Umeokafor, Nnedinma, Haroglu, Hasan, Dixon, Lily, Dyer, Imogen and Turner, Kieran (2021) An appraisal of apprentices' satisfaction and engagement. In: Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference: Making Connections, Innovating and Sharing Pedagogy; 29-30 Jun 2021, The Open University, U.K. (Held online).

Abstract

Higher education apprenticeship programmes are different from the traditional full-time or parttime ones in many ways such as the methods of assessment, the funding model and strategy, and the learning and teaching style (work-based learning). Literature suggests that these have implications for the engagement of apprentices when compared to their traditional full-time or part-time counterparts. Consequently, the need for “distinctive teaching, learning and assessment strategies” for apprentices is recommended. Despite the plethora of literature in learning and teaching, and apprenticeship model, there is a dearth of literature on the influence of the features of higher education apprenticeship on the satisfaction and engagement of apprentices. Using semi-structured interviews and questionnaire survey of apprentices at Kingston University London, the current study filled this gap. The study found that ‘the appreciation of being paid while studying by apprentices’ and ‘‘the appreciation of obtaining a professional membership upon graduation” are the features of higher education apprenticeship that rank first and second respectively. The two highest-ranked satisfactory factors for apprentices are ‘employers allocating them enough time to study’ and the ‘availability of IT facilities such as Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)’. The interviewees support this and most of them expand on it, covering the negative implications of having limited time to study which are not limited to poor mental health and wellbeing and poor student experience. The survey also shows that there are negative and positive co-relationships between 10 features of higher education apprenticeship delivery (such as employers prioritising business over apprentices’ academic programme) and nine satisfaction indicators not limited to ‘employers allocating apprentices enough time to study’ and ‘availability of IT facilities such as VLE. In relation to engagement, there are negative and positive co-relationships between eight features of higher education apprenticeship (such as employers prioritising business over apprentices’ academic programme) and 10 student engagement indicators such as ‘apprentices critically connecting/evaluating work activities and learning’ and ‘apprentices have the sense of belonging to the school/university’. The recommendations include that government, higher education institutions and employers should collaborate and develop strategies to ensure that apprentices get enough time for independent studying. This will contribute to improving their mental health and wellbeing and learning experience. Further studies that will draw on the perceptions of employers and academics such as lecturers is recommended. Employers, higher education institutions and the government will find this study beneficial.

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