Students in transition: Combining student experience and employability and university social impact: the case of the Reading Ambassadors Programme

Author(s):

Cristina Devecchi(presenting / submitting)Linda Davis-Sinclair

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 04 D, Student Transition: Diverse Perspectives

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-09

09:00-10:30

Room:

340. [Main]

Chair:

Roeland van der Rijst

Contribution

This presentation reports on a study of the impact of the Reading Ambassador Programme (RAP) conducted in the academic year 2013-14. As a result of the fast developing knowledge economy, Higher Education has been at the centre of major changes, which are impacting on universities core activities, such as teaching, learning and research, but also on student experience, internationalisation, governance, management and leadership. In a context of austerity driven changes, the traditional university based on teaching and research does not seem be sustainable any longer either as an educational concept or as institutional entity. Even the expectation that universities should operate in a Triple Helix system of knowledge production characterized by dynamic trans-disciplinary links between academia, government and industry (Etzkowitz, et al, 2001) is fast losing ground. More recently, and as a response to both the need for economic growth and innovation (EC, 2005; 2014), universities’ new goal is to contribute knowledge, which has social and civic impact (Goddard and Vallance, 2011).

In this context, the Reading Ambassador Programme (RAP) addressed the need to promote both student experience and employability, and ensuring the social impact of university-led activities by employing students as reading ambassadors. After a small pilot in the academic year 2011-12, the RAP was managed by the University Centre for Employability and Engagement (UCEE) in the academic year 2012-13 when a number of schools were identified as needing help with their pupils’ reading. The aim of the RAP reported in this presentation was to improve children’s chances of success in school by improving their reading through the support of university students. This aim addressed the mission of the University of Northampton, that is, Transforming Lives, Inspiring Change. To comply further with the University’s mission and strategy, the RAP addresses the Critical Success Factor of Student Experience by:

Developing employability skills for students;
Supporting their ability to articulate the skills that they would be developing;
And explore potential career path such as teaching.
Helping them to evidence the skills gained on their CV.

The above aims address a number of key strategic targets of the university with regard to:

Fulfilling the employability mission of the university;
Responding to the widening participation agenda and fulfilling the OFFA agreement, specifically by supporting children from deprived areas;
Developing ways to embed the Changemaker principles;
Fulfil the University Corporate Social responsibility to provide children with services and raise their aspirations.

In order to fulfil both aims and objectives the evaluation study seeks to answers the following research questions:

How does the RAP support and enhance children’s reading attainment, behaviours, attitudes and aspiration raising?
How does the RAP support RAs in relation to development of employability and personal skills and aspirations?
What is the perceived value of the RAP in schools in relation to reading and aspiration-raising?

Method

The Reading Ambassador programme was structured to provide both support for the students working as Reading Ambassadors and the schools. To achieve both, the RAP included a series of training sessions delivered prior to RAs being employed in schools, and RAs were supported and managed by team leaders under the guidance of the Head of Ambassador Engagement. Forty-three RAs representing cross-university courses were trained and worked in 12 schools providing reading support for over 200 children. A utilization-focused evaluation research design with the aim of ‘narrowing the gap between generating evaluation information and actually applying evaluation information for program decision making and improvement’ was used (Patton, 1986:13). The utilization-focused evaluation enabled collection of evidence about the activities, characteristics and outcomes of the specific programme under evaluation for the benefits of the programme users identified as UCEE (and by extension the University of Northampton), the reading ambassadors, the children and the partner schools. The research design, co-developed with the Head of Ambassador Engagement, utilised a pragmatic mixed-method approach consisting of online questionnaire surveys to RAs, team leaders and teachers. This first quantitative phase was followed by a more qualitative phase aimed at deepening the understanding of the nature of the impact. This second phase involved a focus group with team leaders, teachers, the Head of Ambassador Engagement and a member of UCEE. Finally, observations of two training sessions and a set of documentary data were also used. The observations aimed to familiarise the evaluator with the training provided and with the RAs. The documentary data included children’s reading test results and documents relevant to providing additional information about the training sessions, which were provided by UCEE.

Expected Outcomes

The most significant finding of the evaluation is that the impact of the Reading Ambassadors Programme (RAP) was positive. The RAP was appreciated by schools and teachers, had a positive impact on children’s reading and confidence building and had a positive impact on Reading Ambassadors’ (RAs) development of their employability skills, including gaining places on the Post Graduate Certificate in Education course leading to qualified teacher status. In regards to the impact of the RAP on children’s reading, the evidence shows that the nature of the support the RAs provided to the children and their schools was varied, multifaceted and that it was not limited to the delivery of the guided reading alone. While supporting children with reading remains the central purpose, the RAs’ additional support and attention had wider implications related to both the cognitive and personal and emotional development of the children. In regard to how the RAP supported the students’ employability skills, 96% of RAs who took part in the survey claimed that their expectations with regard to gaining employability skills were met. The evidence also shows a positive change between expectations prior to and after work placement. In particular, RAs acknowledged a positive change with regard to their ability to recognise employment opportunities, to communicate, and manage oneself. Team leaders were also positive about the experience. They gained valuable employability skills such as leadership, communication and management, used the experience to help them decide on a career path, and felt more confident following the experience.

References

Etzkowitz, H. et al (2000) The dynamics of innovation: from National Systems and ‘‘Mode 2’’ to a Triple Helix of university–industry–government relations. Research Policy, 29, 109-123 Etzkowitz, H., Viale, R. (2010) Polyvalent knowledge and the Entrepreneurial University: A Third Academic Revolution? Critical Sociology, 36, 4, 595-609 European Commission (2014) Research and Innovation performance in the EU. Brussels: EC European Commission (2005) Mobilising the brainpower of Europe: enabling universities to make their full contribution to the Lisbon Strategy. Brussels: EC Goddard, J. and Vallance, P. (2011) The Civic University: Re-uniting the University and the City. In Higher Education in Cities and Regions: For Stronger, Cleaner and Fairer Regions. Paris: OECD Patton, M. Q. (1986) Utilization-focused Evaluation. 2nd Ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage

Author Information

Cristina Devecchi (presenting / submitting)

University of Northampton

Northampton

Linda Davis-Sinclair

The University of Northampton

The University Centre for Employability and Engagement