Journal of the Foundation Year Network

Editorial

2025-05-22T07:20:48+00:00

Introduction to volume 7 from the editors, Sarah Hale (Lead Editor), Peter Watts, Doug Ingram and Anna Barney.

Foundations of success: Former foundation year students on a health sciences course show equivalent module marks and degree completion rates to peers from more traditional entry routes

2025-05-22T07:20:48+00:00

This article considers success at undergraduate level study amongst former students of a foundation year in health sciences. Data from 50 former foundation year students, with respect to programme completion, academic marks and final degree classifications, was compared to that from 335 students who entered the same six undergraduate programmes via the UCAS main cycle and 74 who entered those courses via UCAS Clearing. Statistical analysis showed that former foundation year students were more likely than students from other entry routes to complete each year of their undergraduate programme, and they received equivalent marks to students from more traditional entry routes, including final degree marks. This is in contrast to recent government reports about undergraduate outcomes of former foundation year students, but in line with some other small studies investigating particular foundation years. The need for future research in this area is discussed, including recommendations for broader and larger cohort studies, alongside qualitative studies that will help us understand the success of former foundation students from their point of view.

The transformative effect of a foundation year: ‘I’m a totally changed person’

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Developing academic skills and preparing students for university-level study are only two important outcomes of a foundation year programme. Drawing on the work of Mezirow, this paper will, with a focus on five students, consider the transformative element of adult learning through transforming previous assumptions and beliefs. The qualitative research was based on a university in south west England and consisted of several interviews over a four-year longitudinal research project, tracking the experiences of five foundation year students, assessing how well it prepared them for university-level study. This article will consider the transformative nature of the foundation year, highlighting specific changes in students’ self-belief, agency, power and confidence. Drawing on the voices of the participants, the findings revealed that there are two main conditions which support transformation: firstly, having a sense of belonging through finding supportive social networks, and secondly, developing confidence in their educational ability. Additionally, the ways in which universities can get involved are explored, including ways in which lecturing teams can support these conditions for transformation and assist with any obstacles students may face during their foundation year. These insights may be useful in the design or development of other Foundation Year programmes, or in the wider context of supporting widening participation students with transformation.

Gamification using Kahoot! to increase students’ engagement in higher education

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There is a growing awareness in the Higher Education (HE) sector of the importance of adapting teaching methods to promote higher levels of student engagement. Gamification is an increasingly popular way to achieve this, with literature showing that digital games effectively increase student interaction and enjoyment. With digital quiz platforms being an easily accessible way to introduce learning through gamification into sessions, this article discusses the use and impact of the Kahoot! platform within Foundation Year Physics lectures. The advantages and disadvantages of the platform, as well as some of its different functionalities, and thus potential methods of use across the HE sector, are also discussed.

Enhancing students’ learning in engineering subjects through repetitive learning and self-reflection

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Repetitive learning and self-reflection have been introduced to an engineering foundation year to encourage students to actively engage and control their learning. Repetitive learning can help students to train their cognitive skills and develop deeper understanding of the subject matter. Through self-reflection, students can identify their knowledge gain and their weaknesses, and plan improvement to their learning. This paper will focus on how integrating both repetitive learning and self-reflection might help to encourage deep and active learning, thus enhancing students’ performance and engagement in learning. The effectiveness of the method is evaluated based on the student feedback and teacher observation. From the feedback most students agree that repetitive learning and self-reflection has had a positive impact on their learning and has helped to improve their skills as independent and active learners. Teacher observations suggest that incorporating repetitive learning and self-reflection has improved students’ confidence and engagement in learning.

As easy as 1-2-3? Reflections on a programme redesign: Implementing the 1-2-3 delivery model

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Transition has long been a key concern for higher education institutions. This paper reflects on the redesign of a Liberal Arts Foundation Year to explore better ways of considering transition as an ongoing and complex process rather than as a specific moment at the start of the academic year. In particular, the implementation of a 1-2-3 programme structure allowed the programme to more fully address the nuances of transition and student support across the academic year. This structure facilitated a more gradual adjustment to university study, with a single ‘short fat’ module at the point of entry followed by two mid-length modules taken concurrently for the remaining two-thirds of Semester 1. Students then follow the typical undergraduate structure of three concurrent, semester-long, modules in Semester 2. This redesign prompted a reconsideration of the Foundation Year’s position as part of wider institutional structures, and contributed to improved student satisfaction with modules and improved academic results across the cohort.

Developing a cross-discipline approach to building student belonging by combining the performing arts with science

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Strong peer connections are central to students feeling a sense of belonging at university. When students feel part of a community and have positive relationships with their peers, they are more likely to remain and succeed at university. Keen to facilitate students forming supportive student communities from their first day at university, we drew on the expertise of performing arts lecturers and teachers to provide a series of interactive tasks from a drama-based curriculum for our Biological Sciences Foundation Year students. We have run these sessions for two intakes of students with overwhelmingly positive feedback. Such is their success that from the next academic year, these sessions will be offered to students across the institution. In this paper, we reflect on our approach to delivering these activities, providing recommendations for others who may want to adopt similar approaches to building a sense of belonging amongst their own incoming student cohorts.

Critical constellations: Thinking about belonging from practitioner perspectives

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This article takes the form of a conceptual account of belonging through reflection, theory, and suggestions for practice. It engages with philosophical, political, and sociological accounts of belonging, looking at how language has been used to denote experiences of belonging, and what these expressions might convey for educators and their learners. It suggests that, given the current drive to encourage and celebrate belonging in education, careful attention needs to be given to the operationalisation of belonging into discourses which are homogenised and strategic. The metaphor of a constellation of practices to envisage the different ways in which people might belong and not-belong to a university is offered as an alternative mode of thinking. For foundation year practitioners - people who value working in less traditional, often othered, learning spaces within larger institutions - more imaginative considerations of belonging are presented as being tactically significant for our learners, and for ourselves.

‘It’s more of a status thing to have a degree’: An investigation into the extent of the acceptance of a neoliberal discourse in a group of foundation year students

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This study explores the experiences of a group of non-traditional students (n=14) undertaking a foundation year in the School of Education at a post-92 university in England. The study is located within the widening participation agenda, with foundation years becoming an increasingly popular way to access undergraduate courses. The research is situated within the context of the neoliberal economic and social policies that have been dominant in the UK since 1979 and explores the acceptance, or not, of a neoliberal discourse by the participants. Data was gathered from a series of four focus groups over the course of one academic year. It was found that participants expressed a range of views, and although an acceptance of a neoliberal discourse in relation to their studies was evident, findings showed that decisions were also based on subjective and emotional criteria, as well as through rational decision making. There was also evidence for established criticisms of neoliberalism, especially commodity fetishism. Findings suggest a challenge to educators of how best to support students, and to what extent teaching should reflect student expectations.