How can I monitor student engagement in my unit?
The embedding of mainstream academic and transition support within your curriculum will benefit all students; however, some students will still find transitioning to university study difficult. Taking advantage of learning analytics can allow you to identify these at-risk students earlier and offer tailored interventions as necessary. To increase the chance of catching struggling students before they decide to leave their studies, it’s important that these interventions happen early.
Strategies and Tips
Identify risk markers and potential points of intervention in your unit. Previous research into student attrition (Tower et al, 2015) has suggested that the following risk markers are effective indicators of whether students are engaging in a unit:
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- Attendance at orientation
- Attendance at tutorials or workshops within the first two weeks of semester
- Accessing vUWS within the first two weeks of semester
- Completion of and performance on and early (within the first three weeks) submission task (on vUWS or in class), such as an early pre-knowledge/skills diagnostic test or online discussion activity. If you use this sort of task, ensure that students know that it is compulsory and they are expected to complete by stating so in class and in your learning guide.
- Submission of and performance on the first and subsequent assessment
Use the Retention Centre on vUWS to view data on how your students on travelling in your unit in terms of online engagement. This guide by Learning Futures provides a detailed overview on using the different analytic reports available through vUWS.
Have a follow up intervention strategy to support students you identify as being at-risk. This might include:
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- Getting in contact with students in-class, by e-mail or phone to ask if they are experiencing any problems, including technical issues which may be preventing them from accessing vUWS, and provide information on where they can get help
- Providing additional workshops to help them with academic or study skills if they have performed poorly on an early skills test
- Academic counselling and/or resubmission opportunities for poor performance on early or subsequent assessment items
Use Transition Success to help you reach out to at-risk students by phone if your unit is too large for you to call students personally. Transition success runs every session they can get in touch with students any time before, during or after semester. It’s best to get in contact with the Transition Success as early as possible after you’ve identified at risk students and you can use this template to provide information about your students. To connect with Transition Success, speak with you school STARS coordinator.
