Right time, right space? Developing an online transition course for new undergraduates

Abstract

This case study describes the development of a pre-entry transition course for new undergraduate students and its delivery online using a commercial open online course platform. Use of this ‘third space’ platform, and the additional in-house support that accompanied it, were essential in creating a professional-looking course to maximise interest among an entire cohort of undergraduates at the start of their academic careers, while the pre-entry timing aimed to engage students before they became engrossed in subject learning. The course had dual aims: to support students in the development of new academic skills and to build a sense of community and identification with the University before arrival. Videos of current students and academic tutors provided a face-to-face introduction to the university while articles and activities on academic skills were informed by professional learning development experience and expertise. Non-compulsory enrolment attracted 64% of eligible students, 40.2% of which marked 90% or more of the course as completed. The course is now undergoing revision in response to student feedback for next year’s iteration.

Spaces and places in online learning: perspectives from students and staff

“…Students' online learning identities -including their engagement with group learning and representations of the self within digital learning spaces -has been discussed, by (among others) Bullingham and Vasconcelos (2013), Gordon (2014), Gourlay (2014), Byl et al (2015), Savin-Baden et al (2015), Hansson and Sjöberg (2018), Shahabudin, Hood and Reid (2018), Crowther (2019), Johnstone, Thomas and Dodzo (2019), Dennis et al (2020), Gourlay (2021), Gourlay et al (2021a) and Gourlay et al (2021b). But the nature of these digital spaces themselves -in which such interactions occur -has been less acutely studied.…”