#Take5 #154 Supporting apprentices: how small tweaks to a module/course can lead to successful student writers

In this blog, Dustin Hosseini reflects on some minor changes that he made to a research module, which is a part of a paramedic science degree apprenticeship, designed to increase student success. Whilst some may believe that Apprenticeship students are ‘special and different’, the changes implemented were small and could work in any course for any students: moving some sessions around and helping students brainstorm and articulate their ideas. They both significantly improved first-time pass rates and are already having a positive ripple effect to other instances of the module and the wider programme. As an experienced Learning Developer, the changes were based upon a mixture of observation, practical wisdom and taking into account student achievement. In addition, the positive changes highlight the need for academic and research literacies specialists, such as learning developers, to be embedded within subject specific contexts, no matter the subject – or the student!  

Dustin Hosseini’s teaching context 

Dustin Hosseini is a Lecturer in Health Science and leads and informs the development of a Level 5 module on research methods, which is a part of a paramedic science degree apprenticeship. The module is a mandatory part of the degree apprenticeship as the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) programme level standards requires that HCPC-focused curriculum, such as paramedicine, should integrate theory and practice and ‘must support and develop evidence-based practice’​ (Health & Care Professions Council, 2025)​. 

What this means is that prospective paramedic registrants must be able to access and critically engage with published research in relation to their own practice. They must develop an understanding of the research process, interpreting data and ultimately conducting research ethically within the context of their degree apprenticeship and beyond. This further means that paramedic apprentices must learn about the importance of research ethics, how research is conducted, how to access it – and how to apply it in practice. From my perspective, the module develops prospective paramedics with respect to their academic, digital and research literacies, alongside critical engagement with research and practice. 

The module, coupled with other modules on the programme, also develops their career prospects should they wish to become a paramedic in another setting, a practice educator within their field, a more advanced practitioner, a researcher or even a leader. In brief, undertaking a module on research methods aids prospective paramedic practitioners in multiple ways while creating multiple career pathways and learning developers have an important role to play in ensuring students’ success on such a module. 

What is an apprenticeship and why does this matter for learning developers?  

Apprentices are a growing type of learner within the UK, specifically England-based context. The 2024/25 academic year saw 353,500 apprentices studying, up by 4.1% compared with 339,580 reported learners in the year prior​ (Department for Education, 2025).​ Since 2018, these numbers have steadily grown including those studying on degree apprenticeships. As shown in Figure 1.  

In brief, an apprenticeship allows a student to study part-time while they hold a full-time job role. Over half of apprentices are aged 25+ according to official statistics, and they can bring diverse educational and professional backgrounds. From my own practice of teaching paramedic apprentices at the University of Cumbria’s Centre for Excellence in Paramedic Practice, apprentices are often a hardworking and talented bunch that come from wide-ranging academic and socio-economic backgrounds that require some consideration to ensure their success. Their apprenticeship status within the NHS trusts allows them to be ‘abstracted’ out of the workplace to study at least 20% of a working week; different employers approach how this 20% is allocated, and ideally, learners should have the equivalent of at least one day weekly, off-the-job, devoted to their studies.  

What (academic) challenges can apprentices face?  

Although some apprentices undertake further education at Levels 3 and 4, the majority have never pursued university-based higher education before starting their degree apprenticeship. While they are generally skilled practitioners in their field, anxieties about studies can arise from not having studied or completed assignments like essays, reports, or reflective writing within a university context. As a result, from my observation, some apprentices can experience a high degree of self-doubt and lack of confidence that causes them to develop imposter syndrome and/or a low self-perception of their academic abilities. This is often coupled with apprentices bringing varying levels of academic, digital and research literacies which can make them feel like a fish out of water, that can be further compounded by the presence of SpLDs such as ADHD, autism, AuDHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and many others, which also require critical consideration from educators, whether disability advisors, learning developers or lecturers.  

Other possible challenges can relate to managing the work-study-life balance within the context of certain apprenticeships whose employers do not traditionally follow the 0900-1700 working day. Apprentices who work shift patterns, such as nights and extended days, may understandably experience some difficulties regarding balancing a personal life and studies. While learning developers can aid apprentices with these issues, it’s important that we bear in mind how these issues can affect time for learning and studying by being sensitive when suggesting ideas around time management: extra-curricular support may not be the answer.  

For the purpose of this blog, I turn my attention to the issue of writing and assessment. When undertaking formal university-level studies for the first time, the act of writing can be, for some apprentices, a daunting, nerve-racking and challenging process. Indeed, on a particular module that I have taught, later led and continue to inform (a Level 5 module on research methods), student apprentices who fail the first time have tended to miss the module learning outcomes, either partially or wholly, in part due to their anxieties and self-doubt coupled with other challenges such as different working patterns – and not being initiated into university ‘practices of mystery’ and thus, the hidden curriculum (see a #Take5 and an LTHEchat blog on the Hidden Curriculum for insights into this). 

From my practice as an educator who has taught since 2005, I recognize that no course/module is perfect and so I often use my academic literacies and learning developer hats to understand where a module can be improved to ensure student success. Accordingly, I have made some tweaks that have both increased the confidence of degree apprentices while raising initial pass rates.  

Going back to basics 

When I first taught the module, I was informed that traditionally there was both a high initial failure rate and anxieties around the module as different cohorts tend to share information between each other via their WhatsApp groups and other ways. I took some time to get to know the cohort by asking them about their backgrounds; this would later prove helpful as it gave me some context that I could work with while considering my own prior non-traditional educational and professional context.  

Later, I reviewed the module materials by mapping them out. I used ABC Learning Design to try to understand how the students were learning: Was there a lot of one-way acquisition/lecture-type input? Was there much time for practice? How were they doing this, and where? I also later shadow taught the module with a colleague (Jade Bell) who was supportive of possible tweaks and changes. 

The assessment

For context, the assessment for the module is a 2000-word essay that requires students to create an addressable essay-type question using a research question framework such as PICO (population, intervention, comparator, outcome) or PEO (population, exposure, outcome).  They would then use this to search for a paper to critically appraise using an appropriate critical appraisal checklist; these checklists, specific to appraising different research types (e.g. a randomised control trial, a qualitative piece, mixed methods research), offer a structured series of questions that are used to critically appraise research. 

The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme, or CASP, and JBI Critical Appraisal Tools are two examples that offer a wide range of critical appraisal checklists that students can choose from. It is worth learning developers also acquainting themselves with these checklists as they’re often used by students who require a practical understanding of critically appraising evidence and research papers. 

Re-ordering content 

The first small change that I identified was twofold: early in the module, students had a subject librarian deliver a session on conducting a library search via databases. What I noticed was that relevant content on research methods preceding this session lacked space for learners to consider possible assignment topics in a scaffolded manner.  

As an education practitioner and former learning developer, for me it was important that the students’ writing process was scaffolded early on in a way that sparked their curiosity. So, I requested that the subject librarian move their session a bit later while I simultaneously set about creating a preceding session that would scaffold students’ writing for the subsequent session with the librarian. That way, students could arrive at the session with possible topics in mind that they could then start searching for during the session or soon after.  

Introducing mind mapping as an academic literacy  

As this programme had not yet built in some academic literacy-focused sessions into the module, I took initiative and identified a gap in the provision that would 1) set students up for success in the module and 2) develop an academic literacy that they could apply to the rest of their degree programme. Accordingly, I created a mini-session on mind mapping. The aim for this 60+ minute session was to get somewhat anxious/nervous students to free their minds by getting them to consider topics that might take their interest.  

Mind mapping overview 

The mini-session got students to critically consider possible topics for investigation from multiple angles through a 3-step process: 

• Make a list of up to 10 possible topics that spark curiosity, interest or passion 
• Consider and narrow down the list of topics to 2-3 possibilities 
• Map out the topic(s) while considering: 
• People, population or stakeholders’ context 
• Geographic or social context 
• Issue, problem, intervention or area of interest 
• Outcome, whether desired or not  

Step 1: Free the mind, and write 

For step one, students individually listed out as many topics of interest as possible. While I suggested writing up to 10 topics, I did not mandate this so as to reduce pressure on the students as I wanted to focus their minds on a bit of free writing. While not everyone created a list of 10 possible topics, most were able to list at least 3-6 topics that laid the groundwork for the session.  

Step 2: Present ideas and pose questions 

For step two, I designed this to be as dialogic as possible by inviting the students to share their possible topics in small groups. The idea was to have learners present their ideas/topics and reasons why they might like to explore them in a supportive environment. During this step, learners were invited to provide constructive feedback through question posing:  

• Why these topics?  
• What motivates or captivates your interest?  
• What areas of the topics do you think you could explore?  

These example questions were meant to foster a supportive, scaffolded environment while still adhering to the ethos of freeing students’ minds from possible writing blocks. I recall that my paramedic apprentices often reflected on issues that were a mixture of both clinical and non-clinical issue that they took a personal interest in. Of course, there were some who struggled to ideate, so to speak, and the presence of small groups aided these apprentices to imagine (further) possibilities. 

Step 3: Develop the map using specific contexts 

The third step developed students’ thinking about the contextual possibilities for their topics. Specifically, I invited students to consider the framing for their final 2-3 topic(s) of choice. By doing this, I was aiding learners in laying the groundwork for exploring their topic(s) from multiple angles, while getting them to critically consider ideas that they could later translate into an appropriate research question framework​ (Covvey, McClendon, & Gionfriddo, 2024)​ for their essay, Figure 2.  

The challenges I faced 

I thought that my idea would work well and would help everyone. I attempted to ‘sell’ it to the students as an approach that they could use across all modules right through to their dissertation. I argued that it would allow them to step back and imagine what they could write about by drawing out the possibilities. For the most part, most students saw the benefit of taking time to imagine and map out possible ideas as this gave them a safe space to consider topics without committing to them. The session also gave space for considering possibilities, possible barriers and other opportunities. However, there were some challenges.  

Time pressures 

The first challenge I faced was time since apprentices are often ‘abstracted’ out of their workplace for their study days. What this means is that, although they are guaranteed 20% of workplace hours to be devoted to studies, that time is somewhat limited. A good mind mapping activity, from my practice as an education practitioner and a doctoral student in education, is something that requires more than the 60 minutes or so that I was able to devote to the session. Ideally, a mind mapping session would be 90-120 minutes and subsequently revisited regularly along the way as the assignment develops. However, within the context of a time-limited programme of study, this will not be possible since study hours, especially during live sessions, should be devoted to covering the content of the module in question.  

Lowering barriers, personalizing learning  

Another small challenge I faced is that I was teaching this module online and wanted learners to create a mind map that they could share with the wider group later. To address this challenge, I empowered learners by giving them a choice of either drawing their mind map on paper, drawing it on a tablet or using a mind mapping tool of their choice (see below). This helped to reduce anxieties around using technologies that were new to some, while also personalized learning according to the preferences of individual learners. At the end of a session, we had a nice bank of mind maps that were drawn manually or digitally or created using a mind mapping tool. Below are a couple of examples which include one created by a student drawing on their tablet and another created through handwriting out a mind map. 

We have a tool for that!

While this post isn’t focused on tools as such, this blog gives an overview of possible mind mapping tools out there as of mid-2025; there are numerous apps that allow users to create mindmaps. Personally, I use a mixture of MindNode and a plug-in for the notetaking app Obsidian, and one’s individual preferences for look/feel/flow will guide a user in choosing what’s best for them (while also taking into account accessibility issues!). Pencil or markers and paper always work, too! 

Considering SpLDs and possible barriers  

Significant informal feedback evidenced that most students benefited from creating a mind map of possible topics and valued this process:

• “I enjoyed the mind mapping as it opened up different ideas and thoughts, it was interesting to see others’ thoughts as well.”
• “This helped build a good foundation for the task and helped us build on a topic that we want to research.”
• “I found it very helpful to collate ideas together when trying to formulate a research question. I am a visual learner and found this beneficial to me.”
• “The mind mapping was helpful, I was able to write down lots of ideas and then expand them.”
• “I enjoyed the activity, it was helpful in trying to find issues and essay questions to research. I ended up making 3 different mind maps to get to the best topic which shows that it worked well.”

However, some struggled, as also evidenced by the feedback:

• “I like a mind map, but for this task i bullet pointed as it was easier for my brain to process information”

There were a few learners with an SpLD (or two) that meant that the mind mapping presented barriers to the process of crafting a mind map. Simply put, it just did not make sense to these learners to create a mind map as they did not think that way and could not conceptualize ideas in that manner.  

Keeping nimble

I’d like to remind the reader that when working with learners who already feel lacking in confidence and a growing sense of imposter syndrome, quick and collaborative thinking can be very helpful in identifying supportive ways forward. One learner in particular was fraught with anxiety on how to proceed as their way of thinking and conceptualization did not work well with the idea of a mind map. Since I was now being shadowed during this session, my colleague was able to quickly meet with the learner and suggest that they use an outline rather than a mind map.  

This was a moment of learning for myself as well as I, admittedly, hadn’t considered the possible issues with a mind map. However, what I did learn was that it’s a good idea to present multiple ways of inviting students to create the same thing in order to be as inclusive as possible. With the ubiquitous digital tools out there, alternatives are available, such as MindNode for Mac, these often offer the ability to mind map using a traditional spider diagram and to export these as bullet-pointed outlines. Of course, in addition to pen-and-paper methods, the system-agnostic note-taking software such as Obsidian can also provide this method.  

In brief, in the example below, the main note is in the middle, other notes in the column to the left and an outline in the rightmost column. 

In the main note called ‘EdD Thesis – Dissertation’, the blue text under ‘Connected documents’ are internal hyperlinks to other notes within the Obsidian app. Since Obsidian allows users to use markdown language, they can add headings to demarcate and order notes; these can then appear as an outline as shown in the right-most column allowing for quick navigation of the notes in question. 

So what?  

Apprentices are a different type of learner that can come with a range of varying academic and digital literacies. They may not have studied in university-level education and so understandably they will arrive with some worries and anxieties around achieving success in their studies.  

To ensure their success, it’s important that we take the time to get to know them and their backgrounds. Doing this can help us, as education practitioner/learning developers, to understand what and how to go about (re)designing content for degree apprenticeships in conjunction with subject matter experts that teach on these programmes. Sometimes, as I have hopefully shown, stepping back, mapping the content and re-ordering can allow educators to then build in meaningful and relevant activities that can have a wide-ranging impact on apprentices later in their academic studies and beyond.