6. Summary and Future Work
The main aims in the restructuring of the level 1 physics course appear not only to
have been achieved but, on some levels, to have been surpassed. The 2007-08 passrate
in both Physics 1X and Physics 1Y increased by approximately 8%, a move exceeding
3 standard deviations from the historical averages for the classes. More significantly,
the direct progression rate from level 1 physics to level 2 physics was increased by
approximately 10%. It is expected that these levels will be maintained in 2008-09.
A number of methods of contacting and supporting students during their first
year of undergraduate study were used including personal approaches, SMS, email and
snail-mail. The first three methods were found to be very effective in supporting and
improving the experience of students who could be considered to be engaged (Group 1
in Section 5.1). There was even some success in encouraging semi-engaged students
to improve attendance (Group 2 in Section 5.1. However, another hard-core of non-
attending, non-engaged students was identified and it appeared that little could be done
to support or improve their experience (Group 3 in Section 5.1). This is an observation
made by staff in other Departments within the University of Glasgow as well as further
afield; an investigation of the effectiveness of additional support strategies where non-
academic issues appear dominant is necessary.
Experience gained in 2007-08 was used to inform practice in 2008-09 and
preliminary results from the level 1 and level 2 2008-09 classes are encouraging in terms
of improved academic achievement and lower absenteeism.
Future work will centre around methods to streamline the data capture techniques
so that these may be rolled out to other classes within the Department, notably level 2
physics. In particular, an investigation into understanding academic performance in
level 2 physics and the related level 2 to level 3 progression statistics is now being
undertaken. A number of longitudinal studies will be made, starting with the 2007-08
level 1 cohort.