MB - Showcasing Institutional Impact

Securing Student Outcomes: Showcasing Institutional Impact

Student success remains at the heart of higher education. As student needs and regulatory expectations change, institutions need to be able to adapt to secure the best outcomes for their learners.

This resource spotlights how our members have delivered for their students: what mattered to them, how this work aligns to the Student Success Frameworks and what they learned about managing change and enhancement in their institution from strategic approach to implementation.

Advance HE presents six short videos of effective and impactful practice, plus five additional case studies to spark discussion and support the design and planning of innovation in your institution.

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Showcasing Institutional Impact

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Career Impact Strategy, Technological University of Shannon, Ireland

Access and Success Fund, Keele University, UK

Sustainability and Creativity Module, RMIT University, Vietnam

Pre-Arrival Questionnaire, University of East London, UK

Institution-wide Curriculum Transformation, Southern Cross University, Australia

'My Success' Series of Micro-Credentials, Abertay University, UK

Project or Initiative: Academic Skills Centre PAT Referral Scheme Institution: University of Birmingham Primary Contact: Leanne B.M. Campbell, Head of Learning Enhancement: l.b.campbell@bham.ac.uk

Our innovation

In 2023/24, the Academic Skills Centre at the University of Birmingham piloted a new referral system whereby personal academic tutors can refer any undergraduate student attaining below Good Honours level directly to the Centre. Referral students are given enhanced 1-1 appointments which cover a wide range of academic skills and take a collaborative approach where students and Academic Skills Centre advisors work together to agree an individualised action plan containing SMART action points to support academic success. Referral students are offered an initial enhanced ASC appointment and at least one follow-up appointment, in addition to the standard offer of four appointments per year for all taught students. A channel of regular communication between students, advisors and tutors was also opened up where students are supported holistically by their ASC advisors and tutors as a team, and referral student progress is followed up in subsequent personal academic tutorials each semester. The inaugural year of the scheme was a great success, with high levels of engagement from referral students and tutors. 100 eligible students were referred in total. Almost half of final-year referral students graduated with a Good Honours degree, and our feedback survey showed attendance at enhanced appointment improved students’ cognitive and metacognitive strategies and their sense of belonging. Feedback from tutors praised the scheme as ‘really beneficial to the students’ and ‘really impressive… so helpful for students- amazing!‘

45% of finalists who were referred with below Good Honours level average marks and attended enhanced 1-1s achieved a 2:1 Honours degree. Evaluation data also suggest that attendance at enhanced appointments means referral students are more likely to gain a Good Honours degree even when their average mark at the point of referral is low. Referral students are asked to complete the TASO Access and Success Questionnaire pre- and post-appointment, and the results show improvements in student ratings for their cognitive strategies (+9.2%), metacognitive strategies (+12.5%) and sense of belonging (+10.3%). Student feedback: “I received my final marks today and they were the highest marks I have ever received during my time at university. I was able to achieve an overall grade of 64%. Your advice and support were truly a game changer for me and gave me more confidence... I truly felt supported by you. Thank you so much.”

The impact on student outcomes

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Additional resources

Project or Initiative: Professionalising student voice: The Learning Design Assistant Programme Institution: University of Derby Primary Contacts: Gary F. Fisher, Senior Learning Designer & Jessica Ferro, Learning Designer: g.fisher@derby.ac.uk

Our innovation

The Online Content and Learning Design team at the University of Derby has developed, implemented, and evaluated a novel approach to student engagement that has significantly impacted the progression of participants. Embedding student voice within the development of teaching materials, the university has developed a new professional role: the Learning Design Assistant (LDA). This role is advertised and recruited internally within the university’s student body via career services infrastructure, providing role holders with a part-time, flexible paid, professional opportunity to engage in learning design and educational development work. LDAs worked with academic educators to enhance teaching materials prior to their delivery to students. They reviewed explanations of academic concepts to identify enhancements that might aid student understanding. They assured the accessibility and inclusivity of digital materials. They suggested formative activities and tasks that might aid students in the completion of summative assessments. In addition to receiving direct training by the university’s Learning Design and Online Practice Manager, LDAs were assigned a professional mentor in the form of a full-time professional Learning Designer. LDAs engaged in all stages of the learning design process, beginning with initial meetings with academic colleagues to develop module-level plans of student learning and concluding with the final assurance of teaching materials prior to their delivery to students. Upon the completion of their contract LDAs were invited to complete a professional reflection of the learning and development in the role and participate in an exit interview with the Learning Design and Online Practice Manager.

In addition to allowing student voice to be proactively embedded within the initial design of teaching materials prior to their delivery to students, this initiative greatly enhanced the graduate outcomes and progression of student role holders. In their professional reflections, LDAs identified professional communication, inter-professional collaboration, and self-presentation and marketing as key skills and competencies they had developed through the role. Specific progression routes experienced by LDAs within 12 months of completing their contract include the commencement of doctoral study in higher education learning practice and the attainment of an associate lecturer role at a neighbouring post-compulsory educational institution. Their reflections cite the importance of the LDA role in enabling this progression. This approach professionalised the manner in which student voice is embedded in learning design, simultaneously developing the quality of teaching materials while providing a valuable career service and enhancing the progression routes of student participants.

The impact on student outcomes

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Project or Initiative: A new route to train to teach: a BEd fit for the 21st Century Institution: Anglia Ruskin University Primary Contacts: Jenny Fogarty, Director of Initial Teacher Training: jenny.fogarty1@aru.ac.uk

Our innovation

ARU have launched the first new BEd Primary Education with Qualified Teacher Status in the sector for 30 years. We have designed, validated and developed the programme in collaboration with local headteachers to ensure it is fit for purpose and meets the regional industry needs. Recruitment and retention of teachers is a nationwide priority, and in the Eastern region training to teach via high quality undergraduate provision which awards qualified teacher status is limited. ARU were the only new university to be accredited as part of the Department for Education’s Market Review in 2022 and we have launched our provision with a brand-new undergraduate route to train. Our market research identified that over 200 students per year travel out of the Eastern region to train to be a primary teacher through an undergraduate programme, and we have designed the course to be locally situated and relevant. We are proud of the opportunities for collaboration that we have included: from applicant interview to curriculum design and guest lecturing, teachers and local headteachers are contributing and adding value to our course offering. We are utilising the simulation-based learning techniques through the introduction of our Ruskin Star Primary School and a range of digital approximations of real-life primary classroom scenarios, developed with existing practitioners. Our approach is grounded in our commitment to excellence in three distinct areas: excellence in delivery, excellence in partnership, excellence in outcomes.

This course has seen significant regional support and interest including over 300 applications in its first recruitment round. We met our student number target of 90 and we have seen significant local engagement with the course with 87% of our cohort of 90 trainees being hyper local and commuting to university each day. Over 150 partner schools have supported us through offering placements, curriculum support and contributing to recruitment events. Feedback from local partners via our Partnership Advisory Group is overwhelmingly positive about this new addition to the market and its potential on student outcomes: "We have been extremely impressed at the careful planning which is already resulting in “glowing” comments from students on the quality of teaching they are receiving, as well as the commitment of the ARU ITT staff. The team at ARU are not just delivering the required teaching but going above and beyond in offering enrichment opportunities to their students, which we believe will lead to well-rounded teachers ready and willing to begin their careers."

The impact on student outcomes

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Additional resources

Project or Initiative: Assessment Workshops: Staying on Track Institution: University of South Wales Primary Contacts: Rhian Kerton & Jamie James, Associate Deans for Student Outcomes: rhian.kerton@southwales.ac.uk; jamie.james@southwales.ac.uk

Our innovation

Over the past two years at the University of South Wales, we have piloted and subsequently rolled out ‘Assessment Workshops’ to support students to stay on track and continue to positively engage with their studies knowing that a repeat or discontinue outcome is not inevitable. Previously, any student with assessment non-submission(s) would have been required to repeat elements of their course, or in the case of multiple non-submissions, risked being required to leave their course. Assessment Workshops offer students with assessment non-submissions a supported opportunity to develop a working version of a resit assessment prior to outcome decisions being taken at the Progression and Award Boards. Information is then presented to the Progression and Award Boards detailing which resit assessments a student has prepared during an Assessment Workshop. In this way, the Examination Board is able to consider this engagement alongside the full student profile and if appropriate, offer students a resit opportunity instead of a repeat/discontinue decision. Students who receive confirmation from the Progression and Award Boards that they are being offered the opportunity to redeem non-submissions via a resit are then required to finalise their earlier prepared drafts and submit these during the standard summer resit period.

In 2022/23, Assessment Workshops were offered to students with non-submissions and students with failed assessments. In 2023/24 the scope was reduced to focus solely on students with non-submissions due to there being alternative in-year assessment retrieval options to support students with failed assessments. In 2023/24, 196 students engaged with an Assessment Workshop; this compared to 192 engagements in 2022/23. In 2022/23, 63% of students who engaged with an Assessment Workshop returned to their studies in 2023/24, with 89% of continuing students successfully completing their studies. In 2023/24, 60% of the students who engaged with an Assessment Workshop returned to their studies in 2024/25.

The impact on student outcomes

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Project or Initiative: Multimedia Learning, Dyslexic Learners and Student Engagement Institution: Loughborough University Primary Contacts: David Roberts, Senior Lecturer in International Relations: d.roberts@lboro.ac.uk

Our innovation

Conscious of the scholarly literature on student engagement in large group lectures, and of criticisms of mainstream pedagogic use of PowerPoint, we developed multimedia learning (MML) methods from MML theoretical literature. This scholarship hypothesized that combining apposite images and text in slides with non-redundant speech would generate greater cognitive engagement than text and speech alone for all sighted students, regardless of discipline. Turning theory into practice, we formatted PowerPoint lecture slides using subject-apposite full-slide images and a single line of text that complemented, but did not reproduce, the accompanying spoken words. We used literal and figurative images and made clear in accompanying speech how the images related to the academic subject being presented. We then tested this method in Business Studies, International Relations and Politics large group lectures with neurotypical and neurodiverse students using standard academic markers for affective, behavioural and cognitive engagement, via randomized longitudinal mixed method control group trials. Based on the published results, we began delivering MML lectures to large groups, to wide student approval. The approach was adopted by the university in other academic settings both formally and informally and is the subject of ‘best practice’ institution-wide. The outcome now is lectures delivered in full MML form, with full-slide imagery accompanied by a single line of text and non-redundant speech, across a wide range of subjects, increasing student affective, behavioural and cognitive engagement.

Dyslexic students who had expressed disdain at text-dense PowerPoint slides saw MML as a balm. Dyslexic students are particularly at risk of disengagement because excessive text overwhelms compromised working memory capacity, while imagery liberates cognitive space for visual processing. Integrating imagery into slides and reducing written text reduces overload on both neurotypical and neurodivergent brains – the method improves engagement for both categories of student - but it does more so for neurodivergent students who are more vulnerable to disengaging from text-heavy slides. Longitudinal randomised control trials combined with surveys of student participants showed increases for dyslexic students pertaining to affective, behavioural and cognitive engagement of between 50%-80% in all three areas, with the data published in peer-reviewed academic outlets.

The impact on student outcomes

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Additional resources

Key to initiative and areas of institutional impact

Back to Framework

In this video, Professor Thomas Roche talks about Institution-wide Curriculum Transformation at Southern Cross University. He explains how the initiative has delivered for their students: what mattered to them, how this work aligns to the Advance HE Student Success Frameworks and what they learned about managing change and enhancement in their institution from strategic approach to implementation.

In this video, Abi Keay talks about the Access and Success Fund at Keele University. She explains how the initiative has delivered for their students: what mattered to them, how this work aligns to the Advance HE Student Success Frameworks and what they learned about managing change and enhancement in their institution from strategic approach to implementation.

In this video, Jack Hogan talks about the 'My Success' Micro-Credentials Series at Abertay University. He explains how the initiative has delivered for their students: what mattered to them, how this work aligns to the Advance HE Student Success Frameworks and what they learned about managing change and enhancement in their institution from strategic approach to implementation.

Identify the area you wish to focus on in the Framework. The coloured dots correspond to a snapshot of practice captured in the short videos. Select the bubbles to view the videos of project leaders answering three simple questions on their innovation, the impact on students and staff and their recommendations for others wishing to replicate the approach. Select the stars to view additional case studies of practice. The key provides an overview of the videos and the relevant area of practice.

In this video, Dr Justin Battin talks about Sustainability and Creative Elective Modules at RMIT Vietnam. He explains how the initiative has delivered for their students: what mattered to them, how this work aligns to the Advance HE Student Success Frameworks and what they learned about managing change and enhancement in their institution from strategic approach to implementation.

In this video, Dr Michelle Morgan talks about the Pre-Arrival Student Academic Questionnaire at the University of East London. She explains how the initiative has delivered for their students: what mattered to them, how this work aligns to the Advance HE Student Success Frameworks and what they learned about managing change and enhancement in their institution from strategic approach to implementation.

In this video, Aoife Prendergast talks about Career Impact Strategy at Technological University of the Shannon in Ireland. She explains how the initiative has delivered for their students: what mattered to them, how this work aligns to the Advance HE Student Success Frameworks and what they learned about managing change and enhancement in their institution from strategic approach to implementation.