Design considerations for personalised supported learning: implications for higher education

ABSTRACT

Attempts to personalise mass higher education systems have received increasing attention as universities compete to attract students.

In the United Kingdom (UK), most higher education institutions have a system of personalised supported learning, usually called personal tutoring. Personal tutors are typically academic members of staff who support students to integrate into the university academic community. Institutions assume that a system of personal tutoring enables student satisfaction, progression and attainment – key performance indicators in competitive higher education landscapes. Personal tutors support their tutees in achieving their personal, academic or professional goals.

Systems of personal tutoring are often designed around what role the personal tutor should perform, rather than what purpose the role should serve. This paper uses thematic analysis of students’ perceptions of personalised support for university learning, to elucidate improvements to its’ design and contributes to theorising effective personalised student support mechanisms. Insights from this analysis showed students could detect design that lacked sincerity, particularly in relation to adequate resourcing.

A central contradiction may therefore exist in resourcing personalised support within a mass higher education experience. A design tool using the dimensions to be considered in the approach to creating systems of personalised supported learning is presented and discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Personal tutoring
• academic advising
• student support

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England [L09].

Notes on contributors

Alicia Prowse

Alicia Prowse gained a Phd in Plant Ecology in 2001 looking at the ecological impact of an invasive ‘alien’ species (Himalayan Balsam) on native plant communities in the UK. She has worked as a university lecturer, woodland surveyor, professional actor and teacher for English to speakers of other languages. She has taught Ecology and Biology to BSc Biology students; Research Methods for biologists and to social science students and Environmental Science and Biology to Further Education students.  She also worked with artist Kerry Morrison with whom she has collaborated since 2001. Commissions included work with the Wellcome Trust and NESTA, Liverpool Biennial and the Institute of Art in Chicago. She currently works in the University Teaching Academy at Manchester Metropolitan University. Research interests are interdisciplinary collaboration, student motivation and academic staff development. She has Principal Fellowship of the UK Higher Education Academy.

Valeria Ruiz Vargas

Valeria Ruiz Vargas is Research Associate (Education for Sustainable Development) at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has conducted higher education policy review at institutional, national and international level whilst also developing and implementing institutional policies in the United Kingdom and Colombia. Her research is multidisciplinary and focused on organisational change processes in higher education through formal, informal and non-formal inter and intra organisational networks. She also has over ten years of experience working on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (previously Millennium Development Goals) in Europe and the Americas (South, Central and North).

Stephen Powell

S. Stephen has worked in education for over 30 years, initially as a teacher in the compulsory school sector, and then in Higher Education. He has particular experience in curriculum design and development.  He has developed and managed numerous projects in higher education working with colleagues to develop new taught provision and improve institutions educational systems and processes using action research and systems thinking approaches.  Currently Stephen is the Associate Head of the University Teaching Academy at Manchester Metropolitan University where he is responsible for taught provision and the UKPSF recognition scheme for academic staff.