Right intervention @ right times: “Stitch in time saves nine”

Context-Position-Influence

As a course leader and senior lecturer in my first year in UK higher education, despite starting my teaching career in 2001, I questioned the effectiveness of my established teaching style and learning culture at UAL. This transition required significant unlearning and experimentation. A crucial moment occurred when I read Carys Kennedy’s (Kennedy, C. 2022) work, which mirrored my internal struggle between transparency and non-disclosure of barriers (disabilities in the UK context). View of Hooks (1994) is educators should embrace vulnerability to avoid wielding coercive power. This perspective contrasted with the idea that inclusivity sometimes means not revealing impairments, as shown in the Disability Service Animation video (UAL 2022). So convinced with the latter which shaped my belief that inclusivity encompasses both visible and hidden challenges, supporting my aim to foster a sustainable, inclusive learning environment. My background is diverse, encompassing various ethnicities, cultures, religions, coloured skin, being female, and not being a native English speaker. These intersecting aspects present substantial challenges. Through this blog, I strive to embody this unique perspective, emphasizing empathy and fairness as part of social justice in my dual roles as both an educator and a learner.

Intervention: What, Who, Where, and How?

The issue I address is to improve student engagement by intervening about irregularity of students and deep reasons behind. The aim is to enhance holistic and inclusive engagement. Initially sceptical about the topic’s validity, feedback from tutors and peers highlighted its relevance and potential for significant impact. My intervention involves multiple stakeholders, including peers, students, student services, admissions, and encompasses awareness training as part of execution.

Inclusivity: Why and How?

Quotes setting the backdrop for discussion include:

“Emotional strain of facing near-empty auditoriums should prompt review of university lecturing” – (Grove, J. 2024)
“Lockdowns demonstrated the damage isolation does to mental health. Why are universities prolonging it by recording lectures”; “Lecture attendance is, of course, not unconnected to mental health” – (Wiltshire, P. 2023)
“Mental health Issue should not be taken light”- (Universities UK, 2024)

The driving curiosity for this topic stemmed from unanswered questions: Why attend classes? What benefits do students gain that aren’t available online? Is the preference for online learning driven by feelings of safety and comfort? This blog explores the root causes and long-term impacts of absenteeism, seeking to understand and address these deeper issues.

Tom Lowe (2023) highlights factors affecting student engagement, including diversity, accessibility, representativeness, evidencing impact, data analytics, campus estate, and COVID-19’s impact. The literature review (Trowler, V. 2010) identifies three themes within student engagement: emotional, cognitive, and behavioural engagement which forms the basis of this activity.

Post-COVID, remote classes are common and exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis, leading students to prioritize work over classes. Queen Mary University’s Rob Briner noted only one of 70 enrolled students attended his class, indicating a shift in priorities (Grove, J. 2024). Online accessibility contributes to low attendance, but engagement suffers. Harvard’s Eric Mazur observed students speeding through recordings, reducing their value. Briner felt “rejected” and “professionally incompetent” due to low attendance, affecting staff well-being. Dr. McLoughlin from the University of Liverpool acknowledged the issue, citing high accommodation costs forcing students to choose between classes and basic needs, impacting international students’ visas. McLoughlin emphasized the importance of social learning over merely catching up on content (Grove, J. 2024). Hence addressing absenteeism is crucial for societal impact and future contributions.

Bhagat (2011) found that a student delayed coursework due to loan delays and feeling unprepared and disconnected, highlighting how socio-economic factors silently impact student engagement and persistence, potentially leading to failures or withdrawal.

In summary, evidence supporting these theories is presented in the following sections of the blog.

Feedback: Peers, Colleagues, and Students

The feedback received was very helpful. I would like to categorize it as follows and explain how it was addressed, also share the outcomes so far.

Feedback from Tutor: Formative and One-to-One Tutorial

1. Push up, not down: Feedback was “better results arise from pushing findings to policy implementers rather than downwards”. Hence my blog outlines possible root causes for absenteeism and proposal for close collaboration between admin and academic teams. I learned to support rather than penalize absenteeism and included this in my intervention, reflection, and action plan.
2. Data-driven: Feedback was to consider formal and informal data for analysis.  In this activity I realized the challenges in data collection. UAL dashboards which I have access to was not sufficient to draw inferences. Also, not everyone may be willing to expose even if exists about hardships, perceived discrimination around colour or faith due to fear of vulnerability or fear of non-acceptance. But other methods like casual talks, informal feedback, and anonymous surveys did help to an extent to understand ground facts. Lesson learnt based on my findings was action should not always rely solely on dashboard data; there are other effective ways to gather information which were considered.
3. Sustainable methods: I was advised to consider robust, sustainable mechanisms that remain stable and consistent over the years. UAL supports students from different socio-economic backgrounds or minority groups through hardship funds, scholarships, contextual admissions, student disability services, the Tell Someone scheme, and counselling. However, based on my discussions I observed that many students are unaware of these services due to reasons like services being offered under another name, lack of visibility and others. To mitigate this as part of my intervention (Appendix C):  

• Including these services in Moodle/slack
• Adding them to course leaders’ email signatures
• Inviting service representatives to address students
• Involving them deliver as part of units on discrimination, bias, disability, and well-being

Feedback from Peer-Peer Presentations: Suggestions from PGCert Classmates

Classmates acknowledged the topic’s relevance and suggested ways of intervention, which I have also incorporated as part of my intervention

• Conduct anonymous polls/surveys.
• Involve student representatives.
• Explore reasons affecting attendance.
• Increase group/community activities.
• Engage in frequent one-to-ones and casual catchups

Implementation Based on Feedback

All suggestions were implemented, and results are presented throughout the blog:

• Anonymous polls/surveys: Implemented through online form (Appendix A)
• Student/Course Representative perspectives: Implemented through online form (Appendix A)
• Group/community activities: Planned visits and interactions with peers across campuses.
• One-to-one Tutorials, Pastoral Care meetings, informal lunchtime meetings:This is not new to UAL, but the way it is organised made impact (Appendix C).
• Addressing it scientifically: The reasons for lack of physical presence and their detrimental impact is also addressed throughout the blog through adequate research from various sources spanning from print media to scientific journals.

Findings and Reflections Based on Research and Survey Methods

Responses (Appendix A) highlighted major reasons identified by experts like Tom Lowe: negative classroom environment, lack of engagement, commute distance and cost, and mental health. These issues indicate a lack of inclusiveness and a mental health toll, which may not be obvious initially but are crucial for regular class attendance. Without timely intervention, students, especially international ones, might drop out. Strategic intervention and regular follow-up are needed to address these root causes and improve the situation at UAL.

Proposed Intervention

To develop a sustainable long-term solution, I propose a new approach based on my study. The current problems stem from two main reasons: students’ unawareness of available solutions and the need for better integration and communication between administrative and academic departments. Bi-annual meetings could help bridge these gaps. Raising awareness and enhancing inter-departmental interactions are essential to addressing larger issues. For example, student absenteeism may be due to the need to earn money, lack of funds for commuting, a negative classroom environment, or weak peer-led community learning (Appendix A).

Action Plan

Case 1: Needs to earn for livelihood (Socio-economic)

1. Assessment: Course leaders/tutors should identify students with repeated absenteeism early on.
2. Administrative Check: Contact the administrative team to determine if the student is under Contextual Admissions (CA) and the grounds for it.
3. Provide Guidance: If the issue is socio-economic, guide the student to “student services” for advice on hardship funds or induction via ArtsTemp to avoid missing classes. Also talk to Time Table team to have more afternoon classes to help support their body clock if working night shifts.
4. Goal: Promote inclusiveness through awareness and proper signposting to prevent issues arising from ignorance rather than lack of funds.

Case 2: No money for commuting (Socio-economic)

1. Assessment: Conduct a two-level assessment to understand the severity of the financial issue.
2. Initial Steps: Follow the first three steps as in Case 1 to determine if there are broader financial issues.
3. Direct Assistance: If the issue is solely about commuting costs, direct students to:
   • Fees and Funding
   • Discounted Student Travel Pass
   • Accommodation Options
     • Partially Funded Rooms
4. Goal: Achieve inclusiveness through awareness and correct signposting to avoid issues due to ignorance rather than lack of funds.

Case 3: Negative classroom environment (Discrimination)

• Survey Findings: An anonymous survey sent to 20 students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) to understand in general thoughts around causes for negative classroom environment.
• Detail Investigation: The low response rate may be due to the survey’s anonymity and timing (end of term/block).
• Potential Causes: Based on survey responses, the potential reasons could be perceived discrimination related to race, ethnicity, type of degree programs, socio-economic status, language, etc. (Appendix A)

Case 4: Peer-led community learning (Inclusivity)

• One student per course will be designated as a Student Ambassador, inspired by Bhagat (2011), where a student benefited from the support of a Student Ambassador while struggling with self-directed work.

• Feedback from my survey underscores the significance of peer-led community learning, echoing Eric Mazur’s advocacy for flipped classrooms and intellectual engagement over traditional lectures (Grove, J. 2014). Gourlay (2018) further supports this view, emphasizing the superiority of practical, real-world activities and interactions over neoliberal policies.

Impact of Intervention on Inclusive Teaching and Learning

Summary of Actions and Results:

Cases 1 to 3 faced time constraints, but Case 4 was successfully implemented, combining B.Sc. CS and DSAI Year 1 students from Holborn to visit their peers at Peckham campus to foster community interaction. Informal feedback from meetings showed improved learning engagement (Appendix B).

Contextual Admissions (CA):

UAL’s Contextual Admissions program supports students from diverse backgrounds by considering factors like mental conditions, socio-economic status, POLAR4 Q1&2, and IMDQ1&2, ensuring fair opportunities. Figure 1 highlights the importance of understanding students’ backgrounds for inclusivity and engagement, with around fifty percent offered under CA as an attempt to bridge the gap.

Figure 1: UAL’s Contextual Admissions

Data-Driven Evidence:

Now trying to investigate UG and PG completion outcomes for data-driven support, I focused on UG outcomes as PG data was unavailable. I plan to request similar data for PG outcomes.

Figure 2: : UG Completion Outcomes Analysis

From Figure 2, we can observe:

• Despite its irrelevance here, the positive trend in female qualification rates, indicating a reduced gender gap, is notable.
• A significant number of students across sectors either “failed” or “withdrew” without disclosed reasons. To investigate, I examined data from my Year 1 B.Sc DSAI course. Figure 3 shows percentage physical engagement for 2023-24, with student names omitted for privacy.
• Two students withdrew: S1 (22%) due to work commitments, and S3 (51%) due to mental health issues linked to lack of socializing. Despite unsuccessful interventions for S1 and S3, S4 (26%) improved to 32%, showing a positive outcome (Figure 2).

Figure 3: Year 1 B.Sc DSAI course (Block 1)

Figure 4: Year 1 B.Sc DSAI course (Block 2)

Conclusion and Future Recommendations:

By closely observing details and implementing targeted interventions with the right people, we can incrementally enhance student engagement and inclusivity at UAL. This report, despite its limitations, offers preliminary findings, recommendations, and some evidence, contributing to the mitigation of the problem, even if not fully resolving it.

References

1. Lowe, T. (2023) Advancing student engagement in higher education: reflection, critique and challenge. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Group. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [Accessed 12 July 2024].
2. Gourlay, L. and Oliver, M. (2018) Student engagement in the digital university: sociomaterial assemblages. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Group. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [Accessed 12 July 2024].
3. Grove, J. (2024) Lectures in question as paid work pushes attendance even lower, Times Higher Education, 14 March. Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/lectures-question-paid-work-pushes-attendance-even-lower (Accessed: 13 July 2024).
4. Wiltshire, P. (2023). For their own good, we should force students to physically attend lectures. Times Higher Education. Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/their-own-good-we-should-force-students-physically-attend-lectures [Accessed 13 July 2024]
5. Universities UK 2024, Universities to involve trusted contacts, Universities UK, viewed 13 July 2024, https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/creating-voice-our-members/media-releases/universities-involve-trusted-contacts
6. Jayavel, K. (2024) Intervention. Available at: https://kjayavel.myblog.arts.ac.uk/intervention/ (Accessed: 13 July 2024).
7.  Kennedy, C. (2022) Example Intervention & Reflective Report from 2020-21: “Inclusive Teaching and Learning in Higher Education” Available at: https://moodle.arts.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=1184520
8. UAL (2022) The Social Model of Disability at UAL. YouTube. 7 May. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNdnjmcrzgw (Accessed: 14 July 2024)
9. Trowler, V. (2010) Student Engagement Literature Review. Higher Education Academy. Available at: www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/studentengagementliteraturereview 1.pdf (Accessed: 14 July 2024)

Supporting Documents

Appendix A: Two survey responses namely 1. Student Involvement and 2. Student Representative Involvement

Appendix B: Case 4: Peer Community Engagement evidence

Appendix C: Sustainable methods

Appendix D:Blog checklist – Where to spot what in my blog?