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.
About this initiative
The Teaching and Learning Committee in IADT comprises of academic and professional support staff who endeavour to provide a learning and teaching ecosystem to ensure students thrive in their learning environment and graduate with adaptable and agile knowledge, skills and competence. The funding under this LEP initiative will be made available to academic and support staff to seed local projects that support learning, teaching and assessment within our Institute. The LEP project is designed to further enhance the learning environment for staff and students and to build on the interest from 2019, which resulted in 22 applications from across the Institute and funded 11 projects. The focus of the 2020/2021 LEP call will capture the overarching theme of student success and encourage applicants to develop projects that contribute to this strategic priority. Whilst it is not possible to predict the kind of projects that will emerge, the internal LEP call will encourage applicants to consider one or more of the following:
• Harnessing the learning from digital technology to foster student engagement post-COVID-19.
• Adapting integrated and innovative assessment and feedback practices.
• Interdisciplinary projects to enhance student success and graduate outcomes.
• Staff – student partnerships to promote engagement.
The Teaching and Learning Committee have established an application and review process to consider all applications to the LEP fund. This was implemented successfully in 2019 and will be put in place to manage the current call. All outputs from the process will be showcased internally and externally at the appropriate fora.




