Thriving at University

Disability training event

Context

Following best practice in supporting disabled students (TASO; Lister et al. ‘Embedding and Sustaining Inclusive Practice’, 2019), we will develop a comprehensive training programme on supporting students with disabilities for all student-facing staff (action 4.4)

Evaluation Questions

1. Staff will show increased confidence and knowledge in supporting disabled students after the training than before the training (type 2 evidence).
2. Students in schools with a lower percentage of staff engaging in the training will have lower NSS academic support scores amongst students with disabilities than schools with higher percentage of staff engaging in the training (type 2/3 evidence).

Intervention

All student facing staff will be required to complete newly created staff disability training.

Methodology

1. Pre-post design with questionnaire at the beginning and end of the training session that all participants must complete to finish the training. The questionnaire will have a series of items designed to capture academic confidence and knowledge of supporting disabled students during their studies (DV).
2. A between subject’s design with NSS questions on academic support as the dependent variable and disability, percentage of staff engaged in a given school with training and interaction terms as independent variables

Evaluations

Coming soon.

PGM Buddying Scheme

Context

The primary aim of this evaluation is to understand the efficacy of the Transition Buddy Scheme for PGM students with non-A-level entry qualifications. Specifically, the evaluation seeks to determine whether this intervention effectively improves preparedness for higher education among PGM students, particularly Black students, thereby contributing to reducing the awarding gap.

The intervention involves a Transition Buddy Scheme where new PGM students are paired with experienced student buddies. Training and support will be provided for buddy mentors with regular check-in sessions between buddies and mentees. We will also create resource materials addressing university expectations, academic skills, and campus services to support new students transitioning into university.

Evaluation Questions

• RQ 1: Does the Transition Buddy Scheme improve academic self-efficacy and academic performance for PGM students with non-A-level entry qualifications? (type 2 evidence)
• RQ 2: What is the impact of the Transition Buddy Scheme on reducing the awarding gap between White and PGM students, particularly Black students? (type 3 evidence)

Intervention

The buddying scheme will involve the pairing of new PGM students with experience PGM students. Training will be provided for mentor and mentee along with suggested topics and content for buddying session (i.e. referencing support, time management, support with accessing and using feedback, searching for relevant literature, and advice on accessing support available. All mentor and mentee are expected to commit to between 1-4 hours per month.

Methodology

• RQ1 will use a pre-post design with the dependent variables of academic self-efficacy and belonging which shall be collected before and towards the end of the buddy scheme. Since the questionnaires are likely to be only completed by those participating in the buddy scheme a control group is unlikely
• RQ2 will utilise a between subject’s design with the dependent variable of academic grade and the independent variables of participation in buddy scheme (yes/no) collected via a register of student ID will be needed to link to existing data which can include the other independent variable of Ethnicity, and other control variables required like tariff points on entry. Control group could be those who did not engage in the active buddying scheme.

Evaluations

Coming soon.