academic skills advice - university of bradford a’ level maths syllabus on behalf of examination...

University of Bradford | Executive Summary 1

Academic Skills Advice

A University of Bradford learner support service dedicated to

enhancing the student experience, retention and attainment by

promoting independent learning.

ANNUAL REPORT

2015-16

Academic Skills Advice: Annual Report 2015-2016

University of Bradford | Executive Summary 2

Executive Summary

An excellent year has seen the service quality maintained, and even built upon, despite the

absence of a dedicated front line role. An increased number of students accessing the

service together with an increase in faculty-based delivery have been hallmarks of this year.

The team consists of five full time advisers who have recorded 4318 interactions with 1173

students. In addition, over 600 students have engaged with the 24/7 online workshop

programme which sits within Blackboard and thousands of paper-based, self-help, learning

resources have used by students.

Evaluation and record keeping continue to be a key part of the service model. Over the

years, student satisfaction has been measured using various methods with the constant

result being that the reported rates have remained very high year on year. The most

influential evaluation this year has been the Student Voice research project; a pilot study

using a variety of research methods. It was undertaken to gain a deeper and more detailed

understanding of the level of student engagement with Academic Skills. Results suggest

tutors’ influence on students’ perceptions of the service plays a central role in whether or

not students access Academic Skills Advice. Students’ own perceptions might affect their

engagement too, i.e. deeming the service for ‘strugglers’ or ‘high-achievers’. Additionally,

some students prefer teaching staff to be unaware of their accessing Academic Skills

Advice. Recommendations for raising student awareness of the service will be

implemented this year.

Having completed a preliminary year, the Research and Scholarship skills advice for

doctoral students will be fully rolled out. Liaising across faculties has informed the

development of an upcoming skills workshop programme which will operate in conjunction

with the Vitae training and skills development appointments.

The quality of the staff employed is borne out by various prestige activities that have been

undertaken this year, which reflect well on the University. In addition to two staff becoming

Fellows of the HEA, advisers have been: regularly reviewing for Epigeum and various

publishing houses as well as peer-reviewed journals; developing learning materials for the

new A’ level maths syllabus on behalf of examination boards; sitting on the national

steering committee for ALDinHE; and even taking a secondment with the UN in Geneva.

Overall, a commitment to excellence at Bradford has been demonstrated by delivering

better outcomes with fewer resources.


University of Bradford | Contents 3

Contents

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 2

Contents ......................................................................................................................... 3

1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 4

2. Service Overview ..................................................................................................... 4

2.1. Location ....................................................................................................... 5

2.2. What the service offers ................................................................................ 5

3. Academic Year 2015-2016 Summary ...................................................................... 7

3.1. Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) ............................................................. 8

3.2. Progress against planned service objectives ............................................... 8

3.3. Summary of year ......................................................................................... 8

3.4. Meeting Challenges ................................................................................... 10

3.5. Achievement Highlights ............................................................................. 10

4. Year Plan 2016-2017 ............................................................................................. 11

5. Challenges ............................................................................................................. 12

6. Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 13

7. Appendix 1 – Maths Student Survey ..................................................................... 14


University of Bradford | Introduction 4

1. Introduction

This report forms part of the annual Monitoring, Accountability and Reporting (MAR)

process of the service. It presents details of the current operation, including: the learner

support provided, the format this takes, the students who access the service and the

evaluation of these interactions. This report is underpinned by data gathered during the

year. Finally, as an integral part of MAR, the report highlights the achievements made

over the previous reporting period, outlines the plan for the forthcoming academic

session, and presents a brief analysis of the current challenges the service faces.

2. Service Overview

The service was established in 2006-7 to:

fill a gap in learner support provision by focusing on academic skills (including

numeracy, mathematics, reading, writing, presenting, exam performance, critical

thinking and reflection);

be actively student-facing and student-centred (within the limits of the resource

available), helping students to develop as autonomous learners on taught

programmes, based on best practice in studying at degree level;

offer this development and support in a range of formats that is suited to both on-

site and distance learners;

explicitly focus on offering advice, support and skills development, not income-

generating credit-bearing tuition;

add value to the experience of studying at Bradford by working relationally with

students who access the service;

The service expanded its provision in 2015-16 to include Research and Scholarship

Skills Advice for postgraduate research students.

http://www.bradford.ac.uk/academic-skills/faqs/docs


University of Bradford | Service Overview 5

2015-16, the service comprised:

1 fte Senior Adviser (now HoS) Maths

1 fte Senior Academic Skills Adviser Study Skills, Writing and PGR

1 fte Academic Skills Adviser Maths

1 fte Academic Skills Adviser Study skills (workshop programme)

1 fte Academic Skills Adviser Study skills (instant advice)

2.1. Location

The service is based in the Chesham Building, rather than Student Central or the

Library, where most other student support services are located. This does remain a

barrier to accessibility for students

2.2. What the service offers

The continued function of the service is to offer skills advice, teaching, support and

developmental guidance to students. Learners are supported in a range of ways,

illustrated by figure 1, below:

Figure 1: The range of ways the service supports the development of students as independent learners.

Autonomous Learners

Support clinics & instant advice (no

appointment necessary)

Online open-access

developmental resources

Paper based developmental

resources

One-to-one and small

group dedicated

appointments

Academic skills workshop

programme

Advice by email and telephone


University of Bradford | Service Overview 6

The service teaches and advises students, for example, workshops are referred to as a

teaching activity because the content is planned and prepared in advance. However,

advising occurs in face-to-face interactions and so the teaching is a responsive activity.

It is tailored to the needs of the student(s), as they present to advisers.

However, it is necessary at times to clarify to students which services are not offered,

such as: those support facilities that are already part of another service’s role; services

that do not currently exist due to university regulations or accepted practice in HE.

These include:

There is no discipline-based tuition or subject-coaching as academic colleagues

are the experts in their subject matter;

Assisted editing, checking or proofing of assessed course-work is not provided.

This sort of intervention achieves little in terms of helping students become

skilled, highly-employable future graduates and it damages the academic

integrity of the institution.


University of Bradford | Academic Year 2015-2016 Summary 7

3. Academic Year 2015-2016 Summary

3.

Key Performance Indicators 2015-2016 - Breakdown of students

Breakdown of students

Key Performance Indicators 2015-2016 - Breakdown of service

Breakdown of students

Advisers interacted with 1173 Students

Advisers recorded 4318 Interactions

Advising (1-2-1, small group and clinics)

2292 Interactions

Teaching (face-to-face) 1243 Interactions

Online 24/7 Workshop (in VLE) 626 Students

Learning materials: >3000 Copies

Student satisfaction >95 %

Increased confidence/understanding >90 %

Faculty Split FEI

FHS

FLS

FML

FSS

Unconfirmed

UG/PG Split

UG

PG

Unknown

0%

50%

100%

FEI FHS FLS FML FSS

Gender Split Male Female

All Interactions

Maths

Study

Writing

Maths Skills

Advanced

Exam Strategies

Intermediate

Multiple Areas

Numeracy/Basic

Statistics - Advanced

Study Skills Multiple AreasOtherAssertiveness and People SkillsEffective LearningExam StrategiesMultiple AreasOtherPresentationProfessional DevelopmentReading and ResearchReferencingTime Management

Writing Skills

Critical Analysis

Drafting

GSP

Multiple Areas

Other

Planning

Structure


3.1. Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)

The findings reported above are drawn from our custom-designed database of daily

client interactions as well as various service evaluation processes, including student

feedback. We have seen a continued increase in numbers of students and number of

total interactions year on year despite a reduction in the size of the team last year. This

represents a massive effort from all the advisers. Our support continues to reflect that

Emm Lane students are also supported by our colleagues in the Effective Learning

Service at the Faculty of Management and Law. This year there has been an increase

in numbers of male students accessing the service, in contrast to trends within the

sector. The evidence points towards the increase in clinics this year, which appears to

be the model which appeals most to this demographic.

3.2. Progress against planned service objectives

Last year’s plans were reviewed and the service had a successful year. Of the 16

challenging objectives set at the beginning of the year 10 were met fully, with 4 largely

met. 2 have been rolled over to the coming year.

3.3. Summary of year

A totally new service model was implemented in order to mitigate the loss of a key role

and this has proved effective. Within the defined parameters of operation the team has

been resoundingly successful at maximising the quality of the student experience this

year. However, there are still concerns regarding location as most other student

support services are located in Student Central and the Library.

On a small scale, Research and Scholarship Skills Advice for post-graduate research

students continued in its ‘establishment’ phase through the year, liaising with faculties

and planning for a broader provision to be rolled out in the coming year.

The service commitment to the continued professional development of its staff is

already yielding benefits to students. The University’s Peer Supported Review of

Teaching Practice was successfully engaged with for a second year and has continued

to inform and enhance practice. This was accompanied by the raising of our national

profile through continuing our representation on the steering group of our professional

body, the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) and

hosting a regional conference. Additionally, advisers had the opportunity to both

disseminate and access examples of best practice through presenting at key



professional conferences, such as MSOR-CETL and ALDinHE as well as at Bradford’s

own LTR conference. A small TEL trial in the maths clinics was undertaken and

evaluated. It successfully helped to continue to improve the experience for students

through the introduction of two PC tablets. Furthermore, it has demonstrated support

for the service goals of helping students develop as independent learners. This has led

to a published article and conference proceedings. In addition, a student survey is

included in the Appendix 1.

Whilst data had been collected in previous years via service-specific surveys, a pilot

study using a variety of research methods was employed to gain a deeper and more

detailed understanding of the level of student engagement with Academic Skills. The

research also identified new methods of raising student awareness of the service:

Results suggest tutors play a central role in whether or not students access Academic

Skills and in raising awareness of the Service through their influencing of students’

perceptions. In addition, students’ perceptions of the Service, i.e. whether they deem if

for ‘strugglers’ or ‘high-achievers’, might also affect their engagement with its provision.

It is also reported that some students prefer teaching staff to be unaware of their

accessing of Academic Skills.

As a result, recommended methods for improving awareness include:

Utilising students (Reps, Ambassadors, Societies) as conduits for information

Posting testimonials and case studies on the Service webpages

Educating academic staff regarding the work of Academic Skills

Advertising academic and non-academic advantages of improving skills

‘Normalising’ the use of the Service, requiring strategic intervention from Senior

Management

With regard to specific support, and given the success in previous years, there has

been an increase in Writing Clinics this year as well as additional Maths Clinics in the

run up to assessments. Revision Clinics have also been introduced. Finally, it has also

been another good year of resource development. There is now a broad suite of quality

learning resources available online, via our recently revamped website, as well as in

print form. They are very popular with students and staff.



3.4. Meeting Challenges

Last year, several challenges were identified and reported on which the service might

face during the 2015-16 academic year. These challenges were met as follows:

Productive meetings were held with the Language Centre staff, formally and

informally to help combat misunderstandings among staff and students.

We have continually worked to overcome the strategic challenges, most of which

are ongoing.

Remaining effective and growing the service, despite the loss of staff (and the

associated changes to space usage) has been one of our biggest successes.

3.5. Achievement Highlights

Embedded previous year’s successful trial of extended workshop and clinic provision.

Successful transition to adviser-led service model, with higher accessibility

Consolidation of Research and Scholarship Skills provision

Maths Clinic TEL-trial of Windows Tablets

Two Advisers have been recognised as Fellows of the HEA, more applications are in process

Revamped and improved website

Bradford:Leader engagement

Collaborations with Faculties and other Services: Social Work, Optometry, Library (plagiarism avoidance support), ‘On Location’ publicity with Careers and Library, R&SS liaising and planning, maths support for FML and FEI

Involvement at a national level, with peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and proceedings, etc.

Hosted Regional ALDinHE conference


University of Bradford | Year Plan 2016-2017 11

4. Year Plan 2016-2017

As a small team with a clear function, the primary plan is to continue to provide the

student support that constitutes the core service. In addition to general day-to-day

running and maintaining of the service the following specific objectives have been

identified.

Objectives: Timescale:

Trial enhanced approach to student feedback gathering Sep 2016

Implement new online booking system Sep 2016

Trial of augmented reality as awareness raising campaign for students Oct 2016

Explore seeking external recognition for service Nov 2016

Complete Adviser job description review Dec 2016

Investigate provision of specific Maths workshops through faculty liaison Dec 2016

Development of maths-skills benchmark resource Jan 2017

Marketing drive for Semester 2 focusing on raising staff awareness Jan 2017

Scheduling of a cross-services Writing Week event Mar 2017

Increase PDP resources in response to institutional initiatives April 2017

Collaborate with CDS on numerical reasoning within psychometric tests skills May 2017

Delivery of new suite of Research and Scholarship skills workshops for PhD students

May 2017

Implement biennial client survey May 2017

Embedding of Revision Skills Clinics June 2017

Develop online Maths course (addressing transition agenda) July 2017

Increase service communication with students via social media July 2017

Faculty collaboration through trialling of SSLC attendance July 2017

As always, the achievement of these objectives will form the impetus for our service

review activities. These service level goals inform the individual performance

management targets.


University of Bradford | Challenges 12

5. Challenges

Several challenges are identified which the service may face during the 2016-17

academic year. These are briefly considered here:

Continued misconceptions of the service, particularly among staff, which leads to

the wrong messages for students, despite extensive awareness-raising.

On-going financial situation at the University.

Setting up a new online appointment-booking system.

The continued issues with our location on campus, specifically our visibility and

our separation from the majority of the student academic support services.

Various uncertainties:

o The Learning and Teaching plan has not been released at the time of

writing so we have been unable to specifically align our plans with the

strategic aims it will contain. However, we are aware of a commitment to

exploring a wider roll-out of ILPs or LSPs for students and have continued

to work towards supporting this strategy.

o Also, we are not able to plan a response to the proposed space being

created in B0.21, Chesham as a result of the Language Centre relocation.

o Finally, flux around IT skills development provision to students is also a

potential issue.

Managing the tension of maintaining our student provision whilst engaging with

more faculty-specific activities. Specifically due to our commitment to attending

more faculty liaison events this year.


University of Bradford | Conclusions 13

6. Conclusions

Student interactions have increased and each faculty is well represented. The service is

aware of the limitations it faces with regard to space and location but, nevertheless,

quality has been maintained in the absence of the dedicated front line role. This has

been through a commitment to visibility and accessibility as well as listening to students.

It is hoped that an online booking system for appointments – inspired by the online

booking for workshops – will further build on this strength. So too should the

commitment to an enhanced marketing drive aimed at staff and students in semester 2

at a critical point in the academic year when significant feedback is available, allowing

students to constructively develop their skills. Given the achievements and success of

the last year there is every reason for optimism for the year ahead.


University of Bradford | Appendix 1 – Maths Student Survey 14

7. Appendix 1 – Maths Student Survey

The Survey

Having used two tablet PCs in maths clinics for 1 full academic year we decided to do a

(very) small survey to see how students responded to the use of the tablets and

whether or not they found them useful. We emailed all students who had attended a

maths clinic during the academic year (255 students) asking them to complete the

survey. We received 25 responses (approximately 10%).

The Questions

The Responses

Q1: 24 out of 25 (96%) of the students said they had noticed the tablets being used.

Q2: 20 out of 24 (83.3%) said that they found the tablet very useful.

Not at all useful Very useful


University of Bradford | Appendix 1 – Maths Student Survey 15

Q3: We received 15 very positive comments about the use of the tablets, and the maths

clinics in general:

In Brief

The tablets were well received and the students seemed to appreciate and find them

very useful in the clinics. It seems that some students are inclined to see the tablets

and clinics as entwined concepts – lots of comments about Advisers and clinics as well

as tablets.

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