Enhancing SiSE Student Experience

• Project Team: Jaime Waters
• Subject Discipline: Social Sciences and Global Studies
• Theme: Assessment
• Project Aim: Enables more students to achieve their study goalsImproves and enhance the learning experience of students
• Status: Live
• Date: March 2023

This project arises from tutor experiences in teaching SISE (Students in Secure Environments) and derives from reflections on the difficulties that SiSE students face beyond access to printed materials, and how we can provide the best possible materials and support for SISE students. What also provoked this application was the discovery that whilst different modules and courses were engaged in various supplementary initiatives anecdotally, there was an absence of a systematic Faculty or university approach to teaching and learning and supporting and enabling these students beyond module materials.

SiSE face a unique set of challenges on their learning journeys, and while there is some previous research into SiSE, none provides an exclusive focus on and rigorous approach to exploring and ameliorating the SiSE learning, teaching, and studying experience which is what this project aims to address.

This project therefore looks to explore how SiSE students experience their academic study at the OU. Focussing on the Social Policy and Criminology (SPC) discipline, this research will investigate the current provision for SiSE, and explore the lived experience of SiSE on SPC modules.

The questions this project are looking to answer are:

– What is the SiSE student experience across SPC?

– What are the ‘gaps’ in learning experienced by SiSE students?

– How can we enable SiSE students to achieve their study goals?

– How can we improve the SiSE learning experience on SPC modules?

To do this the research will take a case study, mixed methods, approach, focussing on the four modules that sit in SPC. These modules include one first year module, two second year modules, and one third year module. The research will use both questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to investigate the experiences of current SiSE students, SiSE advisors, tutors who have taught SiSE students, module teams with SiSE students on them, and prison education staff.

The ultimate aim of this research project is to create a set of evidence-based, best practice recommendations that other modules across SSGS and FASS can use to inform their practice and further enhance the SiSE student learning experience.