Engagement with online resources and widening participation status: observations from a large, diverse Foundation Year science cohort
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtns.vi19.4557Keywords:
student engagement, widening participation, attainment gap, POLAR4Abstract
Despite focused effort and attention over recent years, many potential barriers to progression and success remain within Higher Education. This study focuses on a cohort of 168 students studying on two semester-long Foundation Year Biological Sciences modules delivered at the University of East Anglia in the academic year 2021/22. These modules take place in consecutive semesters within the same academic year and specifically target students from underrepresented and widening participation backgrounds. This study seeks to understand whether a student’s widening participation background influences their engagement with online study resources.
We analysed the engagement of individual students with resources provided on the virtual learning environment (VLE) and related this to POLAR4 quintiles. POLAR4 classifies local areas across the UK according to the young participation rate in Higher Education within that area. All POLAR4 categories saw lower modules marks as well as engagement with practice assessments VLE-hosted resources in the second of the two semesters. These differences were greatest for students from the lowest POLAR4 quintile, POLAR4q1. POLAR4q1 students have significantly lower average module grades than all other categories across both semesters but with the gap widest in semester 2, despite the student engagement score increasing. There was no difference in the engagement scores for students from POLAR4q1 backgrounds compared to others in their cohort during the autumn semester but in in the spring semester, students from POLAR4q1 backgrounds had on average, higher engagement scores.
Students who grew up in a POLAR4q1 area are more likely to have had disrupted education journeys than their peers from other quintiles. As a result, it is likely they will need more than one intervention to be able to close the attainment gap that we see on these modules. We discuss this along with other potential causes and consequences for these findings alongside recommendations for interventions and further research.
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