Developing a Signature Pedagogy and Integrated Support Model for First-Year Teacher Education Students Studying at a Regional University

Ingrid Harrington,Tim Bartlett-Taylor,Robert Whannell

doi:10.5430/ijhe.v11n1p126

Abstract

The Australian regional university where this pilot study was completed is confronted with a number of demographic factors that challenge the delivery of effective student support and engagement. In 2020, the teacher education student cohort comprised of approximately 5,100 students, with 82.6% 25 years of age or older, 20.3% identified as having a low SES background, 43.7% being first-in-family, and 96.1% studying off-campus. Student demographic characteristics such as these are commonly cited as factors that contribute to increased challenge in completing tertiary study (Grebennikov & Shah, 2012; Li & Carroll, 2020). The attrition rate for commencing students for the period from 2010 to 2018 ranged between 24.6% and 36.2%. While these demographic characteristics are largely objective in character and may not be able to be addressed by university-based intervention, the nature and quality of the learning environment students’ experience is able to provide the best opportunity for them to successfully complete their tertiary study endeavours, despite their personal context and backgrounds. One factor that has been identified as critical to the success of commencing students, particularly those from non-traditional backgrounds, is the nature of their relationships with, and the academic environment established by the academics teaching first-year units (Farr-Wharton, Charles, Keast, Woolcott, & Chamberlain, 2017).

Highlights

1.1 The ProblemA 2019 review of the School of Education (SOE) at the university where this project was conducted identified the need to revisit how first-year units were delivered, with a renewed focus on improving the overall student experience to positively impact retention
The section commences with a summary of the first data collection, which examined Unit Coordinators views about teaching first-year students
This paper has described the process by which a regional university has developed a signature pedagogy and integrated support model to enhance the experience of first-year students transitioning into the SOE

Summary

Introduction

A 2019 review of the School of Education (SOE) at the university where this project was conducted identified the need to revisit how first-year units were delivered, with a renewed focus on improving the overall student experience to positively impact retention. Student retention has been an ongoing challenge for the school and wider institution and a variety of initiatives had been adopted to address the issue. The project sought to address issues identified within the review through the raising of UCs awareness of the need for and their responsibility to proactively build positive relationships with their students and through the identification and implementation of pedagogical practices that would best support mature aged, first-year students in transition to tertiary study. While the student cohort of the SOE has a high proportion of non-traditional students, the project was intended to enhance the experience of all first year students

Methods

Results

Conclusion