This document summarizes Professor Philippa Levy's presentation on embracing and leveraging online student support at the University of Adelaide. The key points are: 1. The University of Adelaide has a diverse student population and aims to provide flexibility, quality, relevance, inclusion and employability in its education. It offers various on-campus academic support services and has embraced online support through Studiosity. 2. A 2019 pilot of Studiosity was successful and its services were rolled out university-wide. Engagement was higher among certain student groups. Students who used Studiosity generally had positive experiences and outcomes. 3. Moving forward, the university plans to continue expanding online and blended learning, informed by student feedback.

1. Keynote:
Prof Philippa Levy
PVC Student
Learning, The
University of
Adelaide
Chair:
Prof Judyth Sachs
Chief Academic
Officer, Studiosity
Embracing and
effectively leveraging
online student
support at an
institutional level
Students First: Studiosity Symposium 2020

2. Professor Philippa Levy, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Learning)

3. Overview
• The University of Adelaide (UoA)
• Our academic support ecosystem
• Embracing and accelerating online
• Studiosity and other examples
• Reinventing academic support at UoA
3

4. The University

7. Slide 7
Diversity Profile 2019
COHORT (EFTSL)
Full time vs Part time 91% - 9%
Domestic vs International 68% - 32%
ATSI 1%
Under 25 vs Over 25 79% - 21%
Medium vs High vs Low SES 44% - 40% -15% (domestic)
Metropolitan vs Regional 85% - 15% (domestic)
ATAR <65 5%

8. 8

9. 9
Flexibility
Quality
Relevance
Inclusion
Employability

10. 21st century education at UoA
Renewed education portfolio
Revitalised portfolio of programs and courses
Futures curriculum
Employability
Flexible structures and delivery
Student recruitment and entry
Increased fully online delivery
Flexible academic calendars and timetable
Learning and teaching excellence
New directions in learning and teaching
High quality academic and pastoral support
Community and connection
Physical spaces and digital experience

11. Slide 11

12. Our Academic Support
Ecosystem

13. Engagement, Retention and Success
13
Student engagement and sense of belonging to academic community: positive staff-
student and peer-to-peer relations in discipline contexts; social integration
Employability development an integral part of the learning experience: students’
expectations about employment outcomes a key factor in motivation and persistence
Mainstreamed advisory and support provision for all students: combined with
targeted support for specific cohorts
Tailored strategies for different programs and courses: including for programs and
courses with lower rates of student retention and success
Best practice and innovation in strategies: including through innovative use of digital
technologies for flexible and personalised support
Co-creation and partnership with students: including in design and delivery of services
and initiatives

14. Academic Support Services
• Succeed@Adelaide
• Maths Learning Centre
• Writing Centre
• Online Academic Skills
Support (Studiosity)
• Peer-Assisted Study
Sessions
• Employability Support
14
10683
PEER ASSISTED
STUDY
SESSIONS
3076
mentoring
sessions
WRITING
CENTRE
5940
mentoring
sessions
MATHS
LEARNING
CENTRE
Complementary academic and co-curricular support services also offered through Library, specialist services (e.g. for our
Indigenous students; International students), and through faculties in some discipline areas)

15. Embracing online: Studiosity
15
• Aligned with Future Making,
integral to Student Retention
and Success Plan
• Flexible online support
complementing campus-
based services
• 2018 pilot
Rollout 2019
Writing
Feedback
Connect Live

16. Bringing staff on board
• Engage and include from the outset
• Be clear on objectives: student success,
scale, complementarity, value-add
• Promote and champion: e.g. roadshows
• Address questions and concerns
• Quality, evaluation, governance
• Impact on existing services and staff
• Demonstrate student engagement:
faculty usage reports
• Articulate Studiosity’s role in ecosystem
• Show transcripts and support academic
staff to leverage info on student queries
in their teaching 16
In-house ‘value-add’ report for Course Coordinators

17. Engaging and supporting
students
Embed access into MyUni courses (LMS)
Leverage academic staff champions
Promote and use as integral part of Academic
Success services, not just peripheral add-on
e.g. Writing Centre volunteer program helps
students to use Studiosity; Writing Centre
mentors use feedback from Studiosity to
build on support or focus on specific issues

18. Who were our Studiosity users
in 2019 and how did they use
services?
18
6.0
10.2
4.6
6.1
5.9
5.0
6.0
6.0
6.2
6.3
2.4
8.0
5.3
6.1
5.5
7.0
5.3
7.3
8.0
6.4
5.6
7.8
4.4
5.5
6.8
7.7
5.7
6.5
6.8
5.7
4.8
0 5 10 15 20
University total
Arts
ECMS
HMS
Professions
Sciences
Under 25
25 and over
Under 70
Over 70
Academic Risk Status
Commencing
Aboriginal and Torres…
Non-Indigenous
English
Non-English
Part time
Full time
Enabling
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Female
Male
Metropolitan
Regional
Remote
Domestic
International
Low
Medium
High
Faculty
Age
group
ATAR
BandCohort
Indigen
ous
status
Langua
ge
Backgro
undLoadProgramGenderRemoteness
Residen
cy
Socio-
economic
status
Per Cent
• 6% of students accessed Studiosity in 2019 - up to 10
sessions each
• Writing Feedback considerably more heavily used
than Connect Live
• Engagement higher in Arts, lower in Engineering and
Professions; higher among Commencing, Regional
and Remote, International (ESL), low SES
• Engagement lower among Part-time and Academic
Progress Risk status students
• Mid-week peak but good spread across week

19. Did Studiosity users also use other
services?
19
6.0
5.1
4.7
1.7
0.5 0.2
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
PerCent
Students using Support Services as a proportion of all in-scope students
• Studiosity was used by students who did not use other services
• ‘Studiosity only’ user group had same demographic profile as users of other services:
incl. female students, low SES, commencing and regional-remote more likely to be users

20. What did students think?
Slide 20

21. Did Studiosity use result in higher marks
and improved GPA scores?
21
55.5
37.8
18.6
46.0 47.8
16.3
0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
PerCent
2018 - 2019 GPA
Studiosity User Non-userTable Legend
Mean X
Median Horizontal line in box
Range Vertical line
Middle 50% Box
Outliers Dots
Consideration of confounding factors required

22. Moving fully online in S1 2020
22

23. Studiosity in 2020: growing engagement
23
Writing Feedback and Connect Live sessions 2019 2020
Total engagements (minutes) 1,849 (47,432) 2,758 (72,532)
Unique Students 749 1,087

24. Comparing Mar-Apr-May 2020 with 2019
-3.0%
-2.0%
-1.0%
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
Studiosity PASS MLC WC
2019 2020 change
students (all cohorts)
Services converted rapidly to remote delivery dipped in engagement
Studiosity is playing an important part supporting our students in remote delivery,
including International students

25. Reinventing academic support

26. The context: accelerated flexible
education delivery S2 2020 and beyond
Blended mode: courses delivered with combination of in-person face-to-
face and online activities e.g. in S2 2020: online lectures (for all courses),
face-to-face practicals, tutorials; internships fully online or in-person;
expanded non-exam based assessment; online exams
• We will take opportunities to enhance blended learning on campus
by adopting the best elements of what we are learning about online
delivery through the COVID-19 experience
Dual mode: courses delivered in both Remote and Blended mode, with
flexibility of choice where practicable for onshore students
Remote mode: courses delivered with all learning activities fully online
26

27. Planning informed by student feedback
27
• Mid-semester survey, response rate 9.8% (6,543 responses)
• Over 300,000 items of text - analysed using text-mining for sentiment analysis and rapid qualitative
approaches to identify themes

28. What do students prefer?
I love this course. … I now prefer the online tutorial BY FAR. It is so much easier to do tutorials online as it
feels more one on one and it is so much easier to ask questions and have them explained AND HAVE
RECORDINGS OF IT! I'm actually not looking forward to going back to university in person as this has been
so beneficial to my learning and understanding in most classes. (Sciences)
As a full time UoA employee and mother of 2 small children, the option to study remotely is incredibly
positive for me. My course coordinators have been very supportive. I like that the Zoom seminars have
been made optional with a compulsory discussion board submission. Flexibility is really key during this
stressful time.(Arts)
I feel the remote delivery has improved this course, other than being harder to work in groups, I have
found that the pre-recorded tutorials and the attitude of the lecturer have driven me to be more prepared.
I enjoy the tutorial activities and the lectures are still as informative as they were live.(Professions)
I'm loving the zoom sessions for the tutorials. As a part time student, I prefer this over travel into the city
for one 1 hour session. Instead I can log on from home, interact and not lose travel time from my work
hours.(Sciences)
28

29. What challenges do our online students
face (insights from Succeed@Adelaide)?
29
271 answered calls to offshore students
8342 answered calls to onshore students

30. How can we enhance support for
commencing offshore/onshore international
students? A new online initiative
30
Stream 1: Conversation Skills for University Study and Social Engagement
Stream 3 Communication Skills Adjunct Tutorials
Co-curricular opt in for all commencing international students
Discipline based English language skills through identified courses
English Language Skill
Development
(English Assist)
International Peer to Peer
Engagement
A personalised, peer-mentor success support scheme, targeting offshore and onshore commencing international students
International
Students
Stream 2: Reading and Writing for University

31. New principles for student services
• Regardless of their location or mode of study, students will have equitable
access to all support services (i.e., no service will only be offered in-person)
• Wherever possible, we want to continue practices that have resulted in
positive student and staff experience while delivering services remotely
• We will strive to change the thinking and approach to service delivery in
order to maintain a high level of customer service and engagement that is
location agnostic, rather than resuming ‘BAU’
• Remote service (i.e. Zoom, chat, online booking systems etc.) will be
rebranded from a COVID response, to our modern, flexible and responsive
‘On Your Terms’ model
• New service models will incorporate student feedback about their recent
experience of remote support and their preferences for future access
31

32. Future directions
• Online and flexible delivery are here to stay, for subject and general
academic support
• At-scale, expert online delivery (Studiosity) will complement in-house
services, which will become more flexible e.g. online bookings, online
consults where these complement Studiosity services
• Connection and community will continue to be a key focus, e.g. promotion
and referral through peer and academic mentors, including to targeted
cohorts (peer-to-peer and academic-to-student mentoring platform)
• Effective leveraging of online support will require continuing change
management
• Lead through academic champions, peer mentors, PASS leaders
• Embed in academic practice development and learning design support
• Adopt evidence-based approach, leveraging data and learning analytics32