Creative approaches that foster connectedness in personal tutoring

Pamela Calabrese (Edinburgh Napier University)
Alex McIntyre (Edinburgh Napier University)

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM

CONNECTIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS

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Session Outline

A collaborative, partnership approach is at the heart of personal development tutoring at Edinburgh Napier University. We recognise that connections are essential for students to feel part of their university community, as they have been for the staff group leading personal tutoring support at the university.

Our personal development tutor forum provides strategic leadership for personal tutoring. It brings together colleagues from all five of the university’s academic schools and two key professional services teams, with the common goal of enhancing the university’s approach to personal tutoring to create a personalised student experience and build a sense of community and belonging among our students.

In 2023-24, responding to the retention crisis in higher education, the School of Applied Science implemented an enhanced personal development tutor model for the incoming cohort to build tutor relationships and to foster the student community, and knowledge of university services. Drawing on the ‘What Works? student retention and success programme’ (Thomas, 2012), the project team integrated and piloted a range of measures intended to increase Belonging, Mattering and Engagement. This included implementing personalised pre-arrival tutor contact with each student, collaborating with colleagues to design a Welcome Week Scavenger Hunt and collaborating with student consultants to design infographics for personal development tutor support. The project was evaluated using measures of Belonging (York, 2016) and Mattering (Elliot, 2004).

In this interactive session we invite delegates to join us on our personal tutoring journey and to make connections with one another through a fun, energising and purposeful group activity in an adapted version of our personal development tutor model. Delegates will be invited to access their own ‘welcome email’ via a Menti code accessible on their own smart device, in which their group allocation will be shared. They will have a few minutes to introduce themselves to others in the group, and will then be issued with virtual scavenger hunt cards, asking them to find a specific piece of information from their own institution, to share with the group. Each group will discuss among themselves and record in an online interactive tool, differences in institutional practice, and areas of good practice. In the final segment of the session, we will facilitate a plenary during which delegates will be asked to share their experiences of the activity and we will close by sharing the impact of our work on belonging and mattering.

Notes from each group will be collated by us to be shared back with conference delegates.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the session, delegates will:
1. Understand the impact of our strategically led, collaborative approach;
2. Explore creative approaches to tutoring resources;
3. Share practice in tutoring in higher education;
4. Experience connectedness through active and purposeful group collaboration.

Bibliography

Elliott, G., Kao, S., & Grant, A. M. (2004). Mattering: Empirical validation of a social-psychological concept. Self and Identity, 3(4), 339-354.
Thomas, L. (2012). What works? Student retention and success change programme – Advance HE
Yorke, M. (2016). The development and initial use of a survey of student ‘belongingness’, engagement and self-confidence in UK higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(1), 154-166.

Competencies
This session addresses the following competencies of the UKAT Professional Framework for Advising and Tutoring