Evaluation of Implementation of Models of Academic Advising in Postgraduate Taught courses

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of models of academic advising in PGT courses. Three main models of advising were created. Model 1 was an out of curriculum offer with at least three contact points per year. Model 2 was an embedded approach in which students are both taught by their academic adviser (AA) in a normal module, as well as receiving at least three contact points of dedicated academic advice. Model 3 was an extended advising offer in which student attend a series of one hour group academic advising sessions, each dedicated to developing the students academically, professionally and/or personally. A higher proportion of students experiencing Model 2 reported they had the opportunity and took up the opportunity to meet with their Academic Adviser compared with any other model. Additionally, these students had more positive perceptions of their AA, with significantly higher agreement that their AA takes a personal interest in them and that they provide useful advice and guidance to aid academic progress and development. Following model implementation student awareness of the AA role and of who theirs is was significantly greater. Additionally, there were positive improvements in student perceptions of support post-model implementation, with significant increases in the perceptions that academic advisers provided useful advice and guidance, referred to further support as appropriate, and took a personal interest in them. Further, there was a decrease in end of year withdrawal rates post-model implementation.