Our most recent FFYE Forum First Year Transition – what works and how can we work better together invited colleagues from Charles Sturt University Retention Team to talk about their national award-winning whole-of-institution approach to supporting students to succeed in first year.
Over the course of the session, Kelly Linden, Noelia Roman, Sarah Teakel and Neil Van de Ploeg covered the following aspects of the approach:
- Embedding best-practice Transition Pedagogy with intentional design of first year units
- Pre-census outreach support for disengaged students who do not submit an early assessment item
- Embedded tutor support in key first-year subjects.
If you missed this wonderful Forum, some highlights and recorded excerpts are shared below.
Retention plan overview: challenges and successes
Starting out as a small faculty pilot project in 2017, the Charles Sturt Retention Team have since built, tested, evaluated, and refined a whole of institution Retention Model through 17 action-research cycles. Kelly Linden explained how the team has succeeded through this process in breaking down faculty and divisional silos to introduce new ways of working, facilitate meaningful data sharing, and establish a ‘retention culture’ across the university.
Every aspect of this work supports student equity groups, which are over-represented at the University. Students from rural, regional and remote areas, first in family, low SES, First Nations and NESB (non-English speaking backgrounds) are more likely to face challenges in their university study; intersectionality data shows how these factors can combine to impact both retention and student success.
Part 1: Course Retention Project
Noelia Roman talked about the work that happens before the session even starts, including professional development, identification of key commencing subjects, and embedding best practice Transition Pedagogy. Noelia noted that whilst many of the principles are common knowledge, the team focussed on ensuring this was put into practice and applied consistently across courses.
Subject reviews found common issues across all courses, such as LMS content scaffolding, assessment, and subject delivery. Tackling these before the session impacts outcomes later in the learning journey, through communications and other supports for students (see Part 2 and Part 3 below). The results speak for themselves, with an average percentage point pass rate across all subject offerings increasing from 67% (2022) to 85% (2023).
Part 2: Humanising data to engage the unengaged
Informed by the action-research cycles, the team can accurately identify disengaged students and have developed innovations to support students who would otherwise receive a fail grade or accrue unnecessary debt. Neil Van de Ploeg explained the processes used to engage students at various points up to and just after census date.
Neil outlined a pre-census campaign that begins in Week 1 with clearly communicated subject expectations, gradually increasing to more proactive and higher touch initiatives from Week 2 (triggered by lack of engagement) and into Weeks 3 and 4 (if an early assessment was not submitted). These included email and phone contact, evolving post-census as needed to included tutor support and assistance in making study plans, changing subjects, deferring or taking a leave of absence.
This work has impacted student learning with increases in student progress rates and retention when disengaged students have dialogue with the Outreach Team or meet with an embedded tutor.
Part 3: Compassionate pedagogy with embedded tutors
In the final part of the team’s presentation, Sarah Teakel picked up where Neil left off, describing the Embedded Tutor Program offering target, one-on-one support for students who are failing specific assessments in subjects. Students can book through a scheduling tool in their subject site, with friendly and approachable tutors focussed solely on certain assessments where students need more assistance.
Tutors work closely with the subject coordinator to discuss specific subject content and issues, and receive training in the technology and pedagogies needed to support the students. The program also proactively reaches out to students who may have previously failed or show signs of struggling, encouraging them to access support.
The team’s data shows that students who met with a tutor are more likely to pass the subject, and also more likely to receive a Credit, Distinction or High Distinction. Students who meet with a tutor are also more likely to be retained or enrolled in the following session of study.
There’s so much more to share from this award-winning project and team, who presented with Kathy to a national audience of academics and professional staff at the recent Student Success conference in Cairns. Read more about their AAUT Program Award Abstract (p27), and see the big picture with Charles Sturt University’s Student Retention and Success Framework.
Join us for the next FFYE forum
Our next FFYE forum is on Monday 22 July and looks at Building greater student engagement: insights and strategies. Our keynote speaker is nationally acclaimed educator Associate Professor Jason Lodge, who will share his cutting-edge research on student learning practices, helping us to make sense of how student behaviours have changed post-pandemic. Join us for an engaging forum focused on enhancing student learning!