns regarding cultural and religious needsreligious needs
Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data
• Concerns: Making friends– Not a great concern possibly due to student
cohort• Mature
• Student on ‘people-oriented’ programmes
Concerns by age groupConcerns by age group
Concerns by genderConcerns by gender
Concerns - summaryConcerns - summary
• Generally students report low concerns– Exceptions:
• finance and bursaries• level of academic work - disabled students are
slightly more concerned regarding academic preparedness.
• Little to differentiate students concerns in terms of age group and gender
• Concerns re religious and cultural needs come from non-white groups and the strength of score is 3 (neutral) or less (small numbers though)
• Low levels of concern re socialisation and accommodation
Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data
• Communication: How– Website preferred method but many would
appreciate hard copy information– Students reported friendliness of staff as
important (central admissions, programme admissions tutors, year tutors, administrative staff)
– Picture was one of inconsistency however
Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data
• Communication: When– Would have liked earlier information, especially
those going UF early in cycle– Some were bombarded with information– Some received little– Again, inconsistency
Findings empirical dataFindings empirical data
• Communication: What– Relevance was key
• Bank information and nightclubs not appreciated by mature students
– School-specific Information• CRB, occupational health, NHS bursaries
• Building layout
– Programme-specific information• Detailed timetables
• Pre-course reading
• Clinical placements
• Uniforms
“Most
of it not u
seful –
seemed
aimed at y
ounger people”
Findings empirical data
• Communication: Who– Central resources appreciated but wanted
to speak to people who knew about the course
– Requested school-specific help desk
SummarySummary
• Concurrence with literature– Finance– Level of study– Fitting in study with home life
• Conflict with literature– Socialisation– Accommodation
Cohort profile important in Cohort profile important in understanding the issuesunderstanding the issues
Implementing recommendations
Pre-induction package
• Available as soon as they become UF• Integration with UofS ‘isite’ induction site• Delivered via Blackboard - ‘programme level’ • User friendly (on-line instructions or face-to-face guidance
sessions)• Welcome Pod casts• Frequently asked questions• Specific Programme Information• Pre-course reading material• Location maps• Help line
Improving Admissions Procedure (Martinez 1997)
• What Admissions Tutors have done to address this– Out reach work started earlier– Taster days/workshops– Conferences for Careers Advisors – More Open days– Students need to have shadowed HCP– Route A6– Summer study skills workshops
Evaluating Success - Targets
• Current retention: 88.5% (first year students)
• Target 2008: 90%!
Next Steps
• Re-evaluation
• Development of cross-university working group to share practice