Notes from the Proceedings of the Student Writing in Transition Symposium 2011, Nottingham Trent University

From Transition to Transformation: students shaping their experience and their institutions

Dr Marco Angelini, UCL

1/3 of students experience ‘doubts’ in their fist year of uni.

Fees may exacerbate these feelings

NTU using tutorial teaching to combat this

3 Themes:

1) What are the differences in learning in school, FE and HE

2) What can HEI’s do to help their transition

3) How can we help students develop writing in their discipline

Peer Mentoring programme at UCL.

‘Students as agents of transformation’ or as ‘transformers’.

UCL transition programme is discipline based and practice based. Transformations in students, staff and curriculum.

The transition phase = a) pre-enrolment b) induction week activities. Preparatory work is put in place re online support, pre-arrival info, VLE. Within induction week there are ice breakers, tours and allocation of mentor groups using 400 mentors. 8 out of 10 meet weekly within their discipline.

The first 3-4 weeks is about social acclimatisation. Beyond 4-5 weeks, UCL ask mentors to turn these groups into peer assisted learning groups. They have weekly meetings in booked rooms with ‘set’ structured plans. Mentors receive training. In semester 2, the peer mentoring continues on a voluntary basis and group take ownership. Most students want to be PAL leaders on a voluntary basis.

Extension opportunities for mentors exist. Transformational leadership that PALs provide is central. Transformation as Ethos, Process and Outcome – its paves the way for a lot!

Student as ‘Metron’ (ancient greek word for man as a measure of things – centre of any good society has engaged citizens)

- A ‘student centre’ or putting students at the centre?

- As critical practitioners/learners – taking mentoring with you

- As the measure of all things (protagaras); gaining mastery through student experience.

Best transformation is student and mentor lead. Transition is in the detail:

- Prepare, do, review – critical reflection leads to agency

- PAL and participation; student agency effects T&L strategies. Does PAL have epistemology?

- Students as practitioners: taking responsibility

- Students as agents of the community with responsibility and critical engagement equals constantly transformative and aids metacognition as it reveals subjects to be negotiable = PAL epistemology

Adding it all up:

- practical approach (praxis-oriented approaches)

- feedback loop of all good practice

- communicate with each dept separately

Called ‘Transition Mentors’. Benefits (for mentor):

- learning to learn

- insightful

- informs own work

- they become reflective, critical thinkers and self aware

- comes through in grades

74% of mentors would continue

90% would be mentors again

98% would recommend

Students agreed that PAL sessions helped with writing and structuring. PAL is labour saving and complements departmental and school work

Summary

- Collaboration is central i) strategically, ii) ethically and iii) pedagogically

- Students as engines of institutional change

- Students transform themselves, disciplines and communities they move into