Success by Design — Towards Global Principles for Equitable Student Learning and Success

Abstract

“Student success in higher education, particularly among marginalized communities, remains a pervasive challenge worldwide. Disparities in access, participation, and graduation rates are evident, with students often struggling both academically and emotionally. Worldwide, these systemic issues demand solutions that are critical, contextual, and evidence-based. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed and deepened long-standing inequalities and institutional weaknesses. In response, the Global Forum for Student Success (GFSS) was formed during the pandemic’s early days, uniting over two dozen international scholars and leaders committed to equitable, just higher education. Since mid-2020, GFSS members have convened monthly via Zoom, sharing insights and strategies from diverse contexts. Their collective aim is to foster a new global partnership promoting student success across higher education institutions and scholarly communities. This workshop presents a draft of global design principles for student success developed in conjunction with GFSS work. The design principles are intended to guide the development and scaling of equitable student learning and success efforts at institutions across the globe. The session will be the first public “unveiling” of the design principles. During the session, participants will be asked to think about how one or more of the draft principles could be applied in their own contexts. In addition, participants will be asked to provide feedback on the principles – in the process, becoming co-designers of the next iteration of the framework. The session fits the conference theme of “From Me to We” very well. The workshop focuses on refining and advancing the use of design principles that help foster boundary-spanning communities of practice in what can otherwise be lonely and isolating work. Further, the session fits all three conference subthemes in the following manners: • Why – the session will focus on why staff communities and shared responsibilities are crucial • What – the design principles discussed during the session can function as the intellectual DNA for both individual and collective action in the years to come • How – the principles can guide measurement of impact, create a sense of belonging in communities, and engage students in transformational ways Ultimately, the session seeks to get community involvement – including student involvement – in further refinement and adoption of global design principles that participants may want to use in years to come. In doing so, the workshop will both enlighten the facilitators and allow the participants to contribute to (not just consumer) principles that focus on first-year student learning and success.”

Key take aways

Presenters

• Andrew Koch, Gardner Institute, USA
• Luke Millard, Abertay University, Scotland
• David Hornsby, Carleton University, Canada
• Barry O'Connor, Cork Access Network, Ireland
• Sara Stein Koch, Gardner Institute, USA