Student success at college is not just achieving high grades The National Forum for Teaching and Learning defines student success as the process by which students fulfil their potential and flourish at college and in society. This is a broader activity than simply achieving high grades. Psychosocial competencies are core to the definition of student success: these are the ‘soft skills’ or ‘non-cognitive skills’ that enable students to cope well with learning challenges, engage deeply in learning, and develop their identities as learners and as active citizens. Transitions are a key issue within this priority area, with transitions such as the move from school to college presenting both challenges and opportunities for students.
Initiative
ExS: An online executive skills development programme
About this initiative
Executive skills are the hidden skills required for self-management: Planning/prioritisation, Organisation, Time management, Sustained attention, Task initiation, Goal-directed persistence, Flexibility, Response inhibition, Working memory, Emotional control, and Metacognition. The ExS App will offer a self-paced personalised programme where students will learn more about their own strengths and weaknesses and how executive skills impact on all facets of their lives. The ExS project will develop an ExS App for students to learn about the brain’s higher executive functioning and how these cognitive processes contribute to success in education, work, and life in general. Understanding the importance of these executive skills and becoming aware of personal areas of weakness and how to make the most of one’s personal strengths is the key to this unique project. The ExS app will also include an intercultural awareness module because we believe that competency in this area will benefit students in the future. Students will progress through this app at their own pace, exploring a select number of these skills in greater detail. Through various interactive options, students will build their self-awareness and set easy personal goals. We envisage the development of these skills will lead to student success in life, work and education.
Lead organisations
Affiliated organisations
Linked open educational resources
Initiative details
Funding programmes Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund 2014-18
Themes Student Success
Award year
2018Project lead
Contributors
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