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Foundations for the Future: Lessons from a Science Foundation Year Programme

Dr Ellie Davison (Senior Lecturer), Rebecca Sanderson (Research Assistant), Dr Rachel Spacey (Research Fellow), Thomas Hobson

(Lecturer), Jayne Simmons (Senior Lecturer), Kerry Blagden (Director of Foundation Year Studies)

• The East Midlands has the lowest social mobility scores in England for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds (Social Mobility Commission, 2017)

The Local Context

• Lowest university entry rates for disadvantaged young people, particularly rural and coastal Lincolnshire (Ibid)

• A third of secondary schools are judged as less than good (Ofsted, 2016)

University of Lincoln

• Post-92 University based in the heart of the city of Lincoln• 15,000 students, many from diverse backgrounds

‘The University takes a whole institutional approach to access and student success with academic professional services being engaged together in creating and supporting a diverse and successful student community’ UOL Access and participation

plan, 2019-20

Lincoln Science Foundation Year (SFY)

Supporting Access and Participation in HE for those who may not meet the standard entry requirements

• Break from education • Lower-than-expected grades

180 students studying 37 different BSc (Hons), BEng (Hons) and Masters programmes integrated into five Schools across the College of Science.

Maths and Physics

Chemistry

Life Sciences

PharmacyEngineering

• Non-traditional qualifications• Combination of subject areas

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Integrated year zero

Progression and Attainment..early days but….

• 85% of students progress into Year 1

• SFY alumni achieve an average of 3% higher than direct entry peers across all Schools in the College of Science.

• SFY alumni enrolled on masters programmes attain 6% higher (MPharm)

‘Because of the skills I got from science foundation year now I can often advise or help [my direct entry peers] in things they struggle with’

SFY Alumni 2019

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Varying range of progression criteria depending on course and level – schools choose Staff have commented on SS giving more confidence and Alumni state feel more confident with HE – campus confident Out-attaining despite direct entry having higher ucas tariff

Impact on Year 1 Attainment ..early days but….

• Gender: SFY alumni male and females attain equally

• Ethnicity: SFY alumni BME students attain 5% higher than the Year 1 average

• Non A-Level: SFY alumni with alternative qualifications (non A-level) attain 5% higher than direct entry students with alternative qualifications

‘Self-directed learning is the main thing that I have got from SFY. Being able to teach yourself is the fantastic gift that you need if you want to succeed.’

SFY alumni 2019

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Wp core aim, key to this is not just access but bridging well-known, traditional attainment gaps. Statist. Males lower. Our male att on a par. Nationally, BAME students with same ent req attain less well, ours outperforming Students who join uni with qual such a Btecs again usually attain less well. Our Alumni outperformed DE non-A level by 5%. No one specif reason proven, anecdotally from students our focus on improving their awareness of their own learning and skills, rather than content enables them to approach year one more confidently and successfully. These results show that we have begun to bridge the attainment gaps.

Impact on Year 1 Attainment ..early days but….

• Mature students: SFY alumni attain 10% higher than the Y1 average

• Additional support needs: SFY alumni students registered with Wellbeing attain equally to non-registered

Ensuring our student cohort are supported, [SFY] have been particularly strong; readily

available and happy to talk... there is a general sense of working together well across the two

areas (Wellbeing and Teaching).’

Rachael Burnett – Student Wellbeing

What Works? The SFY Team• Dual qualified across

educational sectors• Diverse backgrounds and

skill bases• Multidisciplinary curriculum

planning and teaching

‘It is inspiring to see the team make the most of their different backgrounds, creating a multi-layered and supportive learning environment, which I hope to emulate in my future teaching career’

PhD student and SFY Demonstrator, School of Pharmacy

• Outstanding module evaluations (20% above University average)

• University of Lincoln 2018 Team Award ‘Best Achievement in Teaching’

‘An amazing lecturer – made everything easier to understand…coming from a non A-level and non-biology background I thought would be really difficult … but I am starting to feel confident as the days pass …I feel like this wouldn't be the case if it wasn't for [them]’

Module evaluation comment 2018

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Team built carefully from scratch by gap analysis Defined team roles Joint Open Office Cohesive modules Communication between students and lecturers - support

‘Students undertaking foundation years may feel isolated from the student body’ (OfS, 2019)

‘LOVED SFY welcome week – especially ice breaker games, still a highlight ’

SFY alumni 2019

• Pre-arrival advice from student services/ WOW week

• Student-authored “Getting Started” guide and HE glossary

• Full access to University accommodation / facilities

• Welcome week: Enhanced programme of activities to embed students into their tutor groups, SFY cohort, campus and destination schools

What Works? Supported, Integrated Transition

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Get to know your tutor and tutor group team building activities. Campus treasure hunt Reps from schools Include in destination school socials Wellcome sessions led by director of SFY and destinations schools Student teachers

• Diagnostic tests for each module

• Differentiated pre-learning, lecture and post-lecture resources and activities

• Curriculum co-designed by SFY and destination School academics

• Transition modules taught by leading destination School academics

• Cross-curricular ‘buddy system’ and student educators

What Works? Supported, Integrated Learning

‘Sharing the learning processes by which another student gained understanding exposes me to new ways of learning and helps me access more challenging material’

SFY Student 2018-19

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Pre-learning and diagnostics linked to tutorial system Differentiation by destination school and confidence levl Reduction in scaffolding over the year Skill gaps e.g. pipetting. Joint topic days e.g. immune system

• Comprehensive rep system

• ‘Talk to your rep’ lecture slots

• Student set agendas for subject committees

• Annual “Action Day”

• Alumni SFY focus group

‘Amazing …communication between students and lecturers was fantastic’

SFY 2017-18 Alumni

What Works? Student-Led Development and Communication

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Integral to the success collaboration (not only depts. and students) to shape and improve Regular rep meetings, agenda set and chaired by the students. Fed back straight to team, changes made immed – greater use of poll everywhere, Large – an earlier set of mocks (allow reflection) / adding topics to a module they felt would benefit them. Promote student engagement, talk to your rep Action day collab su Alumni very keen to still be involved and support – lectures and vertical buddy (Alex key notes) Student real ownership of learning – feed back changes made Our students know that their voices are heard and valued

• Study Skills curriculum to develop skills essential for HE and delivered by a broad range of experts from across the University

• Encourage reflective practice (learning journal, formative assessment in teaching sessions)

• Strong collaboration with Wellbeing(30% access exam support vs. 10% of direct cohort)

• Bespoke tutorial system ‘I can’t wait to use all the skills, tips, tricks and tools, to aid me in my future learning’

‘My attitude and learning skills have changed dramatically… it will help me be a much better

independent learner’

SFY 2017-18 Alumni

What Works? A Holistic Approach

‘Teaching students to learn is genius …invaluable … given us a head start’

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Learning activities consolidated and extended in other modules Link to diagnostic Link to pre-reflection document Online formative work after each lecture Link to SS/MES poster Differentiated activities are self selected SFY alumni Life Scientists attain 7% higher in presentations SFY alumni Pharmacists attain 9% higher in written reports and portfolios

‘A highlight of our Alumni social was the number of students who spoke about the sense of community within SFY, both within the diverse student cohort and in relationships with the academics’Kerry Blagden, Director of Lincoln Science Foundation Year

‘The best way to start my uni journey…I couldn’t have asked for better’

What Works? Community

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Essential to allow students to thrive is to instil a sense of belonging. To dispel the ‘imposter syndrome’ that particularly WP, mature or wellbeing feel. We take a natural step towards this by being an integrated course, embedded already into the HE setting, allowing our students to feel a part of the wider university community whilst still receiving the support needed for a successful transition. Our students share accommodation, facilities and societies with the other undergraduates – one of our students is already captain of the cheer team. To round off the year, we host a celebration day, inviting our school link tutors as well as our students. Pictured is the inaugural m/p/eng vs chem/ls/pharm rounders match – senior lecturer in pharmacy one of the most competitive. We also held a social to catch up with our alumni. The strongest message that came across, from all, was that they really valued the sense of community within the sfy. This is something that can only be built by undertaking all the small, individual approaches that have been discussed, but that this message came form our students, spontaneously, indicated to us that within all our initiatives, we seem to be doing something right.

Evaluation of the Access Covenant

• Impact on access

• Financial support for FY students"Gave me the support to...relax from university life every so often“

• Tutors and academic support Services

"I don't think I deserve so much help“

• Embedding links with wider University support

• Importance of 'belonging'.

Where next? Building an evidence base

• Develop understanding of financial support for this group

• Develop understanding of how/ when students access support

• Small sample size

• Causal claims can't be made on current evidence

• Longitudinal study to map long-term trends and success

• What works in what context-evidence from other FY programmes

• Holistic approach to student support and skill development highly effective and to be developed further:

• Sleep• Mindfulness• Anxiety• Procrastination• Emotional Intelligence

• Further Research: development of skills to thrive in HE

• Medical Foundation Year / Degree apprenticeships

• Emerging evidence of the success of SFY in supporting students from ‘non-traditional’ backgrounds

• Integration of SFY within Schools and whole student body is key to success

Next Steps and Conclusions

• Stress resilience response• Physical activity• Time management• Cooking• Budgeting

Presenter

Presentation Notes

7% higher in presentations (SLS), 9% higher in written reports (Pharmacy) SS developed alongside student reps offer more holistically – ensuring a structured academic curriculum alongside an informal education programme with a focus on developing skills positive mental health, managing stress, healthy living, communication skills or finance management.

Bibliography

Cotton, D.R.E., Joyner M., George, R. and Cotton, P.A. (2015) Understanding the gender and ethnicity attainment gap in UK Higher Education, Innovations in Teaching and Education International, 53(5) 475-486

Curtis, E., Wikaire, E., Jiang, Y., McMillan, L., Loto, R., Fonua, S., Herbert, R., Hori, M., Ko, T., Newprt, R., Salter, D., Wiles, J., Airnin and Reid, P. (2016). Open to critique: predictive effects of academic outcomes from a bridging/ foundation programme on first-year degree- level study. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 42 (1) 151-167.

Kahu, E. and Nelson, K. (2018). Student engagement in the educational interface: understanding mechanisms of student success. Higher Education Research and Development 37 (1) 58-71.

Office for Students (2019) Contextual admissions. Promoting fairness and rethinking merit. https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/bf84aeda-21c6-4b55-b9f8-3386b21b7b3b/insight-3-contextual-admissions.pdf

Ofsted (2016) Ofsted issues warning about education in the East Midlands. Press release, 7 June. Available from www.gov.uk/government/news/ofsted-issues-warning-about-education-in-the-east-midlands. Accessed 5th March, 2019.

O’Sullivan, K. (2019). Academic identity, confidence and belonging: The role of contextualised admissions and foundation years in higher education. British Educational Research Journal 45(3) 554-575

https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/bf84aeda-21c6-4b55-b9f8-3386b21b7b3b/insight-3-contextual-admissions.pdf

http://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofsted-issues-warning-about-education-in-the-east-midlands

Reddy, P and Moores, E. (2008). Widening Access to Higher Education: An evaluative case study of a foundation year alternative to Access. Psychology Teaching Review 14 (1) 51-64.

Sanders, L., Daly, A. and Fitzgerald, K. (2016). Predicting retention, understanding attrition: A prospective study of Foundation Year students. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning 18(2) 50-83.

Social Mobility Commission (2017) State of the Nation 2017: Social Mobility in Great Britain. Presented to Parliament pursuant to section 8(B)6 of the Life Chances Act 2010. Available from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662744/State_of_the_Nation_2017_-_Social_Mobility_in_Great_Britain.pdf. Accessed 5th March, 2019.

UCAS (2018) Admissions patterns for mature applicants. 2017 Cycle. Available from https://www.ucas.com/file/175936/download?token=UVSBJLVD

Universities UK (2018) Tackling gaps in BME students’ achievements at university. Available from https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/news/Pages/tackling-gaps-in-bme-students-achievements.aspx. Accessed 28th Feb, 2019.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662744/State_of_the_Nation_2017_-_Social_Mobility_in_Great_Britain.pdf

https://www.ucas.com/file/175936/download?token=UVSBJLVD

https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/news/Pages/tackling-gaps-in-bme-students-achievements.aspx

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Foundations for the Future: Lessons from a Science ...eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/36643/1/Foundations for the future Lessons fro… · Foundations for the Future: Lessons from a Science