Do I Do This In My Own Time? Using Induction Week to Maximize Student Engagement

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by awa

A study addresses how induction-week design can strengthen new students’ engagement with academic life in a BA (Hons) Education program. In September 2009, a non-assessed group video-guidance task on information literacy was introduced to help students form early group identity and avoid cohort fragmentation across four newly created degree programs. Using an action-research approach, the project produced video guides and showed students engaged with university services in a focused way, gaining familiarity to support ongoing student life.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background and theoretical basis

Induction-week approaches and program redesign

Method

Action research approach

Procedures

Intervention design and rationale

Task implementation during induction week

6 Do I Do This In My Own Time? Using Induction Week to Maximize Student Engagement Jane Williams University of Wales, Newport This study presents a project undertaken to address a potential problem in getting new students to engage with their academic life. In September 2009, a new course design was introduced into the BA (Hons) Education program at the University of Wales, Newport. The course team was keen to ensure this new development did not lead to a fragmentation of the new cohort, and wanted to develop an approach to aid the formation of a group identity early on. They decided to introduce a non-assessed group activity during induction week: the new cohort was given the task of creating a video guide to information literacy within the first four weeks of the course. The project resulted in the creation of video guides, and demonstrated that students engaged in a focused manner with a range of services and developed a level of awareness andfamiliarity to support them during their student life. Introduction There is a significant and growing body of research exploring the complex themes surrounding student engagement (Westlake, 2008) . One of the areas identified as being fundamental to students’ success is their experiences during induction week. Our study addresses the extent to which an induction week task enhanced student engagement as described in Chickering and Gamson’s (1991) seven principles for good practice in undergraduate teaching. From here, two distinct approaches to the induction week experience emerged: 1) a ‘softly, softly’ style which aims to gently introduce students into their new lifestyle; and 2) a style which is much more direct about getting students to work in an academic environment as soon as possible (Fitzgibbon & Prior, 2006) . At the University of Wales, Newport, September 2009 saw a new development to the BA (Hons) Education program with the introduction of a new course. This development acted asa catalyst for the course team to re-examine the philosophy and design of the existing induction week approach. With the new program, four degree pro-grams were created (Education, Early Years, Inclusion, and Education Studies) . These consist of a variety of shared and program specific modules. Prior to this, all education students studied the same modules, and the course team felt that there was potential for this new organization to result in the cohort becoming fragmented, with the students from the four different programs only interacting with those in their area. The team felt that the promotion of cross-course links would be a useful precursor to the collaborative skills that education practitioners need in the workplace and as such decided to develop an intervention to try to prevent this situation from arising. Within the course design there were a number of specific approaches to highlight the importance of collaboration, including a compulsory module examining the challenges and benefits of working collaboratively; so the induction week task would be built upon throughout the course. Taking inspiration from Chickering and Gamson’s (1991) seven principles for good practice in undergraduate teaching and Brindley and Cuthbert’s (1996) findings that introducing tasks during the earliest stages of university life encourage student enthusiasm, the team decided that a nonassessed group activity would be introduced during induction week. The task would be to create a video guide to information literacy which would give the group a meaningful reason to engage with University information services, link directly to their studies, and use a range of different skills. Method The study used an action research approach, which focused on “finding a solution to a local problem in a local setting” (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005, p.108), and entailed identifying the issue, undertaking and intervening, evaluating the outcome of the intervention, and subsequently identifying the next steps

FAQs

What problem did the course team aim to solve with the induction-week activity?

They aimed to prevent the new cohort from becoming fragmented and to help students engage with academic life early on.

What was the induction-week task introduced for students?

Students were asked to create a video guide to information literacy within the first four weeks of the course, as a non-assessed group activity.

How did the study evaluate the intervention and its impact?

It used an action research approach focused on identifying the issue, implementing and intervening, evaluating the outcome, and then determining next steps.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by awa