Stevie Bain, from Biomolecular Sciences, and Louise Sheridan, from Community Development, think it is a very good place to start. Before reading their thoughts on the importance of establishing strong foundations to enhance the student journey, why not have a sing-along to start your day.
Dr Stevie Bain talks about the benefits of creating a ‘choose you own adventure’ style interactive lab to enhance students’ induction experience.
Incoming Life Sciences undergraduates have reported anxieties about attending on-campus activities such as labs. Whilst the importance of induction in alleviating such concerns during the transition period is recognised1, increases in student numbers and heterogeneity can make the provision of effective induction increasingly challenging2. This is certainly true in L1 Life Sciences where cohorts are large and diverse. We aimed to reduce student anxieties by piloting two new induction resources.
The new resources …
A ‘choose you own adventure’ style interactive lab tour was created, which allows students to explore teaching labs at their own pace and focus in on areas of interest e.g., lab benches (Figure 1, available here: [link]). This was inspired by the success of similar tools created in the School of Chemistry.
Interactive lab tour. Screenshots from the interactive lab tour created in Kaltura Media. Students click through a series of options that allow them to explore the Level 1 teaching labs.
Meet the Level 1 Teaching Team videos were also created to introduce staff and key job role aspects. We also included some fun facts such as hobbies and favourite TV shows to show students that we really are human(!) and lower the perceived power difference3.
What did the students think of these resources?
These were first piloted with the WP Biology Summer School in 2022 and then released via the Life Sciences Induction Moodle for 22/23 and 23/24 cohorts.
98 students completed a feedback questionnaire (76 UK, 22 international, this distribution is roughly representative of the cohort demographic) and 25 students participated in focus group sessions.
Most students responded positively when rating induction activities: 20% rated the activities ‘Excellent’, 63% rated them ‘Good” and 13% and 2% rated them ‘Average’ and ‘Poor’, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between ratings from UK and international students (Pearson’s Chi2 test, p=0.53).
72% of students agreed that the induction activities enhanced their knowledge of key locations on campus including teaching laboratories and 82% agreed that induction activities increased their knowledge of staff involved in their teaching this year.
Students were also asked:
- “What did you particularly like about the induction?”
- “How could the induction activities be improved?”
In response to Q1, students responded:
“I liked the tour of the lab as it helped me familiarise myself with the environment”
“Knowledge on staff and who to approach”
However, induction activities were considered a significant undertaking:
“I already feel like I have a LOT of work to do just ensuring I’ve done all of my induction activities!”
Interestingly, many students in the focus groups did not know about the new resources on offer, highlighting a lack of reach. Students agreed that short videos were preferred over written information but were unsure why we hadn’t posted these on social media channels.
Most students reported using social media (Instagram, TikTok) to obtain information about the university. Therefore, it may be beneficial to make more use of these platforms during the induction period.
Students also reported feeling overwhelmed by the induction process and were uncertain about how University, College and School level inductions linked together. Most students agreed that they were unsure which to prioritise. Perhaps a more unified approach is required to improve the clarity of the induction process for students and minimise overload and repetition of information.
TL: DR
Overall, students responded positively to the asynchronous online resources, but feedback showed that not all students are aware of the support on offer. Furthermore, students reported feeling overwhelmed with all the induction activities on offer in the first few weeks and struggled to prioritise tasks.
Any tips and suggestions for developing these online resources are always appreciated! Particularly in relation to gamification!
Note: This study was approved by the University of Glasgow College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences Ethics Committee (project number: 200210082).
References
- Murtagh S, Ridley A, Frings D, Kerr-Pertic S. First-year undergraduate induction: Who attends and how important is induction for first year attainment? Journal of Further and Higher Education. 2016 Apr 13;41(5):597–610.
- Briggs ARJ, Clark J, Hall I. Building bridges: understanding student transition to university. Quality in Higher Education. 2012 Apr;18(1):3–21.
- Hofstede G. Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations across Nations. 2nd ed. Sage Publications; 2001.
Dr Louise Sheridan talks about the potential benefits of hosting online, pre-induction sessions with students
This is a reflective piece that includes some references to a small, exploratory study undertaken in relation to international students experience of induction within a College at the University of Glasgow. The exploratory study was ethically approved by the relevant College Ethics’ Committee and the results are forthcoming. This blog suggests the possibility of programme and course leaders organising short, online, pre-induction sessions for soon-to-be students to enhance student experience.
Taking on the role of Programme Leader for a post-graduate programme brings a lot of new challenges. That was certainly the case for me when I did that very thing not long after the onset of the global pandemic in 2020. It was made all-the-more difficult having to work out how to support students, including international students, who were about to embark on a 480-hour placement in a community project. Formerly a youth and community worker, my instinct is always to bring people together as soon as possible to enable them to begin to get to know each other. They were going to be a community after all.
Armed with the list of offer-holders who had confirmed their place, I set up a pre-induction information session all about placement requirements. It took place on zoom – the then ‘new’ platform. I didn’t quite realise the benefit of quickly learning how to set-up breakout rooms. As well as sharing key information about the programme and the approach to teaching used on the programme – Active Learning – soon-to-be students on the programme quickly started to get to know each other, chatting in breakout rooms until the room closed.
Børte et al. (2020) refer to student active learning as activities that enable collaboration, problem-solving, communicating with others, amongst other things. For some postgraduate students, whose prior studies focused on traditional teaching methods, the idea of active learning is extremely unfamiliar (Jones and Sheridan, forthcoming). This resonates with Bishop et al.’s (2022, p.8) description of a ‘pedagogical shock’ experienced by many students – not only international students. Pre-induction sessions can be used to inform students about what to expect in their learning journey. The transition to a new educational context can be eased by meeting some of the teaching staff prior to their arrival (Mearman and Payne, 2023).
Having organised online, pre-induction placement sessions for the last four years, and observing my colleagues who lead an Undergraduate programme do a similar exercise, I feel the benefits far outweigh the time required to organise the session(s). Soon-to-be students can be guided on foundational reading they can do in advance. They can be signposted to university-wide induction, or onboarding, processes. Students begin to get to know each other, helping them to feel more comfortable when they arrive in the classroom. When there are stronger peer relationships, integration experiences and academic achievement are enhanced (Merola et al., 2019, p.537). Why not make this a New Year’s resolution – try a pre-induction session for 2025-2026 students – you might find it is what has been missing to enhance the teaching and learning experience.
References:
Bishop, G., Johnston, A. and Hemmings, M. (2022). Jazzing up the classroom: Reflections on developing a critical pedagogy in M level teaching. The International Journal of Management Education. 20(2), pp.1-10.
Børte, K., Nesje, K., & Lillejord, S. (2020). Barriers to student active learning in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 28(3), pp.597–615.
Jones, N. and Sheridan, L. (forthcoming). International Postgraduate taught students’ perspectives on resources to support learning transitions: A preliminary case study. https://osotl.org/
Mearman, A. and Payne, R. (2023) Reflections on welcome and induction: exploring the sources of students’ expectations and anticipations about university, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 47(7), pp.980-993
Merola, R. H., Coelen, R. J. and Hofman, W. H. A. (2019) The Role of Integration in Understanding Differences in Satisfaction Among Chinese, Indian, and South Korean International Students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 23(5), pp.535-553
Lead editor: Louise Sheridan
Editors: Edward Beggan, Shaun Bremner-Hart & Colin Mack