Module 3. Whai mātauranga: Understanding university learning (Weeks 3-6)

We're only a few weeks in, and while students will be a bit more settled, most will still be finding their way. Many of them will assume everyone else knows how it all works by now, and may feel hesitant about asking questions. From here, academic responsibilities also really start to kick in for students. The good news is that there is still plenty of time for them to catch up, alleviate confusion, and develop good habits. In this module you’ll find ideas and resources for:
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  • Making sure students understand how your course is organised, what skills they need and how to develop them.
  • Encouraging students to reflect on their transition so far, and using that to set up what they need to do next.
  • Managing anxiety around the first assessments.  ​

You might also find the ideas for easing transition in Module 2 useful. Learning communities are still developing so taking time to facilitate this is still very much of use, and there are also ideas there for student engagement that you can use throughout the course.
​​3.1 What do you need to succeed in this course?
To succeed in your specific course, students need to know how it is organised and what skills they need in addition to those tested in assessments. There will still be a lot of gaps in students’ readiness after the first few weeks so it is worth taking the time to check and demonstrate. Some ideas:
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  • Gameify checking students’ knowledge of how the university and your course works with something like Kahoot!, Go SoapBox, some kind of Bingo or something else paper-based. Here’s an example from CLAS101 that was made into a Kahoot! quiz. Don’t forget to take the time to explain the correct answers.
  • Specifically explain how learning works in the course. You could have a presentation such as this example of why SPAN101 is like a game of Jenga, or make it interactive and have students come up with their own reasoning.
  • Model the core skills that they need, or use resources such as Student Learning. Two key skills often new to students are academic reading, and note-taking in lectures, and this Core Skills document gives some ideas that might help. Class discussion might be another skill/activity that you could have students reflect on.
3.2 Reflecting on transition
Even though they’re only a few weeks in to University, students have already negotiated a lot that is new. Having them reflect on this can help alleviate their anxiety, remind them transition doesn’t just take a few weeks, and recognise what approaches to learning might work best here. This reflective activities document contains ideas and resources that you could use to facilitate this.

You could also share student-identified differences students between School/NCEA and University. Use 1-2 slides from this NCEA/University powerpoint or get your class to generate a list of their own. For those of you who haven't been through NCEA (i.e. most of us), tell students this and let them know that we rely on them to remind us what is new to them.
3.3 Using Students’ Experience
While it is important to reflect on the new skills and approaches students need, it is also important to recognise that students bring with them strategies that can help them succeed at University. In this video, Dr Megan Evans (FHSS Assoc. Dean, Teaching and Equity) discusses an exercise she did in Week 4 to emphasise this in a way that also consolidates student community. Also covered is: how useful it can be to have 2nd year students in a first year class, and ways in which students’ reflections can also help build a resource for future students (students are often very enthusiastic about contributing to this kind of initiative). The video begins with a discussion about a name game developed by Student Learning as part of an inclusive learning workshop, which Megan used and modified to reflect consideration of issues around naming for some LGBTQIA+ students.
3.4 Navigating Assessment Anxiety​
Anxieties about assessment are one of the biggest sources of student stress. As Mike Taylor explained in Module 1, students' understanding of how to approach assessment is often shaped by how assessment is delivered in NCEA. For example, in NCEA there are specific 'command words' to help students understand what is expected of them. At University we use a much wider range of these words, and students may not understand precisely what they need to do.
 
An Ako Aotearoa project from the University of Canterbury developed resources designed for students and staff to help alleviate assessment anxiety for first-year students. Using these resources we have developed 2 short checklists that you may find helpful:

  • The Student Checklist is for students to fill out (ideally in class) to prepare for their next piece of assessment. It is a basic template that you can adjust to best fit your course.
  • The Staff Checklist is designed to ensure you've covered the key information about assessment.
 
It's worth remembering that NCEA uses a completely different grading system than we do. You might find these  Assessment Explained slides (prepared by Dr Nicola Gilmour for SPAN101) useful to adapt and share with students.
3.5 Further Resources​
NCEA
If you’re starting these modules here and want to know more about NCEA, go back to Module 1 where you’ll find videos from Dr Mike Taylor that explain how NCEA works and what impact it can have on student transition. You may also find it useful to have a look around the official NCEA website. There are more resources there explaining how it works, as well as details about the assessment standards for individual subjects.
 
Student Learning
Weeks 4-6 are a very good time to draw students’ attention to Student Learning.  It's useful to frame this in terms of transition (to counter the idea that only people who are failing go there) by reminding them that there are skills they need to learn - they don't just get here equipped with them.


Some ideas:
  1. Get someone from Student Learning in to speak to the class for a few minutes about what they offer (workshops, one-on-one, online resources).
  2. Give students time in the class to have a look at the Student Learning website, and sign up for workshops/appointments. This is much more effective than just including the link in a slide or on Blackboard. There are a lot of useful resources there, and the more students use this resource, the more time we have to teach subject-specific content.
  3. Include information about Student learning in assessment (e.g. in weekly quizzes)