IFS - The Intervention Toolkit

Interventions for Success

Funder

Higher Education Funding Council

Value

£102,887

Dates

March 2017 - Present

Collaborators

University of Huddersfield

University of Lincoln

Manchester Metropolitan University

Projected lead

Professor Christine Broughan

christine.broughan@coventry.ac.uk

Project lead

Arinola Adefila - Project Coordinator/Covering for Academic Lead

Amanda Reece - Project Manager/Evaluator

-Diane Phimister - Academic Support

Dove McColm, Tizzie Frankish - Disabilities Consultants

-Andrew Brooks, Ovidiu Mitroi, Conrad Webbe - Learning Technologists

Project objectives

This project will produce a coherent system, supported by outstanding data analytics, to identify students at risk of underachievement and offer solutions in the form of appropriate, high quality academic interventions to ensure those students continue and succeed.  There is potential for all undergraduate students in the four institutions to benefit from the project.

The project scales up existing systems at Huddersfield (Student Priority Support System) which uses data to pre-identify students at risk of withdrawal and underachievement, monitors those students closely and intervenes quickly to offer support where there is any sign of disengagement. At Huddersfield, the project demonstrated that the approach accurately identified students likely to leave. It is envisaged that this project, once scaled up, will provide insights into how we support and engage with students that are classed as 'at risk'.

The project will benefit the wider higher education sector by providing adaptable resources that can be used to support teaching and learning during placement and enhance the attainment of students’ with Specific Learning Disabilities and Mental Health challenges. The resources have Creative Commons licenses which enable Universities across the sector to adapt and use them locally, thus reducing the cost of resource development and promoting cross-institution collaboration.

Project impact

The project aims to improve retention overall by 3% and close the retention gap between targeted groups by 5% over a four year period.
The resources we have developed will enable students to effectively engage with clinical placements and potentially reduce failure rates. The Successful placement app is Inclusive in terms of form and content and can be used by all students not only those who have a disability. In addition, by sharing resources across universities, we will be supporting commuter students by providing guidance about library resources, sociocultural engagement and time management. Partners in the library, academic development unit and faculties will be using some of the resources to promote students skills with respect to independent study. The project team has also developed new resources for personal tutors and course directors. Finally an important focus of this work is promoting ALL students’ sense of belonging, which will be achieved by ensuring the resources are relevant, impactful and accessible to all students.

The evaluation of the project will include measuring retention and attainment rates over a five year period and qualitative research interrogating students’ experiences and the effectiveness of the resources.