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Ensure course readiness, aid student onboarding and increase student engagement

The transition from school/college to higher education can always prove a challenge for first-year students. It is not just an environmental change, but a different style of learning, a new set of subject matter and study topics and a higher standard of academia that first-year students need to embrace. 

For faculty, they may also be welcoming cohorts entering university on teacher predicted grades which might not be indicative of actual academic performance, unquestionably elevating the challenge to understand, embrace and adapt to varying student abilities early in the year. McGraw Hill is helping higher education institutions worldwide to conquer these challenges, through our HEADStart platform. A fully online platform, accessible on- and off-campus, it is designed to ensure comprehensive course readiness for incoming first-year students of courses in Business and Economics, Biological and Life Sciences and Physical Sciences.

HEADStart is a new suite of courses powered by the McGraw Hill Connect platform – designed to help incoming first-year students get ready for day one of their studies with access to curated course materials on prerequisite subjects, and activities to help develop essential communication, organisation, online learning and wellbeing skills.

With HEADStart, your institution will be guaranteed that students are ready, prepared and engaged from day one of their studies.

Establish student comfort with course materials
  • Students can immerse themselves into the materials they will be studying in advance, so they can confidently grasp the subject matter.
  • Powered by adaptive learning technology, the content of HEADStart is readily curated to work at the pace of the individual student and is easy-to-use and configure for academics.
  • Content can be accessed anytime, anywhere on- or off-campus, facilitating course readiness for students anywhere in the world.
  • Come class time, students will start on the front foot and be ready to participate, significantly increasing the likelihood of their success in the first year and beyond.
Helping students embrace university-style learning
  • HEADStart encourages and provides tips for online and self-directed learning for students, helping transition from further education, which is heavily teacher-led, to higher education which features greater independent study.
  • Students get early exposure to the expectations of university study, in a supported environment, and can become familiar with the language of higher education before stepping into a lecture.
  • In addition to core course content, this course features modules on study skills, key 21st Century Skills and modules on mental health and wellbeing too. Topics include: Managing your Health and Stress, Time Management, Critical Thinking amongst others.
Aid faculty assessment of student abilities
  • The style of the materials provided are designed to level-out student knowledge gaps and enable faculty to monitor progress and assess the standard of the new cohort.
  • Materials include adaptive reading assignments, relevant course reading materials, maths preparedness and algorithmic questions.
  • Case studies and interactive Application Based Activities also feature to support students' critical thinking and self-reflexive learning abilities. Faculty can also set placement tests to assess where students are at the end of their HEADStart course.
Increase attainment by monitoring student engagement
  • The platform features detailed reporting on student progress with progress provided from both an academic and student perspective.
  • Dashboards are available on complete cohort performance and engagement, and faculty have the ability to assess trends whilst drilling into deeper analytics on student activity at an individual student and topic level. 
  • This is further bolstered by “At risk” reporting, highlighting vulnerable students who are not engaged.
  • Armed with these insights, your faculty and institution will be better equipped to identify needs for intervention and in turn, safeguard student attainment.

Demo HEADStart

Ensure your institution is ready to set first-year students on an immediate path to success. Request a demo today to learn more about how HeadStart could benefit your school.

What can you expect from each course?

With materials to support mental health and wellbeing, academic skills, as well as subject-relevant preparedness, the course would be applicable for students who will be taking the following B&E modules

  • Introductory Marketing
  • Introductory Accounting
  • Introductory Economics
  • Introductory Organisational Behaviour
  • Introductory Finance
  • Introductory Business Statistics
  • Introductory Financial Accounting
  • Introductory Management Accounting
  • Introductory Human Resource Management
  • Introductory Global Business Environment
  • Principles of Management

As well as this subject-specific introductory material, the learning resources would support academic skills typically covered in modules such as Introduction to Research Methods.

Also covers more ‘pastoral care’ elements such as wellbeing, anxiety and stress management – as well as job readiness and preparing for interviews.

With materials to support and develop mental health and wellbeing, academic skills, as well as subject-relevant preparedness, the course would be applicable for students who will be taking the following modules in the life sciences:

  • Introductory Biology
  • Anatomy and Physiology

As well as this subject-specific introductory material, the learning resources would support math preparedness as well as key academic skills required for student success on these courses.

With materials to support and develop mental health and wellbeing, academic skills, as well as subject-relevant preparedness, the course would be applicable for students who will be taking the following modules in the life sciences:

  • General Chemistry
  • General Physics

As well as this subject-specific introductory material, the learning resources would support math preparedness as well as key academic skills required for student success on these courses.

Request a Demo of HEADStart