Preparing for University: What do
students want to know?
An Exploration of Needs of Students
entering Health Care Programmes
Leslie Robinson, Gilly Mehraban, Jackie Taylor, Sue Braid, Helen Matthews
Date or
Carena reference Julie Evans, Lynn Geelan, Laurie Perrins, Roz Howard, Jen Earle
Eaton,
Aims and objectives
Take evidence-based approach to pre-
induction activities to support transition
1. Literature review: identify key requirements for
pre-registration student support for diverse
students
2. Question year one students to determine
additional support mechanisms students might
have found useful prior to attending University.
3. Recommendations for development of information
and materials in appropriate format
Findings from literature
Reasons cited
• Wrong choice of course
• Financial
• ‘Personal’ Davies & Elias (2003)
• Socialisation
• Accommodation (Trotter 2003)
• Academic preparednesss (Yorke 1999)
Successful strategies
• Improving admissions procedure
• Providing pre-entry information (Martinez, 1997)
“very few problems that leavers face make it impossible for
them to stay…. It is the perception of leavers that the
problems cannot be resolved” Mackie (1998)
Method
1. Literature review: attrition and retention
2. Questionnaires to all full-time first year
students (~400) in week 0
3. Focus groups mixed representation week 0
and week 10
– What were their concerns prior to attending?
– Information/communication methods
Analysis
• Themes from qualitative interviews
• Triangulated with questionnaire data
for generalisability
• Comparison with literature
Profile of students in the school and
representativeness of respondents
School (2002-2005)* Questionnaire returns
Black and minority 9.5% 15.6%
ethnic (BME)
Disability 4.4% 7.6%
Gender (females) 69.5% 71%
Young (<21years) 60% 44%
Total 400 327 (82%)
* Figures for the actual cohort (2006) were not available at the time of the analysis.
Figures presented therefore represent the mean of the previous four years. Trend
analysis shows that these figures are fairly steady for all categories except ethnicity
which is has gradually increased from 8% in 20002 to 12% in 2005.
Areas of investigation
• Concerns
– Finance
– Academic work
– Fitting in with home life
– Accommodation
– Cultural and religious needs
– Making friends
• Information/communication
– How
– When
– What
– Who
Empirical data – concerns overall
5
Mean score of concern for each age group
4
3
2
1
18-20 21-29 30-39 40-49
1 No concern
2 Little concern Age group
3 Neutral
4 Some concerns
5 Strong concerns
Empirical data specific concerns
Mean score all groups for each area of concern
5
mean score for the groups combined
4
3
2
1
Findings empirical data
• Concerns: Finance
– Most commonly cited concern
– 28% students rated it as strong concern
– NHS Bursary
• Complex administration
• Lack of guidance
• Inconsistent and untimely advice
– General, managing personal finance
– Suggested solutions
• More specific guidance/guidelines
• Typical budget statement
• Availability of other sources of funding
Findings empirical data
• Concerns: Level of academic work
– 2nd Highest scoring concern for all age
groups and both genders
– Of increasing importance with age
– Unsure what to expect
– Unsure whether they were ‘up to it’
– Pre-course reading suggested as a
solution/taster
“the workbook …gave me an idea of the work”
Findings empirical data
• Concerns: Fitting in with home life
– 30-39 years of age scored more than ‘3’
– Students wanted to know more about work
commitment and timetabling
“Semester timetable for booking
cheap flights home”
Findings empirical data
• Concerns: Accommodation
– Not a big concern due to student profile
– Those in accommodation would prefer to
have input into who they would be sharing
with
– Information on non-university
accommodation and surrounding areas
would be useful
Findings empirical data
• Concerns: Cultural and religious needs
– Not a big concern due to student profile
– Ethnic minority students were slightly more
concerned
– Concerns scored less than neutral
Concerns regarding cultural and
religious needs
Findings empirical data
• Concerns: Making friends
– Not a great concern possibly due to student cohort
• Mature
• Student on ‘people-oriented’ programmes
Concerns by age group
5
4
18-20
3
21-29
2
1 30-39
40-49
Concerns by gender
5
4
3
2 female
1 male
Concerns - summary
• Generally students report low concerns
– Exceptions:
• finance and bursaries
• level of academic work - disabled students are
slightly more concerned regarding academic
preparedness.
• Little to differentiate students concerns in terms
of age group and gender
• Concerns re religious and cultural needs come
from non-white groups and the strength of score
is 3 (neutral) or less (small numbers though)
• Low levels of concern re socialisation and
accommodation
Findings empirical data
• Communication: How
– Website preferred method but many would
appreciate hard copy information
– Students reported friendliness of staff as
important (central admissions, programme
admissions tutors, year tutors,
administrative staff)
– Picture was one of inconsistency however
Findings empirical data
• Communication: When
– Would have liked earlier information, especially
those going UF early in cycle
– Some were bombarded with information
– Some received little
– Again, inconsistency
Findings empirical data
• Communication: What
– Relevance was key
• Bank information and nightclubs not
appreciated by mature students
– School-specific Information
• CRB, occupational health, NHS bursaries
• Building layout
– Programme-specific information
• Detailed timetables
• Pre-course reading
• Clinical placements
• Uniforms
Findings empirical data
• Communication: Who
– Central resources appreciated but wanted
to speak to people who knew about the
course
– Requested school-specific help desk
Summary
• Concurrence with literature
– Finance
– Level of study
– Fitting in study with home life
• Conflict with literature
– Socialisation
– Accommodation
Cohort profile important in
understanding the issues
Implementing recommendations
Pre-induction package
• Available as soon as they become UF
• Integration with UofS ‘isite’ induction site
• Delivered via Blackboard - ‘programme level’
• User friendly (on-line instructions or face-to-face guidance
sessions)
• Welcome Pod casts
• Frequently asked questions
• Specific Programme Information
• Pre-course reading material
• Location maps
• Help line
Improving Admissions
Procedure (Martinez 1997)
• What Admissions Tutors have done to
address this
– Out reach work started earlier
– Taster days/workshops
– Conferences for Careers Advisors
– More Open days
– Students need to have shadowed HCP
– Route A6
– Summer study skills workshops
Evaluating Success - Targets
• Current retention: 88.5% (first year students)
• Target 2008: 90%!
Next Steps
• Re-evaluation
• Development of cross-university working
group to share practice