Enhancing Induction Symposium

Angela Dierks and Darren David attended a symposium at Goldsmiths, University of London on 7 July 2010. The symposium, entitled Enhancing Induction: Priniciples for Improving the Student Experience, aimed to enhance understanding of the issues relating to induction, stimulate debate, share good practice and facilitate change. The programme included the following presentations:

• Growing (with) the students? Induction as an ongoing process
• Student Transition
• Inducting students into assessment and feedback
• Goldsmith's student lifecycle service design project 'GoSlurp'

Particularly relevant for Birkbeck's Get Ahead: Stay Ahead project, was the Goldsmith service design project (GoSlurp). GoSlurp, funded by JISC, aimed to review the experience of students from their very first point of contact with Goldsmiths, through to application, enrolment and their first few months at the institution. The project engaged with students during the pre and post enrolment stages and the student lifecycle to review service expectations and experiences.

The feedback was analysed and used to identify pilot initiatives that could be implemented to improve the overall student experience and more specifically, students' preparedness for study. Kevin Thomas, project leader for the GoSlurp initiative, also demonstrated at the presentation how they had extensively mapped the student services provision at Goldsmith, including academic, college and peer support, any tangible evidence at each stage, back office support and systems support.

Full details of the project at Goldsmiths can be found on the JISC website

Welcome to Birkbeck Transition into HE Project blog

The Transition into HE project (called Get Ahead : Stay Ahead) is a new development in the My Birkbeck services provision and is designed to aid both the recruitment and retention of students.

Get Ahead : Stay Ahead will boost the information, advice and support available to year one undergraduate students from their first point of contact with the college. The aim is to provide increased support for our students as they start their course and to help them survive the challenging first term. We have attracted funding from JISC to support the online element of the Get Ahead : Stay Ahead project.

Angela Dierks will lead this work and will consult with schools and student support services to create a co-ordinated, cross-college approach.

The four main pre- and post-entry strands of the Get Ahead : Stay Ahead project are:

• Support website. A new interactive website designed to help students find out what it's like to study at Birkbeck, how they can prepare themselves for a degree programme and where they can find support throughout their first term.
• Face-to-face pre-entry preparation. A free summer programme of talks, tours and workshops, called the 'Get Ready to Study at Birkbeck' programme, for all undergraduate applicants and enrolled students, and designed to help prepare students for study at Birkbeck.
• Orientation and induction week. A series of talks and tours towards the beginning of the academic year, designed to help students become familiar with Birkbeck and the support services available to them.
• First term support programme. A range of talks and support initiatives designed to help student through their first term and deal with issues and concerns that arise, such as assignments, time commitments, financial support.

Through this blog we will keep you informed of the progress and developments in the Transition to HE project and we welcome any thoughts or comments on any aspect of these initiatives.

Get Ready to Study at Birkbeck

The first Get Ready to Study at Birkbeck programme, a two-week programme of talks, tours and workshops, took place between 14 and 25 June 2010. The programme was designed to help undergraduate applicants and enrolled students prepare for their degree course in October.

The sessions ran every evening over the two week period and all day Saturday. Participants were able to pick and choose the talks, tours and workshops that were most relevant to their needs. Subjects included:

• How to fit studying into your busy life
• Discuss your expectations and concerns
• Find out what support will be available to you
• Find out what study skills you will need
• Meet other applicants and get to know Birkbeck
• Discuss your professional and personal aims

Approximately, 2000 students were invited to attend. 370 students registered for the programme and over the course of the two weeks, there were over 350 participants during the two weeks. We took a quick five-minute survey at the end of each day (a more extensive evaluation survey will be emailed to students at a later date). Here are some of the comments that were made:

• “This is a vital workshop for any student, so productive and effective.”
• “This has really helped calm me down after the shock at first viewing of my reading list.”
• “Very informative and reassuring.”

We also captured a few students' feedback on camera:


The feedback has been very positive. There is clearly a demand for this kind of support service. Our next task will be to track the students that attended the programme to see if this kind of intervention made a difference to retention. We'll also be following those students who didn't attend or register in order to make a comparison.

Links:
Birkbeck's JISC project page
Get Ready to Study at Birkbeck programme