Managing the transition into higher education: an on-line Spiral Induction Programme

In helping students manage the transition into higher education, there must be (i) an understanding of the needs and expectations of the students, and (ii) a process that inducts the students into the needs and expectations of higher education. This premise underpins the on-line Spiral Induction Programme (onSIP) developed at Southampton Institute. onSIP consists of various on-line activities designed to help students take responsibility for their own learning; feedback from these activities enables both staff and students to identify if and what additional support is required. The intention was to provide a real-time analysis and indication of those students who may be ‘at risk’, allowing for the appropriate targeting of timely support. Initial results indicate a positive reaction by the students to onSIP. In addition, the predictive feedback from onSIP demonstrates a good correlation with the end-of-year outcomes for a cohort of technology students at Southampton Institute.