A friendly destination: Normalising first-year science student help-seeking through an academic literacy Targeted Learning Session. A Practice Report

Abstract

A high priority for tertiary institutions in New Zealand, and globally, is for first year students to have a positive experience of higher education. However, a commonly reported issue is student reluctance to access learning support, even when needed (Hoyne & McNaught, 2013). Previous research addressed this issue with a large number of Arts students through introducing Targeted Learning Sessions in which teaching staff and learning support services combined to offer assistance in one place (Cameron, George & Henley, 2012). Our study replicates and develops their successful session with a smaller number of Medical Imaging students. The students reported appreciating timely help from a range of staff on content, structure and information discovery. Staff enjoyed greater interaction with students and the professional collaborative environment. Our findings also highlighted future practical improvements. This study extends previous research, increasing understanding and demonstrating the wider application of Targeted Learning Sessions in normalising helpseeking.

Are students too anxious for statistics anxiety workshops?

“…More broadly, findings indicate that strategies in the curriculum to normalise help seeking would be of benefit to students. Attempts in universities to improve help seeking in students include PAL (Peer Assisted Learning;Hager, 2018); a university wide support structure that was scaffolded (Devine et al, 2021) and running convenient sessions where both teaching and learning support staff are available (Hammond et al, 2015). All these initiatives make it easier to access help in the practical sense.…”

Is it OK to ask? The impact of instructor openness to questions on student help-seeking and academic outcomes

“…This study suggests that instructors who actively encourage students' questions may be promoting more active help-seeking behaviors in their students, which in turn promote higher grades. Building in dedicated time for seeking help may also normalize help-seeking and increase students' willingness to access help (Hammond et al, 2015). Students who are feeling confused or stuck in a class but fail to ask for help are, in a sense, digging themselves deeper into the problem.…”

Increasing Accessibility to Academic Support in Higher Education for Diverse Student Cohorts

“…McNaught and Beal (2012) further argue that locating academic support services in open spaces supports perceiving the attendance of academic support as normal. Hammond et al (2015) also successfully normalised academic help seeking by offering an assignment targeted peer learning session in an open space. They argue that "seeking help within a group environment could avoid individuals feeling stigmatised for help-seeking" (181).…”

“…Finally, academic support staff should continue to work on reducing public stigma about academic help seeking and to normalise seeking support (McNaught and Beal 2012). Various changes, such as renaming services, offering support in open spaces, and offering peer learning opportunities, to normalise help seeking can be considered depending on already existing services and available resources (Hammond et al 2015;McNaught and Beal 2012). Reconsidering some approaches to valuable and beneficial existing academic support services may further improve services and make them more accessible for diverse student cohorts to foster academic success for all students (Wirtz et al 2018).…”

“…Academic support increases student success and government funding is often linked to retention rates (McNaught and Beal 2012). Hammond et al (2015) also saw the importance of academic support and designed a targeted learning session to increase access. "Programs of academic support must meet the needs of students from increasingly diverse backgrounds, with different learning styles and at different stages of learning development" (Waters 2002, 8).…”