Parallel Session 3

3.1 Show-and-tell session, room W2.10

Abertay Discovery Tool: Implementing educational diagnostics

Jack Hogan, Abertay University, Scotland

The Abertay Discovery Tool is a formative assessment which enables students to make informed choices and action plan based on self-reflective questions. This addresses core areas of university life and aims to provide recommendations. This session will provide valuable insights into the Abertay Discovery Tool’s role in supporting student success at Abertay University. We will discuss its development as well as how data collected through the tool will contribute to understanding predictors of academic success.

EDGE – Guiding First Year Students To Build Their Sense Of Belonging To University.

Angela Mc Glynn, Munster Technological University, Ireland

The EDGE awards framework, hosted on a bespoke digital platform, guides students to complete activities seeking to build their sense of belonging and community as they progress through their first year at university. We will show and tell the EDGE platform and how EDGE encourages students to self-reflect and articulate their experiential learning, making their EDGE award personal and unique to them.

HELP: A Co-Created Study Skills Programme that Reaches Students Where They’re At

Sue Meehan & Jolanta Petraitytw, South East Technological University (SETU), Ireland

The Higher Education Learner Programme (HELP) is an online Study Skills programme developed by SETU. As this programme was optional, it was essential to find ways to increase engagement with it. The proposed solution was two-fold: co-creation of programme elements with students, and the dissemination of content and facilitation of programme elements through social media and other platforms. This approach meant that content could be tailored to meet the needs of students in real time.

3.2 Show-and-tell session, room W2.11

Give the power to the students

Søren Jønsson Granat, Niels Bohr Institute (NBI), University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Starting up social life among students begins with empowering them. They are truly the competent people. Everyone must have a say, student influence must be real and management must be in close contact with the students. Talk with physics students on how responsibility is shared, a sense of belonging is created and we’ll figure out how to transform this to your reality together.

Paving the way for studentdriven democratic and social communities

Anna Bressendorff & Anna Kirstine Lausen, University College Copenhagen, Denmark

University College Copenhagen has student involvement as a strategic priority. Our talk portrays how we engage with students and why we see the first year as being an essential year in paving the future path of collaboration between students, the entire student body and the whole of University College Copenhagen. After this session the participant will understand how we practically approach student involvement, which is a take on how an educational institution can secure democratic student participation.

Campus Hosts: How Student Employees Can Enrich Campus Life and Communities

Thomas Vikestad Kalvik & Caroline Nilstad, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway

The Campus Hosts are student employees who actively contribute to enriching campus life through various measures and daytime activities. The goal is to make it more attractive to stay on campus. We will present the initiative, activities we have carried out and discuss how our initiative has effected campus life. Participants will gain insight into our Campus Hosts’ workframe and engage in discussions with colleagues on developing activities and supporting local student organizations.

“It takes a village…” – Student associations as stakeholders in the FYE of Tampere University

Mikko Salminen, Tampere University, Finland

Learn how Tampere University interacts with student associations in the FYE development and coordination process, specifically regarding the University’s FY peer tutoring system. We will discuss the cooperation between the University, student associations, and the Student Union, and the opportunities found in engaging student-led associations in FYE. These associations form the backbone of the local student culture and are key players in integrating new students into the University community.

3.3 Presentation session, room W1.01

Making Space for Learning and Belonging: An Integrated Approach to Academic Support

Deirdre Casey & Alice Mulcahy, Munster Technological University, Ireland

The Academic Learning Centre’s innovative restructuring and physical transformation highlights how an integrated and thoughtfully designed academic support centre is pivotal in fostering students’ success. This presentation underscores the importance of a cohesive programme structure and welcoming physical spaces in cultivating a supporting, engaging, and inclusive environment.

Enhancing the sense of communality: the cooperation between teachers and peer teachers

Olli-Pekka Penttinen, University of Helsinki, Finland

The presentation will elaborate on the importance of the interaction between peer teachers and teachers, how this interaction can build experiences of integration, and explore what motivates students in peer teaching. These findings can help support teachers and degree programme in further understanding how to develop peer teaching activities and build a sense of communality with the help of peer teachers and their shared experiences.

3.4 Presentation session, room W1.02

Lessons Learnt from a Success Story in Student Retention.

Dr. Owen Ross, Technological University of the Shannon, Ireland

Initially, this presentation describes a Student Success Model (SSM) that encompassed three foundation blocks, six success pillars, and twenty-seven actions or interventions. The SSM enabled an academic department to reduce its non-progression rate from 36% to 12% over eight years. The presentation offers hope for improving student retention through two avenues: replicating the SSM’s measures or adopting the newly introduced Institutional Student Retention Improvement Theory (ISRIT), built on the managerial approach that enabled SSM success.

Toward Overcoming a Mass Trauma: Educating Sabancı University Community about Psychological First Aid after the 6th February Maraş Earthquake

Kaan Kabukçu, Sabancı University, Turkey

In February 6 th, 2023, two massive earthquakes struck southern region of Turkiye. Sabancı

University tried its best to help people who are affected university community. We implemented an urgent psychological first-aid intervention to our first-year students, academics and colleagues. Our intervention helped community to heal from the trauma together, create a safe and informed space to share-listen-understand and improve each participants skill to help other whether in field or in-person. In this session, we hoped to give an insight and an idea about how a university community could overcome a mass trauma by exemplifying first-year students’ experiences.

3.5 Workshop session, room W1.06

Success by Design — Towards Global Principles for Equitable Student Learning and Success

Andrew Koch, Gardner Institute, USA, Luke Millard, Abertay University, Scotland, David Hornsby, Carleton University, Canada, Barry O’Connor, Cork Access Network & Sara Stein Koch, Gardner Institute, USA

Participate in shaping global, equity-driven standards for first-year student success and beyond, created by members of the Global Forum for Student Success. Your involvement will influence the principles’ application to future international educational enhancement efforts.

3.6 Workshop session, room W2.05

Workshop for first year students – building new communities and sense of belonging across study programs/disciplines.

Line Vråberg & Åshild Jakobsen, The Arctic Student Welfare Organisation, Norway

Join us for a workshop, where we´ll explore how to build social communities for students. Discover how icebreakers and dynamic discussions can build connections and belonging among peers. Following a brief introduction to the workshop we`re offering our new students, participants will have the chance to engage with portion of the content. Using the same framework as the student workshop, you`ll have the opportunity to share and discuss your own ideas, enriching the collective learning experience.

3.7 Workshop session, room W2.06

With a little help from my friends

Lot Fonteyne, Liessa Engels & Isabelle Lansweert, Ghent University, Belgium

Are our support services adequately tailored to address psychosocial needs? What barriers do students face when attempting to seek and access help? Is reinforcement of the community of students the way forward? By reflecting on research findings and on unsuccessful practices, we will cooperatively look for measures to destigmatize mental health.

Join us as we provide evidence, discuss practices and collaborate on ideas to foster a community that prioritizes well-being and a sense of belonging.