Academic & Skills Support

Academic Support

Learn more about inclusive education activities taking place at Warwick with a focus on academic support. These good practice examples form part of the ongoing work to deliver inclusive education for all students.

2024-25

UniVoice Project

Department: Applied Linguistics

Date: Ongoing

Summary: UniVoice began as an initiative to enhance undergraduate writing skills, recognising that students were entering university with varying levels of proficiency in referencing and writing styles. It is now an ongoing project within the Centre for Applied Linguistics, adapting each year to respond to the identified needs of current students.

As part of the project, the Centre for Applied Linguistics recruited students to participate in focus groups to determine if assessments were well-aligned with module teaching, the learning outcomes, and whether students were acquiring the necessary skills they needed to succeed in their studies.

Students completed questionnaires and interviews, and they consulted staff to identify gaps. This feedback was compiled into a poster displayed around the department, highlighting six key areas of support that students requested.

One of the areas highlighted was the need for workshops, so the department continued to develop introductory sessions on academic writing. These workshops were so successful that they were expanded to second and third-year undergraduates, as well as PG students. A significant part of these workshops also includes guidance on using AI tools responsibly.

In the next phase of the project, the team recruited more students to map out the department's modules, learning outcomes, and skills in detail. They created a Moodle repository, which initially was quite basic. In the year 24-25, more students were recruited to enhance the Moodle content, including designing materials and providing examples of poor critical thinking in essays and paragraphs to help weaker students identify common mistakes.

An essay competition was also held for the first time, where students submitted pieces of writing they were proud of due to their writing style, regardless of the marks received. A panel of volunteer assessors, who developed their own criteria, evaluated the submissions. This strand of the project encouraged students to develop their own writing style and creativity.

The UniVoice project is an ongoing feature within Applied Linguistics. To find out more, please contact Tilly Harrison.

2023-24

Study Skills Sessions

Department: Classics and Ancient History

Date: Since May/June 2023

Summary: Dedicated study skills sessions for first and second year students to support the development of skills such as essay writing, note taking and transition.

A small number of dedicated study skills sessions were organised, both online and in person, to help students develop academic skills such as essay writing and note taking. The aim was to provide benefit to students from underrepresented groups, first generation students and/or those who had not previously studied Classics.

Though the sessions did have some limitations in terms of timing, the ability to facilitate discussions and tailor to individual needs, overall the department felt the sessions offered an important opportunity for students needing access to further support. This is because students were given the opportunity to consolidate the skills they had learned in other modules.

Outputs: Student feedback was positive in that the sessions offered support that was specific to the field of Classics and Ancient History.

Next steps: The department plans to run dedicated skills sessions again, based on student needs identified via student and staff feedback or survey data. There are also plans to use data regarding the A-Level topics of incoming students to guide the focus of study sessions, in order to support the transition to university for students from underrepresented backgrounds and/or those who have not yet formally studied Classics. Student peer mentoring, support for Classical languages and writing skills support are also part of the department's inclusive education plans.

Enhancement Tutor Scheme

Department: Education Studies

Date: Ongoing

Summary: A project that gives students timely and targeted support that enhances the Personal Tutoring system with academic skills training and other useful guidance.

The Enhancement Tutor scheme developed out of an increasing demand for timely and targeted support for students at particular moments of individual need. Enhancement Tutors enhance the support offered via personal tutoring with specific academic skills training, language support, confidence-building, support for resubmissions, academic integrity training, support for employment/scholarship/PhD applications when needed.

The scheme is open to all Education Studies students at any level (for self-referral) and is also open for any member of staff (academic or professional) to refer any individual if they recognise that they might benefit from some additional support.

The Enhancement Tutor team are Graduate Teaching Assistants who are given department training and support to fulfil the role. The initial scheme focused on individual students, but more recently academic staff have requested support for particular groups of students. One benefit includes the matching of students and Enhancement Tutors according to shared first languages. The scheme so far is having positive impact for referred students and has also been helpful to the tutors themselves who report that they are gaining additional skills and useful professional development.

Output: The Enhancement Tutor Scheme page invites referrals and will provide informative and reporting content will be added in the future.

Next steps: The Enhancement Tutor team is in the process of developing further. The department is also developing materials and resources to support other departments interested in starting their own scheme. There are also plans to develop specific disability and wellbeing support, where the department can recruit and provide specialist Enhancement Tutors with increased training for particular needs. The department also continues to increase the range of language support on offer.

2022-23

Statistics Modules Assistance and Support Hub (SMASH)

Department: Statistics

Date: Since October 2022

Summary: A weekly drop-in for students to access support for independent study and develop opportunities for collaborative learning.

Outputs: Student feedback was positive in that the sessions offered support that was specific to the field of Classics and Ancient History.

Inclusive Personal Tutor Resources

Department: Dean of Students Office

Date: Since 2022

Summary: Student co-creation projects to create and enhance online resources for Personal Tutors, to better support underrepresented students through their learning experience.

The University's Personal Tutors play an important role in helping students gain the most from their studies.

Since 2022, the Dean of Students Office has worked with current students to enhance existing guidance and create new resources to help Personal Tutors support students from a wide range of backgrounds and with a broad and unique set of experiences.

This has included updating the Personal Tutor meeting 'checklists' to Conversation Starter resources, designed to encourage rapport and dialogue between tutor and tutee and tailored for the different needs as their education journey progresses.

Student Inclusion Officers have also been employed to work collaboratively to create online resources with a focus on the specific needs of underrepresented student groups.

Outputs: A bank of webpages which will continue to grow. This includes:

Please note, these resources are visible to Warwick staff only.