Abstract:

Design Thinking in the 21st Century is a large Level 1 module within the School of Engineering and Innovation (E&I) at the Open University recruiting over 1000 students per year. The course leaders for this module launched a project at the start of the 2022 presentation with the aim of improving engagement, retention and achievement on the module. Student retention had been lower than other comparable Level 1 modules in E&I but it has differing challenges in that it recruits from a potentially wider range of qualification pathways. It therefore has to work harder to meet the needs of a diverse student cohort who have chosen the module for a variety of reasons that are often extrinsic to their chosen career or study path.

Students are placed in a tutor group of 20 students with one Associate Lecturer delivering module content and assessing their work. The project aimed to improve engagement and retention by ensuring students had contact with their Associate Lecturer at least once per week through the delivery of a digital postcard with bite-sized, highly visual information that highlighted key learning points on the module planner for that week.

The project was being run as a pilot study to allow for an analysis of the impact of this regular contact, targeting 13 tutor groups spread across the UK. The postcards were all been created by the course leaders to ensure all of the students were receiving the same content. These postcards were sent out by the Associate Lecturer to their tutor group to encourage further interaction and develop a stronger relationship and sense of belonging within their group. No new module information was provided to the pilot groups to ensure they did not have an academic advantage over their peers in the control groups.

We used a predictive data tool developed by the Open University, ‘OU Analyse’, to look at weekly student engagement with the module VLE and submission of assignments within the pilot groups and the control groups to see if, and how, the project was having an impact.

We believed this research was important as we were keen to understand why so many students drop out of this module, and to develop strategies to ensure students feel optimally supported. This is important for the success and well-being of the students, and also for the financial security of the University particularly considering that we are a distance learning provider where students are more likely to feel isolated. By seeking to encourage more regular interaction between students and their Associate Lecturer, we hoped to understand how students were responding to the content and delivery of the module and to address their concerns before they made the choice to withdraw.

The project outcomes have been positive with improved retention and completion rates, alongside some unexpected benefits to students and staff. As a result, the project has been incorporated as a permanent model of our teaching strategy for teaching staff.

Keywords:

Engagement, Retention, Design, Inspiration, Pilot, Communication.