1 / 19

Dispositions to Learn and student success

Research Seminar Series 2009: Access and Success for All. Dispositions to Learn and student success. Jamie Thompson Jamie Harding Karen Williamson. HEFCE /Paul Hamlyn Foundation Student Retention Grants Programme. Northumbria Bedfordshire and Manchester Universities

vanida
Download Presentation

Dispositions to Learn and student success

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Research Seminar Series 2009: Access and Success for All Dispositions to Learn and student success Jamie Thompson Jamie Harding Karen Williamson

  2. HEFCE /Paul Hamlyn Foundation Student Retention Grants Programme • Northumbria Bedfordshire and Manchester Universities • To illuminate and improve student retention (student progression, student success) • One of seven funded three year projects • Building on previous work with ELLI • ELLI? • Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory

  3. A Hypothesis at Bristol Double Helix of Learning (McGettrick, 2002) Learning Power Achievement Knowledge, Skills and Understanding Personal Development Attitudes, Values, Feelings, Dispositions, Motivations

  4. Factor Analysis: What Impacts on Learning? Curriculum and Assessment Practices Institutional Ethos Worldviews and Traditions Pedagogy Self-regulation Awareness Self Esteem Skills and Capacities Sense of Self As Learner Learning Power Interest Effort Self-efficacy Dispositions Locus of Control Goal Orientation Home, Family and Community Peer Culture Cultural Tools

  5. The ELLI Instrument(Assessing Learning Power) • 72 item questionnaire • Tested and Validated • Self-report • Malleable and situational • Statements of how think / feel / behave as a learner • 4 point Lickert scale • Available online • Instant feedback as a spider diagram • Class / group profiles also produced

  6. The Seven Dimensions of Learning Power • Changing and Learning • Meaning Making • Critical Curiosity • Creativity • Learning Relationships • Strategic Awareness • Resilience • Being Stuck and Static • Data Accumulation • Passivity • Being Rule Bound • Isolation & Dependence • Being Robotic • Fragility & Dependence

  7. Research Questions • Do students’ dispositions change in the course of their academic programme • Does using ELLI in itself boost student retention and achievement? • Are there dispositions to learn that have an impact on student retention and achievement? • Can retention initiatives based on problematic dispositions be formulated and evaluated?

  8. Quantitative Data ELLI Data Northumbria • PCAP students, 2nd year CEIS undergraduates and 1st year undergraduates from CEIS, Psychology and Business Studies Bedfordshire • Smaller numbers of 1st year undergraduates from Psychology, Journalism and Educational Practice ELLI data plus SITS data for 1st year Business Studies and CEIS undergraduates at Northumbria

  9. Quantitative Findings • Significant, positive correlations between first year student marks and 3 dispositions: • Strategic Awareness • Critical Curiosity • Changing and Learning • For women in the Business School, high marks associated with low scores on Creativity and Learning Relationships

  10. Students Withdrawing from Programmes • 4 students who have withdrawn compared to 374 who have not • ‘Withdrawers’ achieved higher mean scores on every dimension • Differences significant for Critical Curiosity and Strategic Awareness

  11. Differences in ELLI Between Different Groups • PCAP students higher than other groups on Critical Curiosity, Meaning Making, Resilience and Strategic Awareness • Psychology students lower than journalism students on Creativity and Critical Curiosity • Educational Practice students higher than Journalism in Learning Relationships

  12. Gender Differences • Men scored significantly higher on Critical Curiosity, Resilience and Creativity • Woman had higher mean marks • Men achieved significantly higher marks when they scored higher on Critical Curiosity and Strategic Awareness • Women achieved significantly higher marks when they scored higher on resilience

  13. Few Significant Differences Between Other Social Groups • Students from lower socio-economic groups scored lower on Learning Relationships • Non-British students scored higher in the area of Creativity and Strategic Awareness, but achieved lower mean marks (not sig.) • Chinese students had higher levels of Creativity than White students

  14. Qualitative Data • 3 focus groups: one academic staff on PCAP programme and two students on MAP • 5 individual interviews: four ambassadors of MAP students and one academic staff at Manchester • Questionnaires from academic staff introducing ELLI to students

  15. Qualitative Findings • Triangulation in the areas of Critical Curiosity and Changing and Learning • Students perceived benefits of self-reflection for personal development • Students found the language of ELLI advantageous • Staff positive, some concerns over practical issues

  16. More Questions than Answers? • How should we respond to higher scores on dimensions among students who withdraw? • Will negative correlation between marks and Learning Relationships and Creativity be reproduced more widely? • How do students dispositions change with time – can this be influenced by interventions? • Is there an appropriate response to gender differences?

  17. Where do we go from here? • Exploration of changes to learning dimensions with time • Larger datasets to examine further relationships between learning dispositions and marks • Exploration of the impact of combinations of different dispositions • More withdrawers to make comparisons in terms of learning dimensions

  18. Where do we go from here? (2) Exploration of learning dimensions with: • Students who have withdrawn from an academic programme • Students who have been referred in an academic programme • Students who have high scores in high dimensions

  19. Where do we go from here? (3) • Evaluation of guidebook highlighting good practice in the use of ELLI • Evaluation of different methods of introducing ELLI to students • Development of initiatives to boost key learning dimensions • Evaluation of initiatives

More Related