Foundation Years (FY) have proliferated within UK Higher Education in recent years, and their benefits and successes have been well documented (e.g. the enhancement of opportunities for underrepresented students, second-chance education, skills and confidence enhancement, and a pipeline into STEM. However, when managed centrally, their…

The UK will need a skilled IT work force to maintain its position as a world leader in computing research and development. This study investigated the experience of learning communities amongst first year undergraduate computing students at a UK university. The concept of a learning community was used to examine its influence on student academic…

Measuring student experience in terms of satisfaction is a national measure used by prospective students when considering their higher education choices. Increasingly league tables are used as a means to rank universities with a limited interrogation of the reality of students' experiences. This study explored the question 'What really matters to…

Transition from school or college to university is a time of great anxiety for many first-year undergraduates: some studies illustrate the emphasis which students place on finding new friends and securing a consistent social life; the importance of which resonates more with peers than with parents or lecturers. This has to be accomplished…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…