Enhancing students’ sense of belonging by supporting attendance and engagement

Abstract

Attendance and engagement are vital for students to successfully complete their Programme of study and get the most out of their time at university. Education is tremendously powerful at transforming lives and futures. This talk addresses the key values of Education and Student Experience from LJMU’s strategy and relates to providing responsive support to students.

In this talk, we will discuss a pilot initiative within the Faculty of Education and Technology aimed at supporting student attendance and engagement, and hence attainment. The aim of the initiative is to boost students’ feelings of belonging within their School and Faculty community, encouraging them to engage or re-engage with their learning, and to get the most out of their time here with us at LJMU. One anticipated benefit is the improvement of student retention.

A key strand of this work has focused on contacting students who missed an exam during the assessment period. Students were phoned as soon as possible after missing an exam, with students who had one or more additional exams during the assessment period prioritized for earlier contact. Students were reminded of the date of their next exam and told how to submit Personal Circumstances claims, if required. Students were also signposted to support from Student Advice and Wellbeing and made aware of the drop-in sessions. A follow-up e-mail was sent summarizing the information discussed. Many of the students I spoke to expressed thanks that I had contacted them and said that it was nice to feel that the University cared about them. An important consideration was to encourage students to speak to their Module Leaders, Programme Leaders or personal tutors so they were informed about their options and did not feel as though the only course of action open to them was to withdraw. This was important, as we want to support students to stay on their Programmes to reap the maximum rewards for the time they invest in studying.

Enhancing students’ sense of belonging by supporting attendance and engagement PowerPoint. Only LJMU Staff and students have access to this resource.