Abstract
In an effort to remain both competitive and attractive to prospective and established students Higher Education institutions, both at a national and international level, are actively seeking innovative ways 'of improving the student experience and student progression/retention' (National Audit Office, 2002 in Stevenson, 2009, p. 117). This paper reports on an original approach to tutorial organisation to enhance the learning experience of undergraduate students on a practice based foundation degree at a UK university. Students' perceptions of tutorials prior to and post their active engagement with a Tutorial Stations system (TSS) within the classroom learning space will be shared and discussed. Whilst there is student calling to sustain usage of the system as part of other taught modules on the programme further research is needed to evaluate the impact of the system on improving student attainment.
Highlights
In an effort to remain both competitive and attractive to prospective and established students, higher education institutions, both at a national and international level, are actively seeking innovative ways of improving the experience, progression and retention of students (Jones, 2008)
Student feedback from previous modules undertaken on the programme highlighted how many students perceived the distance they had to travel, the monetary costs associated with this travel, and the time taken to reach the university for a ‘15 minute-tutorial-slot’ as outweighing the actual value [academic progress made by students] of the tutorial attended
Additional concerns linked to pressures on finite resources in the University Library and effective learning spaces for students to study in at the university resulted in the development of an innovative Tutorial Stations System (TSS) to positively address the areas of consideration identified above
Summary
In an effort to remain both competitive and attractive to prospective and established students, higher education institutions, both at a national and international level, are actively seeking innovative ways of improving the experience, progression and retention of students (Jones, 2008). Whilst there are many definitions of the term ‘tutorial’ (see Herrmann, 2014), a tutorial within the context of this paper is defined as a short meeting (15-20 minutes duration) involving a teaching tutor with a small group of students (2-6) which aims to support them in the development of their assignment These tutorials take place over two consecutive weeks (one three hour session per week) following the taught input of the module (four taught sessions over four consecutive weeks, each session of three hours duration) to ensure that students are adequately prepared to engage in their module coursework (a 3000 word written assignment). Funded by an internal Research for Learning and Teaching Fund (RLTF) bid in 2011/12, the paper will offer an explanation of the system, how it operates, and will reflect on the views of students who actively engaged with the system as part of the preparation work for their module assignment
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