Post Written by Tracy Lamping – September 2019
A Work Based Distance Learning (WBDL) student achieving a fail grade in an academic assessment is likely to experience a range of emotions, including feeling disappointed, demotivated and perhaps embarrassed, so how can failure possibly lead to success? As Lance Tallett, Senior Material Engineer: BP Angola project, and WBDL student on the BSc (Hons) Logistics Management degree discovered, actively reflecting on the process can offer a tool for continuous improvement and success (Helyer, 2015, 39). After Lance’s initial disappointment and demotivation upon receiving his results, rather than disengaging and withdrawing from his degree, he used the experiences of his first module as inspiration to spur him on, achieving high 2:1s in his other modules, confirming that failure can indeed lead to success.
Students failing a module should realise that, whilst disappointing, it is not the end of the world and the situation can be redeemed. If undergraduate work achieves a grade of under 40%, there is every likelihood that, like Lance, the student will be offered a resit opportunity by the Exam Board. However, if there are underlying reason(s) impacting on performance (for example, personal illness, family crisis, unanticipated work commitments etc.), students may wish to consider applying for Extenuating Circumstances (EC), ensuring the claim is appropriately evidenced and submitted within the specified timeframe. When EC applications are approved, students are offered what is referred to as a “First Sit” and the work achieves the grade awarded, otherwise a maximum grade of 40% is awarded (though an indication of the ‘merit mark’ will be given).
Academic success involves a number of things including actively taking part and engaging with the course (referred to as “student engagement”), being clear what is required, ensuring work meets the specified criteria in terms of content, layout and approach and effective time management (Cottrell, 2019, 137; Helyer, 2015, 26; McMillan and Weyers, 2012, 46; Price and Maier, 2007, 54). WBDL students have full-time jobs and a range of other commitments (Talbot, 2016, 30), so it is perhaps unsurprising that time to engage in academic study may be in rather short supply. However, just as students make a financial investment in their Degree, so should they fully engage with the module and invest the necessary time and effort in their academic studies. Lack of engagement may mean students do not undertake sufficient research and/or invest insufficient time and effort in their academic studies, leading to low grades or perhaps fail grades.
Another factor to success is self-awareness, which may be enhanced by how failure is handled: a positive approach to failure indicates resilience, demonstrating the courage and strength to endure, the capacity to grow and successfully encounter life’s challenges. Cottrell (2019, 162) defines resilience as “the quality of being able to withstand times of difficulty or change, (allowing you to) cope…or bounce back”. Clearly then, developing resilience skills helps students to manage their academic studies and facilitates recovery when challenges and difficulties are encountered: resilience may even be strengthened by learning how to respond to challenges and setbacks (Gill and Medd, 2015, 108). Whilst it may be easy to consider withdrawal if things have not gone as planned or grades are disappointingly lower than expected, it is important to recognise that almost all students struggle at some point yet, despite what may be extreme and multiple challenges, find ways to complete their academic studies (Cottrell, 2019, 154). Lance did consider withdrawing from his studies, but recognising that this would undoubtedly lead to future regret for missed opportunities, instead used the situation as a positive learning experience. It may be surprising to learn that Lance is not the only WBDL student who said that after his initial disappointment, he was almost pleased he failed the module as he learned so much from the experience. As Lance demonstrated, reflecting on the approach adopted, being positive and recognising that there is an opportunity to learn from the situation really can pave the way for success.
Just as learning takes place from reflecting on what was learned from different situations (Helyer, 2015, 121), so it can also take place from engaging with tutor feedback on draft work to ensure the correct approach is adopted in terms of layout, content and approach. During his resit, Lance made strenuous efforts to engage with the module and ensured learning was demonstrated from constructive tutor feedback on the draft (or formative) assessment, enhancing his work and further developing his academic writing skills. As Lance can verify, doing this offers a potentially valuable learning experience that can really help students as they progress through their academic studies. With this in mind, regardless of the grade awarded, students should review their work and take on board the feedback comments given within the work as well as on the Feedback Summary to have the best possible chance of success (Price and Maier, 2007, 11).
WBDL Tutors are very supportive of students, but can only offer help and support when they know it is needed, so students should keep their Module Tutor, Programme Leader and WBDLadmin informed of situations that may have a detrimental impact on their academic studies (Talbot, 2016, 69). To paraphrase a quote apparently incorrectly attributed to Winston Churchill (Langworth, 2019), failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. Whilst failure can be painful, it can allow great potential to be unlocked, but this may require a change of mindset on failure (Gill and Medd, 2015, 118). Instead of seeing failure as something detrimental to success, see it as a tool for success: something that helps to refine the way forward and allows personal development.
So clearly, failure can indeed lead to success. Almost at the end of his academic studies with just one module to go, Lance recently contacted his Module Tutor, who was delighted to hear how well he is doing:
“Just a quick email to say thank you – since that pep talk you gave me after I failed the first module, I have gone to get 60, 67 and 65 marks in the respective modules. My work has improved so much and getting the marks to now pushing for a 2:1 which is down to yourself and your teaching so I can’t thank you enough as I was on the cusp of quitting. Once again, I cannot thank you enough for your efforts as without I wouldn’t be this close to graduating.”
What more could a tutor ask for?
Reference List:
Cottrell S. (2019) The Study Skills Handbook (5th edition). Red Globe Press: London.
Gill J. and Medd W. (2015) Get sorted: how to make the most of your student experience. Palgrave: London
Helyer R. (2015) The work-based learning student handbook (2nd edition). Palgrave: London.
Langworth R. (2019) Success: what Churchill really said. Available from https://richardlangworth.com/success [accessed 02.08.19]
McMillan K and Weyers J. (2012) The smarter student: skills and strategies for success at university (3rd edition). Pearson: Harlow
Price G. and Maier P. (2007), Effective study skills. Pearson: Harlow.
Talbot C. (2016) Studying at a distance: a guide for students (4th edition). Open University: Maidenhead.