'I'm in the right place for assessment': Push-pull factors influencing individual student journeys

Wilkinson, Amanda; Podpadec, Tessa; Paul, Carolyn

Abstract

Central to the sector’s desire to innovate assessment practice and assessment for learning, are a number of key issues including student engagement and awarding gaps. However, in addressing these issues often cohort, or sub-cohort, generalisations are made based on data averages, combined student feedback and assumed barriers, when we know that the reality is very individual and bespoke to each student story. Importantly, we know that those student voices that we most need to hear from are those least represented within student voice channels either because they do not see those channels as relevant for them, or because they have already disengaged.

The feelings around belonging as students transition into university has previously been examined pre-pandemic, often at a cohort level (Meehan and Howells, 2019) and are known to contribute to wellbeing (Allen et.al, 2021) as well as improved academic outcomes (Ahn & Davis, 2020), being acutely felt by marginalised groups (Gravett and Ajjawi, 2021). However, as recognised by Lygo-Baker et.al (2019) in their exploration of the ‘Single-voice fallacy’, current mechanisms for hearing and understanding those student groups that most need our understanding are flawed and lead to ‘lost’ voices and absent influence on the development of actions and policies. The current study offers ‘live’ student journey insights into the teaching and assessment practices, post-covid, that nurture or dampen those feelings of belonging and inclusion that ultimately underpin confidence-in and success-of learners from diverse backgrounds.

We have therefore initiated a longitudinal study engaging students in real-time conversations to examine what factors exert positive and negative influence over a student’s sense of belonging in HE and the push-pull of those influences on the student’s engagement with, and readiness for, learning and assessment. Our pilot study approached 400 students from three cohorts at FHEQ levels 3 and 4 in their first year of study, for consent to be considered for inclusion in the interview phase. From these, a purposive sample based on gender, ethnicity, social class and academic pathway was identified to participate in up to four one-to-one semi-structured interviews (conversations), exploring feelings of belonging and engagement.

The initial outcomes from the pilot phase of this longitudinal study will be shared. Insight into the push-pull factors influencing feelings of belonging within the learning environment, specifically those operating within classroom of direct impact and relevance to assessment and assessment-preparedness, will be provided, as will reflection on challenges encountered within the study.

Citation

Wilkinson, A., Podpadec, T., & Paul, C. (2023, June). 'I'm in the right place for assessment': Push-pull factors influencing individual student journeys. Presented at AHE Conference 2023, Manchester

• Presentation Conference Type: Speech
• Conference Name: AHE Conference 2023
• Conference Location: Manchester
• Start Date: Jun 22, 2023
• End Date: Jun 23, 2023
• Deposit Date: Aug 10, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 11, 2023
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10941547