HEARing Student Voices

HEARing Student Voices

Patricia Clift Martin

Teaching and Learning Support Office

University of Manchester

HEARing Student Voices

Research QuestionsBroad:• How do students make educational choices within differently

structured curricula?• How do employment aspirations influence choice?• How can the HEAR best be designed to meet student needs?• How does formative assessment influence academic and career

development?

Specific:• What factors influence unit choice?• What methods of feedback do students prefer and find useful?• How can the HEAR be constructed to inform choice and maximise

use of feedback?

HEARing Student Voices

Project structurePhase 1:• Single discipline focus groups in English, Geography and Pharmacy

– each group met twice• Mixed discipline focus groups • Individual student interviews• Single discipline staff focus groups• Other HEI single discipline focus groups• Qualitative analysisPhase 2:• Action research with staff and students using the formative HEAR in

different models• Inform technical development of the formative HEAR• Recommendations on feedback and assessment planning

HEARing Student Voices

Emergent themes

• Significant differences between declaration and practice (i.e. use of feedback/ choice of resources)

• Feedback seen as a perpetual motion machine – integration was a problem

• Creating an image of who/where they wanted to be but not knowing how to get there

• Confusing directions/ lack of clear maps• Choice paralysis

HEARing Student Voices

Practical Recommendations• A time period when students can visit lectures to get a taste of

them so they don’t go in blind when choosing.• "They could put little video snippets online of say like 5 or 10

minutes of lecturers”• Access to essays and exams to go over after feedback has been

received• Something that would reassure them that there was a REASON

to go and have the conversations – more effective structuring• Academic advisors have access to the student’s marks and can

discuss with them/catch trends and issues with them.• “Some sort of document where all of the information was so they

[academic advisors] knew who you were and what you were doing”.