When the University Centre Bishop Burton College was invited to be part of this project relating to flexible pathways and effective transitions in college-based higher education (CBHE), we had some expectations of what we wanted to achieve but some things were unknown yet in time would become clear. What we did know was that we wanted to support our higher education (HE) students who were transitioning from a Higher National Certificate (HNC) pathway in Sport or Animal Science onto Level 5 Foundation Degree in Science (FdSc) Animal Science, or Bachelor of Science (BSc) Sports Coaching.

Our QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project idea is based on transitions and a scaffolding approach to academic support to help bridge the gap. Developing independent, reflective learners is a central aim within higher education, particularly at Level 5 where students are expected to demonstrate increasing academic autonomy and criticality. This blog post outlines how the CoCO reflective model (O’Leary and Cui, 2020) was implemented to support Level 5 students on both Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Foundation Degree in Science (FdSc) pathways in improving their academic performance following participation in a series of three targeted academic skills workshops, which were facilitated at the request of our students.

The three academic skills workshops were designed to address key areas commonly associated with underperformance at this level: critical reading, academic writing, and effective use of feedback. While workshop attendance was strong and engagement was positive, it became clear that students required structured support to translate newly acquired skills into sustained improvements in their assessed work. To bridge this gap, the CoCO reflective model was used to enable staff and students to reflect on the process with some elements facilitated for students through the use of a Microsoft Forms questionnaire, with the aim to scaffold reflective practice preparing them to use the model in its complete form for cycle two.

Engagement with the process was mixed for each case study and feedback varied across the groups. In preparation for cycle two, and using the full reflective model, a workshop was facilitated to discuss focus groups and the CoCO model. Our focus was on approaches to assessments in semester two, looking at pre-assessment support, the assessment process itself, and on receiving and interpreting feedback. This gave students confidence in the approach to reflection in cycle two which will further support transition to Level 6 and beyond.

Some notable reflections are given below.

Preliminary evaluation indicates a positive impact on student outcomes. Students demonstrated clearer assignment structure, more critical engagement with sources, and more effective responses to feedback in subsequent submissions. Additionally, students reported increased confidence in their academic abilities and a better understanding of how to approach more complex tasks.

In conclusion, the integration of the CoCO reflective model provided an effective mechanism for consolidating learning from academic skills workshops. By guiding students through structured reflection this supported the development of self-regulated learning practices that translated into improved academic performance. This approach highlights the value of combining skills instruction with reflective frameworks to foster deeper and more sustainable learning.

References

O’Leary, M., & Cui, V. (2020). Reconceptualising Teaching and learning in higher education: challenging neoliberal narratives of teaching excellence through collaborative observation. Teaching in Higher Education, 25(2), 141–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2018.1543262

QAA (2023). Supporting Student Transitions. [online] Available at: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/sector-resources/teaching-learning-and-assessment/flexible-pathways-and-student-transitions/supporting-student-transitions