Focus
This longitudinal research investigates students’ experiences of reading and writing in a Bachelor of Arts (BA) programme in New Zealand.
Background/Context
Academic literacy is one of the main skillsets developed by students in BA degrees. Students literally ‘read for a degree’ and “whether students can enter and remain in higher education ... depends in large part on whether ... they have developed their writing” (Russell & Foster, 2002, p. 1). Several studies have looked at students’ experiences of writing longitudinally (e.g. Carroll, 2015; Lea & Street, 2000; Leki, 2007; Light, 2001; Sternglass, 1997). However, such studies have mainly been conducted in North America and the U.K. There are considerable differences between both the secondary and tertiary education systems across countries, which are likely to influence students’ approaches to and expectations of education.
Description
In this research, students were asked about their expectations, experiences and reflections as they entered, progressed through and departed a BA degree.
Methods
This research takes a narrative enquiry approach to analyse longitudinal interview data, collected from 21 participants at the beginning and end of each semester of study. The interviews were semi-structured, allowing participants to focus on the most important points from their perspectives. The data was analysed thematically to identify frequent perceptions.
Evidence
Although the data came from just 21 participants, deep and rich data was collected. Many perspectives differed from those found in other cultural contexts, such as a lack of required first-year writing courses in New Zealand universities, indicating that findings of such research may not be generalizable across cultural contexts.
Contribution
The findings will be useful in informing reading and writing across the curriculum in Australasian universities.
Engagement
Participants will be engaged through interactive questions during the presentation as well as being asked for feedback towards the end of the presentation.

Focus: We examined the use of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) in published interventions targeting students’ feedback literacy (FL).
Background/context: FL focuses on productive feedback behaviours, requiring individuals to appreciate the feedback process, make judgments, take action and manage affect (Carless & Boud, 2018). FL interventions should transform how students seek out, utilise and provide feedback information (Dawson et al., 2023). However, most publications reporting on outcomes of FL interventions focused on students’ attitudes and beliefs about feedback rather than what they actually do (Little et al., 2024). BCTs are an effective approach in health psychology that supports people to change what they do. We adopt a BCT perspective to explore the underlying mechanisms of FL interventions.
Description: We reviewed 16 publications from Little et al. (2024)’s scoping review to identify BCTs used to improve FL behaviours.
Method: An established BCT taxonomy (Michie et al., 2013) and steps in Michie et al. (2014) were used to code target behaviours and BCTs identified in FL intervention studies.
Evidence: Thirteen studies in Little et al. (2024)’s scoping review broadly targeted areas of FL such as “using feedback”, rather than more specific domains. Four BCTs (median) were used per study, with behavioural practice/rehearsal, instruction on how to perform the behaviour and demonstration of the behaviour the most used. This review will be updated by the conference to incorporate findings from subsequent published articles.
Contribution: This research identifies BCTs that have been delivered within FL interventions and opportunities to improve intervention design to support student FL.
Engagement: We will offer examples of BCTs, and prompt discussion about how they can be used to enable or support feedback behaviours in teaching and learning practice, feasibility, and any possible implementation challenges.