Entry Course on Study Methods

Main idea

The Entry Course on Study Methods encourages students to think critically about their study method, planning skills, challenges in higher education, and possible student support to facilitate their transition to higher education.

Outline

The entry-level course on study methods is an interactive course which takes place in the immersive room. This is a room with three projectors in which videos and pictures can be projected all over its walls. During the course, the students play a game in a small group (3 – 5) in which interaction is strongly encouraged.

The students receive a fictional timetable with their classes, study time to prepare and process content of their classes, personal appointments and hobbies. They are asked questions on the Actionbound app on their smartphones and answer these questions by interacting with the immersive room. With these questions, the students can learn about what a normal day/week as a student at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) looks like, they learn some terminology, etc.  The students also get to see some short clips about study methods, student support, etc., and are asked questions about these clips.

This game takes about 20 – 25 minutes and there is one staff member to supervise and coordinate it. After the game, there’s a debriefing in which students are asked what they thought about the course, how they have experienced the exercises and if they have any questions about the start of the academic year. This debriefing was not part of the initial plan, but it happened spontaneously the first time the course was organised. Students were glad they got the chance to ask more questions and give feedback, so it was added to the course.

Main purposes

This course encourages students to think critically about their study method, planning skills, challenges in higher education, and possible student support to facilitate their transition to higher education. This is done by explaining effective study methods. Examples in the game inspire students to reflect on their own study method. This subject is just one part of the course. Another goal is that the students feel more confident about starting their first year. They explore some differences between secondary and higher education and learn about the student support initiatives available at AUAS to help them adjust to these changes. A third goal is social integration. This course is linked to the students’ study programme, so that they can already meet other students.

Target group

The entry-level course on study methods is open to all new students and communication about this course is also targeted to this entire group.

Timing

The course takes place once per year in the week before classes start, but there are plans to organize a similar course for students who start in February.

Goals

• Encouraging students to think critically about their study method and planning skills.
• Students feel more confident about starting their first year.
• Students have tools and are motivated to take control of their studies.
• Students learn about the different student support initiatives available at AUAS.
• This course is linked to the students’ study programme, so that they can already meet other students on campus (social integration).

 

Students involvement

Students are not involved in the design and/or delivery of this initiative.

Inspiration and evidence

• Self-determination theory (background): Motivating teaching method through experiential and collaborative learning
• Evidence on which study methods are most effective (content during the course)
• Academic and social adjustment as important predictors of study success

Success criteria

• It’s an innovative, fun, and alternative way of working on social and academic integration.
• The content of the course is evidence-based.
• The goal of this course is just to stimulate the students to think about their study methods etc.
• The course is very interactive. This allows students to form connections with others spontaneously and to explore academic skills in an informal way.

Points of attention

• It can be hard to reach the right students for this initiative due to a myriad of reasons (e.g., some are still on vacation). The students who currently take the course are usually those who are motivated and excited to start, and who already use a good study method.
• The course isn’t free, this can be a barrier for some.
• The course takes a lot of time and staff to organise, so while it might be nice to offer it to all students during the induction week, that’s just not possible. This is also due to the infrastructure (the immersive room).
• There’s room for growth content-wise and when it comes to gamifying it.
• Students are currently not involved in the design/delivery of this initiative, but it might be interesting to involve them more (e.g., as supervisors).
• This course would be more effective if lecturers help the students implement these study methods during the year as well.

Effectiveness

The subjective effectiveness is tracked informally during the debriefing.

Do you feel you can effectively provide the support that students require?

We somewhat agree.

Would you recommend this to other institutions?

agree

Evaluation

• There’s a debriefing at the end of the course in which the students are asked what they liked/found difficult/expected/… and what they thought about the format. This is done informally. The feedback that is received during these moments can lead to adjustments.
• There’s an evaluation by the staff members about organization, reaching of goals, content, format, etc. Based on the findings, they prioritize which adjustments and refinements are possible in the short and long term

Adjustments

Some adjustments that have been made are:

• other subjects were added to the course instead of spending all of the time on study methods,
• one of the clips was edited because it was too long, the maximum amount of participants was changed from seven to five.

 

Communication

The communication about this course is targeted to all new students. These students find out about this course on a flyer that is handed out during the info days, through ‘welcome’ page for new students on AUAS’ online platform, and on AUAS’ webpage of the Office of Study and Career Guidance.

Timing

The course takes place once per year in the week before classes start. The game takes about twenty minutes and the debriefing takes twenty minutes as well. The course takes around one hour in total including the introduction and farewell.

Resources

You need trained staff, time, and an immersive room. Working with the immersive room also requires some technical and creative skills.

Extra information

• Entry-level Courses at AUAS
• Six Strategies for Effective Learning: A Summary for Teachers — The Learning Scientists

Transferability

We think it is hardly transferable to other contexts or groups.

This entry-level course is hardly transferable because you need to have an immersive room available, and you need staff who know how to use it. It’s also only suitable for small groups. Some factors, like using the Actionbound app, are more easily transferable, though.

Universal Design

The initiative was inspired by the principles of universal design. By offering evidence-based information on which study methods work best, all students (and lecturers) can benefit from receiving this information. The students can also use what they learned during this course in all their classes.