UG Study Skills Support in Social Sciences Dr Russell Bentley (Deputy Head Education, School of Social Sciences) 13 th January 2011

2 Outline of the Pilot Scheme Problem: No cross-discipline study skills support offered in Social Sciences Vision: All Social Sciences students should have the opportunity to develop a wide range of study skills to support the transition to university Action: Employ undergraduate on summer placement (plus 3 hours p/w during term) to work with Russell Bentley (academic lead) and Sarah Rogers (TLLP team) to develop: –Timetabled, non credit-bearing, non-assessed workshops, delivered by Social Sciences PGTAs (6 workshops) –Online lectures on study skills topics (10 lectures) –Online quizzes to help students assess their abilities (3 quizzes) –Supporting materials (referencing guide, resource books)

3 Outline of the Pilot Scheme Called “Social Science Labs” Blackboard site constructed to give it coherence and access to resources Workshops were timetabled to encourage attendance, and reminders sent International student stream provided by CLS Graduate Passport points given to students that engaged: –10 Graduate passport points if they attend more than 50% of the workshops –10 Graduate passport points if they attend more than 50% of the CLS classes –5 Points if they complete the activities on Blackboard

4 Outline of the Pilot Scheme TopicLectureWorkshopQuiz Accessing support and what to expectXX Effective use of lecturesXX Time management and efficient readingXX Research practice and referencing, incl. academic integrity XX Good essay writing practiceXX Managing qualitative challengesXX Group work and presentationsXX Exam technique and revision methodsXX Making the most out of feedbackX Careers for Social Scientists and the Graduate Passport XX

5 Support for the Pilot –£3k from the HE Academy Economics Subject Centre –£4k from the Transition to Living and Learning Project –£7k from the Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences

6 Costs Placement student PGTA demonstrator costs for delivering workshops Print costs for: –Referencing guide –Resource book for PGTAs –Resource book for students

7 Evaluation Students value: –Online lectures (80% of respondents thought them high quality) –Workshops (of the respondents that regularly attended, 87% thought them high quality) –Blackboard –Informality –Variety of topics and information –‘Hot tips’ –Opportunity to have some discussion with peers and do group work –Meeting new people –Access to PhD students –Booklets in each workshop –Essay preparation

8 Evaluation Favourite topics from workshops included: –Referencing and academic integrity –Session about careers, graduate passport and alumni –Essay preparation –Time management

9 Evaluation Students don’t like: –Lack of relevance to programme of study (Economists resent having to learn about essay writing) –Online tests –‘Repetition of things we already know’ –Having to do presentations –Online lectures

10 Highlights… Getting external funding; the pilot will be presented at National HE Academy event in summer How well the international student stream worked Popularity of the Referencing Guide Commitment and entrepreneurial spirit of placement student How much the UGs appreciated access to PGR students Attendance How well timetabling of sessions worked (thanks to CTU) How many of the students managed to enjoy the labs (71% of respondents) as well as finding them useful (77%)

11 Next Steps Embed in the curriculum by attaching to core modules, as with library skills Work with current PGTAs to improve content for next year Use current PGTAs to train next batch Credit Allow some discipline-specific tailoring Measure performance of students who did engage with the Labs against those who didn’t Ensure collective ownership by sharing leadership with colleagues