Better student outcomes at University of Portsmouth – how data informed targeted intervention can support student success.

Authors

  • Tom Lowe University of Portsmouth
  • Harriet Dunbar-Morris University of Portsmouth https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-2459
  • Natalie Dutka-Bowskill University of Portsmouth Students' Union
  • Dominic Owen University of Portsmouth Students' Union

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi29.1128

Keywords:

co-creation, student success, students' union, students outcomes

Abstract

Learning Developers are increasingly asked to conduct targeted work with certain student groups and areas of academic provision to respond to an outcomes and target-focused English higher education sector. This paper presentation offered an example of practice from the University of Portsmouth Students’ Union (UPSU) and University of Portsmouth (UoP), where a funded pilot to better support student outcomes has run since 2022, to address the above challenges. This substantial investment of increased staffing, student-staffing and non-staffing resources in UPSU, has led to supporting targeted solutions to improve student outcomes, in partnership with course teams and students. This project offers an example of a cross-university enhancement project for Learning Development teams and shared practice in approaching timely and targeted intervention.

Presenting as a cross university team, the session outlined how the university is working collaboratively between different services and teams to better support student success through curriculum enhancement consultancy. The team shared recommendations to the Learning Development community, introducing Portsmouth’s timely response framework to support future targeted response activities when working collaboratively across a university. In the pressured context of English Higher Education Regulation from the Office for Students, recently produced national student outcomes benchmarks, by programme and by university (B3 Measures see OfS 2022a and 22b), have threatened fines for universities where there are lower metrics in retention, graduate outcomes and student satisfaction (for context see Advance HE Governance Alert 2022). It is therefore critical for timely intervention, with data sources feeding quickly into actionable staffing resources in time for relevant intervention, which will increasingly include the work of Learning Developers. Therefore, this presentation highlighted Portsmouth’s story from the Student Outcomes Project and disseminated a framework for data-informed intervention to support universities during a time of accountability and emphasis on student success.

Author Biographies

Tom Lowe, University of Portsmouth

Tom Lowe is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education at the University of Portsmouth, where he supports student engagement, voice and employability schemes of work. Tom is also the Chair of the RAISE Network of student engagement practitioners and researchers.

Harriet Dunbar-Morris , University of Portsmouth

Harriet Dunbar-Morris is a Professor of Student Experience and Dean of Learning and Teaching at the University of Portsmouth, where she oversees the Education Strategy and the Department of Student and Graduate Success.

Natalie Dutka-Bowskill , University of Portsmouth Students' Union

Natalie Dutka-Bowskill is the Head of Student Development at the University of Portsmouth Students’ Union.

Dominic Owen, University of Portsmouth Students' Union

Dominic Owen is an International Relations student at the University of Portsmouth. At the time of the ALDinHE Conference, Dominic was the Democracy and Campaigns Officer at the University of Portsmouth Students Union.

References

Advance HE Governance Alert (2022)Office for Students (OfS) announces numerical thresholds for student outcomes (Condition B3) (media posting)

Office for Students’ (2022a) Condition B3: baselines for student outcomes indicators regulatory framework (briefing paper).

Office for Students, (2022b) B3 Data dashboard Student outcomes, https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/student-outcomes-data-dashboard/

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Published

31-10-2023

How to Cite

Lowe, T. (2023) “Better student outcomes at University of Portsmouth – how data informed targeted intervention can support student success”., Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (29). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.vi29.1128.

Issue

No. 29 (2023): Special Edition, ALDinHE Conference Collaborative Proceedings

Section

Conference Proceedings

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Copyright (c) 2023 Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education

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