E VALUACIÓN DESDE LA EXPERIENCIA Qué aspectos son los que más valoras

The selection process employed a mixed-methods approach, making use of publicly available national and institutional quantitative and qualitative data.

a) Drawing on Stake’s advice (1995) to achieve balance and variety in a multiple case study I asked the following question:

What can I learn about the impact of retention strategies on mature part-time undergraduates from four English higher education institutions of varying types which offer face-to-face teaching to part-time undergraduate populations of varying

size and which have a ‘good’ track record in relation to the retention of that cohort?

Notes

 Face-to-face teaching is the dominant method of part-time delivery in English HE, meaning the findings of a case study focusing on institutions offering this type of provision would apply widely within the sector. It also means the study would exclude the largest part-time provider in England, the Open University.

 To identify a ‘good track record’ in part-time undergraduate retention, I used the most recently available HESA data on continuation rates and also took into account increases in continuation rates over time (2006/7-2009/10).

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b) Excluding the pilot institution from a total sample of 129 English HEIs offering face-to- face part-time provision, I followed the shortlisting process described in Table 2.

Table 2 Shortlisting

Establish which of 129 English HEIs offering face-to-face part-time provision have >150 part-time entrants1 to first degrees in the most recent academic year for which data is available:

 38 (30 per cent) had >150 part-time/mature first degree entrants in the academic year 2009/10 (HESA, 2013) with an overall range of 150-710 including five pre-1992 HEIs.

 I classified the relative size of the part-time undergraduate population into four bands: Small, Medium, Large and Very Large (Table 3).

Establish the parameters of a ‘high’ retention rate2 for part-time entrants in the most recent academic year for which data is available:

In those 38 institutions, overall retention rates for part-time students ranged from 54.4 per cent- 87.4 per cent

 Of the 38 HEIs, 16 had retention rates within the upper quartile (79 per cent-87.4 per cent). This included one pre-1992 HEI.

 While a majority of part-time students in English HE are located in post-1992 HEIs, a proportion of pre-1992 HEIs offer part-time first degree provision, and some have a long tradition of doing so. I wanted to include at least one pre-1992 HEI in the four case studies.

Identify those HEIs with continuously rising retention rates overall for part-time entrants between 2006/7 and 2009/10:

 15 of the 16 HEIs had retention rates which had risen overall between academic year 2006/7 and 2009/10.

Table 3: Classification of part-time student population as percentage of total student population

1

90.9 per cent of UK-domiciled, first year, part-time first degree students are 21 years old or over. UCAS defines ‘mature’ as ‘any student aged 21 or over at the start of their studies’ (UCAS 2013). Data from HESA non-continuation rates relating to academic years 2006/7-2009/10 (HESA 2013) categorise part-time students into ‘under 30’, ‘over 30’ and ‘all’. The selection process for this study used the percentage given in HESA Table 3e for ‘all’ part-time students.

2 _{HESA data use continuation as a measure of retention, i.e. number/per cent of part-time students}

who continue or qualify at the same HEI two years following year of entry. In 2009/10 the sector average for all undergraduates in English HEIs was 61.8 per cent (HESA 2013).

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PT Students as per cent Total Student Population Classification 20 per cent or below Small

21-35 per cent Medium

36-50 per cent Large

50 per cent or above Very Large

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c) The shortlist comprised 15 English HEIs with between n=155 and n=510 part-time first degree entrants. The selection of case study institutions is as described in Table 4.

Table 4: Final case study selection

I selected the HEI with the highest retention rate for part-time students (87.45 per cent). Its retention rate increased by 14.3 per cent between 2006/7 and 2009/10. This institution fell into the lowest quartile for part-time entrants to first degrees in 2009/10 (190). This HEI was given the pseudonym New Ecclesiastical.

I next selected an HEI in the highest quartile for part-time entrants to first degrees in 2009/10 and with the highest retention rate in this quartile: 80.4 per cent. Its retention rate increased by 4 per cent between 2006/7 and 2009/10. However, this HEI declined to participate in the research. I then approached the institution ranking one below it in terms of numbers of part-time entrants to first degrees in 2009/10 and with a retention rate within the upper quartile. This HEI agreed to participate. This HEI was given the pseudonym Modern Eastern.

I then considered the six HEIs falling in the middle quartiles in terms of numbers of part- time first degree entrants in 2009/10 and selected an HEI with 360 part-time first degree entrants in 2009/10, the highest retention rate (83.9 per cent), with an increase in retention of 10 per cent since 2006/7. This HEI was given the pseudonym Northern City.

Finally, I selected the only pre-1992 HEI meeting the selection criteria. This HEI had the second highest retention rate, 87.3 per cent, and had seen an increase in retention of 7 per cent since 2006/7. However, this HEI declined to participate in the research. I approached a further two pre-1992 HEIs with retention rates just below the upper quartile whose retention rates had risen overall between the academic years 2006/7 and 2009/10. These HEIs also declined to participate. Finally, I approached a fourth pre-1992 HEI, with

retention rates just below the upper quartile, which was also distinct from the other three case study institutions in employing a bespoke model for part-time provision. This HEI agreed to participate. This HEI was given the pseudonym Metropolitan Elite.

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