A feeling of belonging is fundamental for student retention, satisfaction and academic success. But for students on joint honours programmes, it is not always easy to achieve.
Although these students receive the benefits of being exposed to multiple departments, staff, modules and experiences, many report that they do not feel they belong to one particular group or the other.
Take those on interdisciplinary courses such as our BSc in Sport and Exercise Medical Sciences (a hybrid of sport science and biomedical science). Are they sport scientists? Are they biomedical scientists? Are they both, or neither? A lack of belonging is also an issue in flexible combined honours courses, in which students might not possess a “home” department. We’ve introduced “vertical tutoring” in an attempt to tackle this issue.
What is vertical tutoring?
Vertical tutoring is a system of peer tutoring whereby senior students provide academic knowledge and advice alongside social guidance to develop a sense of community.
Traditional, “horizontal” tutoring tends to sit within year groups, where all students are at the same academic stage – all first year, for example. As a result, tutoring sessions focus on specific skills and objectives that are explicitly targeted at achieving success that year, and no more. Vertical tutoring breaks this mould by introducing topics that span a university career rather than a singular moment within it.
This process deliberately works across year groups, leveraging peer guidance to benefit all students. Students experience vertical tutoring as a younger student and go on to repay this social academic debt in a “pay-it-forward” system of tutoring. Students know that they can pass on skills and lessons to younger students when they reach later stages of their own university journey, creating a tutoring cycle.
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What is the theory behind vertical tutoring?
Vertical tutoring is grounded in the theory of student integration, developed in the 1970s by Vincent Tinto of Columbia University. Tinto noted the following factors that may impact withdrawal from higher education: pre-entry attributes, commitment and social and academic integration. Although this model focused on academic withdrawal, the concept of student integration remains as pertinent as ever.
How to introduce vertical tutoring
1. Integrate vertical tutoring sessions into student calendars. Make these compulsory, rather than optional, to ensure attendance and reinforce their importance. Making them compulsory also prevents clashes with lectures, laboratory classes and workshops. Our vertical tutoring sessions occur four times a year, at the start and end of both major terms.
2. Bring everyone together into a single learning space or a series of interconnected rooms. This ensures that even sessions with lower attendance still feel full – a 50 per cent attendance rate in a whole-cohort session still feels dynamic.
3. Split students into groups consisting of even numbers of students in each year of study. Also, consider appointing academic tutors as facilitators to start and guide conversations.
4. Focus on a particular theme related to either the academic or social development of students on the course. For example, a session in advance of module selection for the following year would allow students in lower years to ask questions to peers further along their academic journey, and students in higher years provide guidance, building mentoring skills in the process.
5. Co-design further development with students. This could be piloted with smaller groups before integrating into a fully timetabled process. You can ask students what topics they would like to see included and provide opportunities to act on the feedback received.
6. Consider accrediting the tutoring. Many universities have their own certification or internal awards to accredit and acknowledge extracurricular activities such as volunteering and mentoring. Students can use their vertical tutoring experience as evidence for these programmes.
7. Use this time to gather feedback on the course. Having opinions from across the years helps to show students their concerns may not be limited to their year only, and this affords staff the opportunity to address issues in real-time.
Our students find vertical tutoring useful, enjoyable and a good opportunity to build relationships with their peers. The ability to talk through tips others have learned over the years and share advice about life at our institution has been fundamental to student satisfaction, both academically and socially.
Vertical tutoring builds community and skills in students whose academic studies span disciplines and departments. It benefits both students and teachers, and is now a standard part of our programme.
Owen Tomlinson is lecturer in biomedical sciences and programme director of the BSc in sport and exercise medical sciences. Mary O’Leary is associate professor in physiology and programme advisor for the BSc in sport and exercise medical sciences, both at the University of Exeter.
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