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Open University (OU) in Wales - Ceri Willoughby

Under the theme of Student Engagement, initiatives include:

• Getting Started Forum 
• For two weeks before courses start, students can visit Getting Started advice forums to meet other students new to The Open University and find out more about what to expect from their studies. The forums are moderated by experienced tutors so students can ask questions and share their thoughts on their upcoming studies. Experienced OU students also visit these forums so students can benefit from the wisdom of those who have already studied subjects they are interested in
• Proactive Student Support (PaSS)
• Students who are new to the OU and considered to be 'vulnerable' to drop out (e.g. if they are under 25 or if they have no formal qualifications) are given a proactive telephone call to introduce them to Learner Support services and encourage them to think about effective ways to approach the course. This acts as an early warning system which allows us to identify any additional needs students may have and also ensures that students engage with the distance learning process from the outset. At the OU in Wales, we have extended this contact to all new students, regardless of whether or not they are considered to be vulnerable.
• Proactive Student Support  
• Library online training sessions 
• E-tutorials taught via Elluminate. Topics include:
• Student introduction to Library Services
• How to set up ejournal alerts
• How to find an ejournal
• Finding information in Languages
• Finding information in Business & Management 
• How to social bookmark
• Library training sessions  
• Skills for OU study website 
• Website includes downloadable student 'toolkits' on study skills. Topics include
• Writing assignments
• Revising for exams
• Using maths and statistics
• Thinking, reading and taking notes 
• English for Learning
• Skills for OU study  
• Pathways Progression Project
• Traditionally, OU students have registered for stand alone courses, rather than degree programmes. In order to encourage students to think of themselves as belonging to a certain faculty/programme, the Pathways Progression project developed specific course choice literature and course websites to support students on Molecular Science and Psychology programmes. In addition, OU Associate Lecturers (ALs) on high population level 1 courses were contracted to contact their students at specific points throughout the course in order to assess whether or not personal contact from someone the student knows will improve student success and re-registration.

Under the theme of Communities of Practice, initiatives include:

• Careers Service online discussion forums
•  The OU Careers Advisory Service provides a range of forums and topics have included Entering Teaching, What Employers Want, Law and Arts and Humanities. Most forums run for a month and after this they remain available as read-only forums for approximately a year. Careers advisers check the open forums at least three times a week and respond to questions posted by students.
• Careers forums and wikis  
• /use
• Use includes information on OU online communities and learning spaces. Thousands of hours of content is freely available to students and enquirers via You Tube, Facebook, i-Tunes, Twitter and Open Learn (see further info below).
• Open Learn 
• Open Learn contains 5,400 learning hours of open content in the LearningSpace (for everyone to learn from) and 8100 hours in the LabSpace (where OU materials have been re-mixed and re-used). 

Under the theme of Innovation in First Year Assessment, initiatives include:

• Science short course flexible submission dates;
• Accrediting recent experience - reducing assessment load and course length.  

Under the theme of Enabling Employability Through the First Year Curriculum, intitiatives include:

• Accreditation of certificated practitioners;
• Engineering at work - academic credit for learning in work;
• ICT at work - accrediting work based learning by completion of course tasks in the workplace;
• Make your experience count - 30 credits towards HE courses by reflection on prior learning;
• Personal and career development in engineering - key skills associated with lifelong learning and career management;
• Return to Science - web based activities and discussions to analyse previous experience, identify job opportunities and develop action plan for returning to jobs in science, engineering or technology for those previously employed in these fields;
• Managing in the workplace - using workplace experience to develop academic understanding of management;
• Professional communication skills for business studies;
• Working and learning: developing effective performance at work;
• 12 week introduction to financial services;
• Working and learning in sport and fitness - practitioners developing reflective skills and understanding of key principles and values;
• Supporting learning in primary schools - develops understanding of the ways teachers teach;
• Working with children and young people in trouble - must be working with young people in youth justice system;
• Ethics in real life.  

Go back to the First Year Student Experience Wales main page.