1. Effective teaching and support of Australian university students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds: Findings from a national study Marcia Devlin Executive Director, Academic Programs and Services Open Universities Australia

2. 1. Context and evidence base 2. Conceptual framework 3. Key advice for teachers 4. Other outcomes from the research Overview

3.  Funding and partners  Scope and method 1. Context and evidence base

4.  Funded by ALTC/OLT, DIISRTE (2011- 2012)  Led by Deakin University, in collaboration with Queensland University of Technology and Charles Sturt University  Open Universities Australia and James Cook University also acknowledged 1.1 Funding and partners

5.  National study, international reference group  18 month timeframe  $220 000 budget  Focus on practical outcomes for busy teachers and leaders  New conceptual framework developed 1.2 Scope and method

6.  National environmental scan of effective practice  Review of recent peer-reviewed and other significant literature (200+ papers)  115 individual interviews (89 students, 3 unis; 26 staff, 6 unis) 1.2 Scope and method

7.  Study focussed on success:  Environmental scan of ‘what works’  Interviewed successful students who were LSES and FIF and asked them “What has helped you succeed?”  Interviewed staff known for their expertise with LSES students and asked them “What helps LSES students succeed?” 1.2 Scope and method

8. 1. Context and evidence base 2. Conceptual framework 3. Key advice for teachers 4. Other outcomes from the research Overview

9. Derived from the literature Guided the research Underpins the outcomes:  Guide for teaching staff  Guide for leaders and policy makers  Resources for professional development  Database of effective curriculum and practice 2. Conceptual framework

10. A rejection of deficit conceptions: around students and around institutions Recognition, instead, that there is incongruity between the social and cultural capital of LSES students and that of the institutions in which they study. 2. A new conceptual framework

11. ‘Sociocultural incongruity’ (Devlin, 2011) Instead of a deficit conception, a conception that sociocultural incongruence should be bridged A recognition of the agency of students (and of institutions) 2. A new conceptual framework

12. The bridge

13. 1. Context and evidence base 2. Conceptual framework 3. Key advice for teachers 4. Other outcomes from the research Overview

14. 1.Know and respect your students 2.Offer flexibility, variety and choice 3.Communicate your expectations clearly and in plain language 4.Scaffold student learning 5.Be available and approachable to assist student learning 6.Practice reflectively 3. Key advice for teachers

15. 1.Know and respect your students 2.Offer flexibility, variety and choice 3.Communicate your expectations clearly and in plain language 4.Scaffold student learning 5.Be available and approachable to assist student learning 6.Practice reflectively 3. Key advice for teachers

16. Understand that LSES students are time poor; communicate with them, embrace and integrate their diversity and enable contributions of their knowledge to everyone’s learning. 3.1 Know and respect your students

17. Understand their context They have to undertake paid work; often they have multiple roles and caring responsibilities; they are time poor. …unless this is going to improve their learning outcomes, they’re not interested. Unless it’s going to make it easier to do that assessment task in a timely way, they’re not going to engage in it because they are very time poor [COL_021] 3.1 Know and respect your students

18. Understand what they bring to study …students who came from public high schools tended to do better and last longer and succeed faster,...[they] have fewer fails in things, so progress faster at university, than students who came from private schools...[the public school students] never had the resources handed to them and they always had to fight for everything and they were much more independent learners [COL_013]. 3.1 Know and respect your students

19. Understand what they bring to study …stats have shown in our course that, generally speaking, our low SES students tend to do better. They’re slightly better motivated and probably more capable students…[COL_014] Consider eliciting and integrating the knowledge students bring with them to study: 3.1 Know and respect your students

20. …being able to pull in people’s different experiences because they’ve come from different areas can actually be really insightful. …when we’re talking about developing marketing strategy,…we’re talking to different groups and we want to know why one group might look at that marketing communication and go ‘That’s…a joke’, whereas another group might look at it and go ‘It’s perfectly believable’, and it’s because of that diversity in their backgrounds. So I’m very strongly in favour of …[teachers] trying to get as many different voices … into the mix as possible [COL_013]. 3.1 Know and respect your students

21. Embrace and integrate diversity …use as much diversity as possible in your pedagogical practices, because there’s all sorts of different learners. Don’t presume that groups all learn in certain ways, watch out for generalisations [COL_026]. 3.1 Know and respect your students

22. Suggested strategies: Use student cohort demographics to begin to understand who your students are at a broad level. As far as possible, learn and use students’ names. Examine the extent to which you include the student voice and student opinions in class or online. 3.1 Know and respect your students

23. 1.Know and respect your students 2.Offer flexibility, variety and choice 3.Communicate your expectations clearly and in plain language 4.Scaffold student learning 5.Be available and approachable to assist student learning 6.Practice reflectively 3. Key advice for teachers

24. While upholding academic standards, offer LSES students flexibility, choice in assessment and variety in teaching and learning strategies. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

25. So to me, to respond to the diverse situations …it’s about flexibility and responsiveness to a person’s situation and thinking about what is the contextual factors around them that are impacting on their ability to meet all the demands of the course [COL_009]. When I’m designing my teaching delivery approaches, I’m quite supportive of not requiring students to be in a particular place at a particular time… [COL_027]. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

26. High standards (and assumptions) I’ve found that...low SES kids...[are] very smart and determined people...[COL_007]. …we take students who are low socioeconomic and first in their family…and last year and the year before that we had 25% of them graduate with distinction [COL_023]. I had someone who got High Distinctions, who came to see me to be better [COL_001]. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

27. Teaching with technology …the recordings have been really popular...[COL_030]; The uploading of lectures with the PowerPoint slides attached to them......[COL_002]; …the online interactive …presentations … [STU_051];... the eLive sessions [STU_001]; The online module... [STU_008];... audio…podcast and…video... email[ing] your lecturer...24-hour access to your learning material [STU_045]; 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

28. Use a wide range of teaching strategies I try to provide resources that meet every learning style… because not everybody learns in the one way [COL_011]. I...use YouTube, or I use a lot of photos or images in my teaching that represent diversity... to illustrate any of the kinds of content that I teach [COL_008]. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

29. Use a wide range of teaching strategies I guess you could almost see it as an ‘epistemological equity’ in some ways because it’s meeting students where they’re at, it’s student centred, you know if a person’s unable to figure out how to use the technology, no problem, let’s find something else you know[COL_009]. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

30. Interactive teaching and learning I think that it’s much more useful for students to have a conversation evolving around concepts so that they can explore and unpack things that they don’t understand as you’re going along [COL_027]. I use an interactive lecture style..., so ‘What do you think about this?’ and I’ll give them a scenario just to see where they’re at. [COL_024]. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

31. Interactive teaching and learning …the interactive lectures where they ask questions…[and] they might have quizzes throughout the lecture, that’s helpful... It gives you the time to sort of draw aside and talk with the people next to you or get out your calculator and work out the quiz question or whatever. That’s really good as well to get you involved in the lecture rather than just sitting there, falling asleep [STU_010]. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

32. Variety in assessment (mode) …assessment at university…relies too much on the formal written word, and on the traditional types of assessments, like essays and reports, and yes, there definitely is a place for those kinds of assessments. But in this changing world, we need to bring in more variety in modes of assessment, so not just a formal essay, but a variety of ways, to meet the diversity of our students as well [COL_012]. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

33. Variety in assessment (mode) … [in] many of the assessments, they have been able to do it online, as a report, as an essay,…as a collection of interview information [COL_001]. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

34. Flexibility re assessment due dates I need flexibility because with work arrangements...sometimes that all changes and I just need a few days’ flexibility here or there [STU_036]....with three kids... at times... [teachers] have assisted, whether it be [through] extensions, or special consideration... If they weren’t available, I don’t know what I would’ve done [STU_054]. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

35. Suggested strategies Examine your unconscious assumptions about LSES students and challenge yourself about the potential impacts of any biases you might hold. Reflect on your preferences in teaching strategies and assessment practice – ask yourself how the range of these might be widened to encompass more interaction and a greater range of student learning needs, without compromising standards. 3.2 Offer flexibility, variety and choice

36. 1.Know and respect your students 2.Offer flexibility, variety and choice 3.Communicate your expectations clearly and in plain language 4.Scaffold student learning 5.Be available and approachable to assist student learning 6.Practice reflectively 3. Key advice for teachers

37. Speak and write in plain language to ensure students understand the concepts being taught, the expectations of them and what is required to be a successful student. 3.3 Communicate clearly in plain English

38. …It can be daunting to kind of sit down and write your first five thousand word assignment…so definitely a clear structure…helps [STU_057]. Because they’re the ones marking my assessment…it’s good to know what they want in the assessments or exams [STU_074]. 3.3 Communicate clearly in plain English

39. …if you lay the guidelines out…you say, ‘This is what I would like, this is what you can do’, they know very clearly what it is you want [COL_001]. …they’re told to write these essays and they want to see what an essay looks like. It’s like trying to teach them how to ride a bicycle without the bicycle… But if you’re teaching something, and if you can show an example of it, the students can see the expectation, they can see the level of what is expected of them [COL_012]. 3.3 Communicate clearly in plain English

40. Accessible language and examples I feel like they’re using big words and big sentences when they can say the exact same thing in simple language and half the amount of words…In other words, ‘What does it actually mean?’ So I’ve had a few teachers that I really couldn’t understand and they were just so sort of theoretical that I found myself tuning out which was really difficult and it also can get maximally hard to relate to if they’re speaking in really high academic language… [STU_035]. 3.3 Communicate clearly in plain English

41. Real life examples I do like the ones who...have a more practical approach…they’re actually giving their life examples or speaking about their experiences and…I find that... beneficial [STU_037]....the tutors...[are] quite personal,...they’ll relate their own experiences, which is really good because you have something to go from rather than it being really abstract... [STU_088]. 3.3 Communicate clearly in plain English

42. Suggested strategies Record a typical class and review your use of language for the use of jargon, acronyms, complex vocabulary, long sentences, the absence of clear explanations and the like. Ask a small group of volunteer students or a colleague to listen to you teach and give you feedback about your use of language and your clarity. 3.3 Communicate clearly in plain English

43. Suggested strategies Actively practice simplifying your oral and written language and using explanations of greater depth. Try to include a small number of short anecdotes or stories in each class to engage students and help them understand and remember concepts. 3.3 Communicate clearly in plain English

44. 1.Know and respect your students 2.Offer flexibility, variety and choice 3.Communicate your expectations clearly and in plain language 4.Scaffold student learning 5.Be available and approachable to assist student learning 6.Practice reflectively 3. Key advice for teachers

45. Take a step-by-step approach to teaching to ensure students build on what they bring to higher education and are taught the particular discourses necessary to succeed. 3.4 Scaffold student learning

46. Well what I try to do is find ways in which I can scaffold the information…I…try and structure it so that every student has the capacity to look at the task and if they understand it to begin with, then they can move onto the next task...structuring the task… allows them to say ‘Okay, well, I’m at this point and I’m going to need some help to move into the next one’, whereas the other students who are doing better can just go, ‘ Yeah well I finished that one, let’s move onto the next one’. So everybody is sort of still moving [COL_013]. 3.4 Scaffold student learning

47. Teaching and learning the discourses...you might set an essay...Now, a culturally rich student audience will say, ‘Essay. Yes, I know essays....we learnt how to write an essay...I know how to get hold of literature and review...and critique it...’. [Other] students, however, may...say, ‘You know, I’ve really not written very many essays...’, and they may...be puzzling...about what an essay actually is...So they’re not stupid, but the point is that they don’t have this cultural knowledge about how you write an essay [COL_016]. 3.4 Scaffold student learning

48. Teaching and learning the discourses …what a student does… in a lecture…[is] they try to copy everything down religiously, because they’re not looking for the key points, and they have no idea…what they’re expected to do, and seriously, there are so many who have no concept of how to read academically, that it holds them back, so they stop doing it [COL_001]. 3.4 Scaffold student learning

49. Peer learning …you know that they learn from each other, half the time better than from you [COL_029]. My tutorials are basically all about group work and they are all about group work and interaction and everybody in the group gets a say…and it is very, very important we do that, because that binds them together with the other students and it also gets them to settle into the university in the first five or six weeks, and that is critical [COL_006]. 3.4 Scaffold student learning

50. Peer learning...I found that if you get out and mingle with other people - you make friends and then you can learn from them as well, so you don’t have to be sort of alone and solitary in your learning. [STU_044]. The thing that really does help me learn is having study groups with other people in my course...it motivates me to study as well... And if I don’t understand something, they can help explain it or I can help them as well, which helps me remember it [STU_074]. … 3.4 Scaffold student learning

51. Suggested strategies Talk to an ALL expert about the best ways to approach teaching your LSES and other students the discourses they need to learn to be successful. Design and implement peer learning activities inside and outside class and ask students to provide feedback to you on their usefulness to their understanding and learning. 3.4 Scaffold student learning

52. 1.Know and respect your students 2.Offer flexibility, variety and choice 3.Communicate your expectations clearly and in plain language 4.Scaffold student learning 5.Be available and approachable to assist student learning 6.Practice reflectively 3. Key advice for teachers

53. In addition to being available, be approachable so that students may make use of your expertise and guidance to improve their learning and performance. 3.5 Be available and approachable

54. Being available It doesn’t matter how many fancy electronic resources you’ve got. If you haven’t got time for them, you’ve got problems [COL_011]. I think it’s just time. I think I would spend the most time with them. Isn’t that one of the most valuable resources that you can really give, is time? [COL_025]. 3.5 Be available and approachable

55. Being available It was always clear to us that if we needed support we could just go talk to the co-ordinator or our lecturers or anyone really…that’s a big benefit of coming here that they’re very accessible [STU_092]. I think having a lecturer available for help and to ask questions – like you can easily e-mail them …or organise a time to meet up with them for help. I think that’s really helpful [STU_074]. 3.5 Be available and approachable

56. Being approachable I guess it’s just having the door open and trying to have as accessible an approach as possible. So where you are encouraging students to talk to you if something’s not right [COL_027]. I find some lecturers are really approachable if you’ve got a question and some aren’t at all. So you’ve just got to pick which ones are and…you can sort of tell by their mannerism and how they answer a question in the classroom whether they’re approachable in their contact time [STU_095]. 3.5 Be available and approachable

57. Staff workload Experienced staff frequently commented on the extra time they spent with LSES students assisting them to come to terms with university requirements and develop skills and confidence. This is an institutional matter and can be addressed through embedded approaches, workload models and other means. 3.5 Be available and approachable

58. 1.Know and respect your students 2.Offer flexibility, variety and choice 3.Communicate your expectations clearly and in plain language 4.Scaffold student learning 5.Be available and approachable to assist student learning 6.Practice reflectively 3. Key advice for teachers

59. …it’s about...helping adults to learn,...that’s my philosophy…the philosophy comes from an andragogical background which is the science of helping adults to learn. So that means always looking at my practice…and saying, ‘Well, how can I do this better?’ [COL_015]. 3.6 Practice reflectively

60. 1. Context and evidence base 2. Conceptual framework 3. Key advice for teachers 4. Other outcomes from the research Overview

61. Guide for teachers Guide for institutional leaders Professional development materials Conceptual framework Database of effective practice Annotated bibliography Website (lowses.edu.au) Numerous articles & presentations Network across Australia and beyond 4. Research outcomes

62. Devlin, M., Kift, S., Nelson, K. Smith, L. And McKay, J. (in press). Effective teaching and support of students from low socioeconomic status: Resources for Australian higher education. Office for Learning and Teaching, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science, Research and Tertiary Education. Devlin, M. 2011. Bridging socio-cultural incongruity: conceptualising the success of students from low socio- economic status backgrounds in Australian higher education. Studies in Higher Education, Online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2011.613991 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2011.613991 References

63. www.lowses.edu.au