In February 2022, STEER began to work on an evaluation of the Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) and Master’s (MA) Student Engagement in Higher Education at the University of Winchester. The programme team commissioned an evaluation to find out what impact the PGCert / MA has had on the practitioners studying on the course and within their organisations of employment, and to explore how the design and processes of the course, including its blended delivery, have contributed to the outcomes being achieved. This blog post presents: 1) the experiences of the practitioners on the course who co-designed and participated in the evaluation; 2) the reflections of the programme team about what they learnt from the project; 3) the perspectives of the evaluation team from STEER.
A recent review of access, retention, attainment, and progression literature written by a team from Sheffield Hallam (Austen et. al. 2021) discussed the evidenced relationships between interventions and student outcomes. Knowing and understanding the demographics of a cohort and tracking outcomes over time were concerns, as was the description of how and why change occurs. At Sheffield Hallam, we recommend that all interventions which aim to impact of student outcomes are accompanied by a Theory of Change. An exploration of the context, assumptions and outcomes for these interventions is crucial for designing effective interventions. This evidence was used to commission, design and test an ‘Interventions Dashboard’. The dashboard contains demographic data, including trends in frequency of participation over time, and outcomes data, which compares the intervention cohort with the general population at Hallam and displays withdrawals (retention) and reasons for leaving, good honours, degree classifications, average module marks and if possible, graduate outcomes.
STEER have been using digital storytelling to amplify student and staff voices for many years, most recently to explore the transition to undergraduate study via a Foundation Year. The current research explored transition at a different point in the student lifecycle – progression from student to Graduate Intern. This study also explored the Covid-19 challenges faced by this cohort of students. The aims of this pilot research were to further explore the utility of the digital storytelling method in gathering student experiences and to provide a detailed analysis of the transition experience of the 2021 cohort of Graduate Interns. The findings of the digital stories are covered across three main themes: The role of the course in transitions to employment; Transition experiences: and Career planning.
In December 2021, STEER colleagues (Liz Austen and Alan Donnelly) and the Teaching and Learning Portfolio Lead in Art and Design (James Corazzo) came together to design an approach to course enhancement. The aim was to support the BA Fine Art course team in an exploration of what was currently outstanding about their course and how this was evidenced, and design changes through evidenced-informed decision making. STEER recommended the Appreciative Inquiry approach for this work as it provides a supportive environment to consider enhancement, design realistic actions and outcomes, and share good practice.