Associate Professor Lucinda Bromfield BPP University and Dr Noel McGuirk, Ulster University
Starting University is a dream for many learners, but it can become a nightmare for some. The transition from structured school learning to independent study can come as a shock to many learners, who are simultaneously grappling with moving away from their families and taking on new adult responsibilities. This can adversely affect students’ mental health and wellbeing, with 37% of university applicants self-report experiencing anxiety in the last two years and 24% self-reporting experiencing depression (Unite Students, 2024).
Part of the challenge for learners is that where they were previously high achievers at school, the dial is reset in the new environment. Many students only perceive success as the grade they get and do not have any understanding of how to learn and develop their skills. They often compare themselves unfavourably with people in different circumstances and from different backgrounds without taking those differences into account (Mc Lean and Others, 2022).
The difference between learner and lecturer expectations and needs can also be an issue. Lecturers often feel they need to cover loads of content for learners to get a proper grounding in their subject, or there may be regulatory reasons why a significant amount of content must be included. This leaves little space for learners to get to grips with the crucial life skills they need to absorb the learning and to deal with any setbacks they may encounter. Or sometimes, even to deal with life’s normal ups and downs. For example, it is perfectly normal to be anxious before meeting new people or assessments, yet many of our students struggle to cope with these necessary parts of life.
Accordingly, we have a mission.
The mission
Embedding life skills into learning and supporting students to develop helpful skills, attitudes and behaviours, including dealing constructively with failure and fear of failure. We feel strongly that this is beneficial to all students, but it is important to note that these issues seem to disproportionately affect under-represented groups regarding achievement, retention and progression.
This work started with a pilot project where Lucinda designed and ran a two-hour induction session for legal practice course students. The project ran for 2 years, and approximately 130 students attended the induction session across the two years In brief, the session included about an hour on how students might want or need to adapt their previous successful study techniques for professional learning (which is usually very different to their previous academic experiences). After establishing buy-in with the first hour, the second hour was a discussion of students’ experiences of setbacks/failures, culminating in groups creating a generic disaster recovery plan that anyone could use to get back on track after any type of setback.
The results were startling, with 40% fewer fails, 50% fewer deferrals and a significant rise in distinctions. The staff focus groups and anecdotal reports from faculty and support services were even more intriguing – rather than only seeking help when they hit crisis point, students were asking for assistance much earlier. It seems that what the induction sessions had done is provide students with a positive plan to follow should they hit a set-back, and they were applying that plan to their circumstances. The openness around setback/failure in the session seemed to remove some of the stigma about needing to ask for help, the endorsement from authority figures (faculty) probably also helped to de-stigmatize seeking assistance.
Noel then worked up Lucinda’s failure planning idea for a larger audience of 400+ undergraduate first year law students from a diverse range of backgrounds typically coming from school or college to university. Surprisingly, 93% of 240 students who responded to a survey after the induction session never considered planning for failure, and 82% felt more confident with having considered failure as part of their success planning in helping them to manage their future challenges.
If you would like to know more about these induction sessions, there is a video about it all here https://youtu.be/FD0ZJVZpVgY?si=1AH2o5tpqLh_WOBH
You can download Lucinda’s generic induction session lesson plan as part of the Feeling Failure Collection on the National Teaching Repository here: https://figshare.edgehill.ac.uk/collections/Supporting_Students_with_Academic_Failure/6963507, along with a list of references that our work is built on.
The future
We believe that adaptability and resilience, as well as the ability to understand and reflect on their progress will enable students to realise their potential. Developing helpful skills, attitudes and behaviours will support them to get to where they want to be – whether in their studies or in life. We’re working on ways of supporting students to develop their life skills by embedding them throughout their learning journey with us. Of course, there are wider systemic issues – this isn’t just about individuals. But given that the one element we have control over is ourselves, supporting students at an individual level is a good start. Those complex wider issues also need to be addressed, but this sort of cultural change can be supported by individuals changing too – a bottom up and top down approach is needed.
For more information: This has become a wider project and a network for those interested in this area, and we’d love to hear from you if you’d like to get involved (or if and how you use any of the Feeling Failure Project resources). If you’d like to join the network or have any questions, you can contact Lucinda on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucibromf/) or sign up for the JISC Feeling Failure mailing list (https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=FEELINGFAILURE).
Image: Image by Aberrant Realities from Pixabay
