What works for students?

How it all began

The "What works for students?’ project started as a result of looking into what affects the retention and progression of students across the university.

Why did we do it?

We wanted to find out student perspectives on the positive factors that made a difference to them during their studies. We tried to focus on what encouraged them to remain and persist in their studies at the University of Wolverhampton. 

How did we do it?

We conducted a clipboard survey with 52 students across the university followed by 6 in-depth interviews. Along with this data we also analysed 1500 free text comments from the National Student Survey to identify what keeps our students engaged and enriches their experience.

What did we find?

The study has drawn out 6 recurrent positive themes that the students indicated were important to their student journey.

These are:

• Technology in learning
• Sense of belonging
• Social learning environment
• Responsive lecturers
• Interactive pedagogies
• Cultural diversity

The way forward

Using these 6 themes the team created a series of posters to highlight the student comments about a range of experiences, from making meaningful relationships with peers, interacting with their tutors/lecturers to enjoying the facilities on campus.

These posters were recently presented to MPs at a Million+ event that took place at the House of Commons. The picture opposite shows from left to right: Xavier Khan, Will Varnam (Graduate Attributes project), David Wright MP for Telford and Pliny Soocoormanee.

Final Project Report

What works for students final report (pdf - 692kb - opens in a new window)
The final report was produced in September 2010.

Useful links

• "What works for students?" project posters (View the posters in Issuu)
• Download the project posters (PDF format)
• Students Speak conference

• Graduate attributes project - this project aims to research the impact of the universities three graduate attributes on both the student  experience, and on learning and teaching.

For any further information about the project email Pliny Soocoormanee or Xavier Khan.