Reviewing and optimising the impact of self-selecting Learning Development provision on level 6 undergraduates
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi37.1761Keywords:
learning development, student engagement, undergraduate attainment, self-selecting interventions, student success metricsAbstract
Engagement with Learning Development (LD) interventions has been found to have a positive impact on students’ academic success, including higher attainment (Nzekwe-Excel, 2014; Coulson, Loddick and Rice, 2021), development of self-regulated learning strategies (Lobos et al., 2021), and increased confidence (Coulson, Loddick and Rice, 2021). Such interventions were shown to positively influence retention for students ‘at-risk’ (Berry, Mac An Bhaird and O'Shea, 2005). In an analysis of student success strategies at 64 US institutions, monitoring usage of academic support services has been rated as 90% effective in supporting ‘student success, retention and completion’ (RNL, 2023).
The Learning Services (LS) team at De Montfort University provides a range of self-selecting LD opportunities (workshops, tutorials, and drop-ins) to all students. This presentation shared the findings of a project aimed to review the impact of this provision on level 6 undergraduates. Level 6 students have been selected as the target population based on their high usage of LS provision (approx. 41% in 2022/23), but also because of the higher weighting of level 6 grades in overall degree classification (DMU, 2023).
Using a range of data for the academic year 23/24, the project explored the following questions:
• Is there a relationship between attendance at LS self-selecting sessions and student attainment?
• What type of one-to-one interventions (tutorials/drop-ins) and delivery modes (online/in-person) had the most usage, and which self-selecting workshop topics had the highest attendance rates by level 6 undergraduates?
• How can these findings be used to optimise LD support for level 6 undergraduates?
As an outcome of this project, a range of targeted strategies and resources were developed for optimising the self-selecting LD offer for the target student group. Attendees were invited to feedback on these and consider whether they can be applied to their own context.
References
Berry, E., Mac An Bhaird, C. and O’Shea, A. (2005) ‘Investigating relationships between the usage of mathematics learning support and performance of at-risk students’, Teaching Mathematics and its Applications: an International Journal of the IMA, 34 (4), pp.194-204. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrv005
Coulson, K., Loddick, A. and Rice, P. (2021) ‘Exploring the impact of Learning Development on student engagement, experience and learning’, in H. Huijser, M. Kek and F. F. Padró (eds) Student support services: university development and administration. Singapore: Springer, pp.1-16. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3364-4_19-1
DMU (2023) Academic regulations for taught programmes 2023-24. Available at: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/documents/about-dmu-documents/quality-management-and-policy/daq/academic-regs/l4-l5-and-new-pgt-ac-regs-2023-24.pdf (Accessed: 20 June 2024).
Johnson, C., Rossister, H., Cartmelll, B., Domingos, M. and Svanaes, S. (2019) Evaluation of disabled students’ allowances. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-disabled-students-allowances-dsas (Accessed: 22 August 2025).
Lobos, K., Sáez-Delgado, F., Bruna D., Cobo-Rendon, R. and Díaz-Mujica, A. (2021) ‘Design, validity and effect of an intra-curricular program for facilitating self-regulation of learning competences in university students with the support of the 4Planning App’, Education Sciences, 11(8). Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11080449 (Accessed: 2 July 2024).
Nzekwe-Excel, C. (2014) ‘Academic writing workshops: impact of attendance on performance’, Journal of Academic Writing, 4(1) pp.12-25.
RNL (2023) Effective practices for student success, retention, and completion report: four-year public institutions. Cedar Rapids, IA: Ruffalo Noel Levitz. Available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED645912.pdf (Accessed: 30 June 2024).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
