Transition management in a large law school: a module-based solution

In their paper John Hodgson and Jo Boylan-Kemp (Nottingham Trent University) presented the new approach to transition management adopted at Nottingham Law School.

John and Jo’s slides are embedded below.

Transition to higher education is a current ‘hot’ topic, with several conferences addressing the issue across the sector. This session attempted to apply what has been learned from work at Nottingham Trent and across higher education to the specific context of law programmes.

During June 2008 a working group at Nottingham Trent reviewed the university’s approach to transition management – see below for further details and the working group’s recommendations. As part of this process the School of Architecture, Design and Built Environment devised a mind map of transition management issues.

In the case of the law school, modifications are being designed to two existing modules to explicitly incorporate a number of transition related features, including:

• building on existing skills and habitus
• taking the students forward
• front loading
• integrating transition management into the substantive curriculum

The approach to be taken is modular. Following pre-induction and induction five fortnightly large group interactive sessions will be held, part of a larger ‘Academic and professional environment’ module. The sessions will be linked to the students’ progress files.

Other first year modules, such as torts law with mooting, contract law with case analysis, public law and legal environment, feed into the development of the students’ skills sets, as they provide the opportunity to develop oral, comprehension and summarisation skills.

Transition management in the law school:

1. Pre-induction – VLE forum for enrolled students, plus access to relevant resources – reading lists, timetables, university information leaflets (Health & Safety, student support services etc), city information and student discussion boards.
2. Induction – removal of the ‘boring’ bits, but with information still highlighted and made accessible (online). Increase the introduction to and focus on the idea of ‘independent learning’, with time spent on induction tutorials and methods and styles of learning in preparation for the start of studies.
3. Large group sessions:
   1. Introduction to lectures – pre-reading, notetaking, how to make the most of them, consolidation and further reading.
   2. Independence, organisational skills, planning, holistic approach to studies, financial matters.
   3. Academic writing, essays, analyses, critical thinking, problem questions, application and structure, referencing, research skills and feedback.
   4. Careers, routes to professional qualifications, other career possibilities and professional ethics.
   5. Recruitment, CV writing and enhancement, vacation placements, work experience, covering letters and Certificate in Professional Practice.

Nottingham Trent transitions working group

During June 2008 the transitions working group at Nottingham Trent (NTU) developed the following strategy on the transition to higher education.

Entering higher education represents a very significant transition, or rite of passage, for the student. This has long been recognised, although historically most attention was paid to the social aspects – moving away from home, forming new relationships, economic and financial management. It is now clear from a range of research and anecdotal evidence that there is also a pressing need to concentrate on more academic aspects of this transition. Key factors include:

• AS and A2 A levels are not as they were and some key academic attributes – for example essay writing, enquiry-based or problem-based learning and ‘proper’ research skills are underdeveloped in many students.
• We have students from very diverse backgrounds, and relatively few assumptions of prior art can be made. For instance both international and mature students have distinct additional transitions to make.
• While there is now a justified assumption that most students are ‘digital natives’ with a comprehensive set of IT skills, this is not necessarily true for all students. Even where it is, many students still lack the capacity to utilise IT packages independently.
• The higher education feedback model is very different to the tertiary one. In the tertiary sector students typically have an established relationship with a small teaching team in the context of a small cohort. They also benefit from feedback on draft submissions, which is not generally countenanced in higher education, at least in relation to ‘orthodox’ coursework assignments. Furthermore, feedback in further education is often highly directional – students are told what to improve and often how.
• Many students start with good intentions, but there are too many negative factors – peer pressure, administrative inefficiency etc.. It is also the case that many students live ‘multi-faceted’ lives, with caring commitments, employment and interests outside study.

There is therefore a requirement for all undergraduate and foundation degree programmes to develop strategies to support first year students to make the transition from learning in further education to learning in higher education. This process, hereafter called transition management, will primarily need to engage with the intellectual/academic needs of students, but also the wider cultural and social ones.

Transition management is interested in supporting students to ‘settle in’ to university, explicitly exposing them to appropriate learning strategies and helping them to develop appropriate academic skills.

Pre-enrolment

Research at NTU suggests that many of the skills and approaches students need to thrive in higher education are not well developed in further education. Some engagement in transition management needs to start during pre-enrolment, with reading and research exercises or in appropriate cases a project. The school areas of the pre-enrolment message board could be used to post FAQ’s and possibly multi-media material about the student experience.

Welcome week

There are clearly a number of administrative functions that need completing during the week – enrolment, module choices, H&S, smart card collection etc, but time needs to be made to help students to begin to orientate themselves to their programme, their peers, the institution and the learning they will engage in.

Student feedback about the purpose of programme induction identifies five key features they expect:

1. Opportunities to make friends/develop peer support mechanisms.
2. To be told in advance what their induction involves.
3. To understand what kind of learning is involved and be reassured that they’ll cope.
4. To be reminded how their course will benefit future plans.
5. Some recognition of existing demands on time such as childcare.

Programme teams ought to take into consideration these factors when planning induction.

First term

Transition management makes an important contribution to student retention, performance and satisfaction, as it ensures that students are able to engage with their programme effectively from the outset, and also contributes to social integration (although it is not primarily focused on social integration). It is therefore essential that it is part of the initial student experience.

The actual nature and articulation of transition management is a matter for the school/programme. NTU should set out precepts or guidelines rather than prescriptive requirements. For example, transition management could be delivered as an ‘upfront’ module in an otherwise clear time period, could be in a module which is dovetailed/ tapered with other modules or could be wholly integrated into the first year curriculum.

The focus of transition management should be on induction to higher education methodology, diagnostic assessment and skills, but in a discipline context. Outcomes should be skills related. The skills mix will vary depending on the requirements of the discipline and also whether students are embarking on a new subject/discipline (for example law).

We consider it important that transition management be adequately resourced, using the best qualified and equipped staff. Consideration should also be given to integrating peer mentoring, as the input of peers may be seen as more credible and accessible.

In programmes with a significant international recruitment this needs to be acknowledged and reflected in the arrangements for transition management, as there will be an additional facet of transition for international students. Similarly, where there is a significant recruitment of mature and/or non-standard entry students the additional facet of transition needs to be accommodated. In each case transition management needs to be expressly articulated with the specific arrangements for these groups of students.

A range of techniques can be deployed – peer mentors for general learning skills; CAL testing; self assessment.

Later stages

While the major transition occurs on entry to higher education, there is some element of transition in moving to higher academic levels, and appropriate management needs to be provided. This may take the form of induction to more advanced aspects of study, such as problem-based learning and dissertations, or induction for work placements.

Working group recommendations

That NTU should require that all FD and UG programmes demonstrate that transition management is effectively addressed throughout the first year, but particularly in the first term of the programme.

The timescale should be that:

• All programmes proposed for validation, revalidation or respecification on or after 1 August 2008 be required to demonstrate effective transition management.
• On the occasion of a School review all relevant programmes either demonstrate existing effective transition management, or that measures have been taken to implement this no later than the entry of the next intake to the programme.

Transition management should be a specific programme learning outcome in relation to the first year of study.

Programme teams should agree a set of module learning outcomes for the first year articulating with the programme outcome.

These module outcomes should clearly indicate the nature and scope of the coverage in those modules which have been selected to deliver the programme learning outcome.

That the transition management programme learning outcome shall be:

Students will be able to:

• Deploy an appropriate range of skills, techniques and scholarly practice to effectively address their assessment tasks.
• Operate effectively as individual independent learners and in group learning and assessment activities.

It is inappropriate to prescribe the skills, techniques and scholarly practices, but hey are likely to include most of the following:

• effective reading for academic purposes
• notetaking
• research
• referencing and other acknowledgment of the work of others
• plagiarism awareness and avoidance
• academic writing focusing on appropriate genres, for example report, essay or reflective writing
• learning to learn
• independent learning
• holistic thinking
• making connections between different areas of study
• technical skills
• use of relevant IT skills
• statistical and other quantitative aspects
• communication
• learning from feedback
• assessment issues, such as correct identification of the nature of tasks, recognising and acting on feedback
• appropriate social and academic interaction with other students, tutors and other staff

That some flexibility be permitted as to the means adopted for transition management, provided that the required outcome is effectively met.

For example, a programme may propose a specific front loaded transition module to fully deliver the outcome, or may embed the outcome in one or more first year modules.

That staff development be provided in key areas related to transition management including:

• consciousness raising for key academic colleagues on the issues of transition management
• sessions on specific activities for inclusion in the first year
• incorporation of transition management in the curriculum of the PGCHE

About the presenters

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John Hodgson is Learning and Teaching Co-ordinator at Nottingham Law School. He is a regular contributor to UKCLE conferences and an experienced academic validator and reviewer. John is the author of a number of articles on aspects of legal education.
 
Jo Boylan-Kemp is a principal lecturer at Nottingham Law School, responsible for the ‘student experience’, including marketing, admissions and careers. She is the author of English legal system: the fundamentals (Sweet & Maxwell).

Last Modified: 9 July 2010