University of Bath Project Bid 10

Transcription

1 University of Bath Project Bid 10 UNIVERSITY LEARNING, TEACHING AND QUALITY COMMITTEE TEACHING DEVELOPMENT FUND SUB-GROUP 28 June 2011 Teaching Development Fund 2011/12 Project Title: Peer Support Pilot Project: Starting Peer Assisted learning and Coordinating Peer Mentoring across the University of Bath Theme of Project Bid: Widening Participation Project Leader: Ms Mandy Wilson-Garner, Students Union Deputy leader: Ms Carol Lacey, Students Union Total Amount of Bid: 9,000 Detailed Financial Breakdown: Peer Support Coordinator salary (Grade ph including on costs) PAL leader Training PM training Occasional conferences 100 Travel to meetings 100 Publicity materials (posters, flyers ) 150 Training materials (paper, photocopying, 75 refreshments if whole day) PAL/PM session costs (photocopying, printing, board pens) Total 8, hours per week for 23 weeks all on costs included. 100 per day for 2 days Provided by SU staff = post funded 3 days per week for 23 weeks all costs included. Project Rational: There is strong evidence that Peer Support has a positive influence on students' experience of University, both academically and socially. Peer support involves fostering schemes that allow more experienced students to offer extra academic and pastoral support to those students who require assistance to adjust to HE. This is of particular importance for non-traditional students who may have a greater need for pastoral and academic support for the transition to HE as many may come from a background/family who have had little or no engagement with the HE sector and to those returning to HE to develop study skills and assist with integration. Peer Support covers two areas: Peer Mentoring (PM) and Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Page 1 of 5

2 PAL Peer-assisted learning allows senior students to give novice peers extra help in adjusting to university life and developing the study skills necessary to successfully complete the first year of university. PAL has many possible benefits for the university (e.g. increased retention), for the department/course (e.g. better results), the lecturers (e.g. feedback from the students), for PAL leaders (e.g. increased employability) and most importantly for the students (e.g. increased academic support.). It has also been noted that PAL is successful at improving students group work skills, an area that has been highlighted as being problematic by mature students. The PAL leaders training and experience will provide them with a valuable skills set to draw upon when applying for professional roles. PM Peer mentoring is a student led system in which senior students provide informal help and support to new students throughout their first year of university. The mentors offer help on a range of social issues such as how best to settle into university life, knowledge about the area, where things are on campus etc particularly during induction period. Peer mentoring schemes are a cost effective way of providing extra support for new students, assisting them with the process of integrating into university life. Students from under represented groups in HE will benefit from having a strong system of pastoral support in place important for helping them to feel like they are a part of the university. Peer mentoring programmes are known to assist in increasing student retention, first year completion rates and can improve the student experience. Peer mentoring also has a strong focus on sign posting students to the correct services and departments to assist with any difficulties they may face whilst at university. It is possible that non-traditional students may lack the cultural capital necessary to engage with such systems without the guidance provided by peer mentors. There is the potential to match mentors and mentees based on similar backgrounds so that mentors have a better understanding of the mentees needs. This project would build upon a ten month internship that has been funded by the University and based in the Students Union. A Peer Learning intern has been looking into current and potential future peer support at the Bath. This has included researching how PAL works in other HEIs and setting up a pilot to run in three university departments in the next academic year. The intern has also explored peer mentoring (PM) schemes running across the university and is assisting departments to set up more schemes to start this coming September. The funding would pay for a member of staff, three days per week, who could work in partnership with staff and students across the university to support the pilot schemes up to the first half of the second semester (until the 24 th February), ensuring a consistency of support offered to all students participating in the projects. Whilst there are some PM schemes already operating in the university their success often relies upon a lone member of staff and if they leave the scheme can dissipate (as with the psychology mature student PM scheme) also some departments have attempted to run schemes with limited success due to a lack of staff time. It can be observed that with those departments running PM schemes there is a lack of consistency in the provision of training and support for the peer mentors. In some departments no training is provided. Aims: - To successfully support the PAL pilot scheme. - To continue to support PM schemes across the university. - To continue the establishment of peer support groups as recommended by the University s Widening Participation Strategy. - To enhance student support structures at the University as recommended by the University s Widening Participation Strategy - To continue to develop PAL and PM training schemes and support material, with input from the students. - To continue to participate in the HE STEM Transition and PAL working group. Page 2 of 5

3 Anticipated outcomes: - To create and maintain online PAL and PM resources. (Moodle) - Improving integration into the University and individual departments for non-traditional students. - Linking peer support to the Bath Award to the benefit of those students volunteering and to assist in the increased uptake of the Bath Award and increased employability for the students. - To embed academic and pastoral support into departments to improve success and retention rates and to assist students integration into the University of Bath. - To position the University of Bath to be able to participate in PAL and PM activities across the SW region. Evidence to support Project Viability: The peer learning intern completed a report detailing PAL activities in HEIs across the country. This report was based on contact with staff involved in successfully running PAL projects. The report looked the various different PAL models and features that helped to make PAL a success. This report is available on request. The peer learning intern also completed a mapping exercise of PM across the University of Bath and met with staff who had run successful and unsuccessful schemes which resulted in a report detailing how PM schemes work and what factors impact upon whether or not they are successful. This was contributed to by information provided on the LTEO funded Freshers and Refreshers project that contributed to the Chemistry PM project. An interest in peer learning has been displayed by both staff and students with six departments signing up to the PAL pilot or setting up PM scheme. The recruitment of student volunteers is proving to be very successful with 22 PAL and 25 peer mentoring volunteers recruited so far. Also there are several PM schemes running across the university including Amity which is aimed at help international students to feel a part of the university. However, there have been unsuccessful attempts within departments (e.g. the mature student mentoring scheme in Psychology) that have lost momentum due to a lack of support. Methods of Evaluation: PAL and PM will both be action research led with participating students being given the opportunity to provide regular feedback on the schemes to the Peer Support Coordinator and the departmental contacts. This feedback will shape how the schemes are run, what resources are provided / developed and what training is offered to current student volunteers and to those students who participate in the future. Embedded into the PM and PAL models are methods of collecting feed back from all of the students who participate using feedback forms and focus groups. A feedback option will also be made available on the PAL and PM websites. Methods of Dissemination: Information about PM and PAL will be disseminated to a variety of different audiences. Students will be given information through the PAL and PM websites, on Moodle and through the student media. PAL and PM can also be included on committee agendas. Alongside this academics involved in peer support schemes and society leaders have already been assisting in disseminating information about the project so far. A PM mapping exercise and a PAL research report has already been circulated around some members of staff and information about PAL delivered at the Senior Tutor forum. An end of project formal report will be written. This will be made available to all staff involved in the project. Information generated through this project will also be shared with people in the SW region through the HE STEM network through involvement with the Transition & Induction Experiences of WP Students project. Page 3 of 5

4 Potential future developments: Offering PM and PAL across the university; Linking peer mentoring with the current Aim Higher outreach programmes to ensure continued support for non-traditional students; Developing online PAL through a HE STEM project; Linking peer support training to the Sorted courses and the Bath Award to increase the volunteers employability and increase the uptake of courses offered by SORTED; Hosting/being involved in national and regional PAL conferences; In UWE an accredited module has been developed for PAL leaders. Timescale and Benchmarks: End of semester 1: Collection of feedback from PM mentors and mentees, and PAL leaders and session attendees. Produce an interim project evaluation report including recommendations for the future development of the projects. Resource Implications (inc. details of possible Intellectual Property Rights): Continued staff and budget costs as detailed in the costing section. Additional staff associated with the project in additional to the Leader and Deputy: Siobain Hone and Lisa Taylor (SORTED), Sam Chaffery (Bath Award), Christine Edmead, Gary Mathlin, Hedley Bashforth (PAL academics), Caroline Hickman, Ian Fairholme, Howard White (PM academics) Approval by Head of Department AND Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) (and if appropriate, the Head of the relevant Support Service): Page 4 of 5

5 Teaching Development Fund 2011/12 Eligibility Pro-forma Please note: Hopefully this pro-forma will just require you to type as an answer to each of the questions on the TDF criteria outlined below. However, if you do not believe that your answers could be clearly referenced from the Project Bid, please provide additional information or references back to the original Project bid in the final column of the table below. Project Title: Peer Support Pilot Project: Starting Peer Assisted learning and Coordinating Peer Mentoring across the University of Bath. Criteria / Does this bid address one or more of the 2011/12 themes agreed by the University Learning, Teaching and Quality Committee? (see below) Is evidence shown that the bid will lead to enhancement in current practice and of the student learning experience in the broadest sense? Are details of the scale and scope of the bid, including how students were involved in the development of the bid, included? Does the bid have cross-institutional relevance and the potential for scalability and financial sustainability? Does the bid fit in with the University s Learning and Teaching Strategy? Does the bid include plans for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the bid? Is the bid supported by clearly researched good practice in the area of the bid? If the bid has a strong ICT element and / or where significant infrastructural support is called for; is clear evidence of both consultation with and support from relevant departmental or University personnel outlined? Does the bid provide evidence of prior liaison with the University s Legal Adviser if an external contractor is to be involved? Does the bid NOT request financial support for general capital equipment such as laptops, or requests for financial support towards current fulltime staff salaries? Does the bid include a named Deputy Project Leader AND are they aware of their involvement in the project? Does the bid have the support of the Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching), Head of Department / School and the relevant Head of University Support Service (where appropriate) through an or electronically signed supporting document accompanying a bid? No NA Project Leader: Mandy Wilson-Garner Reference to section(s) within the Project Bid or further details (If required) Additional information: Senior peer mentors and peer mentors from peer mentor (PM) schemes which have been running this academic year were consulted in the planning stages for the new PM schemes and the PAL pilots. Additional information: Have liaised with M Humphriss. Which of the Annual Themes does your project bid address? (Delete as appropriate ) Widening Participation. Page 5 of 5