Managing the transition into higher education

In helping students manage the transition into higher education, there must be (i) anunderstanding of the needs and expectations of the students, and (ii) a process thatinducts the students into the needs and expectations of higher education. Thispremise underpins the on-line Spiral Induction Programme (onSIP) developed atSouthampton Institute. onSIP consists of various on-line activities designed to helpstudents take responsibility for their own learning; feedback from these activitiesenables both staff and students to identify if and what additional support isrequired. The intention was to provide a real-time analysis and indication of thosestudents who may be ‘at risk’, allowing for the appropriatetargeting of timely support. Initial results indicate a positive reaction by thestudents to onSIP. In addition, the predictive feedback from onSIP demonstrates agood correlation with the end-of-year outcomes for a cohort of technology studentsat Southampton Institute