The Value of Peer Learning For First-‐Year Postgraduate University Students’ Social And Academic Integra@on Byl, Emmeline; Struyven, Katrien; Meurs, Pieter; Abelshausen, Bieke; Vanwing, Tom; Engels, Nadine and Lombaerts, Koen Department of Educa0onal Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Introduc)on Contemporary research reten@on in Europe: ü Increased access ü Increased enrolments q Slightly increased comple@on rates q Par@cular programs with flexibility of educa)onal pathways (European commision, 2015) The findings from these studies emphasised the importance of the short and specialized part-‐ @me and working-‐age student experience with ins@tu@ons.
Introduc)on A summary of the factors associated with the student aXri@on phenomenon suggested that, the central factors were • Quality of student ins@tu@onal experiences • Level of Integra@on into the academic and social system “Student engagement … its essen@al for student reten@on and success.” (The guardian, 11.10.2011)
Theore)cal Framework • The concept of student integra@on was first introduced by Tinto’s Reten)on Model in 1975 • Twofold concept: • Academic integra@on • Refers to the level of adherence students demonstrate to culture (values & norms) • Refers to percep@ons about experiences with the academic system and intellectual development • Social integra@on • Refers to the degree of willingness students demonstrate to share beliefs & aatudes) • Refers to percep@ons about experiences with the social system and meaningful rela@onships and par@cipa@on in ac@vi@es • ‘Social integra@on may have indirect effects through psychological outcomes. Conclusively, social integra@on is a factor that should be closely considered among all popula)ons(Corbin, 2014)
Aim of the research Purpose: Taking account of the increasingly diverse student popula@on, this paper explores the percep@ons of first-‐year postgraduate university students concerning support for social and academic integra@on and focus on the value of peer learning to increase the social and academic integra@on of first-‐year postgraduate university students. Values: We will build upon the importance of the holis@c understanding of the student experiences in programs with flexibility of educa)onal pathways and incorporate into our research ac@vi@es and design the value of peers as agents of change. We understand that our own organiza@onal research prac@ces should serve as example of the values and aatudes we convey to our students. Apprecia)ve inquiry becomes an appropriate research approach
Apprecia)ve Inquiry Strength –based approach: • Posi@ve language • Builds upon strengths Four main stages: 1. Register Past 2. Imagine Future 3. Create reality 4. Implement, monitor, evaluate Both Social and academic integra@on were explored.
Data Collec)on • • •
Spring 2014, retrospec@ve first semester Recruitment via mail + face to face 5 Focus group interviews and 35 individual interviews
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35 students in the shorter degree program and 14 students in the specified working program • Transcrip@on of interviews •
Analyse: Maxqda -‐ each phase
Results (1) Key message 1: the majority of these groups of students believe that there is inaMen)on for their social needs The first semester of the academic year the crea@on of a social seNng which facilitates the connec@on to like-‐minded, same-‐ age peers is essen@al for peer rela@onships and experiencing the benefits of peer support and peer educa@on in an informal context.
“It’s important for me (...) that you can talk to some one like-‐minded. You can share concern. And they understand you because they have also the same context: they have also a family and children. Yes it’s important for me to feel bonded. That you feel they are in the same posi/on.”
Results (2)
Key message 2: the majority of the students need to face feelings of isola)on Reciprocal befriending-‐scheme organized in a more ‘noncommiMal’ informal seang without any obliga@ons, s@mulates students to par@cipate and demonstrates to be more helpful for their social integra@on.
“You need first to ask people for being Facebook friends before they could invite you for example on events. And yet, only when you start to like events and pages on Facebook, people of the university will invite you and send messages that will make you aware off ac0vi0es at campus. Let’s say that if you are very introverted, you may not discover this.”
Results (3) Key message 3: the majority of these groups of students believe that there is inaMen)on for their academic needs For their academic integra@on, face-‐to-‐face and online peer learning such as student counselling and peer modelling, are especially important tools.
"Before I started, I came to the open campus day. I had a good conversa0on with one of our student ambassadors. She gave me very interes0ng informa0on and told me ‘how she experienced’ . But it had been more useful if a working student was present that I could talk to.”
Exis@ng Structures
New Structures
Narrow perspec@ve Broader perspec@ve
Quadrant I Supplement Integra@on of involvement within exis@ng formal structures by adding peer socializa)on facilitators and peer learning facilitators to exis@ng support ac@vi@es.
Quadrant II Specialisa)on Integra@on of involvement through the crea@on of new non-‐formal support structures such as social and academic ac@vi@es for a par@cular popula@on of students such as peer socializing ac@vi@es and peer learning ac)vi)es
Quadrant III Mainstreaming Integra@on of involvement within exis@ng formal support structures but with the emphasis on a broader social-‐academic support perspec@ve (e.g.) peer coaches and counselling
Quadrant IV Focusing Integra@on of involvement through new cross-‐ support offerings such as involvement related introduc)on program before the academic year start which is required for all students
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