1. SOLSTICE & CLT Conference 2013
An early insight into HE study: the Head Start
pre-induction project
Nadine Sunderland, Sarah Ruston and James Fraser
University of Cumbria
5th & 6th June 2013

2. Today’s workshop Background and history of Head Start Walk through
Test drive Head Start - practical
Evaluating Head Start
Group discussion: What methods are we using to help students with the transition into HE?

3. What is Head Start?
Offered to all undergraduate who have been offered a place in September on one of the University’s courses, Head Start is a short programme designed to bridge the gap into Higher Education.
It aims to help students gain an early insight into the use of the university’s virtual learning environment It offers an opportunity to prepare for HE study by exploring the following:
Effective learning approaches for undergraduate study
Accessing and evaluating information
Academic writing
Referencing

4. The History of Head Start
A ten credit module had been running for a number of years using a blended teaching model and was primarily used by some of the university’s partner colleges. Library skills online tutorials constituted a significant portion of content.
Last year a team was tasked with creating a completely online version using our VLE that would be made available to students who will be joining the university for 2012/13. This team included faculty staff, library and student services and learning technologists. Over 400 students completed the module. New online resources created.
This year we aim to see over 1000 students complete. New Online tutorials and quizzes were created.

5. Enrolment and completion
Head Start in numbers
405 enrolled in summer 2012 and 372 completed (92%)
357 students enrolled so far places available
Good distribution across faculties and programmes
Enrolment and completion
46% Low Participation Neighbourhood 1 & 2
25% household income of under £25,000
67% under 21 years old
80:20 female/male ratio
Student profile

6. Support
The site had to be intuitive as we would not meet the students prior to them starting Head Start.
Three Head Start Blackboard sites were created with identical content – Education, Health and Arts, Business and Science (ABS).
Students were registered by Admissions onto the relevant Bb site – academic staff to keep in contact with students over the summer to give the students a feeling of ‘belonging’.
A welcome video was recorded - shows participants around the site and how to navigate through the units and complete the tasks.
A dedicated address for each faculty has been sent up and is the main mode of communication for support, encouragement and success messages.

7. Walkthrough All assessments are self-marking quizzes
Scores feed into Grade Centre in Bb
We can see when a student has passed, when they last logged on, etc.

8. Evaluation findings Survey July 2012 Survey February 2013
41% A levels and 59% other pre-entry qualifications
96% found course structure and layout easy to follow
98% would recommend the course to others
96% reported it helped them feel more confident about HE study
Survey February 2013
89% said that Head Start had helped them feel more confident about HE study
81% stated it had helped them cope with programme coursework and assessment
76% stated that Head Start had given them an advantage
86% said that referencing had been the most useful section – 47% academic writing
87% would recommend Head Start to others

9. What students said
“I would certainly recommend this course to other students as it gives an insight into differences between research at A level and working at University level.”
“It is a useful confidence builder, particularly for those who have been out of education for a few years.”
“Thanks to the course I am also excited about my future studies, especially the library facilities at university, in particular the academic journals mentioned in the course.”
“I found all content to be useful and relevant. I think it was just right the way it was.”
“Those who didn’t complete this course struggled with referencing in the first assignments.”

10. What Learning Advisers said
“A significant proportion of students we taught had engaged with Head Start. In particular we found Head Start students to be notably more confident and appropriately vocal in sessions.”

11. What methods are we using to help students with the transition into HE?