Empowering first-year social work students: improving student success and retention with a discipline-specific tutor to provide feedforward on assessments.

There is an increasing demand for university level qualifications to service the evolving social work workforce in Australia. With many students entering university from non-traditional pathways, it is important to provide support as students transition to higher education. Here, a discipline-specif...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social Work Education Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 466 - 485
Main Authors: Teakel, Sarah, Linden, Kelly, Bradshaw, Erin Rose
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Apr2025
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Apr2025
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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        187347783
        10.1080/02615479.2024.2324917
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        atl: Empowering first-year social work students: improving student success and retention with a discipline-specific tutor to provide feedforward on assessments.
      aug:
        au:
          Teakel, Sarah
          Linden, Kelly
          Bradshaw, Erin Rose
        affil:
          Division of Student Success, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia
          Office of the DVC-A, Charles Sturt University, Albury, Australia
          School of Social Work and Arts, Charles Sturt University, Albury, Australia
      su:
        Australia
        Academic achievement
        Higher education
        Social services
        Self-efficacy
        Tutors & tutoring
        Advice
        Employee retention
      sug:
        subj:
          Academic achievement
          Higher education
          Social services
          Self-efficacy
          Australia
          Other Individual and Family Services
          Exam Preparation and Tutoring
          All other schools and instruction
          Tutors & tutoring
          Advice
          Employee retention
      keyword:
        Feedback
        first-year experience
        social work education
        student retention
        tutor
        Feedback
        first-year experience
        social work education
        student retention
        tutor
      ab: There is an increasing demand for university level qualifications to service the evolving social work workforce in Australia. With many students entering university from non-traditional pathways, it is important to provide support as students transition to higher education. Here, a discipline-specific model is established to support first-year students in the Bachelor of Social Work at a regional Australian university. The 235 students who met with the tutor had on average 7.5% higher assessment marks and 11.5% higher cumulative marks than students who did not meet with the tutor. In addition, students who met with a tutor were more likely to receive a passing grade and to be retained the following year. Feedback from students, the tutor and a unit coordinator describe the positive impact tutoring had on the student experience. Here, we present a scalable model of support that increased students' confidence, self-efficacy and feedback literacy, and overall improved student success and retention.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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