Improving the First Year Through an Institution-Wide Approach: The Role of First Year Advisors

Burnett, Lynn; Larmar, Stephen Anthony

doi:10.5204/intjfyhe.v2i1.40

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…In 2005, as part of Griffith University's commitment to enhancing the first-year experience, an institution-wide initiative was established that involved the creation of the FYA role (Burnett & Larmar, 2008). A FYA was appointed in every school at Griffith at the commencement of 2005.…”

Section: The First Year Advisormentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing the First-Year University Experience: Linking University Orientation and Engagement Strategies to Student Connectivity and Capability

Larmar

Ingamells

2010

Research in Comparative and International Education

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Over the past decade in Australia there has been an increasing focus in higher education on identifying cogent approaches for assisting first-year university students in their transition into the university setting. In recent years, an emerging body of literature has given emphasis to the efficacy of a range of strategies for engaging first-year undergraduate students. This article reports on a range of effective school-based university orientation and engagement activities that have been informed by the current body of knowledge on student engagement in higher education. Discussion gives emphasis to the impacts of a range of strategies on the early learning environment experiences of first-year students within the School of Human Services and Social Work at Griffith University, Australia. Attention is also drawn to some of the implications for best practice in the orientation and engagement of first-year students at the levels of the institution, academics and students. Finally, the article identifies how the school-based initiated strategies suggest a broad set of possibilities for engagement and change.

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Section: The First Year Advisormentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing the First-Year University Experience: Linking University Orientation and Engagement Strategies to Student Connectivity and Capability

Larmar

Ingamells

2010

Research in Comparative and International Education

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“…Initially, the Five Senses of Success framework was introduced to support student retention and engagement within the first year, but this has been expanded to incorporate the whole student lifecycle (Lizzio, 2011). The use of the Five Senses of Success framework to examine the student experience is supported in other studies that evaluate student support and engagement, and adds metrics that are meaningful outside of the library environment (Burnett & Larmar, 2011;Chester, Burton, Xenos, & Elgar, 2013;Hutchinson, Mitchell, & St John, 2011;Sidebotham, Fenwick, Carter, & Gamble, 2015). The Five Senses of Success framework indicators can be aligned with those characteristics that have been previously used to evaluate e-learning programs, such as usability, content richness, flexibility, and learner community (Chiu, Hsu, Sun, Lin, & Sun, 2005;Lu & Chiou, 2010;Wang, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Assessing the Impact of Embedding Online Academic and Information Literacy Resources into a First Year Business Course

Rae

Hunn

2015

EBLIP

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the terms of the Creative CommonsAttribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License 4.0 International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncsa/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, not used for commercial purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the same or similar license to this one. AbstractObjectives -Literature supports the concept that embedding academic and information literacy support into first year university courses enables students to proceed more confidently with researching and writing their assignments, and thus contributes to student success in their course. A need was identified for academic and information literacy support for a cohort of first year business students as part of the development of online course content for Griffith Online, the institution's online study degree option. This led to a collaboration between information literacy librarians, learning skills advisers, educational designers, and academic course convenors to develop and implement online resources. This paper will present findings on the impact of these online resources. Methods 96(2006) Five Senses of Success framework, evidence was collected and combined from a variety of sources over semester 2, 2014, and semester 1, 2015 to assess the impact of the online resource. Inferred evidence was gathered from usage statistics (number of hits on the sites) and from performance measures (comparing student essay grade between those that did and did not use the resource). Solicited evidence was gathered from a survey of students, students in focus groups, and interviews with course lecturers, tutors and other stakeholders.Results -The inferred evidence showed a positive impact on the student success indicators of the sense of resourcefulness, capability, connection, purpose and identity. The solicited evidence suggests that students saw the online resource in a positive light and that staff were happy with the impact it had on students' work and learning. It is believed that the gathered evidence indicates the Module did achieve the impact objective of a positive impact on the contribution to student success for these first year business students.Conclusions -The evidence has shown that this resource contributed to student success, and that staff and student satisfaction with the resource contributed to increased confidence with student academic skills and information literacy in respect to their assignment task. Assessing the impact of the online resource on student success has helped to demonstrate the value of the library at Griffith University to the wider community. The four-pronged collaboration relationship required for this approach was fostered with stakeholders outside of the library.

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“…The attrition and retention challenges are more apparent in the fi rst year compared to the other years, and as such, the need for a comprehensive, long-term strategic development aimed at improving fi rst-year student engagement and retention has never been more urgent (Burnett and Stephen 2011 ). These challenges include declining enrolment, increasing attrition numbers, weakening retention numbers, fi nancial sustainability, the need to improve ratings and reputation to be the university of choice.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taylor’s 7th Teaching and Learning Conference 2014 Proceedings

Tang¹,

Logonnathan²

2015

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Improving the First Year Through an Institution-Wide Approach: The Role of First Year Advisors

Cited by 25 publications

References 4 publications

Enhancing the First-Year University Experience: Linking University Orientation and Engagement Strategies to Student Connectivity and Capability

Enhancing the First-Year University Experience: Linking University Orientation and Engagement Strategies to Student Connectivity and Capability

Assessing the Impact of Embedding Online Academic and Information Literacy Resources into a First Year Business Course

Taylor’s 7th Teaching and Learning Conference 2014 Proceedings

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