Group Admins
Description
Session Description
Whilst there has been the development of a series of initiatives to improve inclusivity and widen participation in the UK there has been a rise in the number of Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) students entering Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Yet, many top universities have been accused of ‘BTEC snobbery’ (Savage, 2018) with only some HEIs offering places to these students. In addition, BTEC students are more likely to obtain lower degree outcomes and have higher attrition rates compared to A level students (Greenback, 2009; McCoy and Adamson, 2016).The Transforming Transitions Project (funded by The Office for Students) has examined issues surrounding BTEC students’ transitions and as a result, has developed a number of evidence-based interventions to target support. This includes an online induction module that supports and provides a community space for these students, prior to their transition into university.
Drawing upon ideas around a ‘partnership approach’ ( Curran and Millard, 2015) and delivered entirely online prior to the start of university, the module aimed to shape realistic expectations and nurture a ‘sense of belonging’(see Thomas, 2012; Goodenow,1993) which was viewed as being at the heart of successful retention and engagement for this cohort. In essence, the digital space connects to the notion of presenting a facilitative ‘holding’ environment (Winnicott, 1971) for students, to assist them to further develop their learner identities, as they become an HE student (Barnett, 2007).
Mainly addressing the conference theme ‘Learning technology for wider impact’ this presentation will provide the following insights around:
- A better understanding of some of the issues faced by BTEC students upon entry into university
- An example of the technological solution utilised to support formation of a community to support these students and to facilitate increased retention and engagement
- Recommendations for the types of resources and digital interventions that have been shown to support a more successful transition for these students
- Methods to assess the effectiveness of the intervention and address the requirements of all students when transitioning to university
References
Barnett. R. (2007) A Will to Learn: Being a Student in an Age of Uncertainty: Berkshire. England. SRHE and Open University Press.
Curran, R. and Millard, L. (2016) A partnership approach to developing student capacity to engage and staff capacity to be engaging: opportunities for academic developers, International Journal for Academic Development, Vol 21(1) pp. 67-78. DOI: 10.1080/1360144X.2015.1120212
Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools, Vol 30 pp. 70-90.
Greenback, P. (2009). Widening participation and social class. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273768422_Widening_participation_and_social_class. [Accessed on 4th April 2017.]
McCoy, T. and Adamson, D. (2016). Building a House on Sand? In: Steventon, G., Cureton, D., and Clouder, L. (Eds.) Student Attainment in Higher Education: Issues, Controversies and Debates. Oxon: Routledge pp. 161 – 173.
Savage, M (2018) Top universities accused of BTEC snobbery . The Guardian 27th January 2019. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jan/27/universities-btec
[Accessed on 07/03/2019.]
Thomas, L. (2012) Building student engagement and belonging in a time of change in Higher Education: Final report from the What Works? Student Success and Retention Programme. Available at:
https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/what_works_final_report.pdf.
[Accessed on 07/03/2019.]
Winnicott, D,W. (1971) Playing and Reality. London and New York . Routledge Classics.
