From widening participation to facilitating access to learning: responding to the rise of the ‘commuter student’
Conference paper
Kenyon, S. 2023. From widening participation to facilitating access to learning: responding to the rise of the ‘commuter student’.
Authors | Kenyon, S. |
---|---|
Type | Conference paper |
Description | The Covid pandemic will have long-term effects for Higher Education (HE) in the UK. The consequences of lost access to primary and secondary education for our current and future students, alongside the exacerbation and solidification of existing cultural, economic, health and social inequalities (British Academy, 2021), will shape our provision for years to come. One such repercussion is an increasing number of commuter students: ‘students who continue to live at home whilst studying, rather than moving into student accommodation’ (Kenyon, 2023). Pre-pandemic, initiatives to widen participation in HE increased the number of commuter students, across the UK HE sector (Donnelly and Gamsu, 2018; HESA, 2022; Maguire and Morris, 2018: 14). Post-pandemic, economic and social pressures are likely to hasten this trend. However, our learning, teaching and assessment (LTA) methods, systems and processes continue to be shaped around the needs of traditional, residential students. There is increasing evidence that the enduring structure of Higher Education, based upon the assumption that our students relocate to attend university, excludes those who need to travel to access their teaching, learning and assessment. At the aggregate level, studies suggest that commuter students have a poorer student experience (Neves and Hillman, 2019). This is in large part because it is harder to engage in university life (Jacoby, 2015). Commuter students report lower engagement in learning activities, extra-curricular activities and social activities (Thomas and Jones, 2017; Thomas, 2019) and experience exclusion from their learning community, feeling less belonging (Pokorny, 2015; Stalmirska and Mellon, 2022). Consequently, commuter students have poorer outcomes than residential students (Maguire and Morris, 2018; Neves and Hillman, 2018; OfS, 2019; OfS, 2021). Commuter students who attend universities where the majority of students also commute are even more disadvantaged (Whyte, 2019). This paper reports findings from in-depth research at a UK HEI to a) understand the commuter student profile, b) understand the needs of commuter students and c) develop LTA strategies and interventions to support these students. |
Keywords | Commuter student; Widening participation; Social exclusion; Transport |
Year | 2023 |
Conference | PSA Teaching and Learning Conference 2023: Pedagogic Futures in Politics and International Relations. |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 06 Sep 2023 |
https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/95903/from-widening-participation-to-facilitating-access-to-learning-responding-to-the-rise-of-the-commuter-student
4
total views0
total downloads0
views this month0
downloads this month
Export as
Related outputs
The importance of commuter students in our future-focused transport strategy.
Kenyon, S. 2023. The importance of commuter students in our future-focused transport strategy.
Increasing the employability of politics and international relations students: Adapting teaching methods to develop ‘industry-ready social scientists’
Kenyon, S. 2023. Increasing the employability of politics and international relations students: Adapting teaching methods to develop ‘industry-ready social scientists’.Enhancing the student experience while addressing the climate emergency
Kenyon, S. 2023. Enhancing the student experience while addressing the climate emergency.
From widening participation to facilitating access to learning: reconceptualising the right to HE in response to the rise of the commuter student
Kenyon, S. 2023. From widening participation to facilitating access to learning: reconceptualising the right to HE in response to the rise of the commuter student.Embedding the social sciences in engineering education: collaboration with a Politics degree.
Kenyon, S. 2023. Embedding the social sciences in engineering education: collaboration with a Politics degree. Proceedings of the International CDIO Conference. 2023.Online learning and teaching during the pandemic: the experience of commuter students
Kenyon, S. 2022. Online learning and teaching during the pandemic: the experience of commuter students.