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Developing a sense of belonging: Supporting transition from First year to the Professional Education Biology program

Students at The University of Stirling who take a degree that includes a Professional Education qualification start the professional element of their programme in their second year. Previous students who have made the transition from first into second year have experienced several common issues. These included anxiety about and isolation from the Professional Education programme, not knowing other Professional Education students, concern about progression pathways, school placements and doubt about their chosen career path.

The need for belonging is considered essential for students to do well and feel motivated. We’ve set out several innovative approaches to help instil a sense of belonging in these students – so they feel connected, comfortable and motivated.

For more: see the information on the right-hand side.

Stirling University Computer Club

IT skills are vital in today’s digital world. Founded in 2010, the Stirling University Computer Club is a thriving club that can help students develop essential IT skills while also enjoying a great social life. Formally affiliated with the British Computing Society as a student chapter, the club runs regular events including hackathons, coding events, workshops and socials.

Members of the club will have the chance to work on exciting projects covering areas including Kinect development, mobile application development and web application development. They will enjoy access to our equipment library and comprehensive programming resources.

For more: see the information on the right-hand side.

Student Destination Showcase

In the final year of students’ undergraduate study, we turn our attention to the transition to the world of work or further study. At Stirling, we support students in developing both the personal and professional skills that employers are looking for. Students will leave with strong transferrable skills that help with the transition into work and make them attractive to a wide number of employers in a range of fields.

We do this in a number of ways:

• By providing internship opportunities and creating connections
• By giving references and reviewing students’ CVs to help them begin a successful career
• By teaching students important presentation and communication skills that they can use in any future position

For more: see the information on the right-hand side.

Peer Mentoring in Statistics

Psychological research is a process for asking questions about the world and ourselves and getting the best answers we can. One of our staff members and a student developed BrawStats to make it easier for fellow Psychology students to understand statistics within the research process that is an essential part of their studies.

BrawStats is an accessible, easy-to-use digital system that makes the psychological research process less intimidating. Using the system, students can try out lots of different ideas to build their confidence and understanding before committing to a hypothesis and carrying out their research. BrawStats will then help students analyse the final data from their research and generate statistical results.

For more: see the information on the right-hand side.

Supporting Student Transitions into Placement.

Students undertaking Initial Teacher Education programmes face different transitions as they move between the University and school spaces. We’ve written a paper on the complexity of these transitions, exploring how we could better support our students in the future.

Using feedback from students returning from placements, focus group findings and drawing upon socio-material theory, we’ve mapped the main student transitions and identified a number of key themes to address. We’re currently producing a series of films that involve short conversations on each of the issues identified.

For more: see the information on the right-hand side.

Digital Bootcamp

Some Digital Media students start directly in the third year of the course. We carried out scoping meetings, a survey and focus groups to see how we could help these students feel more confident as they transition into Stirling University.

The focus groups helped us identify that students entering the course in the 3^rd year may feel that they are ‘behind the curve’ when it comes to academic theory and would like more support to understand the expectations the University has of them. Communication and coaching is key to easing the transition and helping students to feel engaged and confident. The outcomes suggest there would be great benefit in setting up a Digital Media Bootcamp which gives students a general orientation into the campus, an introduction to production staff and digital production facilities, and an understanding of our learning and teaching culture here at Stirling University.

Read the poster on the right for more information.

Upping the ante

Honours students are expected to study independently, be multi-skilled, intellectually curious and committed to their development. This project focused on what students find challenging about getting ready for their Honours year to identify how we could make this transition period easier. We spoke to pre-Honours students, year four students and staff to get their views on transitioning into the fourth year of study.

Our findings will support students to feel more prepared for Honours study; it’s important to establish early in a student’s programme how they can prepare for their Honours year. We’ve set out several different ways to make this happen, for example through special events and an Honours induction programme.

For more: see the information on the right-hand side.