Evaluating our “impact”: reflections from the personal learning advice service

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi32.1447

Keywords:

access, participation, coaching, mentoring, evaluation, impact

Abstract

The neoliberalisation of higher education in the UK has placed greater pressure on Learning Development units to demonstrate impact. Together with increased regulatory scrutiny from bodies such as the Office for Students in England (and the monitoring of B3 thresholds, awarding gaps, the Teaching Excellence Framework, and other measures), rigorous evaluation is arguably more crucial than ever. In this workshop, we offered reflections and learning from the evaluation of the four-year Personal Learning Advice Service pilot at the Open University (UK).

The Personal Learning Advice (PLA) Service project is an Access and Participation Plan initiative which has delivered a one-to-one and group coaching and mentoring service (Clay et al., 2023) for students from disadvantaged backgrounds since January 2021 (Lochtie and Hillman, 2023). Coaching and mentoring approaches have been used by our team to support students’ learning and study habits, wellbeing, and help-seeking behaviours (Hillman et al., in press). In the first part of this workshop, we shared learning from approaches used to evaluate the work of the service – from narrative and empirical evidence to causal evaluation in randomised controlled trials (TASO, 2022) – and situated this in the wider literature on evaluation in HE (Sabri, 2023). We shared findings from our work and reflected on the standards of evidence in HE (OfS, 2019). In the second part of the workshop, we invited delegates to consider how they measure and evaluate impact in their own context. We also explored relevant LD scholarship and publications.

Our presentation aligned with the ALDcon24 theme ‘Building Learning Development for the Future’, and we sought to invite discussion about the way we demonstrate ‘impact’ as Learning Developers.

Author Biographies

Jennifer Hillman, The Open University

Jennifer Hillman is Senior Manager in Associate Lecturer Support and Professional Development at the Open University (UK). Jenny is currently co-editing (with Dave Lochtie) a volume on coaching and mentoring in Higher Education (under contract, Routledge, 2025). Jenny is Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Certified Leading Practitioner in Learning Development (CeLP).

Dave Lochtie, The Open University

Dave Lochtie is Senior Operations Manager in Student Support Services at the Open University (UK) and Operations Manager at the Ann Craft Trust. Dave is a Trustee and former Chair of the UK Advising and Tutoring association (UKAT), as well as Co-Chair of the Association for Peer Learning and Support which promotes best practice in student-led learning. Dave is also a qualified teacher, co-author of Effective personal tutoring in HE, and co-editor of The higher education personal tutor’s and advisor’s companion.

References

Clay, E.-M., Blissett, J., Lindley, J., O'Neil, L. and Williams, H. (2023) ‘Developing an equity lens: the experience of creating a professional framework for coaches and mentors’, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (26). Available at: https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi26.932

Hillman, J., Lochtie, D., and Purcell, O. (in press) ‘Black students’ experiences of coaching and mentoring: a case study’, International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education.

Lochtie, D. and Hillman, J. (2023) ‘Using coaching and mentoring to help close the awarding gap between black and white students’, Teaching Insights. Available at: https://teachinginsights.ocsld.org/coaching-and-mentoring-to-support-student-success/ (Accessed: 22 October 2024).

Office for Students (2019) Standards of evidence and evaluating impact of outreach. Available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/standards-of-evidence-and-evaluating-impact-of-outreach/ (Accessed: 22 October 2024).

Sabri, D. (2023) ‘Rethinking causality and inequality in students’ degree outcomes’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 44(3), pp.520-538. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2023.2179017

Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (2022) Research Ethics Guidance. Available at: https://taso.org.uk/evidence/research-ethics-guidance/ (Accessed: 22 October 2024).

Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (2024) ‘Post-entry Mapping Outcomes and Activities Tool (MOAT)’. Available at: https://taso.org.uk/evidence/evaluation-guidance-resources/mapping-outcomes-and-activities-tool-moat-resources/post-entry-mapping-outcomes-and-activities-tool-moat/ (Accessed: 22 October 2024).

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Published

31-10-2024

How to Cite

Hillman, J. and Lochtie, D. (2024) “Evaluating our ‘impact’: reflections from the personal learning advice service”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (32). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.vi32.1447.