DEFINICION

The second objective of the thesis was to identify potential solutions and where possible to implement said solutions with the ultimate aim of improving year-one to year-two progression. Two key retention approaches were assessed, the classic bolt- on solution in the form of academic skills support and change in the institution in the form of teaching delivery.

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink: the problem of bolt- on solutions.

The evidence here confirms the problem of self-selection in terms of uptake of open access resources and bolt-on programmes. In this case ASS was the open access resource, but it is representative of similarly structured programmes such as counselling, or peer-mentoring. It is clear that it is students who would normally be considered at risk of not progressing, that are least likely to access any available support resources. Across some categories the difference is striking, for example only 17.3% of males used the service compared to 42% of females. Across others it is not

only striking but linear, for example UCAS entry points where only 16.4% of students entering with up to 160 points use the service as opposed to 51.7% of students entering with over 360 points. A particularly concerning issue is the negligible use made by two groups with the highest risk of not progressing, late applicants and repeat students with only 1(3%) student out of 38 using ASS for the Business Operations assignment, and only a further 2(5%) visited thereafter during the academic year.

In terms of evaluation two issues were addressed. Firstly there was the impact that using skills support can have on immediate academic performance, in this case an assignment in the operations module. It is clear that even when variables such as gender and UCAS entry points are controlled for, ASS has a clear impact on student performance with an increase in the proportion of students that obtain A grades across all variables. The second evaluative issue was the relationship between use of ASS and retention. Chapter 4 has indicated that it is very difficult to evaluate bolt-on programmes in terms of impact on retention and this is strongly supported here. Detailed data has indicated that it is likely that although use of ASS is associated with increased likelihood of progression, it is also likely that background variables account for part of this success because it is students who possess cultural capital that are likely to avail themselves of support. There were NT students, and students with lower UCAS entry points that did make use of the service and this group were retained almost at the same level as other users. This exposed the notion that one of the differences between successful and unsuccessful NT students may be motivation and intention, a key factor identified by several authors (Allen 1999; Metzner and Bean 1987; Smith.J.S. 2004).

Changing the institution

Bolt-on solutions to retention are problematic on several levels, they fail to reach those students in need, are difficult to implement and challenging to evaluate. Despite this, the vast majority of retention programmes are of this type. The literature indicated that an alternative approach to improving retention may lay with fundamental changes to the institution, and the consensus was that this change needed to focus on classrooms where most student engagement occurs (Tinto 1993; 1997; 2000). There is little evidence of the impact of making changes to the institution, most

of the work in this area is either theoretical, or it is comparative at the institutional level where problems of different structures again cause reliability issues. This thesis has provided for the first time a clear evaluation of the effects on retention of changing the institution, and focussed on the key aspect of the teaching and learning environment.

Changing from the classic lecture tutorial system to smaller seminar groups had several beneficial effects and support the findings of Drane (2005) and are reflective generally of the benefits arising from smaller learning groups suggested by several retention authors (Braxton et al. 2000; Cartney and Rouse 2006; Glogowska et al. 2007). Interaction levels, contact with faculty, and peer interaction concepts are all evident in the results of switching to a seminar system and strongly resonate with the integrative and engagement benefits of learning communities suggested by Boudreau and Kromrey (1994). It is clear that this change had the effect of adjusting the habitus of the first year business degree and as a result enhanced the cultural capital of NT students because this mode of learning is something all students would be familiar with from school. Furthermore it enabled tutors to become more involved in student learning, and enhanced the process of identifying students who were struggling at an early stage.

A beneficial side-effect of switching out of the classic lecture-tutorial system into smaller seminars was an improvement in timetable scheduling. Essentially the system became student centred and enabled students to be provided with a schedule that was built around their own personal circumstances and needs. Furthermore the built-in flexibility of the seminar system enabled any personal timetable to change if the student’s circumstances changed during the term. This in turn encouraged attendance at class which in turn enhanced levels of student engagement with each other and vitally with academic staff.

Interestingly the improvement in retention between the lecture system and seminar system is almost completely accounted for by the increase in academic success, thus confirming the lack of impact the institutional change can have on student withdrawal. Changing the institution in terms of the teaching delivery system will only address the retention issues of students who are motivated to persist, that is that

do not voluntarily withdraw. Because academic failures are in reality only a small proportion of total non-progression, then the prospect for major improvements in retention through changes in teaching delivery are potentially limited.