Enhancing Student Engagement with Revision Sessions

Laura Averill, George Long & Jane Gurman

Department Biosciences & Chemistry

Background

Assessment of Bioscience modules is, usually, by terminal examination

Most SHU bioscience modules support this assessment with:

Revision Sessions

Attendance at lectures is correlated with performance(Gendron & Pieper 2005)

Exams!

University

% C

ontr

ibu

tion

to D

egre

e g

rade

UniStats data on assessment type

Coven

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Impe

rial C

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ster

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Sheffi

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eld H

allam

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n0

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20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Exam

Coursework

We have below the sector norm for exams

What did we want?• Review the literature • Find out if staff & students

expectations matched• Find out what students think

is effective

Why wasn't it working?

How could we make it better?

Did any one else have any bright

ideas?

Huge amount of literature about• how to revise (The Student Room)• strategies for revision • the psychology of effective revision for exams• exam preparation....• but• almost NOTHING on effective delivery of

academic revision sessions

1st Problem!can

help

Background/ Introduction

Aims• Design evidence based scheme for revision sessions

adaptable to any subject– to enhance the effectiveness of these sessions

Objectives• What is Present Provision?• What are student expectations?• What are Staff expectations?• Is Bioscience "special"?• Are pre and post '92 universities different?

What is a Revision Session?

Let's define a revision session• Happens before study week• Whole group (lecture room)

~~~• Resource intensive• Part of present culture

• did you have revision sessions as an undergrad?• may reflect school/college approach(Jonhendro et al 2002, Nageswari et al 2004)

Todays message

• Have lots of data • Want to share some key aspects• Want to share some outcomes

• Discuss • Do staff and student expectation match?• Are there some simple changes we can

make to enhance our activity?

Methodology

• SurveyLevel Subject Institution

4 Bioscience Post '92

4 Bioscience Pre '92

5 Bioscience Post '92

5 Maths Post '92

6 Bioscience Post '92

OverviewQuestions asked

• Staff• experiences of giving revision sessions• student expectations

• Level 4• experiences from pre- university• expectations of revision to come• ideal revision session

• Level 5• experiences pre-uni• experiences of level 4• ideal revision session to come

• Level 6• experiences level 4, 5 & 6• ideal revision session

What did we ask?What was the exam experience like?

Are revision sessions timetabled?

Do you attend sessions?

What would prevent you going to revision sessions?

What type of session do you prefer? Were your

results better / worse than expected?

Results

What is the purpose of revision?Are Staff & Student Expectations

Aligned?

"From the Latin - to see again. The process of reviewing and consolidating a body of information so that synthesis and synaptic interconnections can be made so as to produce novel interpretations and applications"

"So I can get the stuff I need to get through the exam"

Staff & Student Responses Deterrents & Drivers for Students Attending Revision

Sessions

Deterrents

Scary

I alr

eady

kno

w the

mat

erial

Boring

Not h

elpfu

l

At ina

ppro

priat

e tim

es0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Drivers

% R

espo

nses

Improve exam result

No offend Lecturer

Not miss important

info

Have not attended previous lectures

Exam hints0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

StaffStudents

So• Staff & student not so far apart

~• Appropriate timing of sessions needs

further investigation

~

• Students want hints

Staff know this

Do we need to manage expectations

Are Post & Pre ‘92 Universities different?

Comparison of Pre & Post '92 (level 4)Drivers to Attendance

Improve exam result

No offend Lecturer

Not miss important

info

Have not attended previous lectures

Exam hints

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Pre- '92

Post '92

Deterrents to Attendance

% S

tude

nt R

espo

nses

Scary

I alr

eady

kno

w the

mat

erial

Boring

Not h

elpfu

l

At ina

ppro

priat

e tim

es0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

So

• Drivers similar• Need more information – all levels

• Only looked at level 4

• Some differences• Some explainable

Post ‘92

~ timing needs further investigation

Comparison of SHU Bioscience with Maths Students

At inap

prop

riate

times

s

Prefe

r to

spen

d tim

e re

visin

g o

n ow

n

Not h

elpf

ul

Borin

g

Just

reca

ppin

g

Will

reve

al m

y lac

k of r

evisi

on

Scary

Impr

ove

resu

lts

Previo

us se

ssio

ns h

elpe

d

I alw

ays a

ttend

eve

ryth

ing

Don't w

ant to

offe

nd le

cture

r

Prep

on e

xam

form

at

Don't w

ant to

miss

impo

rtant

info

I've

not b

een

to a

ny o

ther

lectu

res

Exam

hin

ts0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Level 4 Bio

Level 5 bio

Level 5 maths

% R

esp

onse

s

Deterrents Drivers

Maths Vs Bio

• Timing in Bioscience significant again

• Deterrents more variable than drivers• Maths seem to have had more positive

previous experience

Note maths prefer self revision, but always attend!

We asked?

What makes a good revision session?

& the answers were…

Ability to ask questions (55:58:48:9)

Go over difficult concepts (65:44:77:68)

Practice exam questions (30:64:4:18)

Other:Choose topic in advanceEssay helpExplain in more depthExplain exam format

(maths: bio 6,5,4)

Warning!• We asked…

Which module’s revision session did you enjoy best?

• We asked…

Which module did you do as expected, better or worse in the exam?

Sometimes the most enjoyable revision session

Gave worse exam results than expected!

Discussion

• Revisions sessions part of culture• Students expect them

• Enjoyable sessions can lead to mismatched expectations

• Why? May not be evident from module reviews.

• Suggestions for Bioscience• Do further investigation into timing of revision

sessions – what is the problem?

Conclusion

• Give the option of anonymously choosing topics in advance

• Sessions led by experts – not just the module leader

• Make the sessions “active”• Have short, small group sessions• Remove generic information

Acknowledgements

• Jeff Waldock ACES SHU• Chris Willmott Biological Sciences (a pre

‘92 uni)

References• Gendron, P. & Pieper, P. (2005), “Does Attendance Matter? Evidence from Ontario

ITAL”, Unpublished draft for discussion.

• Jonhendro, Ching, G.B., Wahab, R., Leng, W.M., Aun, J.T.L., Yeoh, E., Hock, O., Koo, W.K.KDU (2002) community network. Internet and Higher Education. 2002;4:317–28.

• Nageswari. K, Malhotra. A, Kapoor. N and Kaur. G. (2004) Pedagogical effectiveness of innovative teaching methods initiated at the Department of Physiology, Government Medical College, Chandigarh. Advanced Physiology Education. 28 (1-4), 51–58.

• The Student Room. ([no date]). Revision Methods and Tips. Available: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Revision_Methods_and_Tips. Last accessed 10th Apr

• UNISTATS. (2015). The Key Information Sets (KIS). Available: https://unistats.direct.gov.uk/find-out-more/key-information-set. Last accessed 5th May 2015

Abstract• Are revision sessions not engaging students• Investigate by questionnaire• Compare responses for bioscience at pre &

post ‘92 uni & post ‘92 maths students• Compare staff and student expectations• Found all students had similar responses• Biosciences SHU more affected by timing of

revision sessions• Possible to make some suggestions to

improve sessions