Enhancing First Year Undergraduate Student Engagement via the School of Biological Sciences Tutorials Module

Figures & data

Table 1 Format of the first year tutorials module before and after the intervention (2012–2013 academic year).

2011–2012 Academic Year	% Module Mark	2012–2013 Academic Year	% Module Mark
Semester 1
Tutorial sessions: three one-hour tutorials with personal tutor. Essay writing. Two essays: one formative and one summative assessment.	50%	Tutorial sessions: three one-hour tutorials with personal tutor. Essay writing. Two essays: one formative and one summative assessment.	30%
		Tutorial attendance and participation: 2% of module mark for attending and participating in each tutorial (total of 6%) and 4% for completion of formative assignment.	10%
		Completion of portfolio and activities: for attendance at popular science talks and completion of additional exercises such as minute papers and oral presentation at degree programme conference.	10%
Semester 2
Tutorial sessions: three one-hour tutorials with personal tutor. Abstracts and presentations. Two abstracts/presentations: one formative and one summative assessment.	50%	Tutorial sessions: three one-hour tutorials with personal tutor. Abstracts and presentations. Two abstracts/presentations: one formative and one summative assessment.	30%
		Tutorial attendance and participation: 2% of module mark for attending and participating in each tutorial (total of 6%) and 4% for completion of formative assignment.	10%
		Completion of portfolio and activities: for attendance at popular science talks and completion of additional exercises.	10%

Note: Changes to the module format and weighting of the module assessments are shown in italic typeface.

Table 2 Summary of interventions in the first year tutorials module to address problems with SBS student engagement.

Issue	Intervention for the 2012–2013 Academic Year
1. Poor attendance	Module marks (total of 20%) awarded for attendance and participation.
	Attendance monitoring. Poor attendees invited to a meeting or sent an E-mail depending upon frequency of absence.
	Improve engagement through module changes.
2. Difficulties in communicating with students	Weekly contact with entire group via Popular Science Talk programme.
	Identify absentees via attendance monitoring and follow up with E-mails and letters.
3. Too many students fail the module	Attendance monitoring provides early warning of disengagement, which triggers support.
	Greater variation in assessment type and weighting.
4. Inconsistent student experience	A large proportion of the module delivered consistently across the entire cohort.
	Additional activities and topics cater for a diverse range of skills, interests and needs.
5. Lack of contact time	Contact hours increased from 6 to 37 hours.
6. Lack of opportunity to get to know other students and staff	Icebreaker and group activities, popular science talks, presentation at degree-programme specific conference and weekly refreshments/social events promote interaction with other students and staff.
7. Students become disengaged	New module format targets individual student interests and highlights new areas of interest.
	Reflective portfolio encourages students to identify and pursue personal interests and identify areas for further skills/knowledge development.
	Poor attendance addressed

Figure 1 A comparison of the pass rate, mean module mark and number of students scoring zero in the first year tutorials module, in addition to departmental first year student withdrawals, from the 2009–2010 academic year to the 2012–2013 academic year.

Figure 2 Module evaluation survey results for the ‘Tutorials Year One’ module 2012–2013. Bars indicate percentage of total responses (n = 20).

Table 3 Summary of information regarding student attendance in the first five weeks of semester one and the outcomes an attendance and module attainment following invitation to a meeting with the module organisers.

Student Number	Attendance Prior to Meeting Invite	Meeting Outcome	Attendance after Meeting	Improved Attendance?	Passed or Failed Module?
1	20% (1/5)	Attended	100% (10/10)	Yes	Passed
2	40% (2/5)	Attended	70% (7/10)	Yes	Passed
3	20% (1/5)	Attended	50% (2/4)	Yes	Withdrew
4	40% (2/5)	Attended	50% (5/10)	Yes	Passed
5	0% (0/5)	Attended	10% (1/10)	Yes	Passed
6	0% (0/5)	Did not attend	60% (6/10)	Yes	Passed
		E-mail contact made
7	20% (1/5)	Did not attend	50% (5/10)	Yes	Passed
		E-mail contact made
8	40% (2/5)	Did not attend	80% (8/10)	Yes	Passed
		No E-mail contact
9	40% (2/5)	Did not attend	100% (10/10)	Yes	Passed
		No E-mail contact
10	40% (2/5)	Did not attend	10% (1/10)	No	Failed
		No E-mail contact
11	20% (1/5)	Did not attend	10% (1/10)	No	Failed
		No E-mail contact
12	0% (0/5)	Did not attend	0% (0/10)	No	Failed
		No E-mail contact
13	40% (2/5)	Did not attend	30% (3/10)	No	Failed
		No E-mail contact