The role of psychological factors within retention: the t utoring experienceat IST

Gonçalves, I.

Pedagogical Council, IST, Portugal

FEDORA Congress

“Lifelong Guidance – The key to LifelongLearning”

Freie Universiaet Berlin, 2009

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The Tutoring Programme is committed to encouraging and supporting students'

integration in academic life, creating the necessary conditions to facilitate an early

contact between students and professors and by globally promoting the quality of the

teaching-learning process, in the respect for quality principles, ethics, and interpersonal

responsibility.

Mission

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A Tutor is a Professor who provides counselling/couchi ng in a personalized way to a group of students from the 1st and 2nd year of undergraduate programmes, allowing students to dev elop their intellectual, emotional and interpersonal qualities.

Goals

Goals:

• Support students' transition (secondary to higher edu cation)• Provide students with support alongside their educati on• Promote students' academic qualities• Early identification of academic underachievement• Contribute to the improvement of teaching quality• Support the activities related to the different cour ses

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DISSEMINATION

InstitutionalPresentation

Pamphlets

Website

[Qualitative]

[Quantitative]

External

InternalTutees

Questionnaires

MSLQ Tutors

Tutees

To avoiddropping out

Tutoring Models andPractices I & II

Coaching

Good to Great

CoachingClinic

TutoringPortal Tutees/Tutors

Meetings

Tutors/CoordenatorsMeetings

Stress Management

Timemanagement

Team work

Activities

ASSESSMENT

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• Generally, the TP tries to promote subjective well-being among students and teachers, by increasing their pleasant emotions, decreasing their negative moods and encouraging high life satisfaction (Diener & Lucas, 2000);

• Workshops for students: run by psychotherapists, they try to increase student’s use of self-regulatory mechanisms to control their mood states (Erber, 1996; Morris & Reilly, 1987);

• Tutors screen their students and identify poor and excellent students that are then invited to participate on the “To avoid dropping out” and “Good to Great”workshops;

Activities & Theoretical Background

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• Workshops for teachers/tutors : generally, teacher’s lack empathic and communication skills, therefore the TP promotes introductory courses on communication skills and the promotion of self-regulated learning in students (Silva, Duarte, Sá & Simão, 2004;Simão, Silva & Sá, 2007) -Tutoring Models & Practice and Coaching Clinic ®

• Intentionally promoting among student’s and teacher’s intrinsic (vs extrinsic) goals and autonomy supportive (vscontrolling) learning is self-determination theory put into practice (Vansteenkiste, Simons, Lens, Sheldon & Deci, 2004) during workshops and meetings

• Tutoring Homepage – self-help texts published as a way of supporting/increasing work with students and teachers

Activities & Theoretical Background

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Workshops for teacher’s/tutor’s

Workshops Nº of Editions* Nº of

Participants

Course of Basic Tutoring Practices 4 32

Course of Advanced Tutoring Practices

1 8

Course of Coaching & Tutoring 3 28

The Coaching Clinic® 3 35

Total 11 103

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Workshops for students & tutees

Workshop Nº of Editions Nº of Participants

To avoid dropping out 5 37

Good to Great 5 58

Time Management 12 92

Stress Management 7 59

Teamwork 7 47

Total 36 293

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Time Management, StressManagement & Teamwork

“True happiness involves the full use of one’s power and tal ents” J. W. Gardner

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To Avoid Dropping Out: Contents

“If a man does not know to what port he is steering, no win d is favourable to him”

Seneca

1. “Do not leave for tomorrow what youcan do today”: time management skills

2. “Unity makes strengh”: teamwork andsocial support

3. “Do not have eyes bigger than yourbelly”: SMART goals

4. “Soft water in hard stone finnally drillsa hole”: promoting resiliency

4 sessions, 1 ½ hour duration, weekly

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To Avoid Dropping Out - Evaluation

5 Editions, 37 participants, 80% male, 81% response rate

Very

Dissatisfeid

0,0%

Dissatisfeid

0,0%

Very

Satisfied

53,3% Satisfied

46,7%

Workshop Global Satisfaction

Workshop Contribution on Soft Skills

33% 50% 17%

67% 33%

7% 47% 47%

3% 43% 53%

7% 37% 57%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Stress & Anxiety Management

Learning Motivation

Team Work Skills

Time & Study Management

Academic Achievement Skills

Very Unimportant Unimportant Important Very Important

100% participants recommend this Workshopto other risk students.

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Good to Great: Contents

“We are continually faced with a series of great opportun ities

brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems” J. W. Gardner

1. Emotional Literacy & Emotional

Intelligence“

2. Non Violent Communication and

the power of Feedback

3. Leadership

4. Teambuilding and social support

4 sessions, 1 ½ hour duration, weekly

Translation: Commitment

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Good to Great - Evaluation

5 Editions, 58 participants, 70% male, 97% response rate

100% participants recommend this Workshopto other high level students.

Workshop Global Satisfaction

3,63,9

3,6

3,9

4,11

2

3

4

5

Personal Developing

Assertive

Communication

Team Work SkillsLidership Skills

Presentation Skills

Very

dissatisfied/

Dissatisfied

10,9%

Satisfied/

Very

Satisfied

89,1%

Workshop Impact on Soft Skills

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The Tutoring Programme as had encouraging results so far, having been considered anexample of a best practice by the Quality

Assurance for the Higher Education ChangeAgenda. Improvements and diversification of

contents in the teacher’s and student’sworkshops is still needed. The biggest

challenge the TP faces is the improvement ofthe relationship/alliance between teachers and

students at IST.

The future

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Web Site: tutorado.ist.utl.pt

E-mail: tutorado@ist.utl.pt

Thank You!