Best practice pedagogy for online and in-person teaching: academics from universities around the world share their advice, insights and experience


Teaching and learning

Standard end-of-semester student evaluations of teaching are widely recognised as flawed. As&nbsp;some universities begin to phase them out, partly because of the&nbsp;potential legal liability they represent, an opportunity has emerged to make tweaks, bring cutting-edge technology onboard and reimagine the process of faculty evaluation.It is not difficult to understand why such a flawed instrument would have been used so widely for so long. Beyond their usefulness as a political instrument, student evaluations are simple and cheap to procure, and they enable easy (if flawed) comparisons. Although change is now under way, most institutions will not follow suit for some time, particularly because alternatives such as peer and portfolio evaluations are not without their own problems.What is wrong with student evaluations?Of course, we might also want to retain student evaluations. The problem is not in the concept of student evaluations itself but rather how the information is elicited and used. Universities typically neglect to train students on how to do evaluations, then poll them at the end of the semester in a way that often encourages frustration venting and is of little value to either faculty or students themselves. This leads to poor outcomes for everyone: faculty work is misevaluated, administrators are compelled to act on bad information, and students miss out on benefits from improvements to the quality of instruction.&nbsp;Resource collection: AI transformers like ChatGPT are here to stayGive educators the skills to bring assessment into the futureCut down your marking time by using whole-class feedbackArguably, we need a better way of doing student evaluations. However, to have any hope of wide adoption, this new method would have to be equally simple and convenient while curtailing problems and improving outcomes.Elicit a different kind of evaluation mid-semester&nbsp;If we want student evaluations to provide meaningful, actionable feedback that can result in real-time improvements to the quality of instruction, we must change how and when we conduct them. Rather than ask a series of closed questions about the course and the instructor towards the end of the semester, we should encourage open-ended self-reflection on course experience at mid-semester. This can be achieved via a simple prompt that asks students to reflect on any course expectations they had prior to the semester, as well as their experience of the course and any changes to their knowledge or abilities as a result of having taken the course. Further questions should encourage students to examine their own investment in the course and what areas of the course have worked for them up to that point (or not) and why. Finally, the prompt should invite students to think about whether they would do anything differently if they had to start over, and what those things would be.In my own experimentation with this approach, response rates have been high, students typically respond thoughtfully, and the results are more useful and equally easy to collect anonymously (via an online learning platform such as iLearn or myriad other accessible digital tools). The additional benefit is the opportunity for students to hold themselves accountable and thereby arrive at a more objective evaluation of their course experience, which combines formative and self-assessment.&nbsp;If I obtain this information at mid-semester, I still have time to think about my teaching and introduce changes to try to improve the course.Employ a large language model to process the dataThis type of student evaluation is easy to collect and aggregate into a small corpus, but it is discursive and potentially time-consuming to analyse. AI technology such as the large language models (LLMs), including ChatGPT, however, means this task can be accomplished easily and quickly. All we need to do is upload our corpus of (anonymous or anonymised) student evaluations and write a suitable prompt for analysis. The art of prompt engineering is under development, and what kind of prompt we want ultimately depends on what kind of information and value we want to extract from the evaluations. But prompts are easy to write, test and adapt for specific contexts and purposes, and they can be standardised for use in formal administrative procedures.Generate an executive summary-style reportTo make this method of eliciting and reporting student evaluations of teaching as convenient as the one now in use, the output of automated analysis of student evaluations should be well structured, reasonably concise and easy to peruse. This too is a matter of inclusion of proper instructions in the prompt. Free-to-use LLMs can conduct a variety of objective qualitative and quantitative analyses and produce executive summary-style reports automatically and quickly, although the quality and reliability of analysis, as well as the consistency of output, are better with a paid subscription. Again, in my own experimentation, I have found it useful to generate&nbsp;a one-page executive summary structured around analytical categories that emerged from automated analysis (but this too could be modified according to needs).This process requires careful analysis of institutional needs as well as time for experimentation and testing on the front end. But once the prompts have been formulated and tested, it is straightforward and largely automated. This way of doing student evaluations is also flexible in the sense that it can be used to supplement existing methods or as a replacement for them, by faculty themselves, as part of peer review, or by administrators. Importantly, it retains the students’ voice, while generating better information that helps everyone.Adnan Ajšić is associate professor in the department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Sharjah, UAE.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

With large language models to provide reports and analysis, educators can make use of generative AI to improve the process of student evaluations, writes Adnan Ajšić

AI can help fix student evaluations

Teaching library skills might be&nbsp;ill placed during induction weeks. Rather, evidence suggests that&nbsp;embedding library research and other transferable skills within disciplines supports students’ learning and retention of skills. Using a framework to support embedded library skills teaching in this way is in line with evidence-based practice.&nbsp;Library inductions at the start of a new academic year are&nbsp;also time and staff intensive. As library educators, we want to be consistent with the content we cover with students at all levels, providing our teaching at a point of need.&nbsp;We want to link the library skills students are developing to their subjects, learning outcomes and assessments that need library research skills (such as finding and citing literature).&nbsp;THE podcast: how the university library is an agent of changeTips (from a librarian) for creating assignment promptsOpen access is inevitable – only the ‘how’ remains up for discussionA library research skills framework provides values, standards and skills for students at all levels (and educators) to work towards; it establishes learner expectations and allows for year-on-year development. A framework can offer a structure for up-to-date and consistent skills training for students. It also gives library and academic staff a clear reference for curriculum mapping to highlight priorities and actions across qualifications, and to identify and open conversations around gaps in students’ library skills.How we created our library research skills framework&nbsp;Our&nbsp;library research skills framework describes six areas:&nbsp;Transition skills&nbsp;Online&nbsp;studyFinding information&nbsp;Evaluating informationCiting and referencing&nbsp;Digital literacy.&nbsp;Learners should be supported to develop these skills during their undergraduate or taught postgraduate degree programmes. Our framework&nbsp;describes their expected progression, from being a new undergraduate to final-year student and into employment.Our framework was created after benchmarking other national and international skills frameworks. We asked academic and library colleagues to comment on an initial draft, then incorporated their feedback and piloted the framework with two academic schools. We gathered more feedback from the teaching staff, librarians and students, and incorporated their input into the next iteration. We now have a process to continuously review and develop our framework.&nbsp;How do we use our library research skills framework?&nbsp;Our library research skills framework has been instrumental in helping our librarians to create curriculum maps. Librarians have identified the core or compulsory modules within each programme and mapped the learning outcomes to the skill areas of the framework. This allows our librarians to align their teaching, and learners can understand the link between library research skills and their subjects. As a result, librarians’ teaching is, as a whole, more sustainable and provides better quality support for our students.&nbsp;Ultimately, we want to map out the best path for our learners to acquire library research skills throughout their degrees and into their lives post-qualification. The framework helps us to have&nbsp;conversations with our academics about creating relevant learning outcomes and touch points in their programmes and modules. It includes content, resources and activities pitched at the appropriate level for the learners and which librarians can use in their teaching or academic staff can use independently with their students.&nbsp;What academics, students and librarians say about our framework&nbsp;The University of Southampton’s education and student experience committee has endorsed our new approach to embedded teaching of library research skills. Feedback from academics in our pilots indicates that they fully support our approach.&nbsp;“The library research skills framework is a welcome approach to improving students’ information literacy and awareness of library resources and support…We are keen to move away from overloading students with information during induction and move towards support at the point of need throughout the academic journey,” said a principal teaching fellow for education development in the Southampton Business School.Our librarians have found the framework a helpful tool in combination with curriculum mapping the programmes they teach on.&nbsp;“Curriculum mapping has ensured that I teach the library session at the appropriate time and align it with the learning outcomes of the course. Using the framework enabled me to pitch my training session at the right level, and its flexibility means that I can choose the relevant elements according to the experience of the students,“ said an engagement librarian to the School of Psychology.&nbsp;How to create a library research skills framework&nbsp;To create a library research skills framework at your university, first decide what skills your learners will need as they progress through their courses and once they go on to employment. Benchmark against other comparable frameworks and find out if you can use any in their entirety or adapt one that is appropriately licensed under Creative Commons as your starting point. Get feedback on your framework from your academics, librarians and students to make sure it meets the needs of your learners and allow it to evolve.&nbsp;Our framework is a living, evolving document that incorporates developments our learners encounter in their studies, such as generative artificial intelligence.&nbsp;We review and update it twice a year. We are developing our equity, diversity and inclusivity content, for example, working in collaboration with academics to embed teaching on diversifying sources.&nbsp;We are in the early stages of planning a piece of research to evaluate the impact of our framework.Anna Hvass is&nbsp;head of curriculum engagement; Karen Rolfe, Siân Furmage and Michael Latham are engagement librarians. All are at the University of Southampton.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

A framework to teach library research skills

Embedding library skills within disciplines allows teachers and students to link them to learning outcomes and research requirements. Here, a team of engagement librarians explain how to put a map in place

As educators, we often find ourselves facing challenges that can feel like enduring long winters. From dealing with critical feedback and navigating peer reviews, to contemplating the significance of Rate My Professor scores and setting boundaries for our well-being, these are all elements that can shape our journeys through academia.Set sail on the choppy waters of grant proposals with the 3 Gs approachFour ways to achieve a better work-life balance in academiaHow resetting motivations can help faculty achieve better teaching and well-being during challenging timesThe harshness of winter is like the sometimes unforgiving environment of higher education. We meet moments of self-doubt, criticism and setbacks that can feel like biting winds against our resolve. However, just as winter gives way to the promise of spring, so too can we cultivate resilience and find moments of growth and renewal in our roles as educators.Embrace feedback&nbsp;One of the key aspects of weathering the storm in academia is learning to embrace and navigate feedback effectively. Just as the trees shed their leaves in winter, letting go of what no longer serves them, we too must learn to sift through feedback, separating constructive criticism from mere noise. Instead of viewing feedback as a personal attack, we can reframe it as an opportunity for growth and improvement. By embracing a growth mindset, we allow ourselves to learn and blossom, much like the flowers do in spring.Navigate peer reviewsReading peer reviews can be a task as daunting as traversing icy terrain in the depths of winter. However, by approaching peer reviews head on, with an open mind and a willingness to collaborate, we can turn these experiences into valuable learning opportunities. Constructive feedback from peers can provide fresh perspectives and insights, helping us to refine our teaching methods and scholarly contributions.Don’t let external ratings define youIn the digital age, platforms such as Rate My Professor can sometimes feel like chilly gusts of wind, affecting our confidence and sense of self-worth. While it is essential to consider student feedback and strive for excellence, it is equally vital not to let external ratings define our value as educators. Instead, we can focus on fostering meaningful connections with our students, creating engaging learning experiences and continuously seeking ways to improve our teaching practices.Set boundariesSetting boundaries is another crucial aspect of maintaining resilience and well-being in academia. Just as plants require the right conditions to thrive, we too must set boundaries to protect our time, energy and mental health. Whether it is carving out dedicated time for self-care, prioritising tasks based on importance or learning to say no when necessary, setting boundaries allows us to flourish personally and professionally.Develop rapportAs educators navigating the changing seasons of academia, fostering meaningful connections with our students is paramount. One practical tip for cultivating these connections is to embrace active listening and empathy. By truly listening to our students’ concerns, questions and perspectives, we show that we value their input and care about their academic journeys. Empathy allows us to understand their challenges and motivations, creating a supportive learning environment where students feel seen and heard.Growth mindsetCultivating a growth mindset can significantly affect our approach to teaching and learning. Instead of viewing setbacks or challenges as roadblocks, a growth mindset encourages us to see them as opportunities for learning and development. One way to foster a growth mindset is through continuous self-assessment. By regularly reflecting on our teaching practices, seeking feedback from peers and students, and embracing a willingness to learn and adapt, we model the importance of lifelong learning and resilience for our students.Reap what we sowIn the words of the entrepreneur and author Jim Rohn: “It is the promise of spring that as we sow, so shall we also reap.” Each challenge we overcome, each lesson we learn and each boundary we set contributes to our growth and resilience as educators. Just as spring brings forth new life and possibilities, so too can we find moments of inspiration, connection and transformation in the evolving landscape of higher education.By embracing the promise of spring within ourselves, we can navigate the cold, hard world of academia with resilience, grace and a steadfast commitment to learning and growth.John Sinclair is a part-time faculty member at the MBA programme at CSU Global.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Embrace the promise of spring

Just as the seasons transition from cold, harsh winters to vibrant springs, educators can navigate the challenges of higher education and find moments of growth and inspiration. John Sinclair shows how

In the cold, unforgiving environment of higher education, embrace the promise of spring

Educators have always faced the challenge of how to determine if their students are thinking. Since the 1950s, Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives has been one of the most influential pieces of educational psychology (see Figure 1). However, in an age where teachers may be using AI as tools to assist them in task creation, we need to reconsider how we design teaching for thinking.&nbsp;Large language models (LLMs) and AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini use Bloom’s taxonomy as one of the most significant influences on how critical thinking is defined. In this article, we explore the challenge of integrating AI into teaching, learning and assessment while Bloom’s taxonomy is a significant part of its training model.What is Bloom’s taxonomy?Bloom’s taxonomy, a six-category framework of educational goals, has been highly influential for educators for nearly 70 years because it creates a clear structure for learning, is highly versatile across contexts, and facilitates the creation of critical-thinking activities.&nbsp;

  
      
  
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Figure 1: Original Bloom’s taxonomy from 1956

&nbsp;It’s versatile but is Bloom’s accurate?Criticisms of Bloom’s taxonomy have also been around for more than half a century, and many are well known. One of the major issues is that the taxonomy does not capture the complexity of cognitive skills. It can be seen as inaccurate as cognitive processes interrelate with each other rather than building on each other.&nbsp;To illustrate, let’s look at an “understanding” task (see Figure 2): “Define life.”This is a deceptively complex task. Not only would it require a standard understanding of respiration, response to stimuli and reproduction, but it also merits discussion of more spiritual or existential issues. Ecosystems and stars may fit a definition of life. Any definition will be incomplete and debatable. A student would demonstrate high levels of critical thinking and insight if discussing the foundations of our understanding rather than merely explaining our definitions.

  
      
  
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Figure 2: Krahwohl’s revised edition of Bloom’s taxonomy. Source: Adobe stock photo

&nbsp;The taxonomy has seen revisions over time (notably by David R. Krahwohl in 2002), but these still don’t fully capture the interrelated and interdependent nature of thinking processes. Alternatives such as cognitive web models (as proposed by Peter Ellerton and co-authors from the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project in 2022) argue that cognitive skills often require a host of related skills and tasks (see Figure 3), and this may be more useful in designing for learning objectives.

  
      
  
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Figure 3:&nbsp;The cognitive web model depicts some of the most significant thinking skills and recognises their interrelatedness to one another. Image reproduced with permission from Peter Ellerton

&nbsp;Prompting AI for assistance with teaching thinkingTo illustrate, we prompted ChatGPT to create questions that demand increasing amounts of critical thinking on the following task: “Describe the structure of a cell.” It responded with:Basic understanding: Describe the basic structure of a cell, including its main components.Comparing cell types: Compare and contrast the structures of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, highlighting their key differences and similarities.Specialised cell structures: Explain how the structure of a plant cell differs from that of an animal cell, emphasising the unique organelles found in each type.Cellular functions: How do the various organelles within a eukaryotic cell contribute to its overall function and survival?Cellular adaptations: Analyse how the structure of cells in different organisms reflects their specialised functions and adaptations to their environments. Provide examples.Theoretical cell modifications: If you were to design a hypothetical cell with a specific function, how would you modify its structure to optimise its performance? Explain your reasoning.When asked how&nbsp;it increased the critical thinking, ChatGPT responded that it incorporated elements of Bloom’s taxonomy in designing to promote higher-order thinking, then demonstrated how each question aligned to the taxonomy. Generative AI still “believes” that cognitive skills are hierarchical.This is a problem for educators in two significant ways.&nbsp;First, the questions are wildly inconsistent in their level of difficulty. The sixth question (creating) is so challenging that it’s likely only a biology expert would be able to answer it. This might be addressed through using better prompting practices, but this leads to the second problem.When asking AI for greater levels of critical thinking, it struggles to discern among levels. “Comparing and contrasting” is an “analysis” skill, yet ChatGPT has treated this as an “understanding” skill. We’d likely use both, too, further demonstrating that these skills are interrelated rather than hierarchical.Create AI prompts that widen perspective or engage with ambiguityThe obvious conclusion is that educators need to be careful with their prompting when it comes to using AI as a design tool. More than that, we need to recognise that the AI may create hierarchies (which are potentially inaccurate to boot) whenever prompted for suggestions or during brainstorming.&nbsp;Educators will need to consider the specific cognitive skill they want to teach or assess (when analysing, do they really mean classifying?), along with the qualities of that thinking (do they care about having coherent classifications or broad classifications, for example).Consider prompting AI for activities that require broader perspectives or engage with the ambiguities of the issue. “Create an activity that explores the many ways life can be defined” is going to produce greater variety and complexity than asking it to “add critical thinking or difficulty to this question”. Given that contemporary critical-thinking pedagogy recognises the interrelatedness of thinking skills as well as the different qualities of thinking, it’s essential that we exercise care when designing critical-thinking tasks.Luke Zaphir and Dale Hansen are learning designers in the Institute of Teaching and Learning Innovation at the University of Queensland.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

The trouble with Bloom’s taxonomy in an age of AI

When using large language models to create learning tasks, educators should be careful with their prompts if the LLM relies on Bloom’s taxonomy as a supporting dataset. Luke Zaphir and Dale Hansen break down the issues 

Financial technology, or fintech, is reshaping finance globally, offering new career opportunities for graduates who are tech-savvy and equipped with knowledge of the blockchain ecosystem. Web3 signifies a new internet era, driven by decentralised blockchain systems, holding promise beyond finance and transforming businesses.Many higher education institutions (HEIs) are now introducing entirely new programmes or integrating fintech and Web3 into curricula through new modules.&nbsp;However, the rapid evolution of the blockchain-asset ecosystem poses a challenge in determining whether content is essential or temporary. Scarcity of research expertise also puts pressure on institutional resources and delivery of the new content.&nbsp;In four years of developing and leading the BSc Finance and Financial Technology programme at Southampton Business School, I have introduced numerous new modules and examined many fintech programmes in the UK and abroad. Here are key insights for designing and teaching new modules, along with the challenges to be considered.Begin with technological aspectsWhen developing a new programme or module focused on acquiring knowledge and skills in blockchain-based applications, it’s crucial to prioritise the foundational concepts that students need to grasp. While blockchain’s applications are diverse, understanding the technology itself should be the starting point. The technological aspects of blockchain form the basis for students to effectively navigate this rapidly evolving landscape. Therefore, including foundational modules in programme curricula and within the syllabus of each specific module is imperative.Transforming marketing lectures with AI and simulationsThe what, why and how of data visualisation for higher educationTeaching AI literacy: how to beginOne might argue that technological aspects are evolving rapidly as well. This is true, but many fundamental concepts, such as cryptography, have remained unchanged for many years and should be studied. If students have a strong grasp of the basics, navigating further technological developments becomes easier. Other essential topics include understanding types of consensus mechanisms and the functioning of the Bitcoin protocol. These concepts are indispensable whether integrating blockchain content into a finance or supply chain module or any other discipline.Skills development is crucial for the employability of any graduate. Fintech and Web3 programming skills, big data analytics and advanced financial econometrics are useful modules that can be effectively taught using real-time data. Therefore, adapting to changes should not be an issue if materials are frequently updated, and students will apply the developed skills to many other tasks in the future.Regulatory, ethical and environmental issuesWe have a duty of care for our students. Therefore, despite the excitement surrounding certain aspects of Web3 and fintech content, we should emphasise the ethical use of technology. For instance, cryptocurrencies often experience asset price bubbles and high volatility, so we must educate students about the risks associated with such assets. Educators should draw a clear distinction between investments and gambling, clarifying that the materials covered during the modules are for educational purposes only and they do not advocate for actions or investments in new and largely unregulated assets.Another significant area to consider is regulatory ambiguity and uncertainty. Students should actively learn to navigate the evolving regulatory landscape and stay informed throughout their studies, placements and future employment. Clear acknowledgment of cybercrime, money laundering, fraud and other issues is essential. Consider using a combination of case studies that showcase both the remarkable successes of companies that have adopted blockchain and the major failures. These case studies can offer a more coherent overview of the industry and highlight the main success factors, which often rely on transparency, ethics and regulatory compliance.Tutors should discuss the environmental critique of the proof-of-work consensus mechanism, such as the enormous energy and water consumption of Bitcoin mining, as well as the production of e-waste. We should also consider environmental sustainability when addressing any technological innovations, including blockchain. As educators, we must openly acknowledge the environmental impacts of the innovations we introduce for analysis in the classroom, especially considering students’ increasing concern about climate change.Main tips to consider in teaching fintech and Web3Books are valuable resources, but their content can quickly become outdated. Therefore, supplementing with journal articles and policy reports can help keep pace with changes in fintech and Web3.Organise guest lectures and talks by practitioners. These offer practical insights to enhance classroom learning.Invest in staff, especially in light of the popularity and growth of blockchain research. Empowering existing staff or attracting new colleagues with relevant expertise can significantly improve the delivery of fintech and Web 3 content.Ensure regulatory compliance, promote business ethics and address environmental sustainability in order to maintain educational quality and achieve positive graduate outcomes.Clearly explain and acknowledge the risks associated with new assets such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs and “meme coins” to safeguard students’ financial well-being and mental health.Regularly revise module materials and content. This is good practice for any course, but it’s crucial in the ever-evolving blockchain-asset ecosystem.Larisa Yarovaya is a cryptocurrency scholar, associate professor of finance and the director of the Centre for Digital Finance at Southampton Business School, University of Southampton.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Teaching fintech and Web 3 content in university curricula

In bringing financial technology and cryptocurrency into university courses, educators must cover regulatory uncertainty, cybercrime risks and asset bubbles while keeping up with developments. Larisa Yarovaya provides insights

How to incorporate fintech and Web3 into university curricula

At a time when questions are being raised about the benefits of studying creative arts subjects at university, embedding meaningful, real-world experiences within the programme design arguably adds more value than ever. The outcome can be transformative for students, while also fostering strong relationships with industry – enhancing employability skills and raising the profile of both the programme and the institution.Yes, work-related learning modules provide similar inroads to link students with employment prospects and facilitate the application of theoretical concepts to practical settings. But there is scope, I&nbsp;believe, to integrate much more of these authentic practices to modules that are not typically placement-based. Co-creation with students decentres traditional delivery – and might do so in such a&nbsp;way that it propels student engagement, all the while motivating students to consider their practice as a powerful set of skills, capable of creating real change in a troubled world.For example, let’s imagine that a module’s week three and four are scheduled to be delivered off-campus – indeed, “on site” – at a place of business, perhaps a charity or a social enterprise. Imagine, too, what this can offer to the overall student experience. Instead of attending each week in the usual campus lab or lecture theatre, they are catapulted into live situations, dealing with real people and immersing themselves in authentic practice.The world isn’t sorted into modules, nor should authentic learning beEmbrace the chaos of real-world learning experiencesBeyond the classroom: why experiential learning is crucial in today’s worldFrom my observations, short bursts of this practice, partnered with classroom-based contextualisation and engaging students in personal critical reflection, can produce remarkable outcomes. These outcomes symbolise how quickly students develop awareness of professional practice through their engagement with considered, real-world scenarios.Students’ critical reflective commentaries, which formed part of their assessment, also highlighted the extent to which they embraced challenges and how they found new ways to meaningfully apply, in this case, their music-making skill sets. A clear shift was apparent in students’ self-confidence and attitudes. They went from being completely daunted by the tasks at hand to feeling great pride in their achievements when the work reached completion.Help your students give backAn example of this occurred in 2022, when I&nbsp;had the privilege of meeting one of trustees of The River Garden, Margaret Gibson. The River Garden is a residential location in Auchincruive – close to University of the West of Scotland’s Ayr Campus – created for people in recovery from drugs and alcohol addiction. Residents and volunteers care for the grounds, harvesting produce from the land and using that produce in their on-site publicly accessible cafe, The Bothy. All proceeds from the cafe go back into the trust to support the residents’ facilities and care. I&nbsp;was immediately inspired by the people and the charity’s ethos to positively transform lives – recognising residents’ talents and developing skills that gave them meaning and purpose.When I met with Gibson and a fellow trustee, Ronnie Greenwood, we quickly established a working relationship to consider how music students at UWS could use and improve their practical skill sets, while offering a music workshop to their residents. This required preparatory work with students such as simulations, planning sessions, risk assessing and a walk round the River Garden venue, conducting a meet-and-greet with the residents – all of which focused on relationship building. MA&nbsp;Music students heard stories of the residents’ addiction journeys and discussed what musical activities they were most interested in. Students became teachers in these moments.Let’s nurture the benefits of real-world experiencesFor modules with integrated work placements, there is no denying that nurturing relationships with key industry partners and community organisations offer excellent inroads to employment for students. But it need not stop there. When considering how programmes in higher education create impact, we need look no further than the benefits that the creative arts bring to people’s well-being. These benefits also extend to younger people’s attainment in subjects such as maths and English and to the economy – all of which are well documented. To nurture these fruits of labour, we must ensure that students of university-based creative programmes are not too guided to make a real difference in our changing world.Music is a universal language. It can bring people together and do so much more than simply entertain. It can tell stories. It can be a vehicle to break down social barriers. It can heal. Similarly, we can look at a multitude of creative industries courses and consider how to harness their qualities in cultivating worthwhile partnerships.In higher education, we have a responsibility to mould our students into community-minded citizens. Let’s create a time and space to connect students with real people and real problems in their learning journey at university and provide a platform where they can deploy and develop their skills.If an approach like this is taken – and deemed feasible – universities have the opportunity to strengthen links with community organisations and other partners, align agendas and create meaningful outcomes. Identifying local community groups or industry organisations with common goals will serve to enrich both the student and the wider community culture. It has the power to positively transform lives, create impact and provide a truly engaging student experience.Clare Duffin is a programme leader for MA&nbsp;Music at the University of the West of Scotland.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Enhance creative arts programmes with real-world experiences

Integrating real-world experiences into creative industries programmes can create truly meaningful results – for both the students and the wider community. Clare Duffin outlines how

Real-world experiences can help your creative arts students create real-world change

The UK’s Office for Students (OfS) announced in February that assessments were complete for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023 exercise and they have published the final outcomes.For TEF 2023, the University of Bath was awarded triple gold – for student experience, student outcomes and overall. Our provider submission, student submission and TEF panel summary statement can be found here.As project sponsor and project lead for our TEF provider submission, we worked closely with colleagues across the university to produce a compelling, evidence-based narrative. Our approach to TEF included:Reflecting on our founding principles and current strategyCollaborating and co-creating with studentsWriting an honest and aspirational definition of educational gain.Here, we would like to share key elements that contributed to our success.Founding principles and current strategyWhen composing our submission, three important source documents were our&nbsp;founding principles,&nbsp;which underpin our emphasis on practical “real world” experiential learning, our&nbsp;vision for education, which articulates our aspirations for the contribution of our graduates in the future, and our&nbsp;University Strategy 2021-26 , one pillar of which supports excellence in education.&nbsp;How our Study Together programme promotes belonging and improves well-beingWelcome aboard! Tips for building an online community of learnersNudge your way up the NSS ladderThis strategy also states the key performance indicators that were chosen in 2021 as a&nbsp;measurement of success, which then provided part of the evidence base for evaluation and demonstration of educational gains, assured by their scrutiny at Senate and Council.Key advice&nbsp;If you are approaching the end of your current strategy, put in place now the metrics that you think will be important and work this backwards from your vision of where you want to be.Collaborate and co-create with students&nbsp;Our students’ union (SU) wrote an independent TEF student submission. Bath’s SU representatives were part of our internal data workshops, Bath’s SU education officer was a member of the provider submission task-and-finish group, and drafts of the provider submission were shared with the SU throughout the drafting process and prior to submitting.This collaboration on the TEF project was underpinned by a genuine working relationship. We have heard from a TEF student panellist that it was easy to spot those submissions where the working relationship was valued by both sides outside the TEF exercise.&nbsp;We had no input into our SU’s student submission, but the views expressed were not a surprise to us as they form part of an ongoing conversation as to how to enhance education at Bath. As noted in our provider submission,&nbsp;our students are our most important critics, and their feedback is paramount when forming our academic policy and educational development.Key advice&nbsp;Develop a mutually respectful collaborative working relationship with your SU and facilitate student involvement in the provider submission from the beginning.&nbsp;Defining educational gainWe wanted to distil the purpose and value of higher education into our definition of educational gain and to differentiate it from a generic offering that could apply to any university, and to bring the distinctive aspects of Bath’s educational offering to the fore.&nbsp;We wanted to articulate a definition that would reflect our priorities as an institution and which would explain the ethos behind the data to prospective students. We feel that we achieved this.&nbsp;Co-creation of our definition&nbsp;of educational gain with our SU was key. A shared understanding and common goal between students and staff allow the university to assess itself and the students to hold us to account.Key advice&nbsp;Triangulate your knowledge of your students with your founding principles and current strategy to describe the trajectory that will evidence educational gain.Our TEF journey 2017 to 2023We entered the&nbsp;2023 TEF exercise holding a gold award from 2017. We were keen to retain this award because we believe that education at Bath genuinely is excellent.Happily,&nbsp;the TEF panel assessed us as being outstanding for 12 of the 13 features of excellence, including all three relating to educational gain. This consistency validates Bath’s “whole-institution” approach; it means that the award is robust and it gives confidence to students that Bath could be the right choice for them.&nbsp;While at Bath we undoubtedly had a strong data set, the indicators could&nbsp;“contribute no more than half of the evidence of excellence. The provider submission will need to provide evidence of excellence that is additional to the TEF indicators, for the panel to be able to identify a range of very high quality or outstanding features across each aspect.” Our provider submission was a labour of love to represent our educational offer fairly and accurately.Emily Pollinger is education policy and programmes manager and Julian Chaudhuri is pro-vice-chancellor (education and global), both at the University of Bath.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Teaching excellence rests on clear principles and agile strategy, collaboration with students and a frank approach to educational gain, write Emily Pollinger and Julian Chaudhuri. Here, they share tips for maintaining and evidencing success

Going for gold: how to craft a winning TEF submission

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is widely used to measure the quality of teaching, and often controversially, for teacher recruitment, promotion and tenure. Institution-led SET is largely quantitative and increasingly carried out via online surveys. This approach systematises the collection and analysis of data but also disconnects evaluation from the day-to-day interaction between students and their teachers that can help to explain, contextualise or prompt action in response to feedback. This may limit the feedback’s ability to improve teaching.&nbsp;Using SET to prompt student reflection and discussion about their learning is less common. Yet, if used purposefully to evaluate learning as well as teaching, SET can deepen student understanding of their learning environment and develop self-awareness and regulation of their learning processes.Evaluate early to set expectations for effective learningConducting surveys at the end of a session or module is typical, but at this point, it is often too late to help the students who have provided feedback because it cannot be acted upon retrospectively. Formative evaluation during teaching is critical. However, SET should not be used to just identify and head off problems. Well-chosen questions can initiate early discussion about student expectations, awareness of their learning processes and goal setting. Ask students to rate their confidence in completing typical tasks that will be used in the session or module (such as independent pre-reading, taking notes in a lecture, group work, conducting an experiment or accessing resources) to initiate reflection on the learning activities. The following questions can help students preview the session or module in advance and plan their approaches to their learning:What are the teaching objectives and how do they relate to your own goals for this session or module?What are the learning strategies you need to use?How will you organise your time or prioritise tasks to achieve your goals?How will you help your peers learn during this session or module?Use SET to promote student self-evaluationDeveloping students’ ability to self-assess their learning is often a neglected outcome of SET. A well-timed SET can act as a metacognitive pause during teaching to help students stop and reflect on what they and others are doing that is either helping or hindering their learning. The following questions can prompt students to monitor their learning:&nbsp;What did you already know, want to know and learn in this session or module so far?How well have we achieved the session or module objectives so far and why?What questions are arising for you and what aspects are challenging or confusing?What can the teacher, you and your peers do differently to improve your learning in the session or module?Prepare students to give high-quality feedbackSET can be ineffective if students don’t know how to give meaningful feedback. Students may provide incomplete, inappropriate or general comments that are difficult to interpret or respond to. Alternatively, student evaluation may focus disproportionately on aspects of their experience that are irrelevant to the quality of teaching. SET has been widely criticised, for example, for its lack of fairness reflecting teacher popularity, preferential grading practices of individual teachers or bias against certain demographic groups.&nbsp;Knowing how to provide high-quality feedback, however, is an essential outcome for graduates. So, before introducing SET, teach students the principles of good feedback: be specific, focus on observable examples and suggest solutions to close the gap between their expectations and current experience. Collaborative discussions help students to reflect and calibrate their experiences with peers.&nbsp;Resource collection: How to make your teaching more interestingSeven steps to make an effective course quality evaluation instrumentScales, stars and numbers: the question of evaluationBefore completing SET, snowball an evaluation discussion from individuals to pairs to groups of four and at each stage ask students to up-vote and prioritise their most important shared feedback issues and add more information to improve the quality of information that the feedback provides. Be alert though to the possibility that reaching a consensus as a group on what is working and what should change can silence some outlier views. Make sure you also pause to revisit feedback that has not been prioritised through this process and consider all viewpoints even if they are not necessarily shared by the majority.Get creative and inclusiveSurvey fatigue is often cited as a reason for the lack of student engagement with SET. Creative evaluation methods not only have the novelty factor to increase engagement but also give students the space for reflection and for making unexpected connections between ideas. They can also be more inclusive, offering alternative ways to represent perspectives, experiences and feelings as well as encouraging diverse and personalised views that may be difficult to express in standard SET surveys. Visual and multimedia evaluation methods such as drawing, collaging or digital storytelling their module learning journey, taking photographs or choosing artefacts to represent a learning experience all provide opportunities to share and discuss the pleasure, fear, curiosity or frustrations of learning experiences with peers and teachers.As teachers, we need to reconnect with the role of evaluation for improvement, not only in our own practice but also in how our students learn. Effective SET, then, is the start, not the end, of a conversation about student learning.Saranne Weller is a reader in higher education practice and development at St George’s, University of London.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Effective SET is the start, not the end, of a conversation about student learning, writes Saranne Weller

How to use student evaluation of teaching to improve learning

In higher education, the demand for robust assessment systems has never been higher. We recently conducted a one-week graduate-level course on classic test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT) for STEM experts. CTT is a conventional statistical framework. It underpins conventional student testing that assists test developers to judge the general quality and their tests and questions. IRT is a more modern statistical framework, which enables test developers to implement cutting-edge and highly reliable assessment systems to monitor student progress.&nbsp;Here’s how we designed and delivered the course using an innovative approach, how we used practical examples, group work and visualisations and how we addressed the risk of committing ecological and atomistic fallacies when examining patterns in data, using a multi-level modelling component.Think about your course structureThe course began with an exploration of classical test theory, providing a solid foundation for understanding the basics of test construction, reliability and validity, allowing participants to grasp fundamental concepts before delving into the more advanced aspects of assessment theory.Questions to test students’ understanding of research methodsFour steps for integrating generative AI in learning and teachingChatGPT and generative AI: 25 applications in teaching and assessmentWe then transitioned to item response theory, introducing a modern approach to examining and scoring test results. Using practical examples involving real-world data, we made the theoretical concepts more tangible and equipped participants with practical skills in applying IRT to diverse assessment scenarios.&nbsp;Offer innovative pedagogical techniquesTo enhance engagement and facilitate deeper learning, the course relied on innovative pedagogical techniques. Group work was a central component, providing participants with opportunities to collaboratively analyse and solve assessment challenges. This fostered teamwork and encouraged healthy debate between those with different perspectives and experiences.&nbsp;Use visualisations to teach complex conceptsGraphical representations of test characteristics, such as item characteristic curves and test information functions, enabled participants to visualise the underlying mathematics of the paradigm. This approach, combining theory with practical application, resonated well with the STEM experts, who often find visualisations to be powerful aids in understanding abstract concepts.Extend the learning horizonBy introducing Rasch modelling, a popular approach for IRT, we gave participants the ability to identify students’ zones of proximal development, providing a nuanced understanding of individual learning trajectories. This approach transcends traditional assessments by offering insights into students’ potential growth areas, enabling educators to tailor interventions and support more effectively.Addressing ecological and atomistic fallaciesIn the final multi-level modelling component of the course, the focus shifted towards addressing ecological and atomistic fallacies. The tendency for educators to make ecological fallacies, which involves incorrectly making inferences about individuals based on group-level data, was discerned and countered through the exploration of multi-level modelling techniques.&nbsp;Similarly, the atomistic fallacy, which involves incorrectly making inferences about groups based on individual-level data, was challenged using the same modelling approach. We guided participants through the intricacies of multi-level models by combining formula with data frames and spreadsheets, allowing them to comprehend the complexities of aggregating and disaggregating data at different levels of analysis.What real-world applications can your technology offer?Throughout the course, we chose to integrate real-world examples and case studies to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Participants were encouraged to apply CTT and IRT principles to their own assessment scenarios and own real-world student selection exam data, giving them a sense of ownership and relevance. This enhanced their understanding and equipped them with the tools to implement changes in educational settings.Consider the societal implicationsThe course delved into the broader societal implications of advanced standardised assessments. Recognising the need for trust between citizens and governments, particularly in the context of education, participants explored the role of sophisticated assessment systems in building transparency and accountability.&nbsp;Assessments not only ensure a fair and accurate representation of students’ capabilities but also contribute to fostering public trust in the education system, aligning educational outcomes with societal expectations.This course on classical and modern test theory transcended traditional teaching methods to offer an engaging learning experience. The pedagogical techniques we incorporated provided a comprehensive foundation of skills and knowledge for developing and implementing assessment systems.As the demand for state-of-the-art assessment systems continues to grow in schools and institutes of higher education, initiatives like these serve as beacons of innovation, guiding educators towards a future where assessments are not just tests but powerful tools for enhancing learning outcomes.Matthew Courtney is the head of institutional research &amp; analytics at the Office of the Provost at Nazarbayev University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Give educators the tools to bring assessment into the future

How can academics get to grips with the most cutting-edge of assessment tools? Matthew Courtney details how to educate STEM experts on modern assessment systems

Give educators the skills to bring assessment into the future

Creating a thriving online learning community can combat social isolation and enhance engagement with course content, instructors and peers. Such an environment can increase student satisfaction and academic success, making it a crucial element in modern higher education. Unlike traditional communities that naturally form on campus through casual encounters, the online environment demands deliberate effort because of its structured nature. We have to consider tools and obstacles specific to the digital landscape.Our experience showed that establishing an online learning community was integral to the success of a mass online, self-paced and adaptive bridging course, designed for newly matriculated students. Recognising the voluntary nature of the course and the students’ newness to the university, we aimed to foster a supportive community to enhance their learning experience. The objective was to instil a sense of belonging, encourage social bonds among peers and boost motivation to complete the online course in preparation for the upcoming academic year.Three ways technology can make your classrooms more inclusiveEntice students back to the classroom with community quizzesHow to develop and nurture a learning communityOne key distinction between physical and online learning environments is the absence of spontaneous conversations. In traditional settings, students can chat when moving between classes or waiting in shared spaces. But the online setting lacks these chances for impromptu interactions. Instead, &nbsp;it offers the advantage of persistent information, enabling students and instructors to engage asynchronously, transcending physical constraints.To ensure active engagement, we had to demonstrate clear value for participants and design situations that encouraged both synchronous and asynchronous communication. The course staff curated a repository of useful information, scheduled for periodic release on the community noticeboard. Senior students were enlisted to facilitate live consultation sessions, allowing juniors to seek clarifications about course content while also engaging in informal conversations with their peers.Lucky draws were conducted among students who contributed positively, whether by answering the queries of others, participating in discussions or reporting issues within the online system. Sharing “fun facts” related to the course content and acknowledging top contributors with weekly prizes further stimulated a sense of participation among students. While incorporating these practices into the online course was a relatively new idea, the feedback from students has been very positive. Students reported that the community space played a significant role in their course progress.Here’s how we went about creating our online community space:Define clear objectives: Clearly outline the purpose and objectives of the online community. This could include fostering collaboration, providing academic support and promoting a sense of belonging.Encourage active participation: Implement strategies to encourage students to actively participate, such as rewarding contributions, recognising achievements and fostering camaraderie.Return on investment: Curate and share useful tips related to the course, or other information in which students find value. This not only enhances the learning experience but also encourages students to return to the community and engage by getting involved in conversations.Facilitate peer-to-peer interaction: Create opportunities for peer-to-peer interaction, as learning from and supporting each other enhances the overall educational experience. This can be achieved by acknowledging helpful behaviour and rewarding contributors.Incorporate fun elements: Where appropriate, inject a bit of fun into the community with light-hearted videos related to the content, challenges or informal sharing about each other’s hobbies and pastimes. This helps to create a positive and engaging atmosphere, fostering a sense of community.Use student leaders: Recruit experienced students as tutors or guides. They can help facilitate discussions, answer questions and share their insights, creating a more dynamic,&nbsp;informal and supportive environment.Respond to queries:&nbsp;Ensure that students receive a timely response for important questions related to the course, and have access to the necessary resources and support systems. This could involve dedicated staff or resources for technical assistance, academic advising and administrative matters.Recognition and rewards: Acknowledge and reward active contributors to the community. This can be through shout-outs, vouchers or even words of encouragement to motivate continued engagement.Feedback matters: Regularly seek feedback from community members to understand their needs and preferences. Use this information to continuously improve and adapt your community-building strategies.Evolve and adapt: The online learning landscape is dynamic. Be prepared to evolve and adapt your community strategies based on changing needs, technological advancements and feedback from participants.By considering these approaches, educators can create a vibrant online learning community that enhances student engagement, satisfaction and success. Building a sense of community in the digital space requires effort, but the benefits in terms of student support and overall learning outcomes are well worth&nbsp;it.Karin Avnit is associate professor in the Infocomm Technology cluster and deputy director of STLA, and&nbsp;Prasad Iyer is senior educational developer, both at Singapore Institute of Technology.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Tips for building an online community of learners

Building an online learning community can help students form social bonds and boost their motivation, but requires specific efforts to be successful. Karin Avnit and Prasad Iyer show us how

Welcome aboard! Tips for building an online community of learners

Students and staff frequently voice their dissatisfaction with&nbsp;assessment feedback. The common complaint is that students do not engage with nor act on it. They can often see it as more critical than constructive. Learning as a transaction frequently produces a passive attitude to feedback, with students expecting to be “told” what to do to achieve a high grade.&nbsp;At the University of Auckland, we wanted students to take responsibility for developing their knowledge, skills and critical thinking, so we introduced a continuous reflective journal task into a postgraduate information systems course.&nbsp;The aim was to offer students a way to dissect, reflect on and understand feedback so that they could identify areas for improvement. To facilitate this,&nbsp;we encouraged students to provide evidence of their evolving thought processes and details on how they acted on the feedback and found meaning in their learning experiences. The journal was linked to standard assignments and peer review features accessible via Canvas, the University’s teaching and learning portal.&nbsp;We wanted to create a shared and transparent process that students and staff trusted, to shift the common framing of students as consumers and instead empower them to take an active role in their learning.&nbsp;We designed a set of in-classroom activities to facilitate students’ understanding of our assessment:A series of discussions and interactive sessions focused on reflective writingRubric interpretation&nbsp;Giving and receiving feedback.&nbsp;In these sessions, we held group discussions to create and clarify a shared understanding of the reflective writing assessment and its rubrics. We&nbsp;scaffolded students’ understanding of feedback and their role in constructing and writing peer feedback. We distilled the work from the sessions into a set of resources, namely rubric interpretation, reflective writing and appropriate methods of giving and receiving feedback materials that were stored and available on canvas, to help students develop constructive feedback language.&nbsp;For staff, we followed the notion that students learn best when they receive feedback quickly and frequently and recognised that the class size made returning feedback within a specific timeframe challenging.&nbsp;We therefore leveraged existing electronic tools such as Turnitin e-rater and Grammarly to provide feedback. We involved students in designing rubrics within Canvas to enable automatic marking and facilitate detailed feedback that could be processed quickly. Finally, we leveraged peer-marking rubrics in Canvas to enable peer-to-peer marking.&nbsp;Thus, a student would receive four different types of feedback for each piece of work.&nbsp;Resources on teaching and learning in higher educationLet’s talk: how to connect with your students in a blended learning environmentEncouraging effective teamwork in the classroomAfter the trial, we wanted to find out if the task did improve learning. We collected a wide range of data, including students’ background information, GPA, language competency and attitude before the intervention. Then we reviewed their performance data at different periods in the semester and looked at individual feedback and their journals. We then invited students to focus groups. From informal and formal feedback, we found students engaged well with reflective journals. Students told us that their expectations and effort highly influenced their response to feedback. They were able to demonstrate a deeper understanding of recurring themes that impeded their learning. This encouraged them to spend more time on self-reflection and self-evaluation.Students appreciated the nuanced feedback and said the process revealed the importance of understanding and acting on it. They also appreciated the availability of instructors to provide clarification. They tended to prefer the individualised feedback and felt it was more useful than generic rubric marking.For teaching staff, the reflective journal task created opportunities to identify, understand and address weaknesses in current feedback processes, which can and do reduce student engagement. Staff learned how to create a trusting atmosphere and use an appropriate tone when providing feedback.&nbsp;Our three key takeaways are:Students interpret marking rubrics in different ways. More work is needed to develop a common understanding of how marking works. Upon reflection of the assessment and its activities, we chose to separate activities into different classes, over two weeks.&nbsp;The reflective journals enhanced students’ self-regulation and performance over time.Better automation using readily available digital tools would help to reduce increased staff workload. We are reviewing the mechanisms available to us through our learning management system and its available plug-in tools.In the meantime, we continue to use the reflective journals and improve the model.Lesley Gardner is an associate professor and&nbsp;Udayangi Muthupoltotage is a lecturer&nbsp;at the University of Auckland Business School.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Fostering critical thinking with reflective journals

Timely, frequent and constructive feedback has a powerful influence on student achievement. However, its impact on higher education students is hotly debated and often highly variable 

Neurodivergent students face barriers when accessing higher education, including negative attitudes of faculty members, lack of assistive technology, traditional teaching methods and inflexible curricula. All these factors can compromise academic and social development, as well as participation.Neurodiversity, an umbrella term for neurological differences as a result of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia and many other conditions, describes a natural variation of the human brain rather than a deficiency.&nbsp;Talking about neurodiversity in academiaOf course, we want to talk about neurodivergent people with respectful language. But sometimes, opting for “identity-first” or “person-first” language can be difficult. Although professionals and textbooks may prefer to use person-first language, such as “individual with autism”, the person in question may be likely to be referred to as “identity-first”, such as “autistic person”.&nbsp;On the neurodivergent campus, language mattersFive steps to support autistic students on their higher education journeyWhat universities can do to support their autistic employeesAvoid language that implies judgement or value, such as describing neurodivergent traits as problems. Instead, we should focus on accommodating the needs of neurodivergent students.Although neurological differences are now recognised as natural human variations, higher education’s service delivery level still operates as if they are a deficiency. Neurodivergent students can start university education with a negative perspective shaped by their past experiences. Universities must be proactive and provide reasonable accommodations for these students based on their preferences. &nbsp;In higher education, students should feel empowered to voice their opinions and request the support they need to achieve their full potential.Consider alternative examinationsWe should encourage higher education institutions to adopt inclusive pedagogies and universal design for learning, along with flexible and multiple assessment formats. Social interactions and a sense of belonging are crucial for learning.&nbsp;Unfortunately, faculty members can have a negative attitude towards training on issues related to neurodiversity and accommodating students. Reflect critically on your teaching practices – are they built from neuro-normative perspectives?&nbsp;Offer alternatives to traditional assessment methods. These can include:Project-based: Projects are designed around questions or problems that guide students towards understanding the core principles of a discipline.&nbsp;Portfolio assessments:&nbsp;Students are encouraged to collect their work over a period of time to showcase their progress, skills and potential in a specific subject or area.&nbsp;Oral presentations: Oral presentations are a great way of equitably offering an alternative to the written examination. They allow students to demonstrate knowledge without the pressure of written expression. However, instructors must collaborate with students and provide clear guidelines and expectations.Open-book exams:&nbsp;In this type of assessment, students are permitted to use resources such as notes, textbooks and sometimes other approved materials during the exam. They focus on students’ ability to analyse information, preparing them for real-world problem-solving where resources are often accessible.&nbsp;Flexible testing: Students have the choice to select multiple assessment strategies to demonstrate their knowledge, such as the format of the assessment, timing or location. This approach can reduce anxiety, accommodate diverse learning styles, and promote deeper understanding by focusing on applying knowledge.&nbsp;Alternative environments: An alternative climate aims to create a barrier-free learning environment that promotes broader participation, engagement and an individualised approach. Alternative environments often embrace hands-on learning and student-centred instruction.Practical examinations:&nbsp;They can be excellent assessment tools for students with neurodiversity, offering a chance to demonstrate knowledge through hands-on application and bypass challenges associated with written exams or traditional testing formats. Offer clear instructions, break down tasks into manageable steps and consider the possibility of providing alternative demonstration methods for students who might need them.Customised rubrics: These are scoring guides tailored to specific assignments or projects. They offer clear expectations for students, make grading more transparent and provide a framework for targeted feedback. It is important to highlight that customised rubrics need to be aligned with learning objectives.&nbsp;Self-assessment:&nbsp;Students are encouraged to evaluate their own work and understanding actively. They compare their work with clear goals and standards, identifying strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. This process promotes student ownership of learning, critical thinking skills and increased motivation.Most importantly, consult students to find out what they need and the accommodations they might require in the examination process.Start from the top downWe need university leadership that recognises neurodiversity and promotes inclusive initiatives to ensure neurodivergent students participate from the admissions process onwards.&nbsp;Foster a holistic approach to admissions, with outreach to neurodivergent communities. Make it accessible and non-discriminatory, with flexible application requirements. Ensure it’s run by trained admissions staff and features accessible communication channels, precise information, individualised counselling and feedback mechanisms.Collaborate with disability support services, creating opportunities for peer support, awareness training and empowerment seminars. Offer students tailored transition programmes, specialised career services and continuous feedback for improvement. Creating an inclusive environment in this way will enrich the educational experience for all students and help everyone embrace and celebrate neurodiversity.&nbsp;Sourav Mukhopadhyay is an associate professor at the Graduate School of Education at Nazarbayev University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered directly to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Break down the barriers neurodivergent people face in HE

How can we help neurodivergent students participate and thrive? Sourav Mukhopadhyay offers advice on making your classroom an inclusive environment for them

Let’s break down the barriers blocking neurodivergent people from higher education

Higher&nbsp;education institutions&nbsp;ought to be an ideal context for neurodivergent flourishing. Post-secondary school learning should, in theory, increase independence, autonomy and flexibility for learners, especially in terms of routine. They’re able to follow their passions, choose their own learning patterns and establish new peer groups with shared interests, all in a safe space. However, we know there are also many barriers that can prevent neurodivergent students thriving at university.Neurodivergent individuals can experience high levels of anxiety when it comes to sharing their differences, especially within systems that tend to highlight their deficits and place responsibility on the student to obtain support. This is a big barrier, especially when educators use more traditional approaches to assessment, such as examinations and essays, rather than authentic assessments.Supporting students who stammer in higher educationA tailored onboarding programme can help set neurodivergent students up for successWhat universities can do to support their autistic employeesPedagogical practices that are not designed for cognitive diversity can prevent students developing a sense of competence and belonging. Some neurodivergent students may require more support to navigate the move from home to university, or more guidance with extracurricular aspects of campus life and the transition from post-secondary education to the workplace. However, such support is not universally available –&nbsp;or left to the student to find it.&nbsp;These barriers can prove overwhelming and impact well-being and graduate outcomes.&nbsp;Studies have found that fewer than 40 per cent&nbsp;of university students with autism complete their courses and they are 10 times more likely to drop out of higher education.&nbsp;Create an inclusive learning environmentUnfortunately, neurodivergent students are often excluded because of the nature of the standard curriculum. Lengthy lectures and dense online content can make it difficult to engage, as opposed to encouraging discussions or tasks that will give students a break from staring at the screen.&nbsp;Reviewing assessments is key too, and universities can offer personalised assessments based on the student’s interest in a particular topic area. This will allow students to be actively involved in the assessment process. Help them to learn more about assessment tasks and understand the importance of these for their own learning&nbsp;– asking students to write their own assessment questions can be a gamechanger.Ambiguity can be particularly problematic here. To tackle this, assessments can be designed to require students to apply their knowledge to contemporary real-world scenarios or problems. There should also be clarity in terms of assignment details, deadlines and expectations.Flexible learning is vital. We can learn from a&nbsp;recent study in the US, which revealed that 79 per cent&nbsp;of neurodivergent workers prefer to control their schedules, with certain adjustments – such as working from home – making respondents feel they are more likely to succeed. Higher education can learn from this, offering classes at alternative times and providing ways of accessing materials for those who might be unable to attend physical lectures or seminars.However, diverting from traditional teaching can be daunting for higher education institutions, and it is important that lecturers also get the support they need. I would always recommend having a peer mentoring programme that can guide staff, so they can find solutions to their students’&nbsp;needs. Remember: we shouldn’t rely on students to vocalise their issues. If we notice them as educators, it is our responsibility to offer support. I’d advise teachers to undertake any course or training they can to fully understand the challenges neurodiverse students may face. At Arden University, we offer&nbsp;a PGCert in neurodiversity, which provides the knowledge and skills to understand neurodiversity and support people in both professional and personal settings.Prevent sensory overloadOn top of educational pressures, the traditional learning environment can be overstimulating for those with neurodiverse conditions. As such, consider the use of lighting, sound and space, as well as the content and pace of classes. Be mindful of the diversity of needs throughout.Teaching materials should be prepared with the same level of consideration. For instance, when preparing teaching materials, academics should be mindful of the background colour, the font used (such as sans serif, which has distinctive letterforms and defined characters) and avoid large blocks of text.Technology can really help. For neurodivergent individuals who experience sensory overload, using noise-cancelling headphones, colour-coded calendars or apps that help with time management and organisation can be helpful.&nbsp;Some individuals may also learn best with their eyes closed or while they’re doing something else, such as doodling, because this can help keep them focused and prevent zoning out, a common symptom of many neurodiverse conditions. As educators, it’s down to us to help our students find the tools that help them, rather than dictating a specific method of learning.&nbsp;Fear of being stigmatised worsens the divide between what is needed and what is available to ensure neurodivergent students’&nbsp;success in higher education.&nbsp;While neurodivergent students may have specific needs, the support provided within education should be applicable to all students, so that we are designing education for all and support for all.&nbsp;This will help all students feel part of a collaborative learning community, where difference is seen as a strength.Gail Steptoe-Warren is head of the School of Psychology at Arden University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Make your teaching inclusive for neurodivergent students 

With an estimated one-fifth of the global population thought to be neurodivergent, more students than ever will need help to thrive at university. Gail Steptoe-Warren discusses how to make higher education more neurodivergent-friendly 

How can we make the university experience more inclusive for neurodivergent students?

For many performers, stage fright is their greatest fear. It can strike unexpectedly, making even the idea of setting foot on a&nbsp;stage in a&nbsp;packed theatre about as appealing as a dive into shark-infested waters.Here’s the thing: “stage fright” is a misleading term. It’s not confined to the stage, and it can affect any of us at any given moment. You might not consider yourself a performer, but make no&nbsp;mistake – you absolutely are. We all perform on a daily basis. This could be on a small scale, in adapting our behaviour to match our company, or on a larger scale, like when delivering a presentation, pitch or lecture.Advice for lecturers on how to keep students’ attentionThe rise and rise of the lecture-tainerBuild your teaching presence to better engage studentsFor academics, we want to look at larger scale “performance” – public speaking. As BA&nbsp;Performance lecturers, we can share techniques and approaches from the world of theatre to help overcome any anxiety you might feel ahead of your next performance.Don’t underestimate the value of a vocal warm-upA vocal warm-up stretches your vocal chords and prepares your voice to be as strong as it can be ahead of public speaking. Humming is one of the simplest vocal warm-ups – and one of the most effective, with the vibrations having the added benefit of creating an internal massage, reducing stress.Repeating tongue twisters helps improve diction and can also help you work past any phrases you have difficulty with or find yourself tripping over as you speak.Breathing techniques can reduce stressBreathing exercises are a simple way of reducing stress and regulating the nervous system. There’s evidence of other benefits, too, such as boosting concentration and increasing energy and motivation. A simple but helpful technique involves inhaling for the count of four, holding for four, exhaling for four and then holding for four once again. Slowly repeating this process for a few minutes helps bring a sense of calm and focus – ideal before any form of public speaking or for tackling nerves more generally.Increase your self-awarenessSelf-awareness is a valuable asset for public speakers. You might feel anxious about public speaking, but there might be elements of the process that you enjoy. When it comes to the stage, that’s obvious – there’s a thrill that comes with performing. Sparking a reaction from an audience is exhilarating. The same can be true for public speaking. Reflecting on what you enjoy about the process helps identify personal strengths from which you can build&nbsp;on.Try power posingA power pose is an open, expansive posture, which can foster a sense of power. It might sound strange, but research has found that this can reduce cortisol and increase testosterone, leading to a sense of psychological and physiological readiness. An example of a power pose would be embracing your inner superhero by standing tall with your shoulders back, feet hip-width apart and your fists on your hips. Holding this position for as little as three to five minutes can increase feelings of power and confidence.Show compassion – to yourselfWhether on the stage or in a lecture theatre, we’re typically our own worst critics. We beat ourselves up over the most trivial of matters – things we wouldn’t think twice about in other people. It’s important for performers to learn the skill of self-compassion, which in turn leads to a sense of soothing and safety. One way you can do this is by giving yourself permission to make mistakes. In doing so, you may foster a sense of self-acceptance, which can lead to increased confidence.By embracing our role as “performers” and applying techniques that benefit stage performers, screen actors and singers, we can reduce stress, improve delivery and make public speaking a more relaxed and fulfilling experience.Always remember that it’s perfectly normal to feel nervous when it comes to public speaking. Performers and academics with decades of experience behind them still deal with forms of stage fright. It’s nothing to be ashamed&nbsp;of, and, as we’ve outlined, there are many techniques that you can use to make life much easier. The research shows it doesn’t take much to make a difference in public speaking confidence, but it can take an investment of time – something that’s often in short supply. It’s an investment that’s likely to pay dividends, however, in many of the roles we play as academics.Linsey Todd and James Layton are BA&nbsp;Performance lecturers at the University of the West of Scotland.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Anxious about public speaking? Try these tips from actors

Hone your performance skills with these techniques from stage actors. Linsey Todd and James Layton encourage us to smell the greasepaint

Anxious about public speaking? Try these tips from the theatre

So, you’re interested in teaching service learning, or you’ve been tasked to incorporate service learning into your classroom. For all its benefits for the student, service learning can be quite daunting for the teacher. After all, there are many more moving parts to a service learning subject than a regular subject, and more stakeholders are involved.&nbsp;Service learning is more than a subjectService learning is an experiential pedagogy that integrates meaningful community service with academic study and reflection. It provides students with practical learning experiences while addressing societal needs. Recognised internationally as a high-impact pedagogy in higher education, service learning is associated with a wide range of outcomes, some of which are not easy to achieve in more traditional classroom settings. Research has shown positive relationships between service learning and other desirable outcome factors such as student retention and graduation rates. Given these benefits, it’s not surprising that service learning has been widely adopted in K-12 and higher education.&nbsp;Teachers play a critical role in service learning. Our research indicates that, compared with factors such as student motivation and background, the student learning experience is the only factor consistently and significantly impacting the core learning outcomes. This underpins many of our recommendations for aspiring teachers embarking on service learning. The teachers must be able to properly prepare students for their service, help them apply their classroom knowledge in new contexts, and critically reflect on their service learning experience and learn from it.&nbsp;How service learning can help students create a positive change in the communityChanging lives through community engagement and outreachOpen to all? Using our physical and digital spaces to better engage local communitiesWith this in mind, we offer one DON’T and three DOs for teachers beginning their service learning journey.Don’t: instruct students to independently project plan without a framework in placeYou could argue that students who are asked to identify their own projects would be more likely to come up with something they are interested in. But if you are not involved in your students’ project planning, how will you ensure they are sufficiently prepared to complete their projects?&nbsp;Project coordination often involves negotiation, compromise and patience, aspects that may be beyond the capabilities of many undergraduate students. Make sure to provide a framework they can use.Do: choose a project or community you are passionate aboutAre you a computer science teacher with a passion for computer games? One of the most interesting and successful projects we have seen brought students to serve in a centre for the physically disabled. Before their service, students developed virtual reality games that encouraged moving and stretching for the patients. Over time, their efforts blossomed into an open-source platform hosting customised solutions for special education schools in Hong Kong. When working with something that you care about, your expertise becomes a resource. This, in turn, makes it easier for you to effectively prepare and support your students.Do: design projects that provide immediate benefits for the target communityWhile there are many meaningful advocacy projects that can raise awareness for a worthy cause, students learn best in service learning when they perceive that their efforts are of real value and appreciated by the community.&nbsp;As an example, our Department of Applied Mathematics has a service learning project in which students are tasked to perform data analysis for non-governmental organisations to help with project reporting or proposal writing. As part of their project, students get involved as volunteers in an outreach activity run by the NGO. This brings them into contact with the target community and vividly illustrates the societal challenges that make the NGO’s services necessary.Do: make sure the project plan is concrete and practicalWhile starting with tightly prescribed projects may seem overly restrictive, remember, as the teacher, you are also learning. This is especially critical when dealing with larger student groups.&nbsp;For example, if your project involves providing interest workshops to children from low-income families, confirm the logistics, such as the detailed schedule and location, in advance with your service partner and also have an agreement on the learning outcomes and tasks to be covered. These parameters provide a structure upon which the service project can be scaffolded, for you and your students. More pragmatically, unclear expectations constitute the vast majority of the complaints we hear from students and are also one of the major reasons service learning partnerships do not work out. Tightly prescribing a project helps minimise this risk. It also informs your partner of your expectations and how they can cooperate with your team.Service learning offers an amazing experience, unexpected opportunities for teachers and students, and real community benefits. However, it does take additional effort on the part of the teacher compared with more traditional classroom teaching. So that you can maintain your passion for teaching students and serving the community, it is crucial for teachers to prioritise their own physical and emotional well-being when teaching service learning. After all, as the well-known airline safety instruction goes: “Secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others.”Grace Ngai is head of the Service-Learning and Leadership Office at the&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;Polytechnic University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

The dos and don’ts of getting started with service learning

Service learning can have many benefits for students, teachers and the wider community, but starting out can be intimidating. Grace Ngai offers one don’t and three dos to begin your journey

Educators in higher education frequently encounter difficulties when engaging with the young people of today. Even schoolteachers are finding their Generation Z pupils uninterested and sometimes aggressive in their approach to learning.Modern students are perceived by their educators to lack respect and, when expressing concerns directly, can come across as rude. They’re also seen as weak and overly dependent, needing to be spoon-fed information. The question is, are the students of today able to develop the growth mindset required for success in academia?Do you speak Gen Z or are you a noob?Generation Z presents new challenges for medical educationCatering to Gen Z’s needs: creating a flexible and adaptable education programmeExploring influencesThese behavioural patterns might be down to the upbringing and peer interactions of students today. The exposure to unfiltered information through the internet and social media has left them ill-equipped to discern between constructive and detrimental influences. They also haven’t been properly guided through this digital landscape and have had to find their own way to navigate it.Redefine your perspectiveHowever, we need to adopt a positive outlook when addressing these challenges. Instead of viewing students’ behaviour as negative, educators should consider it as potentially adaptive for the future. Recognising that we cannot predict or dictate the course of their lives, we must refrain from imposing our preconceived notions of what is best for them. Instead we should focus on facilitating their learning to the best of our abilities.Foster respectful dialogueWhile addressing issues of rudeness and lack of respect, acknowledge that today’s students possess a commendable ability to voice their opinions freely. This new-found assertiveness should be seen as a positive development, albeit one that requires guidance in effective communication and respectful interaction. Educators should take pride in nurturing these skills, serving as mentors who teach students how to articulate their thoughts respectfully.See it from their sideEducators have to maintain composure and refrain from reacting negatively to perceived slights. Taking the time to understand students’ perspectives can lead to better solutions and foster a more harmonious learning environment. By reframing our perceptions and embracing the diverse perspectives of our students, we can pave the way for meaningful engagement and mutual respect.Also, make an effort to familiarise yourself with the trends and interests of your students. While it may feel uncomfortable to step out of our comfort zones, speaking their language and understanding their cultural references can facilitate smoother communication. When students perceive that educators are making an effort to connect with them on their level, it fosters a sense of mutual understanding and breaks down communication barriers.Find time in your schedule to socialise with students or keep up with them on social media. Make sure you know what’s trending and what news items are important to them. Learn to accept the differences between you and your students, because being too rigid can create gaps in communication.&nbsp;While challenges may abound in engaging with the current generation of students, adopting a positive and empathetic approach can lead to transformative outcomes for both educators and learners alike. By recognising the strengths inherent in students and guiding them with patience and understanding, educators can empower them to navigate the complexities of the modern world with confidence and resilience.Azlan B. Ahmad is a senior lecturer in the integrated engineering department at Universiti Teknologi Petronas.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

 Empathise with today’s students to shape tomorrow’s minds

Are today’s students too disrespectful and aggressive to be taught? Azlan B. Ahmad offers his advice on dealing with Gen Z

 We need to empathise with the students of today to shape the minds of tomorrow

Teamwork is an essential skill, but developing it can incite high levels of stress. For students, the worry is often that a teammate who doesn’t pull their weight will jeopardize others’ hard work. For educators, it’s that putting students in teams can sometimes cause conflict.However, with large class sizes and growing workloads, setting group assessments is an excellent way of reducing marking, providing more meaningful, considered feedback for students and restoring work-life balance. Here are some approaches that have worked well for me.Formative group work: one commonly used approach involves setting a group formative assessment and an individual summative assessment. This reduces formative marking, but it means there are no consequences for students who do not engage with their team. The fact that teamwork itself is not assessed is also a flaw here.Assess engagement rather than attendance: remember that attendance and engagement are not the same thing. Some students face more barriers to attending than others but may be keeping in contact with the group and submitting the work required of them.&nbsp;Reduce risk to engaged students: since, for many students, the main source of stress associated with teamwork activities is being grouped with somebody who does not pull their weight, designing an assessment that requires the delegation of individual responsibility means that if one student fails to complete their part, the others will not lose out so everyone has a chance to shine.Give students autonomy: allow them some say over what their project is about. If you assign topics, you will inevitably alienate students who are not interested in the topics you choose, which will affect motivation. By all means, set the parameters, but allow students some free reign. Doing so will enhance engagement, investment in and ownership over the project.Get students on board: teamwork is essential in almost all professional environments. Emphasise the benefits of the exercise and of working in teams more generally. Emphasise the skills students can develop by working with others, but also the more immediate benefit that group submissions are quicker to mark, meaning students get more detailed feedback sooner.&nbsp;While it would be lovely, the end goal of a group task is not usually for members to become close friends, but to learn to work with others. There are bound to be personality clashes, but these shouldn’t prevent them forming teams that work well together.&nbsp;Resource collection: Show time: how to be an engaging teacherAn introduction to creating escape roomsTeach and talk: encouraging student dialogue in classPutting it into practiceI apply many of these tips in my first-year skills module of about 200 students enrolled from a range of disciplines within biological sciences. I emphasise the benefits of working in teams in preparation for the workplace during an initial lecture. I then ask each student to choose a global challenge they’re interested in from the following options:&nbsp;Biodiversity maintenance&nbsp;Food securityPublic healthNext, I put students who have chosen the same challenge into groups of approximately eight. I make sure groups contain a variety of students across courses, and that no student is the only one from their course in a group.&nbsp;In the first team meeting, I ask each group to produce a code of conduct and for everyone to sign it. This gives the students control over how the group should behave and helps them identify the characteristics that are important in a teammate. Throughout the year, I continue to emphasise that their teammates can only increase their mark, not drag it down.The students know from the beginning of the semester what the end goal is: the assignment they need to produce. In semester one it is a literature review related to their global challenge topic. It is up to them how broad or how focused it is, as well as who is responsible for each section within it. I mark them as a group on the introduction, structure, flow and conclusion, all things that students struggle with because they tend to focus heavily on the word count. By making this a group task, students must discuss how best to structure the piece together. I mark them individually on the quality of their content, writing style and referencing in their respective sections. If a group member does not engage with the team at all, they get a few marks for the structure of the literature review but do not score any points for their section. Not having a particular section in the literature review does not cost the group.I mark students on engagement in the second semester. I give the students a mark out of five for their attendance at team meetings. If they attend all of them, they get five out of five. Their teammates then mark them out of five for their engagement and contribution to the project. They are awarded the higher of those two marks. This means that if a student engages well and does the work but is unable to attend the timetabled team meetings because of other commitments, they are not penalised. Conversely, if a student engages in team meetings but is unpopular with the rest of the group, their attendance mark will prevent them being penalised by their peers a result of personality clashes.I have presented my advice on how to facilitate effective teamwork in the classroom at the Skills Community of Practice and am happy to speak to anyone who is interested in hearing more.Becky Lewis is lecturer in evolutionary biology at the University of East Anglia.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Setting group assessments is an excellent way of reducing marking, providing more meaningful, considered feedback for students and restoring work-life balance, writes Becky Lewis

Encouraging effective teamwork in the classroom

Developing data literacy skills requires practice and repeated exposure to different datasets and analytical methodologies. Although initiatives to increase practical experience in data analysis and interpretation are not hard to implement, if they are not well thought out, efforts can be hampered by a perception that the topic is dry, which can lead to poor engagement and subject avoidance.To inclusively optimise student engagement, improve perception and, ultimately, maximise success within data sciences education, there are four priorities to consider:To ensure that we teach students to use appropriate toolsTo build a strong foundational understanding of data interpretationTo provide flexible learning resourcesTo consistently reinforce the message.By optimising these four aspects of data science education, we will enhance students’ appreciation of what they are doing and why, and enable them to transfer these skills between modules and contexts.Tools of the trade: transitioning away from point-and-click platforms for data analysisHistorically, practical application of data analysis and statistics theory in the biosciences has been taught with user-friendly point-and-click software. The argument for this approach is that a simple user interface allows students to focus on analysis workflow and result interpretation without getting stuck in implementation. The decision to use this type of software is intuitively sensible; however, the point-and-click interface means that students can click through instructions with little thought for the justification or interpretation of their analyses.An alternative to point-and-click software is to use a coding language, such as&nbsp;R. A&nbsp;longstanding argument against teaching fundamentals of data analysis and statistics theory in this way has been that there are steep learning curves associated with learning both the coding language and statistical concepts. To learn both simultaneously could overwhelm the already intimidated students.However, this need not be the case. Introducing R&nbsp;coding to students might be difficult in the short term, but it also creates a problem-solving element that many students come to enjoy. This also means that students are more likely to slow down, think about and engage with each analytical step as they perform&nbsp;it.Because of this, students engage at a more meaningful level and begin to question the interpretation of their results, leading to deeper learning of statistical concepts and a more robust understanding.Applied understanding: prioritising data visualisation over statistical theoryStatements such as “p&nbsp;&lt; 0.05, which is significant” are relatively common in the work of students who are new to inferential statistics. At face value, this statement might be true, but it shows little engagement with the data. The direction and strength of the signal are frequently ignored, and the significance of this at the subject-specific level (in this case the biological relevance) rarely comes through in students’ writing.We have addressed this p-value obsession by placing a heavy initial focus on data visualisation. While students are starting to get to grips with using&nbsp;R, their initial analytical tasks centre around how to present their data. Students learn how to select the best plot type for the hypotheses, data types and sample sizes that they are working with. We then hold class discussions around how these plots might be&nbsp;best interpreted, guiding students to think about what the data are showing and then what that means within the context of the dataset. By basing initial interpretation skills only on what students can see in their plots, we are taking emphasis away from what becomes a blind reliance on p-values, laying a solid foundation, on which students can build a stronger understanding of inferential statistics.The what, why and how of data visualisation for higher educationUsing online and blended learning tools to teach data science skillsBoosting data literacy: essential skills for early career researchersResource flexibility: optimising the learning resources for all studentsAs already mentioned, the main criticism of teaching data literacy and analytical skills using&nbsp;R (or other coding languages) refers to the steep learning curves. The gradient of these can, however, be decreased with the application of flexible learning resources that allow students to work where and when they want to. Our first-year undergraduates all get access to a workbook, currently published in Bookdown and hosted on GitHub.To remove barriers and maximise accessibility to these resources, students can easily modify the aesthetics (font size and style as well as background tone) and can download them or view them on a browser.The workbook is structured with chapters that correspond to teaching weeks, so each week all students are expected to complete one chapter of the workbook (these should take an hour or so to complete). As chapters progress, the level of instruction of both what to do and how to do it (in&nbsp;R) decreases, so the requirement for students to write or edit R&nbsp;script incrementally increases.A second flexible resource we use is Posit Cloud (a platform that hosts RStudio and other data science tools in a cloud environment). Students begin the unit by setting up a free account with it, meaning that they don’t run into errors in downloading and installing RStudio on their devices. In Posit Cloud, the file system is uniform for every workspace, and students can access their work anywhere, provided they have a browser installed and an internet connection.Predictably, students frequently run into errors and require assistance troubleshooting their scripts. Help is always available in timetabled sessions, but to maximise flexibility and inclusivity they can also share their projects remotely with teaching staff through the workspace-sharing feature outside of timetabled sessions.Reinforcement: supporting staff to create a consistent approach to teaching data literacyWe often observe that students struggle to carry over and apply knowledge of concepts or techniques between modules and years of study. In STEMM subjects, many modules throughout the course will require students to apply their analytical and interpretive skills to datasets. Different disciplines can have different specialised approaches to this, which means that most modules with data analysis or interpretive elements must run some teaching and support sessions for this content. To prevent contradictions or confusion, it is vital to identify a series of agreed core values and approaches, so that teaching data analysis and interpretation is consistent between modules and session leads.As with any broad-scale update to content, this requires a champion and support for staff continuing professional development. We have approached this with staff “coding retreats” to help them become more confident with the uses of&nbsp;R and more familiar with how to teach first-year analysis and interpretation.In addition, we support individual module organisers to modify existing taught content so that it aligns with students’ prior learning and data literacy skills while still meeting the discipline-specific learning outcomes. This approach means that, over time, all aspects of data science within the overall curriculum will align across modules and years of study, which will reinforce taught analytical concepts and approaches and produce graduates with stronger overall data literacy.Successful data science education requires a holistic approach that involves modifications in how we teach data sciences and reinforcement of lessons throughout the course. Through our efforts, we have observed increased engagement with analytical methodologies and more meaningful interpretations of plots and statistical outputs from our students.Ellen Bell is a lecturer in ecology and bioinformatics at the University of East Anglia.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

What to prioritise when teaching students data literacy

Successful data science education requires a holistic approach that involves modifications in how we teach data sciences and reinforcement of lessons throughout the course, writes Ellen Bell

Four things to prioritise when teaching students data literacy

The introduction of structured, blending learning to university education was met with both curiosity and caution. Educators were concerned about students’ ability to tackle complex concepts on their own. But students were quick to meet the challenges with creativity and resilience.Since then, the blended learning method has transformed the educational experience. It’s fostered profound collaborative discussions between students and faculty, while allowing students autonomy in their studies.In navigating this blended learning journey, we’ve both come to realise the approach hinged on three key strategies:developing engaging online content to spark student interestnurturing classroom connections to activate discussionscreating a supportive environment for deep, insightful dialogueThis holistic approach extends beyond academics to encompass emotional resilience and coping strategies. Students are not only learning but thriving in this new blended learning environment.Creating online content students want to learn fromEngaging and interactive content can ignite a genuine interest in learning. Unlike the traditional face-to-face model, which relies on passive consumption of lengthy lectures, the dynamic content of the blended learning model is designed to keep students actively involved. Checkpoints and quizzes help students focus while allowing them to gain insight into their learning progress. They can then concentrate on areas that need more attention.How to help students get the best out of blended learningBlended learning is so bland − we need to punk things upWant to advance students’ self-learning? Look at your course designThis online groundwork is vital for enriching the in-person classroom experience. Students come prepared, primed to discuss and clarify their doubts with both instructor and classmates. These sessions serve as an extension of the knowledge gained online and allows basic concepts to be applied practically, helping students connect the dots between theoretical concepts and actual applications.But crafting excellent content is just the beginning. The question of “How can we ensure they feel supported within this new learning approach?” remains. Beyond content, it’s about nurturing an environment where students feel safe to inquire, debate and collaborate. This begins with forging genuine connections – making sure students know that even within this new digital landscape, they’re not alone but part of a vibrant, interactive community.Energising face-to-face sessions with personal connections&nbsp;Building on the foundation of engaging content, the next step is to establish personal connections. Something as small as remembering names or showing real interest in what’s going on in students’ lives can make all the difference. Every “How’s your day going?” followed by genuine listening paves the way for a relationship built on trust and mutual respect.We set a classroom agreement to foster respect and support from the start. We emphasise understanding over argument, asking “What’s going on? Are you OK?” to defuse tension and foster empathy. Regularly engaging in recall-recap-reclarify exercises gives students opportunities to express their thoughts, and to admit what they’re grappling with. These practices not only kick-start individual connections but also weave a network of support among the students themselves, enhancing collaboration and encouraging them to take charge of their learning journey.Nurturing this culture of openness and continuous dialogue fosters a space for growth, where learning is intertwined with emotional support and the development of strategic academic skills.Cultivating a safe space to nurture emotional intelligence&nbsp;As any student knows, the journey of learning is an emotional one. Starting class discussions with a simple, “How did you find this topic?” encourages students to articulate their emotional reactions, clearing the way for focused learning. Such openness allows for the sharing of frustrations and triumphs, which is crucial for mental clarity and deeper engagement.Giving students space to be heard without judgement paves the way for more than just emotional expression. It facilitates discussions on learning strategies that extend beyond the classroom walls. As students talk about their struggles, they move from feelings of defeat to empowered problem-solving, saying “I need more practice here” instead of “I can’t do this.”Engaging students with thoughtful questions such as: “Is it the application of the theory that’s challenging?” helps demystify complex topics. This approach does more than build trust — it empowers students to approach their learning journey with confidence. This equips them with strategies that will serve them well in academia and beyond.The experience with blended learning has brought forth a fundamental truth: teaching is all about connection. It has shifted our focus from mere content delivery to truly engaging with students, acknowledging the intricate give-and-take that characterises our relationships.&nbsp;The classroom has become like a dance floor. Sometimes we stumble and other times we move in perfect harmony. With each chat, question or shared insight, we take a step towards enriching not just our students but ourselves too. As educators, let’s keep this dialogue alive, because it’s through these connections that we develop a collective wisdom. Our collective wisdom.Kyrin Liong is assistant professor in the Engineering Cluster, and Victor Wang is associate professor in the Engineering Cluster and deputy director of STLA, at the Singapore Institute of Technology.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

How to connect in a blending learning environment

Teaching is about connection, and blended learning offers educators the chance to create a dialogue with students. Kyrin Liong and Victor Wang show how

Let’s talk: how to connect with your students in a blended learning environment

In higher education, emphasis is often given to the tangible factors – the rigorous course content, league tables and, in the UK, the Research Excellence Framework and Teaching Excellence Framework scores, the prestige of the institution and the degree itself: all that adorns university brochures and websites.

However, amid the textbooks and lecture halls, a vital aspect can be overlooked – humans. The human interactions that students experience as part of their everyday university lives should not be underestimated in terms of their value and impact. In these moments – in the conversations with lecturers, the collaboration in group projects and the relationships among peers – students cultivate much-needed, and much-sought, interpersonal skills. 

These skills can be as essential for success in the professional world of work (and, indeed, life) as the degree itself. They include communication, teamwork, emotional intelligence, adaptability and resilience, each underpinned by the cornerstone skill of personal and professional development: self-reflection. Students need human interaction to acquire and build these skills.


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At a recent student education conference, members of a student panel were asked about the experiences that had made a difference to them during their time at university, and all noted variations of the human interactions they had encountered (apart from the student who referred to the joy when a lecturer brought in their dog). The opportunity to speak to academic staff and peers, even for a few minutes before or after a lecture, was one of the main reasons they gave as motivating them to attend in person. This talks to the wider sector conversation concerning student engagement, belonging and attendance, but we can recognise these instances as also providing discreet skill-building opportunities, as small as they might appear. We must value these unstructured human-centred moments where students can practise and develop dynamic communication skills that will be essential to them in their future workplaces.

Of course, for humans to develop humans, we ourselves need to be appropriately skilled and confident in our abilities before we can develop these in others. Personal tutors need to recognise their pivotal roles, thrive on interacting with and developing students, and be good at it. Institutions need to ensure that those who hold these roles are recruited and trained effectively. Personal tutors need to see meeting and building relationships with their tutees as opportunities to develop communication and rapport, acknowledge adverse events and resulting lessons learned, build resilience and recognise their strengths.&nbsp;

The role of peers should not be overlooked, either. In the human resource management postgraduate programme, the first professional skills workshop in semester one looks to develop teamworking and collaboration skills (and further develop cross-cultural awareness and a global mindset). Using Lego to practise expectation setting, student teams consider what “good” looks like when working as part of a team and the behaviours they expect to see in themselves and others. They then embark on experiential learning in teams throughout the rest of the semester, concluding in an assessed group presentation and individual reflective video.&nbsp;

Pedagogic design here is key. Allowing space in the timetable for students to practise these skills, make mistakes, gain feedback and learn from these experiences is imperative to any skill provision, and a reflective component or assessment allows students to recognise and articulate their skill development. And, of course, these skills are never “done”, ticked off or complete. We aspire to develop students to become lifelong learners who will continue their personal growth throughout and beyond their programmes of study, so a pedagogic approach that insists on self-reflection informed by formative feedback from academic staff and peers better allows students to develop these skills.&nbsp;

The tangible achievements at university, like the international study tours, business competitions and institutional awards, deserve a spotlight. However, these accomplishments are the by-products of the human connections that make them happen. The value of these interactions for students is immeasurable, shaping not only academic success but also character, resilience and the ability to thrive in a collaborative environment. The backbone of a well-rounded university experience, complementing the knowledge gained and providing the glue that holds it all together. As educators, we must recognise and celebrate the intrinsic value of these intangible human interactions, and be confident (at least for now) that this is something we do far better than the AI machines.&nbsp;

Marianne Savory is a senior teaching fellow in professional skills and curriculum development at Leeds University Business School.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Even small interactions with lecturers, tutors and peers offer opportunities for students to develop interpersonal skills, so it’s important we recognise and value these to ensure they are not lost, writes Marianne Savory 

Humans develop humans

The internet can sometimes feel to students like a transparent pane that they can look through to access information. Here, I’ll outline some ways to encourage them to interpret it instead as a series of texts with their own arguments, inherent assumptions and rhetorical strategies, which can be analysed and (therefore) questioned.I teach Taylor Swift as literature, and part of what I&nbsp;find exciting about this pursuit is that it forces me and my students to engage with the question of what we are reading and how we are reading it. Are we finding Swift’s lyrics on internet sites such as Genius and AZLyrics or listening to them in their sung forms? How much should we care about what Swift says about her own work in documentaries on platforms such as Netflix and Disney+, which we may or may not subscribe&nbsp;to? Are we turning to our own CD collections to check Swift’s liner notes and relying on our memories of her concerts we’ve attended when talking about her as a performer, or are we googling online images and YouTube videos?Promoting learning with TikTok: 10 tips for engaging studentsStudents aren’t giving up social media, so teach them how to question itMaking online content relevant and fun for Gen Z studentsThe internet is currently the greatest and most complete archive of Swift studies. I&nbsp;encourage students to use their expertise as students of English to interpret the texts they find there. The examples below are specific to the material I&nbsp;teach, but I&nbsp;hope they show the sorts of things that can be done with online media.Tabloids as literary analysisI begin my module “Taylor Swift and Literature” by asking students to read a&nbsp;brief article from 2014 announcing that an “insider” has explained that a particular break-up inspired “every word” of Swift’s album Red. I&nbsp;pair this article with an influential work of literary theory, “The intentional fallacy” by W. K.&nbsp;Wimsatt&nbsp;Jr. and M. C.&nbsp;Beardsley. This text argues that an author’s intentions, or what they meant or were thinking of when they wrote their text, should not serve as the primary guide to interpretation. I&nbsp;ask students to think about both pieces as literary theory: what does the first article imply about what you need to know in order to understand a text? What might Wimsatt and Beardsley say about this? And what might we gain, or lose, from thinking that we know the author’s intentions, or even by taking into account what she says her intentions are in interviews and documentaries?The internet quiz as intertextualityA quiz going under some variation of the name “William Shakespeare or Taylor Swift?” has circulated for years, asking you to determine which writer wrote a selection of quotations. I&nbsp;find it really interesting to talk about why each quotation was chosen: what makes the quotations from Swift sound potentially Shakespearean and what about the Shakespeare quotes sound like Taylor Swift?In many cases, asking students to identify where the quotations are coming from reveals that the Shakespeare quotations have been cut down to avoid early modern vocabulary. This provides an avenue into thinking about style – that is, what makes something sound like Swift or Shakespeare? What kind of argument is being made by a document that is deliberately selecting snippets of Shakespeare and Swift to make them sound similar to each other? And how does this intersect with the fact that we know that Swift is sometimes making reference to, or imitating, Shakespeare?YouTube videos as reader responseI also show students videos of different people taking such quizzes, including the cast of a production of Romeo and Juliet at the National Theatre and a Shakespeare professor, and I&nbsp;ask them to think about how people determine whether Swift or Shakespeare wrote a particular line: what questions are they asking about tone, content, style and literary value?TikTok as reception studiesI found that assigning scholarly articles about TikTok such as Melissa K.&nbsp;Avdeeff’s “TikTok, Twitter, and platform-specific technocultural discourse in response to Taylor Swift’s LGBTQ+ allyship in You Need to Calm Down” surprised some students, who may not have realised that TikTok was an object of scholarly attention. TikTok is a platform on which many people discuss Swift and her work, including her connection to literature. Videos such as this one explain the literary references in Swift’s songs. These videos and the discussions they spark in the comments section offer an opportunity to think about the similarities and differences of talking about literary history in an academic and non-academic context – and perhaps to begin to blur the lines between scholarly discourse and other ways of engaging with texts and ideas.Tumblr concordancesA lot of amazing work is being done in Taylor Swift studies by people not necessarily working under the aegis of a university or going through traditional methods of academic publishing. This concordance to Swift, or list of the words she uses, is a great example of a resource that has been created by and for fans, as an equivalent to the kind of tool that is produced by and for scholars. It can be a lead-in to a discussion about the tools of scholarship, as well as the work that goes into establishing a scholarly field.Podcasting as public humanitiesIn the same vein, I&nbsp;assign an episode of my own podcast, on reading Taylor Swift as literature, as one example of a form of scholarship that differs from traditional academic publishing. This can provide a useful way in to thinking about the pros and cons of traditional academic writing. What kinds of authority are we performing, how do we show our work, is there anything that’s lost and gained in adhering to this kind of form?I’m still learning how to teach contemporary popular culture. But as a trained medievalist and early modernist, I&nbsp;find that I&nbsp;am using a&nbsp;lot of the same skills I&nbsp;bring to teaching older literature. Awareness of the partiality of the record – and of the way in which the materiality, layout and state of what we are engaging with alters our engagement with it – is vital in teaching this material. But beyond this, studying social media and internet ephemera in the literature classroom is a way of helping students explore avenues for broadcasting their own research, in ways that are not necessarily limited to academic writing. By using TikTok or podcasting thoughtfully and deliberately, they’re engaging in a form of public humanities.Clio Doyle is a lecturer in early modern literature at Queen Mary, University of London.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Swift or Shakespeare? Teaching internet ephemera as a text 

Teaching Taylor Swift as literature required Clio Doyle and her students to engage with online media as an analytical text. Here, she offers advice on interpreting TikTok, Tumblr and the Buzzfeed quiz

Swift or Shakespeare? How to reframe internet ephemera as a text in the literature classroom

Embracing diversity and participatory decision-making is instrumental for higher education institutions that advocate for individual rights and responsible, active citizenship. Here are some strategies to teach your students about and encourage them to take part in democratic processes.Election simulationsElection simulations require students to form parties and run election campaigns, exit polls and predictions. They are effective in teaching students about the democratic process and the importance of free and fair elections.To facilitate this kind of activity, you must:Work with students to establish election rulesDemarcate constituenciesAssign students roles as returning officersDesign ballot papers and a voting mechanism.Model UN competitions and youth parliamentsHolding model United Nations competitions can expose students to the sociocultural and economic issues affecting different countries, the institutional setting of the UN, the functioning of its organs and the creation of treaties and conventions.Creating and running a youth parliament can educate students about parliamentary debates and empower them to debate rulings and learn about opposition parties’ perspectives on regional and national issues. This exercise teaches students the significance of democracy and its philosophical underpinnings in their home jurisdiction and beyond.Before running a model UN or youth parliament session, educators must prepare students by:&nbsp;Teaching the students about the role and organs of the UNOrganising group discussions on relevant&nbsp;public issuesTeaching public speaking skills&nbsp;Educating about socio-legal problems that may arise in debatesDeveloping leadership skillsEncourage debateNurturing debate culture and student-led drives&nbsp;on&nbsp;pressing, politically sensitive&nbsp;matters exposes students to an array of perspectives that can improve their critical thinking skills and allow them to share their opinions and beliefs. Debates also encourage students to make compromises for the benefit of a democratic society.Resource collection: teach your students to be engaged citizensVoting counts: how to get more students to the ballot boxHow to engage students using public advocacyFoster civic responsibilityEncourage students to address local issues by getting them involved in initiatives such as clean-up drives, petitions to address important socio-economic issues and community awareness campaigns. Encouraging students to gauge the political awareness levels within their local communities can empower them to participate in local governance issues.Organise diversity fairs promoting cultural exchangesHighlight the diverse array of cultures, religions and ethnicities that make up the community within and beyond your institution. Run sessions that incorporate music, dance, food and storytelling to inspire appreciation and respect for these cultures.Arrange community visits, interviews and collaborative projectsOrganise and coordinate trips to nearby cultural attractions and towns/villages. Encourage students to interact with residents in new communities to gain insight into the issues that matter to them, and to take part in collaborative projects that emphasise the contributions of figures and communities in the area. This could include conducting research on prominent historical personalities, making murals that illustrate cultural history or engaging in collaborative artistic performances that promote unity.Nurture critical thinkingIn an era characterised by access to information, it is important to teach students how to corroborate sources, verify facts and scrutinise and interrogate biases. This teaches analytical skills and can minimise the dissemination of false or misleading information.&nbsp;Encourage students to question authority and become advocates for change by integrating examples of historical leaders who advocated for their convictions and made significant contributions to society into your course material.Encourage responsible social media useEncourage students to use social media to engage in discussions about civic issues. This can cultivate a feeling of camaraderie centred on shared values.Imparting the significance of democracy involves empowering students to acquire relevant knowledge and actively involve themselves in the democratic process. By integrating these ideas into our educational framework, we can strengthen democracy and nurture engaged and active citizens.Avinash Dadhich is a law professor and director of Manipal Law School at Manipal Academy of Higher Education; Anuja S. is an associate professor at Manipal Law School at Manipal Academy of Higher Education.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Eight ways to teach students about democracy

Imparting the significance of democracy involves empowering students to acquire relevant knowledge and actively involve themselves in the democratic process

Eight ways to teach students about the importance of democracy

Developing generative AI literacy can be a challenge because humans have difficulty conceptualising large numbers. Such numbers expose the limits of our knowledge and our ability to solve problems at scale becomes strained. When I teach students and colleagues about generative AI, they are genuinely shocked to learn that the applications are built on hundreds of billions of texts. Understanding the scale of generative AI operations is important, I explain, because the algorithms that run them need large quantities of text to create reliable output.Rather than delve into the mechanics of how large language models process billions of texts, students and colleagues will often shift the conversation to the ethical problems associated with sourcing and processing those texts. Avoiding a confrontation with the limits of one’s knowledge is reasonable, of course. But this move can be dangerous because it assumes that generative AI policies can be developed without a working knowledge of how such applications function. This argumentative tendency results in policies that do not adapt well to evolving learning environments, which, in turn, create structurally reinforced literacy gaps that will only grow with time.Another hurdle is that humans often rely on stories to make sense of things that confuse us. Many times, stories will increase our knowledge base and help us solve problems in thoughtful ways. But stories can also make our problems worse by misdirecting our attention and spurring unnecessary conflict. Unfortunately, the majority of the stories about generative AI fall into the latter category. If generative AI moves forward at its current rate, the prevailing story goes, we will witness the erosion of democracy, the obsolescence of human intelligence and the extinction of humanity. Think Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey or Skynet from the Terminator series. Because these stories trade in hyperbole, most people (including faculty, staff and students) struggle to develop a measured perspective on generative AI. They become preoccupied with AI detection and sound alarms over the regulation of AI research. Once this type of framework is established, principled implementation gets bogged down and literacy gaps increase.How to address the generative AI literacy gapArizona State University, where I am on faculty and direct the university’s writing programmes, is addressing this literacy gap by establishing an enterprise partnership with OpenAI. This partnership has been described as an extension of ASU’s well-earned title as a leading innovator in higher education. And that’s true. But what sometimes gets lost in the shuffle is the role that ASU’s access mission plays in these types of educational initiatives.ASU’s charter supports students who are often excluded by university communities and helps local communities define, address and adapt to exigent social issues that affect how they live in the 21st century. This mission galvanises our faculty, staff and students because it tells a story about higher education that is by definition inclusive.Resource collection:&nbsp;AI transformers like ChatGPT are here, so what next?Writing responsibly: how to use reflective practices to navigate ChatGPTThree ways to use ChatGPT to enhance students’ critical thinking in the classroomWhen it comes to generative AI, ASU activates its access mission by focusing on improving generative AI literacy in faculty, staff and students. We define generative AI literacy as a dynamic commitment to learning how generative AI works so that we can contribute to the technical evolutions, policy debates and ethical problems that it raises. Focusing on literacy is key because it requires us to learn about generative AI technologies with greater imagination and scope.Universities that are trying to narrow the generative AI literacy gap might begin their work by developing a story about generative AI that is tied to their missions and identities. How these stories get told will vary depending on the institution. Regardless of the details, having a university-driven story in place will focus attention on a local problem-solving process and thus facilitate more measured approaches to generative AI applications.How is ASU facilitating this process? Beginning in spring of 2023, faculty across the university worked alongside ASU’s EdPlus to develop professional development videos focused on generative AI literacy. This training course features faculty and staff members who explain how generative AI works in an accessible manner. The videos address ethical issues associated with generative AI, of course. But the bulk of them explain the basics of how generative AI applications function and describe how such functions might extend ASU’s educational mission. To date, more than 1,500 colleagues across the university have taken this course.Institutions looking for a similar path might get started by identifying faculty with expertise either in generative AI or theories of language. In brief meeting sessions, you might ask them to explain the basics of generative AI in a manner that a non-specialist can understand. Once those explanations are in place, have them meet with other faculty who specialise in literacy development, storytelling, curriculum design and media production. This type of professional learning community will be especially well positioned to imagine a campus-wide initiative that scales generative AI literacy to faculty, staff, students and the community.In addition to the structured professional development led by EdPlus, ASU has held a number of formal and informal in-person events across the campus. For example, ASU’s Learning Engineering Institute currently hosts weekly meetings with generative AI experts to help faculty stay up to date on key issues associated with the technology. Faculty across the university also meet regularly to develop instructional methods for incorporating generative AI in university classes. So far, conversations have focused on responsible usage policies, research-based initiatives on how students interact with generative AI technologies, instructional strategies that increase technological literacy, the implications of generative AI on labour equity and academic integrity. These collaborations have produced research studies that measure the effectiveness of instructional methods that consciously incorporate generative AI technologies. The result of these studies will then be distributed via the channels described above and to individual units that want guidance on how to bolster generative AI literacy in faculty, staff and students.For universities interested in adopting a similar approach, the key is to bring together a core group of faculty and staff who have a baseline knowledge in generative AI literacy, expertise in faculty development and experience with research development or event coordination. Ask this group to create outcomes that align both with the university’s mission and the story you are telling about generative AI literacy. For example, one of our guiding outcomes is to understand generative AI research via its key terms, technical nuances, historical problem-solving processes and ethical challenges. Meetings should focus on these outcomes and the effectiveness of proposed research initiatives should be measured by whether such outcomes were met. Again, the advantage of this approach is that it increases generative AI literacy by focusing the faculty’s, staff’s and students’ attention on local problem-solving processes.There is more to say, of course. But the bottom line is that ASU’s focus on increasing generative AI literacy helps us not only to approach new enterprise partnerships in a principled manner, but also to measure its success by the access mission that guides our collective work. Holding open the question of generative AI’s role in higher education presents an opportunity for us to model our access values to our students, colleagues and the wider public. We will continue to do so in the classes we teach, the public and professional outreach opportunities we provide and the research we conduct. If generative AI is poised to transform how we communicate and work on a broad scale, we cannot afford to do anything less.Kyle Jensen is the director of writing programmes and a professor of English at Arizona State University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Addressing the generative AI literacy gap in HE

Holding open the question of generative AI’s role in higher education presents an opportunity for us to model our access values to our students, colleagues and the wider public, writes Kyle Jensen

We need to address the generative AI literacy gap in higher education

Engineering education is increasingly being called upon&nbsp;to adapt to the complex requirements of today’s workplaces. Companies are looking for both technical and non-technical skills&nbsp;such as people skills, creativity and analytical skills. 

Higher education providers are exploring innovative approaches, in the UK&nbsp;and internationally. In this article, I briefly describe four points that universities could incorporate in their curriculums to transform engineering education. Opinions presented here are based on my reflection of teaching at the&nbsp;New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering, discussion with companies that hire graduate engineers and other national and international teaching experiences.&nbsp; 

Context-based learning for engineering students

Context-based learning contextualises project- and problem-based learning.&nbsp;Some universities do use this approach to limited extent, but more work is needed. It can be implemented in any course module with a suitable challenge. Ideally, the challenge should come to students from a “challenge partner” that is facing the given challenge. A challenge partner can be a national or international corporation, charity, local community or non-government or government organisation. 


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Briefing from the partner (in-person or online) makes the challenge more realistic and motivates students to actively solve the challenge. This could include inviting the challenge partner to describe the challenge to students, designing assessments that are driven by the challenge and allowing the challenge partner to provide feedback to solutions devised by students. 

Challenges would be module specific and enable students to meet learning outcomes of the module. For instance, a challenge could be improving the performance of a manufacturing plant. In such a case, the challenge partner could be a local manufacturing plant and a representative from the plant could be invited to brief students about the challenge. 

Any module relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could also include a problem-based challenge. 

Teaching team-working skills

Many workplaces and projects require engineers to work in teams with people from different backgrounds, so team-working needs to be strongly embedded in engineering coursework. Context- and problem-based learning requires students to solve engineering challenges in teams, and several institutions already adopt a limited degree of problem-based learning in their coursework. However, the degree of teamwork needs to be increased. Also, how to work effectively in teams is often not taught, and students are left on their own to develop team-working skills. 

Universities need to teach engineering students how to be team players. They should provide lessons on effective communication, how to listen attentively and understanding and respecting diverse opinions. These are all key elements of effective team-working. In addition to providing valuable team-working tips, a template can be provided to students for guidance. The template could include sections such as roles and responsibilities of team members, individual action logs, completed tasks, remaining tasks, required actions and resources for tasks. 

Widening access to engineering education

One-dimensional thinking that all engineers must be very good at mathematics is not always correct, so engineering institutions should not require entry-level students to have very high mathematical competence, in my view. Yes, engineers require these skills, but the degree of competence needed can be varied and context-specific.

Engineering problems often require a combination of skills to develop effective solutions. Creativity and out-of-the-box thinking are also needed at times to solve engineering problems. Applicants with average mathematics skills but high creativity and passion for engineering should also be granted admission to engineering programmes, in my opinion. Talking to employers of engineering graduates, ranging from small- and medium-sized enterprises to large companies, I have found that non-technical skills such as a can-do attitude, inquisitiveness and a proactive nature are highly sought-after attributes. The New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering does not require A-level mathematics (roughly equivalent to the senior year of high school in the American system) as an admissions requirement for its bachelor’s and master’s engineering programmes, and I think more institutions should adopt this practice.

Engineering education should be made accessible to anyone with a love for engineering. Widening access to engineering education has the potential to revolutionise the sector by creating a synergy where artists, mathematicians and other professionals come together to design engineering projects.

Embedding humanities and liberal arts

Humanities and liberal arts need&nbsp;to be deeply ingrained in engineering education, in my opinion. This is because engineering projects generally require a combination of technical and non-technical skills for effective completion. On top of that, engineers need to be aware of the social impacts of their profession. Also, the global threats faced by today’s society require holistic and systems thinking because no single discipline can tackle major global challenges. For these reasons, liberal arts and humanities content such as ethics, sustainability and social inclusion should be embedded in engineering coursework. A liberal arts education will also train students to critically ask the overarching question of why engineers do what they do from different perspectives. 

By incorporating the above four points, universities and higher education institutions could transform engineering education. This has the potential to produce new types of engineering graduates who can use systems thinking to tackle global problems. 

Parakram Pyakurel is an assistant professor at the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE), UK.

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Adapt engineering education to changing skills demands

Context-based learning, teamwork and creativity are all elements that could help engineering training respond more effectively to the needs of complex workplaces, writes Parakram Pyakurel

Steps to adapt engineering education to changing skills demands 

Having taught international courses in higher education for 15 years as a cultural anthropologist, I assumed that my background knowledge, sensitivity and commitment would enable me to manage diversity in the classroom. Although I seemed to be doing well on certain measures, I came to realise that my unconscious bias was quietly cheating me.&nbsp;

Here, I offer my insights around “interculturality” and practical tips for handling difficulties arising from cultural diversity in a classroom environment:&nbsp; 

Communication barriers and using English as a technical language

Most of us who have international teaching experience would agree that language is one of the main obstacles to creating an ideal teaching and learning environment. Language is both a tool for communication and an anchor for individual learning pathways.


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Although we all speak the same language in the classroom (English as a technical language), the culture in which students were raised influences how concepts are embedded and related. In other words, previously acquired knowledge may mean different things to different people, and the differences can cause problems during university years. This is not only important in the humanities but also in certain fields of natural sciences.

The greatest challenge is therefore to establish a general framework to enhance shared understanding. Barriers usually arise in how students from different backgrounds engage in the process of developing understanding. Hence, I would like to focus on what happens between the instructor and the students in the classroom or, in other words, how the space between them is shaped and what this space can be used for.

‘Interculturality’ as a culturally dependent concept

In simple terms, we are interculturally competent when we can overcome the difficulties posed by cultural differences. When a lecturer is confronted with cultural differences in the classroom, they may consciously use the concept of interculturality in the form of competence development and pay close attention to the language used. Doing this in a yielding way, it should not be limited to competence development or language used. Based on my experience, and in conjunction with the critical or reflective approach to interculturality, I would stress that how we understand the term interculturality itself is strictly linked to &nbsp;our underlying beliefs. For instance, students might see the role of the lecturer differently depending on their culture, resulting in a diverse understanding of the power balance in the classroom. 

Descriptive v prescriptive interculturality: which one suits our needs?

Interculturality can be understood and applied in two senses: descriptive or normative. 

The descriptive sense refers to a process in which at least two people from different cultural backgrounds interact and negotiate to understand each other. In this case, ambiguities and uncertainties are more acceptable or tolerated as part of a never-ending process. This approach may not be the most appropriate or effective for many educational purposes. For example, when talking about end-of-life ethical questions in medical classes, highlighting and accepting the role of beliefs in various communities gives space for open discussions, but with no pressing need to come to an agreement.

In contrast, when interculturality is perceived in the normative sense, it gives rise to other communication strategies during classes. Interculturality in this sense does not mean imposing a solution that everyone must accept but suggests that the parties need to arrive at an “agreement”. The concepts that emerge from these agreements provide a common basis for learning. This approach urges and demands, among many things, a common understanding of the subject matter. Continuing the example above: understanding why we accept beliefs only to a certain extent when we discuss social norms regarding end-of-life issues in a bioethical context is crucial for students who wish to practise their professions in our community. When assessing success, we tend to measure the extent to which this agreement has been achieved (that is, whether the knowledge or message has been adequately conveyed or communicated to the student). 

Distance as the central element of intercultural encounters

Choosing wisely between these intercultural strategies has a great benefit in a classroom environment. We can focus on what we are talking about without concentrating too much on the parties involved. The process of dialogue among the parties is at least as important as the truth of what is being said. In addition, the possibility that the other person may be right should always be kept open. In this way, interculturality can be seen not as a condition but as a methodology. The discussion partners may interpret and apply interculturality in different ways, but once the cultural distance has been identified, it can create space for open discussion in the language that best suits both parties. 

Interculturality as methodology: useful advice for teachers

These practical tips may help educators manage difficulties arising from cultural diversity in the classroom: &nbsp;


	Exploit the advantages of being a non-native speaker. If both instructor and student use English as a foreign language (EFL), it can make it easier to develop a common language. Try to accept that what is intended to be said is more important than how it is said. 
	Encourage your students to think creatively and critically, rather than emphasising a single interpretation. Recognise that the other person may be right. Without acknowledging the possibility that a student might be right, your entire intercultural endeavour will be on the wrong track. No one can leave room for open discussion if the outcome has been decided from the beginning. Focusing on the space between interlocutors and on the subject matter helps maintain this position and can enrich everyone involved.
	Readiness to change is a key and useful quality for a lecturer in intercultural situations. It may require a strong self-awareness and a clear understanding of the situation, but if an educator can be open to change, they will not only discover new perspectives but can also become a role model for students who wish to learn reflective and critical thinking. 


Attila Dobos is senior lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Semmelweis University, Budapest.

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Using cultural distance in the classroom to help learners

Cultural diversity can have practical benefits in the university classroom if we reflect on it from a culture-sensitive perspective, writes Attila Dobos. It can enhance the quality of discussions and lead to a deeper understanding between teacher and students

Diversity in the classroom as an advantage for learning

As De Montfort University embraced Design Sprint methodologies to transition to sequential block delivery for the start of the 2022-23 academic year, academic teams from Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Computer Games Programming BSc (Hons) embraced the opportunity. Here, they reflect on sprinting in hindsight and what they’ve learned to date.

Approaching curriculum redesign

Welcoming the chance to redesign the Computer Games Programming curriculum from scratch, the team looked back on student, employer and external examiner feedback, developing curriculum strategies to ensure that graduates leave with an industry-ready portfolio of skills, knowledge and behaviours.


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Redesigning Computer Science involved merging, blending and extending existing modules to find the best way of facilitating and enhancing the existing curriculum within the new block structure. The team carefully designed curriculum sequencing to make sure that learning from one block would complement future blocks.

As a hot topic within the higher education sector, redesigning the AI curriculum involved rigorous consultation with colleagues, academics, industry experts and accrediting bodies.

Enhancing assessment approaches

Changing from semesterised to block delivery provides both opportunities and challenges. Modules in the block format are seven weeks in duration, including all teaching, learning and assessment. Student feedback return on summative assessment was an area where we knew we could enhance the student experience. But that raised questions about the practicalities of return in reduced time frames, if the benefits were to be achieved. We needed to ensure that learning from one block informs and scaffolds learning in the next.

With all assessments occurring within the reduced time frame of the block, academics redesigned assessment approaches: for example, making use of portfolio assessment where students receive feedback during lab sessions, unit tests for programming assessments that support student understanding of their progress while developing a solution, and phase tests, used formatively and summatively. Across the programmes, we standardised assessment approaches to make sure that the weighting and duration (or&nbsp;word-length requirement) were comparable across modules.

Greater innovation in assessment methodology was important, and so Computer Games Programming introduced assessment by driving test and technical conversation.

The driving test involves students sitting with the tutor and working through a scripted scenario. The student has the opportunity to demonstrate a set of skills and competencies in response to the tutor-set task, likened to the experience of the physical driving test. This assessment method has been really beneficial in assessing core digital competencies, and it supports student engagement and success through assessment.

We designed technical conversations to supplement a piece of practical coursework developed throughout the block. The student and tutor engage in conversation about the topics covered in the module, facilitating an organic way for students to demonstrate their knowledge and promoting a deeper level of understanding.

Improving student experiences

Students and staff identified benefits to the block approach and positive impacts on the student experience. Students found that focusing on one module at a time supports their learning experience, as they find it easier to remember topics for longer. The intensive approach helped them develop a solid foundation in curriculum content. Academic colleagues linked this to the deliberately designed curriculum, the incremental building of knowledge and skills supported by the incremental building of assessment – which has also led to reduced assessment anxiety among students.

Academic colleagues have noted that immersion in one module at a time has removed distractions from other modules. Students are no longer prioritising work from other modules aligned to their interests or preferences, but instead engaging more holistically in the range of topics studied. They also said they don’t get confused by studying multiple modules at once, allowing them to focus on the current topic.

Students also noted that they are managing their time effectively, as well as citing practical benefits – such as not having to carry as many different notebooks to record learning activities from different modules.

Reflecting on the sprint

Transitioning to sequential block mode delivery provides a range of opportunities to review and enhance the taught curriculum and assessment approaches. Curriculum redesign is often a lengthy process, so a Design Sprint methodology facilitates a unique quality enhancement and assurance activity at pace. The authors of this article are based in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media at De Montfort University, and went through the process of curriculum redesign and programme validation within three months. Delivery commenced 10 months later.

The academic teams in undergraduate Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Computer Games Programming at De Montfort embraced the opportunity to revalidate their programmes, producing optimal and enhanced student experiences within the new delivery approach. Alongside curriculum sequencing, engagement with external stakeholders and innovative assessment design, these teams have kept the university’s concept of an empowered student experience at the heart of development.

Zoë Allman is associate dean (academic), Simon Coupland is associate professor, Luke Attwood is senior lecturer, Archie Khuman is associate head of education, and Conor Fahy is senior lecturer in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media at De Montfort University.

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Sprinting into blocks: what we learned

Introducing block delivery using Sprint methodology to design academic programmes saw computing, AI and gaming academics rise to the challenge.  De Montfort University staff reflect on their experiences

Sprinting into blocks: what computing, AI and gaming academics learned

The recently released Bob Marley biopic One Love encapsulates the musician’s vision for unity, peace and overcoming systems of oppression, represented through the powerful messages of his music. Educators, aiming to apply principles of inclusive pedagogy into teaching practices, can learn from these themes of inclusivity and community. 

Inclusive pedagogy refers to teaching approaches tailored to engage and support diverse students, especially those from groups that have been historically excluded or underserved in education. This involves paying attention to aspects of identity such as race, gender, class and sexual orientation, and how they might impact learning. An inclusive pedagogue reflects on possible biases in their curricula, adapts teaching strategies to enable multidimensional learning for students from all backgrounds and purposefully builds a classroom culture where students feel respected and represented, and have equal opportunities to excel.&nbsp; 

Bridge perspectives for self-reflection

One Love showcases Bob Marley’s life and work in a way that reflects many dimensions of identity and the experiences of marginalised groups. As a mixed-race Jamaican raised in poverty, who rose to become a global artistic phenomenon, Marley’s worldview bridged multiple perspectives. One Love’s exploration of his upbringing, activism and musical genius provides several lessons for self-reflection on the part of educators about inclusion.


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First, it surfaces the lasting impacts of intergenerational injustice and wrestles with burning questions of poverty, inequality and colourism in the post-colonial world. Engaging with these complex narratives fosters empathy across differences. 

Second, revisiting Marley’s activism and risky stands against exploitation gives insight into principles of social justice and sacrifice for community good, and can empower students from all backgrounds to have the courage to stand up for their rights and make change in the world. 

Third, discussing Marley’s passion for human rights and lobbying for equitable systems probes educators to examine their own university policies, values and curricula through an inclusion lens, asking: who feels excluded and why? What changes promote representation of all groups? How can we empower the disadvantaged?

Additionally, exploring Marley’s dense symbolism and references to Rastafarian culture in his music stresses intercultural competency. Educators ought to consistently push themselves to better understand the worldviews of cultural groups within classrooms in order to fully engage their strengths. 

By engaging the stories of marginalised communities, we can encourage students to voice their own perspectives through storytelling, activities and classroom norms. This will make them feel secure, valued and inspired.

Nurture your students’ creative talents

At another level, focusing on Marley’s creative genius – which emerges from his identity – provides lessons about fostering the intellect of students who fall outside a perceived dominant culture. Teachers must actively nurture the talents of black, immigrant, queer or working-class students by removing assumptions about their abilities and interests. Instead, provide access to opportunities that match their passions. Marley’s own unconventional path to fame highlights the need to champion each student’s purpose, not constrain them by conventional scripts or generic pedagogies.

Ultimately, the universal appeal of Marley’s One Love anthem underscores a shared humanity despite difference. Well-facilitated classroom dialogues about dreams and struggles could powerfully cultivate intergroup empathy, relationship-building and inspiration, breaking down barriers that oppress people based on race, background, gender or orientation. There are rich lessons here for inclusive pedagogical practice that mirror Marley’s lyrics to “join together and feel all right”, as an educational community striving for equitable learning. Let’s reflect on narratives such as Marley’s and ask how to walk the talk of a truly inclusive educational experience.

Since business schools are instrumental in preparing the next generation of leaders who will guide organisations in an increasingly diverse and global business environment, Marley’s messages around inclusivity, equality, justice and overcoming oppression are critical for shaping ethical and culturally intelligent human beings capable of building fair, equitable and inclusive organisations.

Here are some examples of how business schools in particular could incorporate lessons from Bob Marley’s One Love into inclusive pedagogy practice:


	Show clips from the film during a module on organisational behaviour. Follow with small group discussions analysing how issues such as discrimination, diversity challenges or ethical workplace cultures are highlighted. Require students to self-reflect in written authentic assignments on the points that resonate for their own future leadership.
	Build a case study for use in HR or management modules exploring how lack of inclusion fuels high staff turnover, especially among&nbsp;minority ethnic groups. Support with data on UK business demographics. Encourage groups of students to develop comprehensive inclusion recruitment and retention strategies informed by film themes.
	Create a project for marketing students to develop campaigns that echo One Love’s celebration of humanity’s oneness while&nbsp;avoiding appropriation. Examine respectful representation and multicultural messaging. Evaluate student-developed slogans and visuals against such inclusion narratives.&nbsp; 
	Develop a workshop module for students facilitating self-exploration of their own cultural assumptions and biases about diverse groups. Follow with perspective-taking activities where students provide their takes on the challenges faced by marginalised communities. 
	Build case studies about activists from marginalised backgrounds who stood up boldly for justice like Marley did. Challenge students to evaluate change strategies and discuss dynamics of power, privilege and discrimination. Require reflective essays on leading change inclusively.
	Incorporate modules that cross Marley’s music and business successes. Explore the cultural intelligence needed to lead creatively across geographic and demographic frontiers. Link to the rules of fair trade and the ethical obligations successful global UK brands have to diverse suppliers and partners.


The reality of the UK’s multicultural classrooms and workplaces needs inclusive pedagogical approaches like those modelled in One Love. If business schools aim to develop leaders truly ready to guide 21st century organisations equitably and successfully, then inclusive education and anti-racist pedagogies are key – and Marley’s boundary-crossing influence offers inspiration.

Lucy Gill-Simmen is vice dean for education and student experience in the School of Business &amp; Management at Royal Holloway, University of London.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

What Bob Marley can teach us about inclusive pedagogy

As One Love hits cinemas, educators can take inspiration from the life of Bob Marley to create a more inclusive educational experience. Lucy Gill-Simmen shows how

As a former K-12 special education teacher, I know that sometimes, to improve student learning, we must first change our own behaviour as instructors. This is true at the post-secondary level as well. It has been estimated that one in five individuals enrolled in undergraduate college classes in the US has a disability, with the highest percentage having attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This number could be even higher given that students must self-report disabilities to their university to receive accommodations such as recorded lectures, shared notes and extended time on exams.Many individuals with ADD and ADHD struggle in college given the nature of the disorder. Generally, they can have lower grades, more trouble concentrating in class, struggle to manage their time and use basic study skills.How to make your university more neurodiverse friendlyWith the right support, students with ADHD can thrive in digital learning environments10 ways universities can reject ableismHowever, instructors can implement strategies in their courses to support students with ADD and ADHD. Below are five simple changes instructors can make to their class.1. Share the agenda for the classAnxiety is common among people with ADD and ADHD, so if students know what to expect for the class, it relieves some of their stress.Make clear what will happen during the class in a place that is easily visible. Typically, write the agenda in bullet points on the board, but you could also project it or give students a paper copy. Highlight all the main activities of the class that day: lecture time, group work and a writing activity, for example.2. Increase student engagement and participationA professor once told me that the person doing the talking is the person doing the learning. Think about your classes: who does most of the talking? If students are not actively engaged in an activity, it gives time for their minds to wander, which is a main characteristic of ADD and ADHD.Look to increase your students’ opportunities to respond – ask more frequent comprehension and opinion questions. Instead of a full class lecture, try a jigsaw activity and have students read a text, then teach their peers about that content.Another quick strategy is using “turn and talk” activities , where students discuss a question with a neighbour, then share with the whole class. In a recent class, my students did a sorting activity of special education laws that I developed, then created their own sort using transition and work-related legislation.3. Give students optionsThis is a classic special-education strategy to give students a sense of autonomy and control. In the university setting, this could mean giving them multiple choices for an assignment. For example, after you finish the specific content, instead of having students take a test or write a paper, give them rein to be creative. Perhaps students use the knowledge gained to develop a brochure or record themselves giving an oral presentation. They could film a commercial or write a script for a play.Given any of these options, students would still need to include the required content. This allows students to choose something they will enjoy, which increases their motivation and plays to their strengths. &nbsp;4. Communicate your expectations clearlyStudents with ADHD can sometimes get lost in the details or focus on aspects of a course that are not critical to their success. Information presented in lectures and assignment should be clear and linked to course goals. Focus on purpose, participation, product and content when explaining the task. The purpose should communicate the relevance of the assignment to the course. Participation lets the students know if this is a group or independent project. The product specifies what they can turn in. You can give students a choice in the look of their final product. Lastly, outline the content that is required in the assignment.5. Build trust and ease with your studentsIn my education classes for future schoolteachers, I identify building relationships as the most important thing a teacher can do within their classroom. I think this is true for higher education courses as well. When you get to know your students, they become more comfortable and are willing to participate and engage more in class, while striving to be successful.Building relationships also means students might be comfortable sharing things about their life with you. Some students do not self-identify as having a disability with the institution but might disclose that information to their instructor. Students might also be more inclined to share struggles they are experiencing, whether they relate to your class or not.Try something simple: pose a question to the whole class to get to know them better. When taking attendance, each student can answer. I recently asked my students what fictional television or movie character they would like to be friends with. It starts the class on an engaging note, connections can be made based on responses, and you get a little piece of information about each student.It seems more students are dealing with big life experiences while in college, whether that is getting married, grieving a death in the family, working long hours to pay for college or managing a disability. Being aware of this is truly the first step in changing our attitudes as educators. The next step is changing our behaviours by implementing these five simple strategies. It will create a better classroom experience for the many students who struggle with ADD and ADHD.Sarah Sehlinger is assistant professor of special education at Indiana University Southeast.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Improve your college course for students with ADD and ADHD

From making the class agenda clear and visible to building trust with learners, Sarah Sehlinger shares five simple tips that will improve the experience of your college course for students with ADD and ADHD

Changing instructor behaviour to improve learning for university students with ADHD

From my colleagues in post-pandemic classrooms, I&nbsp;hear two common concerns: students are no&nbsp;longer showing up to classes, and they don’t know how to prepare for assessments. I’ve found a&nbsp;way to subvert these trends and foster a culture of cooperation in my class by using community quizzes.

What are community quizzes?

Community quizzes are weekly in-class quizzes where, instead of forbidding students from talking or exchanging answers, I&nbsp;encourage them to do exactly that. The students are free to move around the room and discuss the quiz with as many classmates as they want to. The only restriction is that they are&nbsp;not permitted to use notes or other resources – it is a closed-book quiz. Quizzes are administered online (via Canvas) and are timed for 30&nbsp;minutes, with a variety of question formats.

Demonstrate the value of collaboration

Student expectations about attending class have changed in the wake of the pandemic. If they can access content online, why show up in person? My course includes three in-person classes per week, and the day that the community quiz takes place has by far the best attendance. Instead of 40 or 50 students, the class swells to over 100, which is around 90&nbsp;per cent attendance. This isn’t because I&nbsp;mandate them to come, but because they find value in doing so.


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On quiz day, the traditional lecture layout, with me lecturing at the front to an audience of seated students, is transformed into a highly charged and dynamic space. Students are moving around, debating with each other and discussing the materials in a lively and critical way. They ask each other about their answers and try to uncover which is most likely to be the correct response and why. In most cases, a student will take over the podium and lead the whole class through the quiz after they have spent some time already working together.


  
      
  
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Students don’t have to attend in-class to complete the quiz – the remote or online option is afforded to them. In fact, it would be much easier for them to break the parameters of the closed-book restriction if they took it from home. But they come because they understand the benefit of collaborating with their peers.

Information as an active process

Another shift, often linked to the pandemic, is an increased reliance on memorisation. We are seeing students treat information as something that they commit to memory and they don’t grapple with or apply the concepts in any meaningful way. They are also prone to procrastination and can quickly fall behind.

Community quizzes allow students to consistently engage with content in ways that help them to understand and learn in a deeper way than memorisation alone. The lively debates that naturally emerge in this space force students to question not only their perception of the material, but also identify their own blind spots as well as the blind spots of their peers. By working together towards a solution, they are teaching each other and themselves and making the material their own. It also gets them working on communication, interpersonal skills and even some leadership, which is something that doesn’t happen with a typical quiz.

Reimagining learning

This is a fairly simple change to make in allowing students to work together on quizzes. Any format is suitable: online or on paper. It can be done in any classroom setting – I&nbsp;am now doing it in my lab courses. You can consider letting people work alone at first and then join forces after they have individually had a chance at the questions. I&nbsp;would recommend establishing the format early and encouraging students to get moving around the room. I&nbsp;think it works better as closed-book format, which gives students more impetus to prepare and a more personal stake in contributing to the group. I&nbsp;always tell students what content will be featured on the quiz.

Community quizzes are just one strategy I&nbsp;use in my class to make learning about cooperation instead of competition. As an instructor, this can be uncomfortable at times, because it means giving up space to students, watching as they occasionally go down the wrong route and knowing that I&nbsp;have to let them go there. Of course, the highs and lows are always better together. Once students get a taste of this community quiz style, they really do&nbsp;not want to do quizzes any other way.

More than any particular concepts, what I&nbsp;want to educate them about is that learning together can be a richer experience than doing it alone. Connecting with each other was diminished during the pandemic and through the shift to online teaching and learning formats, but this is what I&nbsp;am trying to bring back. That is the path forward in health sciences and higher learning.

Mark Lechner is a lecturer in health sciences at Simon Fraser University.

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Entice students back to the classroom with community quizzes

In this post-pandemic landscape, how can we encourage students to turn up to in-person classes and teach them how to learn together? Mark Lechner believes community quizzes are the key

Feedback is a critical element of the learning process. It helps students realise their strengths and weaknesses, develop critical thinking skills and engage with course material more profoundly. Providing effective feedback can foster a positive learning environment and increase student motivation. Here we offer practical advice for mastering the art of constructive and actionable feedback.

Establish clear learning goals

By setting out expectations clearly from the beginning, students understand the purpose of their assessments and this in turn will allow for more targeted feedback. 


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Start by outlining the key learning objectives for each course, including the skills and knowledge students are expected to acquire. Provide students with explicit assessment criteria and grading rubrics – and make sure they comprehend the expectations against which their work will be evaluated.

Also, encourage students to set personal learning objectives. This will help nurture a sense of ownership and accountability for their progress in them. Ask them to test their ability and understanding by answering given tutorial questions before consulting their solutions and offer timely feedback

Maximise the impact of your feedback by providing it consistently and in a timely manner. Students are then more likely to implement the insights to their work.

Aim to return graded assignments and exams quickly, so your students have enough time to review and reflect on the feedback.&nbsp;Offer regular feedback opportunities – in-class activities, exams, coursework and outlines of larger projects can all be beneficial.

Make sure your feedback is relevant to the course material and learning objectives. Students have to make connections between the feedback and their overall objectives. 

Consider both strengths and weaknesses

It’s important to highlight your students’ strengths – but, equally, noting areas for improvement in a constructive way is crucial for development and learning.

Make sure to recognise and praise your students’ accomplishments, reinforcing positive behaviour and encouraging motivation. But also identify specific areas where students can improve and provide suggestions for overcoming those obstacles.

When students consider both their strengths and the areas where improvement is needed, they develop a growth mindset and learn self-awareness. Students with creative and out-of-the-box thinking might initially be hesitant in openly sharing their ideas, but encouraging them to do so would result in a distinctive improvement in their performance.

Be specific

Students need clear instructions on how to improve. Use concrete examples from their work to illustrate your points, to help them understand the rationale behind your feedback. Provide specific recommendations, such as reorganising an essay, expanding an argument or conducting additional research, and avoid ambiguous comments. Where needed, signpost them to specific resources where they can find further guidance to improve the skillset highlighted in the feedback.

Foster a dialogue

Feedback is a two-way conversation and creating an environment in which students can self-evaluate will increase engagement and reflection. 

Encourage students to ask questions about the feedback they’ve received. Seeking clarification will foster a deeper understanding of the subject matter and their performance. Having a follow-up session with students after providing them with formal feedback comments on an assessment is very effective in clarifying their questions about feedback, leading to desired improvements in future.

Students who have been given the opportunity to engage in self-assessment will develop critical thinking skills, as well as a sense of responsibility for their own learning. Peer evaluation activities, in which students provide and receive feedback from their peers, will help them acquire new perspectives on their work.

Tone is important

Your feedback’s tone can have a significant impact on students’ receptivity. Maintain a supportive, empathetic stance.

Recognise the effort students have put into their work and express faith in their ability to improve, and avoid excessively negative or critical language. Remember to keep cultural differences in mind and tailor your feedback to the needs of the individual student. Students new to research methodology often struggle with the concept of review of literature and the style of its write-up. Initial guidance done in a constructive way, which might vary from individual to individual, helps them progressively learn and develop this ability.

Provide extra support

Recommend pertinent course materials, manuals or supplementary readings to help students gain a deeper understanding of the topic or develop particular skills.

Some students might benefit from a referral to academic support students, such as tutoring, writing centres or study skills seminars. 

Schedule one-on-one consultations (or encourage students to attend during your office hours) to discuss feedback and develop ways to improve.

Monitor progress and modify if necessary

Your feedback will be more effective and relevant if you regularly monitor the progress of your students – and alter your feedback strategies accordingly. Tracking students’ improvements, growth areas and ongoing challenges over time will allow you to evaluate the efficacy of your feedback strategies. The use of formative assessments at the early and middle stages of a course delivery helps in tracking students ongoing understanding and performance, and therefore helps in implementing any change strategies in time if required. It also builds their confidence towards summative assessments.

If your students are not progressing as desired, consider making changes to your approach. Regular student feedback on your feedback can be helpful here.

Share your own relationship with feedback

By describing your own experiences with feedback and how it’s helped you as a lecturer and researcher, you can cultivate a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Encourage students to view feedback as an opportunity for growth, instead of a measure of their value or skill. 

Demonstrate your dedication to ongoing professional development by soliciting feedback from colleagues and students on your teaching and research methods. 

By putting these techniques into practice, lecturers and researchers can master the art of effective feedback. Laying a strong foundation of assessment will allow academics to build a more engaged, motivated and successful learning environment for the development of their students.

Ibham Veza is a lecturer at the mechanical engineering department at Universiti Teknologi Petronas. Imran Qureshi is the head of engineering at University of Birmingham Dubai.

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Master the art of effective feedback 

Providing constructive feedback gives students a launch pad for development. Ibham Veza and Imran Qureshi offer their advice 

Higher education institutions play a crucial role in ensuring that all students have equal access to education, regardless of their backgrounds. But classrooms must be inclusive for this to happen. In this resource, we will look at five ways that technology can create spaces of tolerance and understanding and teach students the value of diversity, preparing them for a more globalised world.&nbsp;

It helps us to tailor content

Having an array of digital tools at our fingertips allows us to personalise our teaching to help capture students’ attention in innovative ways. We can make videos or source relevant content from YouTube, create interactive presentations on Canva and encourage discussions via platforms such as Padlet.&nbsp;

Using artificial intelligence can help us to create accessible educational content; features such as text-to-speech and machine translation accommodate students with disabilities, for example. Platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini or ElevenLabs are good ones to try. Use this technology to tailor your teaching to students’ learning styles, ensuring they all feel included and heard.

Despite recent fears and controversies over AI tools, we cannot deny their potential to enhance learning, and it is important to encourage students’ use of them. Therefore, we must seek frequent training on how to use them effectively and assess the best ways in which we can incorporate them into the learning process. 

Most of the platforms mentioned in this resource offer free subscriptions, removing financial barriers to inclusive learning.&nbsp;


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It allows us to implement other learning methodologies

Technology makes it easier for us to incorporate inclusive pedagogical practices into our classrooms. Take collaborative online international learning (COIL), for example. This involves linking courses between universities based in different countries through platforms such as Zoom so that students from different parts of the world can connect and work collaboratively.&nbsp;These types of activities foster intercultural communication, generate diverse learning environments and interactions between different perspectives and promote tolerance and understanding. It also prepares students to live and work in a globalised society.&nbsp;

Another innovative teaching technique that technology allows us to harness is gamification, through which we can integrate different game elements into study to boost student engagement, enhance learning and encourage collaboration. You can use platforms such as Kahoot or Socrative to explore this option.&nbsp;

It facilitates collaboration

The use of digital tools can bring us closer to key actors who can support inclusive learning, such as other education professionals, civic groups in the wider community and members of minority groups. They can provide insight and strategies that nurture inclusivity, and, with their collaboration, we can create new, interactive support resources for our courses, such as 360 degree videos or virtual reality scenarios that allow for more practical and visual learning.&nbsp;

Technology allows us to design collaborative projects that involve students in the joint creation of content related to their course. Use platforms such as Google Docs or Microsoft Teams, which facilitate communication and collaboration and allow each student to contribute their unique perspective, to build inclusion and highlight the diversity of ideas in the classroom. 

Projects can include multimedia presentations, video recordings or podcasts that allow students to express themselves in various ways. This approach encourages active participation and empowers students to feel as though they play a key role in the construction of knowledge.

Inclusion should not be treated as an abstract concept, but as a core value that must be embraced at all levels of education. By embracing diversity and promoting inclusion, we provide equal opportunities and ready our students for a globalised world, not only improving the quality of education but laying the foundation for a more compassionate and just society.

Adela Vega Guerra is the academic coordinator of digital education at Tecnológico de Monterrey. Elizabeth Marcial Morales is a digital education teacher at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

By embracing diversity and promoting inclusion, we provide equal opportunities and ready our students for a globalised world, not only improving the quality of education, but laying the foundation for a more compassionate and just society

Three ways technology can make your classrooms more inclusive

How to build successful business school partnerships

Discover insights behind the award-winning Birmingham MBA Deloitte Consultancy Challenge

Andrew Miles, corporate relations manager at Birmingham Business School, spoke to Times Higher Education about the Birmingham MBA Deloitte Consultancy Challenge. This groundbreaking programme has been running for 14 years and recently won the Best Business School Partnership Award in association with Perlego at the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and Business Graduates Association (BGA) Excellence Awards.

Tell us about this partnership and what makes it unique.

I would say longevity. The partnership is one based on innovation, continuity, trust and friendship. The latter cannot be understated; we have built a firm friendship with those we work with at Deloitte. This has led to an even greater commitment on both sides to make the Consultancy Challenge the very best it can be for MBA students. The programme is truly distinctive due to our combined efforts to refresh it each year, keeping it relevant and taking into account issues arising globally.

How did it feel when the winner announcement was made?

It was a terrific experience. It was already such an honour to be up for the award alongside five other renowned business schools from around the world. And then to win and see the partnership recognised in this way has just been incredibly rewarding. We were on a table together with the Deloitte team and it was great to be able to celebrate what we have built.

What are the origins of the partnership behind the Consultancy Challenge?

Many of our MBA students express a desire to move into consultancy, so we wanted to respond to that, not simply by incorporating consultancy skills into the curriculum and enabling them to take on consultancy projects as part of their dissertation. We do that anyway, as do most business schools. We wanted to offer them something unique, such as a fully immersive consultancy training programme.&nbsp;

We turned to Deloitte as they were already employing our MBA cohorts and putting their associates through our executive programme. So we decided to approach them to see if they would agree to design and deliver such a programme with us. This is where the value of having a good advisory board comes in because one of our members was a Deloitte partner willing to champion the idea. With that solidified, we were introduced to a Deloitte team to begin work. A member of our faculty, Paul Lewis, had worked for Deloitte prior to joining academia, so he helped form the design team and has been integral to the partnership ever since.

What do you think most excites students about this initiative, and what do they gain from the experience?

Working with a top global employer. Deloitte is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Students gain access to Deloitte and network with their senior leaders through to the partner level, which really meets expectations for those doing an MBA.&nbsp;

They also enjoy the opportunity to engage in the consultancy scenario, which we base around a real company’s strategic aims. ESG [environmental, social and governance] targets and geographical expansion plans are key considerations for the students to factor into their client solution.&nbsp;

Another unique element of the programme is the way in which we film the student teams interviewing their client board from one angle, and film the board’s response from the opposite angle. We live-edit these into one screen to enable students to immediately watch it with a Deloitte facilitator and review how well they built rapport with the different board members, who are played by senior members of Deloitte to make it feel very real.&nbsp;

This ensures that, in addition to learning technical consultancy skills, students get to practice, witness and critique their own listening skills and ability to gain the trust of their client. And they can only really do that if they see how they performed and what response they received. It’s usually the session the students dread the most but gain the most from.

How has the partnership evolved over the last 14 years?

Key to the success of the programme right from the outset has been to acquire detailed feedback from every student. In doing so, we have always been able to improve the programme year on year. We learnt early on that at the MBA level, the students will deep dive into any case we give them, spotting anything that does not add up. So, we’ve had to learn how to develop meticulously detailed client case scenarios that are far more than just business games but robust end-to-end business simulations that can span an entire week.&nbsp;

In short, by partnering in this way, we have married our teaching expertise with Deloitte’s consultancy expertise. Over time, we have identified new methods of delivery and built a unique skill set together to the point where neither party could attain the standard we now achieve without the other.&nbsp;

After the partnership had been well established, we brought in a member of our advisory board as a critical friend to ensure that neither party was becoming complacent as a result of the success of the programme. Marc Stone, commercial adviser for transformation at the Cabinet Office and Treasury, works with both parties to see where we can still innovate in terms of design and industry relevance.

Most significantly, Deloitte has recruited from the programme over the years. Some of those recruits have gone on to deliver some of the training sessions and partake in the design, bringing the programme and the partnership full circle.

What’s next for this partnership with Deloitte, and what does the future hold?

The AMBA &amp; BGA Excellence Award win is a huge validation of the programme and has driven home the benefit of the partnership to both us and Deloitte, so there is certainly more we plan to do together.

We have developed a similar challenge in responsible business for undergraduates and the winning students have gone on to undertake internships with Deloitte. And, of course, we will continue to refresh and add new elements to the MBA programme together.&nbsp;

Until now, this has been largely a teaching collaboration, but we would like to move it forward as a research partnership spanning the university. The team we work with at Deloitte do a lot of work in the sphere of health, so we foresee the opportunity to expand the partnership beyond the business school to include a research and commercial partnership with our colleges of medical and life sciences.

Edgar Meyer, dean of Birmingham Business School, says, “Meeting with the Deloitte team and experiencing their commitment to our MBA programme has been one of the great joys for me in recently joining Birmingham Business School. I am in awe of the student feedback we receive for the programme and learning how they succeed in their chosen careers. External partnerships are critical to a business school’s success and ours with Deloitte is quite simply meritorious.”&nbsp;

Perlego will be at the AMBA &amp; BGA Global Conference in Budapest from 12-15 May 2024. Visit the Perlego stand or www.perlego.com/institutions to find out more about how Perlego can support your strategic initiatives. Learn more about Birmingham Business School here.

Discover insights behind the award-winning Birmingham MBA Deloitte Consultancy Challenge

How to build successful business school partnerships

There is general agreement that a sense of community and belonging is critical to students’ academic motivation, success and well-being. This presents a challenge in the move towards more online and blended learning in higher education: to create a flexible and inclusive learning experience that also encourages student engagement, community and a sense of belonging in a largely digital environment. To do this, my colleagues and I incorporated watch parties into our classes.

Watch parties for teaching

We got our idea from online watch parties that became popular during the pandemic. These take place on streaming platforms and allow viewers to watch something together at the same time. During teaching watch parties, students come together online to view the same pre-prepared materials and discuss them with one another and the lecturer using a live chatbox on platforms such as Padlet or Zoom. 

When I tried this on Zoom, it didn’t take long for the discussion to begin. Some students asked simple clarification questions, so having the chatbox meant I could correct misconceptions immediately, improving understanding. Other students discussed in-depth points that expanded on the content covered in that particular class, which enhanced learning, helped build connections and honed students’ all-important critical thinking skills. &nbsp;


  
      
  
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[Screenshot of a watch party and the chatbox with a student’s question]

Students were extremely enthusiastic about watch parties; formal and informal student feedback was universally positive and attendance remained high throughout the semester even though all materials were recorded and made available asynchronously. 

After the success of the watch party trial, as a cognitive psychologist my natural inclination was to run controlled experiments to tease out the reasons for its success and how this approach might work differently for different students. So far, all my data points to the chatbox as being the crucial element, and in controlled experiments that keep other factors (such as topic and lecturer) constant, a chatbox reliably improves both students’ learning and sense of community in both online and in-person formats. So I now include a live chatbox in all teaching sessions where I can.

The programmes I teach have large cohorts of students, so after returning to more on-campus teaching post-pandemic, we run these sessions in large lecture theatres with multiple screens. The lecture content is projected on one screen and a Padlet chatbox can be accessed via a QR code using students’ mobiles or laptops and is projected onto another screen. This has worked well both with pre-recorded content (students come together in a lecture theatre to view pre-recorded content together in the same room) and live delivery (where we have two members of staff – one to deliver the lecture material live and the other to monitor the chatbox). Next year I hope to be able to offer students a choice between attending the same session either online or in person as best suits their circumstances, especially as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite.


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Tips and tricks 

If you’re interested in using this approach in your teaching, here are some tips and tricks I have learned to help watch parties run smoothly.


	If running an online watch party, download the pre-recorded videos and run them from the desktop rather than try to live-stream them (this seems to help preserve bandwidth)
	Set the social norms nice and early
	When online I ask for cameras off. I’ve found this to be most students’ preference anyway and this means camera anxiety does not present an obstacle to engagement
	Encourage the use of the chatbox by asking an easy question, or setting up a quiz or poll in the first few minutes of the session
	When the chat starts and questions to which&nbsp;you’d like to respond&nbsp;come in, remember that you have time to consider the response. You can look up links to relevant resources and provide an in-depth answer that students can view when they return asynchronously 
	Providing full answers also helps to encourage the students to use the chatbox.


Both Padlet and Zoom’s chatboxes worked well, but I preferred Padlet for the following reasons:


	Students can upvote or like a classmate’s posts 
	It allows learners to reply to a classmate’s question or thread, which makes it easier to follow 
	It was easy for students to be anonymous on Padlet – they did not have to sign in with an account to use it
	I can easily embed Padlet in our virtual learning environment (Blackboard) so students can access this asynchronously after the session.


Overall, watch parties or adding a chatbox to a live lecture fosters students’ sense of community and enhances learning. &nbsp;Students remain very enthusiastic about the approach, which marks a qualitative shift in students’ attitudes towards online and blended learning in my programme so far.

Jennifer Mcbride is senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Manchester.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Use watch parties to enhance learning

An educator at the University of Manchester explains how using online watch parties with live chatboxes has enhanced students’ learning in a digital environment 

Use watch parties to enhance learning and build a sense of belonging online

Involving the public in research is not a trend; it is crucial to the future of academia. More and more institutions are embracing it to enhance the relevance and impact of their research and to democratise knowledge. This article will delve into some reasons why this is so important and how to embed more support for public engagement.

There are several reasons why public engagement in research is important. They include:

Research relevance: public engagement ensures that academic research addresses the needs and concerns of society. By actively involving the public, researchers can confront real-world challenges and contribute meaningfully to communities. In the area of environmental sustainability, for instance, the University of Exeter’s Exeter City Futures project involves citizens in the co-creation of sustainable urban solutions, addressing issues such as transport, energy and air quality to make cities more sustainable and liveable.

The democratisation of knowledge: public engagement plays a vital role in expanding the impact of research beyond academic circles. It helps research reach a wider audience, influence policymaking and contribute to positive societal change. Open access initiatives, such as the Public Library of Science (Plos), break down barriers by providing global access to research, enabling researchers to share their findings with policymakers, educators and the public.

Research impact: public engagement amplifies the impact of research by enabling it to reach a broader audience, in some cases influencing policy decisions and contributing to positive societal change.

Let’s now delve into specific strategies that institutions should take to generate institution-wide support for public engagement.


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Establish and communicate a clear vision

Universities must explicitly articulate their commitment to public engagement in their mission statements and strategic plans. This clarity helps academics to understand the institution’s expectations and encourages a collective sense of purpose.

The University of California, Davis has seamlessly integrated public engagement into its core operations. By effectively conveying the importance and methodology of partnering with the community, the institution has cultivated an environment in which faculty are motivated to engage in projects that meet local needs. This integration is guided by the Public Scholarship for the Public Good framework, which outlines three primary objectives:


	To recognise and reward public scholarship across research, teaching and creative endeavours
	To enhance and expand community-based learning opportunities
	To boost community engagement that is both reciprocal and impactful.


Appoint the right leaders

Leadership plays a pivotal role in steering the ship towards a culture that champions public engagement. Appointing leaders who are passionate about the cause and about integrating it into the institution’s governance structure is key.

Provide the right training

Institutions such as the University of Cambridge offer training programmes that equip researchers, staff and students with vital communication and outreach skills. Initiatives such as the Public Engagement Starter Fund provide small grants for innovative research engagement activities, ensuring that the academic community is well prepared to engage diverse audiences effectively.

Recognise and incentivise

Universities should recognise and reward researchers who actively participate in public engagement activities and incorporate these efforts into promotion and tenure criteria.

This recognition not only motivates individuals but also signals the institution’s commitment to valuing and celebrating public engagement.

Evaluate and adapt

To ensure the success of public engagement initiatives, universities should implement evaluation metrics such as the number of community-based projects carried out, changes in community well-being or the economic impact of research on local areas. Frequent evaluations enable institutions to adjust their approaches, respond to changing community requirements and showcase the concrete effects their research has on social progress.

The University of Glasgow acknowledges the critical need for continuous assessment of its public engagement initiatives to ensure that they are effectively refined and enhanced. The university uses a comprehensive evaluation framework that examines both the reach (quantifying how extensive and diverse the impact is, and by whom it is experienced) and the significance (assessing the depth and transformative effect of the engagement activities).

It uses a variety of approaches to evaluate its effectiveness, including questionnaires, interviews, comment cards, guestbooks and more creative methodologies such as graffiti walls. Such a thorough process of evaluation is pivotal for the university to stay attuned to the evolving needs and expectations of the community, ensuring that its engagement efforts are both relevant and impactful.

By fostering a culture in which public engagement is not just encouraged but embedded into the fabric of academic life, institutions can unlock the full potential of their research, leaving a lasting impact on both the scholarly community and the world at large. Embracing public engagement is not just a strategic choice; it is an ethical imperative that aligns academic pursuits with the greater good of society.

Lyn R. Keith is a programme officer at the University of the West Indies.

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Encourage more support for public engagement in research

By fostering a culture in which public engagement is not just encouraged but embedded into the fabric of academic life, institutions can leave a lasting impact on both the scholarly community and the world at large

Steps to take to encourage more support for public engagement in research

Civic mindsets can develop in two ways: by challenging power structures or by finding opportunities in them. Challenging existing structures often requires some form of protest. We can find opportunities in them by using their approaches in volunteering and civic activities. Protest and community service are two things that AI can’t do, nor can it help students foster the values needed for solidarity or volunteerism.

Around 2010, a number of scholars realised the potential for formalising activism as education. There was a surge of publications and special courses embracing activist experiential learning. Professors working toward building confidence in civic engagement as protest, or in deep readings of solidarity, were routinely attacked by sceptics who suggested that activism should have no place on campus.&nbsp;

In building civic-mindedness through volunteerism, many universities also embraced experiential learning to bolster community-based participation or even international service learning. These programmes became enormously popular with the offer of combining real-world experience for credit while bolstering extracurricular experience. Private firms became involved by offering some rather disingenuous opportunities for service learning that entrenched colonial aspects of patriarchy while expecting volunteers to pay out thousands for the opportunity. Even local-level experiential learning came under fire for being unable to “check the privilege” of affluent students doing service learning with the poor.

The right attacks civic-mindedness as activism, and the left attacks civic-mindedness as volunteerism. That puts professors in a difficult position if they aim to make the classroom a platform for fostering greater civic engagement. It gets trickier. Not only does AI bring further opportunities to disengage students from course content, but it is impervious to fostering values of civic engagement. I asked ChatGPT if teaching activism or volunteerism was controversial. It told me that it was a multifaceted issue because teaching activism can be “contentious” while teaching volunteerism is not inherently controversial but could raise concerns.&nbsp;Bots love the word “multifaceted”.

The problem is that labelling a conversation “multifaceted” offers little room to connect students to issues or to build confidence to engage in the issues that shape their lives and the world around them. So how do we deal with the bots? They are not going anywhere any time soon, and neither are the political critiques against educators who choose to build civic-mindedness. The key lies in an instructor’s ability to present pressing social and global issues in a way that helps students identify their roles in relation to them.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Find ways to connect students to global issues

Global issues are difficult to envision, and when it comes to the size of an issue, such as global poverty, the numbers can be so overwhelming that students may disengage. Push back by demonstrating progress on the issue. In 1980, 40 per cent of the world lived in extreme poverty. What about today? 10 per cent, 30 per cent or 50 per cent? The answer is 10 per cent, and most people get it wrong because it’s hard to accept that poverty rates plummeted in an era when global inequalities became wider than ever. So now the issue isn’t about there being too many people, or that poverty is inevitable, but that wealth and opportunity are imbalanced.&nbsp;


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Innovate assignments&nbsp;&nbsp;

As educators, we need to set assignments that test knowledge and confidence in approaching global issues. This might require using tools we haven’t had to rely on in the past. Instead of expository essays, set reports that seek students’ unique perspectives on global issues. Offer the types of assignments that invite students to write about personal experiences, to which the chatbots would respond: “I don’t have personal feelings or experiences”. I use Dollar Street, a tool dedicated to debunking stereotypes, to show students what the poorest and richest homes in the world look like, along with the families that live in them. Doing this brings home what life is really like on different income levels. Next semester, I’ll be offering a similar exercise involving cooking to see whether students can prepare meals based on income levels in poor or rich places.&nbsp;

Find other ways to motivate students other than with marks&nbsp;

Don’t oversell the value of your class content or make promises that one motivated student can change the world. But allow for simulations and exchanges that give students a chance to test new ideas in the real world while breaking down stereotypes. I have tried this in several formats, from an online simulation of pandemic management to a trip to Havana to engage in a historical and cultural scavenger hunt around the city. Encourage audacity, which means embracing failed ideas as the strongest learning moments. Civic engagement, be it through activism or volunteerism, requires long-standing commitments to tiring work. Reinforce the values of a university education for skills development. The critical knowledge born on campus can have a massive influence on the way the world works, and being part of the university community helps students find the opportunities to make that impact.

Educators are up against political attacks, disinformation and now, increasingly, adapting but apathetic chatbots. The way that we go forward shouldn’t change; we create spaces that allow small groups of people to see themselves in a broader context, encourage them to dream of what possibilities and opportunities could exist, and then help them to take action. Not every student will come with you, but some will. And those that do will be the ones we turn to for innovation, ideas, leadership and collaboration when the chatbots are eventually left scratching their heads about what more inclusive and engaged civil societies should look like.&nbsp;

Robert Huish is associate professor in the department of international development studies at Dalhousie University.

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How to foster a civic mindset in the era of AI

Create spaces that allow small groups of people to see themselves in a broader context, encourage them to dream of what possibilities and opportunities could exist and then help them to take action

Providing quality feedback is a key part of assessment. But it also takes time that many educators don’t have. 

Whole class feedback is a method a marker can use to increase the efficiency of marking a large number of&nbsp;assessments. The marker uses a rubric as per normal to address criteria, but instead of adding detailed and often repeated comments where they see gaps or strengths in students’ work, they undertake mini qualitative data analysis and look for patterns or themes in the responses. These findings are then presented to all students as an attachment to their assessment, and students are encouraged to use both these and the rubric&nbsp;indications to evaluate their own performance against the assessment’s intentions.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

How to do whole-class feedback&nbsp;


	Prime students with clear explanations and examples of how you will use whole-class feedback when marking their assignments well before marking begins.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	Model for them how they should use the whole-class feedback to self-evaluate their grades.&nbsp;
	If you have multiple markers who mark for their own tutor group, provide them with instructions&nbsp;on how they should use whole-class marking.&nbsp;
	During marking, write down observations of responses to criteria and categorise them so they align with the rubric criteria.&nbsp;
	Assign grades in the rubric as you would, but instead of commenting on each criterion or at the end, add a link to the whole-class feedback document, or as an announcement when releasing the grades.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	If you are a casual marker, provide your feedback to the course coordinator.


Saving time&nbsp;

Saving time in the writing of comments by using a predefined bank of comments is not a new method, but its downside is that the comments can seem disconnected from the work and not contextually relevant or useful in helping students understand how their assessment has been graded. More importantly, students are left unclear about how this feedback will help them in their next assessment.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;


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Whole-class feedback is more precise. The comments emerge through the marking process as the marker observes patterns of responses. If the rubric is written well enough, then at the individual level it does most of the talking through the criteria. If you have made your students aware of the whole-class feedback approach, they can use the rubric indications and cross-check them against the whole-class feedback document to evaluate their performance and understand the grade they received.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Encouraging self-regulatory learning&nbsp;

There will still be some occasions where an individual comment will be necessary, usually when a student has seriously misunderstood a criterion. But these occurrences will be in the minority and not cut into the overall saving in marking time. By providing the opportunity for students to be active in understanding their feedback by cross-referencing the rubric grade against the whole-class feedback, you will encourage greater self-regulatory behaviour. Instead of just seeing the grade and moving on, having to work at understanding why a grade was received places the student in a stronger position to be able to act on their findings in future assessments. Of course, some will not go to these lengths and only view their grades, but this is what such a student would do anyway, regardless of how much time and energy you spend providing written feedback.&nbsp;

Closing gaps&nbsp;

Another benefit of this approach is that it helps identify if the rubric is fit for purpose. Whole-class feedback may uncover that some or all of the criteria are not providing enough guidance for the students. Some tweaks in the writing of the descriptions or, in fact, the writing of a criterion itself may be needed, as the pattern of student responses highlights that the intention of the criterion is not coming across. If it’s not the criterion that needs to be adjusted, the learning sequence related to the criterion may need to be rethought, or further resources provided to learners. 

Perhaps less frequently, it may be that the pattern of responses indicates that the entire assessment is not achieving what you had hoped it would achieve in meeting course learning outcomes. Whole-class feedback provides you with real-time contextualised action research to inform such decisions.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Worked example&nbsp;

In the example below, taken from a recent assessment, the comments you see are from my observations of how students responded to two of the rubric criteria, the first asking them to discuss and describe their understanding of “How learning works” through the use of a case study, and the second a “writing” criterion.&nbsp;


  
      
  
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‘How learning works’ criterion


	Students who didn’t discuss particular aspects of the learning process that were emphasised repeatedly throughout the course did not do as well as those who did in that section.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	Students who explicitly made the connection between how learning works and its implications for future behaviours received a stronger grade. This is because the assignment is about learning,&nbsp;and&nbsp;to put plans into action&nbsp;they needed to consider how learning happens. For example, the learning concept of repetition (interrupting the forgetting curve) would be useful to turn an action into a habit, a&nbsp;necessity when changing behaviour patterns.
	Students who only discussed when learning occurs rather than how it occurs did not receive the strongest grades in that section&nbsp;&nbsp;
	Those who didn’t discuss the case study character in the learning section were not able to receive an high distinction grade in that section.&nbsp;



  
      
  
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&nbsp;

Writing criterion


	Those who constructed a strong opening and introduction and followed through on what they said they would discuss in the report succeeded more than those who didn’t.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	If a section was too short it didn’t get a strong grade.


When referencing, they didn’t get full marks if:


	References weren’t in alphabetical order&nbsp;
	There were five references (or fewer) – not enough evidence to suggest a pattern&nbsp;
	They didn’t follow the Harvard model&nbsp;
	Dates did not follow&nbsp;the model&nbsp;
	In-text citation was incorrect&nbsp;
	Some referencing was correct but not all&nbsp;
	Italics were used inconsistently.


Paul Moss is learning design and capability manager at the University of Adelaide.

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Cut down your marking time by using whole-class feedback

Whole-class feedback offers three advantages – it’s time saving, it encourages self-regulation and will help identify any weaknesses in the rubric. Paul Moss shows how it’s done

I feel for my students when I hand them their first essay assignment. Many are mathematicians, students and teachers who chose to study mathematics partly to avoid writing. But in my mathematics education courses, and in the discipline more generally, academic writing is part of our routine practice.

Mathematicians face some challenging stereotypes when it comes to writing. Writing is seen as ephemeral, subjective and context-dependent, whereas mathematics is seen as enduring, universal and context-free. Writing reflects self, but mathematics transcends it: they are distinct from each other. 

This is a false dichotomy that can discourage mathematicians from writing. It suggests writing is outside the natural skill set of the mathematician, and that one’s mathematics training not only neglects one’s development as a writer but actively prevents it.&nbsp;Rather than capitulate to this false dichotomy, I propose we turn it around to examine how writing is similar to three specific mathematical practices: modelling, problem-solving and proving. 

Three mathematical practices that can improve your writing

Mathematical modelling

Let us consider a hypothetical mathematics education student who has spent weeks thinking, reading and talking about her essay topic, but only starts writing it the night before it is due. She writes one draft only – the one she hands in – and is disappointed with the low grade her essay receives. 

She wishes she had started earlier but she was still trying to figure out what she wanted to say up until the moment she started writing. It was only the pressure of the deadline that forced her to start; without it, she would have spent even more time thinking and reading to develop her ideas. After all, she reasons, there is no point writing when you do not know what to write about!

This “think first, write after” approach, sometimes known as the “writing up” model is a dangerous trap many students fall into, and is at odds with the way writing works. The approach allows no room for imperfect drafts that are a necessary part of the writing process. Writing experts trade on the generative power of imperfect writing; they encourage writers to turn off their internal critics and allow themselves to write badly as a way of overcoming writing inertia and discovering new ideas. The “shitty first draft” is an ideal (and achievable) first goal in the writing process. Anyone can produce a sketchy first draft that generates material that can be worked on, improved and eventually rewritten into a more sharable form.

Mathematical modelling offers a compelling metaphor for the generative power of imperfect writing. Like polished writing, polished mathematical models are seldom produced in the first attempt. A modeller typically begins with some understanding of the real situation to be modelled. The modeller considers variables and relationships from his or her understanding of the real situation and writes them into an initial mathematical model. 

The model is his or her mathematical description of the situation, written in mathematical notation, and the modeller who publishes a mathematical model has typically created and discarded multiple drafts along the way, just as the writer who publishes a piece of writing has typically written and discarded multiple drafts along the way.


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Problem-solving

Writing an original essay is like trying to solve a mathematics problem. There is no script to follow; it must be created by simultaneously determining one’s goals and figuring out how to achieve them. In both essay writing and mathematical problem-solving, getting stuck is natural and expected. It is even a special kind of thrill. 

This observation might come as a surprise to mathematicians who do not think of their problem-solving activity as writing. But doing mathematics, the ordinary everyday act of manipulating mathematical relationships and objects to notice new levels of structure and pattern, involves scratching out symbols and marks, and moving ideas around the page or board. 

Why do I care that mathematicians acknowledge their natural language of symbols and signs as writing? Quite frankly because they are good at it. They have spent years honing their ability to use writing to restructure their thoughts, to dissect their ideas, identify new arguments. They possess an analytic discipline that most writers struggle with. 

Yet few of my mathematics education students take advantage of this in their academic writing. They want their writing to come out in consecutive, polished sentences and become discouraged when it does not. They do not&nbsp;use their writing to analyse and probe their arguments as they do when they are stuck on mathematical problems. By viewing writing only as a medium for communicating perfectly formed thoughts, they deny themselves their own laboratories, their own thinking tools.

I am not suggesting that one’s success in solving mathematical problems automatically translates into successful essay writing. But the metaphor of writing as problem-solving might encourage a mathematics education student not to give up too easily when she finds herself stuck in her writing. 

Proving

Our hypothetical student now has a good draft that she is happy with. She is satisfied it represents her knowledge of the subject matter and has read extensively to check the accuracy of its content. A friend reads the draft and remarks that it is difficult to understand. Our student is unperturbed. She puts it down to her friend’s limited knowledge of the subject and is confident her more knowledgeable teacher will understand her essay.

But the essay is not an inert record judged on the number of correct facts it contains. It is also a rhetorical act that seeks to engage the public. It addresses an audience, it tries to persuade, to inspire some response or action. 

Mathematical proofs are like expository essays in this regard; they must convince an audience. When undergraduate mathematics students learn to construct proofs of their own, a common piece of advice is to test them on different audiences. The phrase “Convince yourself, convince a friend, convince an enemy” becomes relevant in this respect.

Mathematicians do not have to see themselves as starting from nothing when they engage in academic writing. Rather, they can use mathematical principles they have already honed in their training, but which they might not have formerly recognised as tools for improving their academic writing. 

Practical tips for productive writing beliefs and behaviours


	Writing can generate ideas. Free writing is a good way to start. Set a timer and write continuously for 10 minutes without editing. These early drafts will be clumsy, but there will also be some gold that can be mined and developed. 
	Writing can be used to analyse and organise ideas. When stuck, try to restructure your ideas. Identify the main point in each paragraph and play around with organising their flow.&nbsp; 
	Writing is a dialogue with the&nbsp;public. Seek out readers’ interpretations of your writing and listen to their impressions. Read your writing out loud to yourself: you will hear it differently!


Caroline Yoon is an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Auckland.

This is an edited version of the journal article “The writing mathematician” by Caroline Yoon, published in For the Learning of Mathematics&nbsp;and collected in The Best Writing on Mathematics, edited by&nbsp;Mircea Pitici&nbsp;(Princeton University Press).

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How mathematical practices can improve your writing

Writing is similar to three specific mathematical practices: modelling, problem-solving and proving, writes Caroline Yoon. Here, she gives some tips on how to use these to improve academic writing

With higher education institutions competing to stay relevant, service learning, sometimes known as community-engaged learning, seems to have carved out its own niche. Offering the opportunity to balance active and experiential learning, it also helps to foster a civic mindset in students and allows institutions to demonstrate their third mission.

At the Singapore Institute of Technology, we created the SIT Community Challenge (SIT-CC) as one of the initiatives to support our third mission. Here’s how we did it.

The Singapore Institute of Technology Community Challenge

The SIT–CC is a service learning initiative that fosters collaboration between SIT, secondary schools and community stakeholders to address real-life challenges faced by local communities. The objective is to provide opportunities for secondary school students to build on their knowledge and skills and apply them in a real-world context. They work with community stakeholders who guide them towards solutions. SIT–CC not only offers opportunities for applied, authentic and active learning but also aims to nurture social awareness among the youth, inspiring them to make a meaningful impact on society.


	Use students to facilitate impactful collaborations that benefit the community
	In this together: developing meaningful community engagement
	Directing research to engage and support local communities


SIT started the SIT-CC in 2019 and the 2023 edition of the initiative was co-produced with Greendale Secondary School and the James Dyson Foundation. The theme for 2023 was “Enhancing Sustainable Development Efforts and Education in the Punggol Community”. The finals took place on 4 November 2023.

Applied, authentic and active learning

The projects done through SIT-CC have created numerous opportunities for applied, authentic and active learning where students are able to learn beyond theories or their classroom walls. This is true not just for the secondary school students involved in the SIT-CC, but also for SIT students (SITizens) who serve as student mentors or who help to run the boot camps. The seven-month SIT-CC 2023 journey included an opening talk in May 2023 to all four secondary schools (Yusof Ishak, Punggol, Edgefield and Greendale) to garner interest and team participation, followed by a design thinking training session from SIT faculty in June where a total of 80 students participated. The teachers of each secondary school then shortlisted four to five teams each to attend the boot camp on 26 August. 

During the boot camp, James Dyson engineers guided the 19 finalist teams in design prototyping through a hands-on approach, equipping them with real-life experience. Students were further assisted by both SIT student mentors and student ambassadors during the process. After the boot camp, SIT student mentors continued to mentor the students in building and refining their prototypes. 

The SIT-CC 2023 finale event was held at Punggol National Library on 4 November and was open to the public, where the secondary school students’ prototypes and posters were presented. A panel of judges evaluated the prototypes and presentations and decided on nine winners who were awarded prizes for their time, effort and ideas.

The support and mentorship rendered by SIT staff, teachers and parents of the secondary school students during the finals cemented the importance of environmental sustainability to the general public and secondary school students involved, beyond their typical school curriculum. Through this event, SIT students learned the importance of environmental sustainability and the role of community partnership. 

The initiative helps us forge closer links with the Punggol community, ahead of our new campus opening in the Punggol Digital District in late 2024. The projects we do together with the Punggol schools help our SITizens demonstrate active citizenship, as well as becoming more engaged with the area’s community. 

Bringing stakeholders together

Service learning has emerged as a platform that brings together educational institutions, community stakeholders and actively engaged students to drive positive change within local communities. By empowering students with the relevant knowledge and skills, including social skills, and encouraging them to take an active role in addressing social and community challenges, service learning nurtures a generation of socially attuned and innovative youth who can shape a brighter future for Singapore and the Southeast Asian region&nbsp;–&nbsp;as in the case of SIT. 

Service learning initiatives continue to evolve. Higher education institutions need to step up at this crucial time and work with like-minded partners and stakeholders, including other universities, to identify and develop similar learning opportunities for students. For university staff, the first step is to make time to be involved in community service, which can start once or twice a year. Once they are comfortable with that, they can volunteer their time and expertise to support service-learning initiatives, where there is a stronger, engaged and more pronounced learning or mentorship component, rather than just volunteering time for service alone. Making service learning more engaging and meaningful can significantly affect the lives of communities and help fuel the aspirations of young change-makers. 

Intan Azura Mokhtar is an associate professor at Singapore Institute of Technology. 

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How service learning can help create positive change

Service learning can help students develop a civic mindset, universities achieve their third mission and communities flourish as a result. Intan Azura Mokhtar shows how

How service learning can help students create a positive change in the community

Transitioning from an adjunct to a permanent position offers numerous benefits. A permanent role provides job security and a clearer career advancement path. It allows for a more stable work environment and increased involvement in institutional decision-making. Making this move enhances professional growth, job satisfaction and the ability to build long-term connections within the institution.

The difference between an adjunct and a permanent position

Adjunct faculty members are part-time tutors, typically industry professionals and/or doctoral candidates, hired to teach specific courses. They bring practical knowledge from their industry roles to the classroom, especially in areas such as business, technology, healthcare and the arts. Usually employed on a semester-by-semester basis, they may not have the same long-term job security or institutional responsibilities as permanent faculty. Adjunct tutors studying for advanced degrees often teach part-time to gain teaching experience and contribute to academic settings while still learning. This is typical in fields such as sciences, humanities and social sciences.

Permanent faculty members are full-time professors or instructors with extended employment agreements and who are frequently on a path towards tenure. They hold secure positions, actively participate in scholarly research and contribute to institutional decision-making. Permanent faculty members often have opportunities to contribute significantly to the academic community.

Moving from an adjunct to a permanent position in higher education demands meticulous planning and proactiveness. Consider the following tips when seeking to do so.

1. Engage in ongoing professional development: stay abreast of developments in your field by attending conferences, workshops and training sessions. Pursue opportunities for professional growth that not only enrich your knowledge but demonstrate your commitment to ongoing learning.

2. Demonstrate commitment beyond teaching: institutions value faculty members who demonstrate a commitment to the institution’s overall growth. To do this, volunteer for departmental committees and/or special projects. Consider the following: 

Carrying out a community needs assessment: conduct surveys, interviews or focus groups with community members by involving local organisations and leaders to identify gaps in services or support and consider how your skills and resources can address these needs. For example, if there is a lack of after-school programmes for at-risk youth in the institution’s local community, you can propose mentoring or counselling programmes. 

Carrying out school climate and culture analysis: assess the institution’s culture by reviewing data on student attendance, behaviour and academic performance, and gather feedback from students, parents and staff to identify areas for improvement or enhancement. For instance, you could implement initiatives such as cultural awareness workshops and peer mentoring programmes.

3. Explore partnership possibilities: explore potential partnerships with local businesses, non-profit organisations or local government bodies, and come up with projects that could be beneficial to both the institution and the community. For example, you could collaborate with local bodies to conduct activities related to campaigns such as Road Safety Week or the SDGs.

4. Seek professional development and networking opportunities: use platforms such as LinkedIn to connect with other educators, community leaders and experts in relevant fields. Learn from their experiences and exchange ideas. 

5. Pursue advanced qualifications: consider pursuing advanced degrees or certifications relevant to your field. This not only enhances your CV but also positions you as a committed professional seeking to contribute to the academic community.

6. Cultivate mentorship connections: build mentoring relationships with permanent faculty members to strengthen your knowledge and ties between industry and academia. Use platforms such as LinkedIn to seek out individuals and gain advice and guidance to help you through the transition process.

7. Communicate your career aspirations: communicate your interest in transitioning to a permanent position to department heads or relevant administrators. Make inquiries about the criteria for the role you’re pursuing and express your commitment to contributing to the institution’s long-term goals.


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8. Engage in research and scholarly activities: presenting at conferences, publishing articles or collaborating on research projects showcases your dedication to academic excellence, particularly in institutions that place emphasis on research.

9. Stay informed about vacancies: regularly check for open positions within your institution. Stay informed about the academic job market and understand the requirements for permanent positions.

10. Create a robust teaching portfolio: construct a portfolio showcasing your teaching achievements. Incorporate course materials, syllabi, student evaluations and any innovations you’ve implemented to improve the learning experience. Points to bear in mind when constructing a strong case include:

11. Emphasise your research contributions: highlight your scholarly achievements and research endeavours, including publications, grants, presentations and collaborative projects. Explain the significance and impact of your research, and clearly articulate your research agenda.

12. Showcase your teaching expertise and philosophy: discuss courses you’ve taught, teaching evaluations, curriculum development, student mentoring and innovative pedagogical methods you’ve implemented. Articulate your teaching philosophy, emphasising student engagement, learning outcomes and inclusivity. Provide concrete examples of successful teaching practices and initiatives.

13. Demonstrate leadership in your current role: exhibit your contributions to service and leadership within the academic sphere, including participation in departmental committees, professional associations and peer review processes.

14. Request compelling letters of recommendation: secure letters of recommendation from individuals who can speak to your qualifications, accomplishments and potential for excelling in a permanent academic role. Choose referees who are well acquainted with your work and can contribute specific examples and insights to bolster your application. 

15. Customise your application documents: ensure that the CV, cover letter and any supplementary documents (such as teaching, research or diversity statements) align precisely with the requirements of the specific institution and department you’re applying to. Emphasise relevant experience, skills and achievements that demonstrate your suitability for the position.

Transitioning from an adjunct to a permanent position requires a multifaceted approach that combines teaching excellence, professional development, networking and a clear demonstration of commitment to the institution’s mission. By actively engaging with the academic community and showcasing your dedication to continuous improvement, you can position yourself as a strong candidate for a permanent faculty position.

Shruthi J. Mayur is an associate professor at T. A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) at Manipal Academy of Higher Education.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

How to get promoted from an adjunct to a permanent position

Transitioning from an adjunct to a permanent position requires a multifaceted approach that combines teaching excellence, professional development, networking and a clear demonstration of commitment to the institution's mission, writes Shruthi J. Mayur

The concept of the “learning community” has been catapulted into the limelight. Within a learning community, learners work collaboratively, in partnership with their teachers, towards the course outcomes. This social cohesion ensures that all members of the community contribute towards learning, reducing teacher workload and enhancing students’ learning experience. Social presence is focused on members being present authentically and affectively. We must support and scaffold learners to be confident in their contributions to the learning community.

However, the task of developing a high-quality learning community often feels like a challenge, especially when you consider the number of factors that can affect your learners’ ability to actively collaborate and be part of your community. For example, students may be overwhelmed by the workload of their course or suffer anxiety around socialising. Others may have external commitments such as work or caring responsibilities that cause them to take a transactional approach to their classes (that is, go in, do the work, get out).


	Promoting community and inclusiveness to diverse and dispersed students
	Building community in the classroom whatever your teaching modality
	Blocks for building a stronger student community


With new and imaginative ways for higher education institutions to collect feedback from learners, the point that we need to do better is made ever clearer. So, we have worked with academics, learners and professional staff to build a database of practical tips for teaching staff. All stakeholders have assessed every suggestion as valid and practicable. 

Over three articles, we will offer the best suggestions for improving your practice in line with the three presences of a learning community, as laid out by Garrison’s Community of Inquiry framework. 

This resource focuses on helping you achieve greater social presence within your community.

Develop a social presence among your students

We must turn our classrooms and lecture theatres into social spaces to ensure our learners benefit from the diversity and experiences of their peers. The best advice we have to achieve this is to “embed social interactions into your teaching sessions from day one”.

Think, pair, share is an excellent activity for this. Don’t overthink the topic; learners can do this for anything. For example, they can consider questions such as: what are you most excited about learning on the course? What are your thoughts on the timetable? They could generate questions around where to find financial, well-being or housing support. &nbsp;

Whatever the topic, and whatever the size of your class, adding two or three of these exercises into your first three sessions will help your learners get comfortable talking to each other. This will build their confidence around working with each other, which will gradually form a great foundation for group work.

To support learners in group work, offer them ample time to find someone who they could study with and guide them in how to find a good partner. For example, create a discussion board (the platform doesn’t matter) where they can post their preferred working methods and find like-minded peers to partner up with.

Adopting these methods requires minimal development or class time but will have a positive impact on the social cohesion of your classes.

Extend your community beyond the classroom

A learning community does not exist only during designated classes. Luckily, there are digital tools to help you and your learners engage with the community anywhere, at any time. However, all too often discussion boards and online social spaces sit quiet and unused. Here is our top tip to ensure an active online community: “Demonstrate that you are actively engaged with online discussions and tasks.”

Authenticity goes a long way with learners, as does empathy towards easing the awkwardness of being the first to contribute to an online discussion. So, start with low-stakes, opinion-based discussions around a news story or topical research. Then, be the first to offer a view and be open to responses that support or conflict with your statement (if their case is based on evidence). Be sure that you, or another member of staff, react with at least an emoji or like to every comment so everyone feels valued.

The concept of a “digital native” has been debunked and students require support as they develop their social norms for engaging with the community online. As such, you should take the time in class to outline expectations for the online community. Explain and demonstrate what good practice is and outline the benefits they can expect to gain from taking part. 

If you create discussion boards with different purposes, make those clear to students. For example, you may start with an informal discussion board, then later in the course, open one that is more formal. Learners will get more from the new discussion board if you are clear about the expectations.

Effective online communities will have learners answering each other’s questions and supporting their skills development through the course. So, taking the time to create these authentic spaces will pay dividends later on.

Foster a strong social presence among your students

Developing and fostering a strong social presence in your courses will ensure learners actively participate in your classes and are primed for group work or group assessments. It will also encourage learners to cognitively engage with your course outside class and take the emphasis away from you as the fount of all knowledge.

So, build authentic social interactions into all your sessions, especially your first session, with low-stakes topical discussions. Then provide opportunities for online participation that offer a nurturing, supportive and fun element to the community.

Hannah Shaw is a reader in anatomy and Mike Hackman is a learning designer, both at Cardiff University.

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How to develop and nurture a learning community

Fostering a rich learning community in your module or programme can be difficult. Here, Hannah Shaw and Mike Hackman draw on staff and student feedback to provide quick, effective wins to develop the social presence in your learning communities

Many of us in UK higher education are looking for ways to improve student engagement and experience to boost our National Student Survey (NSS) scores.

This article takes cues from behavioural nudge theory to suggest easy wins in student engagement.

As educators, we typically focus on subject content (what do we want our students to learn?) when we plan modules, but we mostly ignore how students learn. We do what our colleagues do, and if we’ve always done things one way, we are unlikely to change unless pushed by an external force.


	Nudge technology can help students re-engage
	Finger on the pulse: establish a culture of communication for better feedback
	In the age of AI, teach your students how to be human


But the devil, as we know, is often in the detail. Behavioural theory has documented many of our flaws as humans. It tells us that we simplify complex decisions because thinking through the permutations and combinations of all possible options is too painful. We are subject to inertia. We tend to be overconfident, thinking that students will probably be OK even if real evidence shows the probabilities aren’t stacked that way.

We aren’t the only ones under the influence of behavioural biases; our students are, too. Ignoring these biases leads to poor module structure and, in turn, to poor engagement, low attendance and low performance.

Nudge theory draws on these behavioural insights to show how we can use our own flaws to improve our lives. The architecture of our module – the sequence we follow, the assessment methods and timing, and even the way we ask questions – impacts students’ experience of the module and their learning outcomes. The following are three simple ways to improve this in your module.

1. Stop students procrastinating

As educators, we know that spreading work across a semester is better for students than madly cramming in the two weeks before finals. Behavioural theory suggests that most of us are present-biased and prone to making optimistic plans to tackle our workload, only to procrastinate when the time comes to start.

How do we stop students procrastinating? Research shows that we procrastinate more with anxiety-inducing, unfamiliar work. So break down large tasks into smaller chunks. Perhaps add sub-questions or split one large piece of coursework into four smaller ones. Give students confidence that they have the skills to tackle the task. Encourage them to start on it in a supervised environment (in a tutorial, perhaps), so they become more comfortable to work on it on their own.

2. Improve class participation

Behavioural theory also tells us that we are creatures of habit, and we like the status quo. This inertia, or aversion to change, is a barrier when we are trying to get students more engaged in the classroom. We have all asked a lecture hall full of students a question and faced a sea of blank faces staring back. (For some of us this may be a recurring nightmare.)

How can we get students to put their hands up and participate? Behavioural insights would suggest that we just change the default, in the same way as opting out of pensions has replaced the opt-in as a default. We should shift our students’ decision to opting out of participation. I like to ask all students to stick their hands up, and then ask them to remove their hands to show disagreement. By reminding ourselves that breaking out of the status quo is costly, we can reframe the way we ask students to participate and end up (just like pensions) with a much larger group of people staying in.

3. Encourage active collaboration

We know that working collaboratively as a team generates several benefits for students and is magnitudes better than dividing up the group work and working on only a subset of the material. However, we also all know that divide and conquer is what students tend to do.

Behavioural theory suggests that we are social creatures who are highly influenced by social norms. We do&nbsp;not want to stand out in our social group and will shy away from behaviour that does this. In this context, no&nbsp;one wants to be the person who asks the group to work together. If the group divides and conquers, no&nbsp;one wants to be the odd one out.

How can we change this? How can we set group work that gets students to work together? By clearly scaffolding group-work questions, a teacher can change the social norms surrounding group work. I like to do this by changing my questions to explicitly require multiple perspectives. So from: “Define the concept&nbsp;X” to: “Research the concept&nbsp;X and provide me with the definition that each group member provided. Debate these definitions and select the most appropriate one. Justify your choice.” This will clarify that the expectation is debate about the material and sets interaction as the social norm for the group.

Just as a well-designed house flows effortlessly from room to room, a well-designed module leads students into the areas we want them to be in. We often feel powerless to influence the choices students make, but, in reality, power lies in the way we structure our modules. By making simple tweaks in your module structure – breaking up large tasks into smaller ones, supporting student confidence, changing the default to class participation, and shifting the social norms to joint discussions – you can nudge students into participating in your module in a more engaged and rewarding way and boost those NSS scores at the same time.

Jana Sadeh is the undergraduate programmes coordinator in the department of economics at the University of Southampton. 

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Small module changes based on behavioural insights into human flaws can help students collaborate more and procrastinate less – and boost engagement outcomes in your classes, writes Jana Sadeh

Nudge your way up the NSS ladder

As human beings, we have a gift that is uniquely ours: we learn by listening to stories. Stories create possibilities and can move us individually, collectively, nationally and globally. They bypass our rational brain and go straight to our subconscious, connecting us at an emotional and non-verbal level. Personalised, reflective, subjective stories make us feel first and move us emotionally, which deepens our understanding. 

Neuroscience teaches us that we learn best when we get excited and when we can relate to a bigger and broader purpose. These feelings of excitement activate parts of our brain that are distinctly different from the frontal cortex that processes data and logic, vital for STEM subject study. But if we make STEM students feel first, will they learn more effectively? I tested this out in an ambitious experimental pilot project. 

I made a docufiction film about the power of genetic counselling and genetic diagnostics in managing human diseases that have major genetic causes. The film focused on a real family in India I worked with that had a severe form of blindness (glaucoma) running in their family. My colleagues and I identified the genetic cause behind their disease and that informed and improved the way clinicians managed the patients. Before making this film, I used to narrate the story during my lectures on clinical genetics. Student feedback consistently revealed that it was the most memorable part of the course. That motivated me to make the film. 

At our university and in most UK institutions there are small, recurring internal funding schemes that support outreach activities that showcase the impact of teaching and research. These are competitive and there is flexibility in the ways applicants can use the funds. I started by approaching the fund manager to discuss the idea of using subjective storytelling, which tells stories through the lens of one character’s experience, to increase awareness in students and others. The funding panel heard my pitch and allowed me to apply. I considered the ethical implications and decided to find a filmmaking team from West Bengal in India, also home to the subjects of the documentary, so that I could be as authentic as possible in my approach. 


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	When to use online laboratories for STEM teaching and why
	High tech and high touch: designing a bridging system to help students prepare for STEM studies


I planned the project in three stages. Initially, I only requested some travel money, which enabled me to visit India and find a production company that gave me an estimated budget. When planning something similar, it’s important to consider the pre-production costs: the costs of hiring filming equipment, studios and technicians, and travelling between filming locations. Then there are post-production costs, which include editing, adding subtitles, creating a trailer and dissemination through various channels. As a rough guide, a documentary or a docufiction production with a small cast of under 30 minutes shot at a single location can cost upwards of £10,000.

First, I applied for some funds to commission a script for the film. I met the filmmakers, explaining the concept and the project’s objectives, and they created a first draft, which I corrected. Crucially, at this stage, I discussed the draft script with some final-year undergraduate students and incorporated their feedback. During this step, I observed increased interest from students about the project and, more broadly, about careers in genetics and genetic counselling. 

In the next financial year’s funding round, I applied for additional funds to complete the filming and editing, along with funds for music and subtitling. Once this was done, we secured more funds from other sources to take part in screening events in India. Later, we posted the film on YouTube. 

Since the completion and dissemination of the film, there has been significant interest and improved engagement from students at various stages of their learning journeys. This includes primarily higher education students at the University of Salford, but also students in India and around the world. Beyond that, the film has engaged the community at large, as evidenced by YouTube engagement. 

The biomedical science students at the University of Salford run a student-led biomedicine society. They organised a screening of the film during the 2023-24 induction week. They then posted a video and podcast featuring information about it to share it among students. 

Since September 2023, I have been showing clips from the film during relevant lectures while narrating the story and discussing the power of genetic testing in healthcare. I have found that doing so always prompts further discussions. Several students have decided to pursue careers in genetic counselling after interacting with me and watching the film.

Stories serve as primal forms of communication that connect us to ancient traditions and shared human experiences. Pleasurable experiences with storytelling prompt the release of neurotransmitters that excite the human brain. In the era of social technologies, authentic storytelling becomes a powerful tool, serving as the basis for cultural and social change, a fundamental role of higher education. 

Arijit Mukhopadhyay is an associate professor in precision health at the University of Salford School of Science Engineering and Environment in the UK.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Film storytelling can enhance learning in STEM subjects

In the era of social technologies, authentic storytelling becomes a powerful tool for cultural and social change, a fundamental role of higher education, writes Arijit Mukhopadhyay

Internationally, undergraduate higher education accounting programmes have been consistently criticised for their narrow technical focus and replication of the professional syllabus. The conflation of training with education has created a paradoxical tension in higher education, with criticism of a gap between graduates’ skills and those required by the profession. This is because a focus on the technical professional syllabus has superseded broader intellectual skills development.

These foundational skills will be critical in a rapidly changing professional environment. In fact, in the UK, researchers have suggested that accounting firms prefer non-accounting graduates because other degrees develop more advanced intellectual skills.

Catalysing change

While accounting research has long viewed accounting as existing beyond its technical constraints, Garry Carnegie et&nbsp;al’s recent definition of it is a timely articulation of the nature of its role in contemporary society:
“a technical, social and moral practice concerned with the sustainable utilisation of resources and proper accountability to stakeholders to enable the flourishing of organisations, people and nature”.

This definition lends itself to a dialogical approach to teaching and the development of many of the skills that employers seek from graduates.

While many engaged educators have adapted their courses, this work remains largely dependent on individuals. There’s an urgent need for improved integration of these skills into undergraduate curricula by removing barriers, which include:

Actual or perceived professional accreditation constraints: accreditation concerns can significantly influence curriculum content, and educators are often concerned about losing accreditation unless they faithfully replicate the professional syllabus.

Availability of quality teaching materials: many mainstream textbooks retain a too-strong focus on shareholder reporting. They do not yet integrate sustainability throughout and may not reflect recent developments. They also do not properly reflect concerns on many issues.

The current pace of change, particularly in relation to sustainability-related issues: developments in the sustainability space are rapid, with the creation of a new standards board, the International Sustainability Standards Board and moves to develop new auditing and ethical standards.

Time pressures on faculty: faculty are often time-poor and simply don’t have sufficient time to redevelop their accounting courses.


	Resource collection:&nbsp;Pedagogies to reinvigorate your teaching
	Resource collection:&nbsp;How universities can work towards the SDGs
	Accounting for sustainability: we need to change how we teach


What can we do as accounting educators?

Be conscious of our position as gatekeepers of how knowledge is presented to students. As educators, we have the responsibility of identifying the primary textbooks that students will follow. This choice is influential, for example in the financial reporting to stakeholders, management accounting knowledge, integration of ethical considerations and in challenging a dominant Anglo-American worldview.

Develop alternative ways of sharing knowledge and developing student understanding, including tangentially to current courses, by suggesting more conceptual cases that might encourage critical thinking, such as evaluation of measurement bases in the conceptual framework and their application to emerging assets, for example, non-fungible tokens.

Start in a small way if we cannot redevelop an entire course. You can do this by making linkages to current news stories, such as the recent BBC Panorama investigation of fast fashion retailer Boohoo’s supply chain, and drawing on the cohort experience to discuss different perspectives on the ethical dilemmas associated with the story.

Reflect on what perspectives are not being represented and how we can ensure that this is addressed in the course. There would be a particular focus on reporting when doing so.

Introducing the Accounting Streams project

We have a duty to reflect on the criticisms and address the longstanding limitations of accounting education from students and employers alike. Our initial project focuses on the first accounting course because of its important role in setting students’ views. The project is developing a new type of textbook that places Garry Carnegie et&nbsp;al’s definition of accounting at its heart, facilitating a meaningful critical engagement with the discipline.

Adopting a problem-based pedagogical approach, it seeks to embed ethics and sustainability concerns into the introductory course so that they are integral to student learning. Making the textbook digital-first and open access removes barriers and the tensions associated with working with for-profit publishers. We expect publication in autumn 2024.

To find out more and join the Accounting Streams mailing list, register your details here.

Susan Smith is a professor of accounting at UCL School of Management; Richard Murphy is a professor of accounting at the University of Sheffield. 

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How to cultivate sought-after accounting graduates

Accounting education must prepare graduates with the skills to thrive in a profession that is experiencing radical changes

How can accounting educators cultivate highly sought-after graduates?

Universities tend to identify skills in silos, which creates issues in equipping graduates with in-demand skills, said the panel at a Times Higher Education webinar, held in partnership with Coursera. Analysing employment trends and strengthening partnerships with industry are strategies universities can adopt to set graduates up for success in the professional environment.

The webinar panel featured senior academic leaders in the Asia-Pacific region, who discussed strategies and challenges to elevate graduate employability amid the evolving skill demands of the industry.

Indonesia shares similarities with Malaysia and Vietnam in terms of a disparity between the number of university graduates and available job opportunities, said Widodo, rector of the University of Brawijaya in Indonesia. The university has implemented strategies to enhance learning experiences, drive student engagement and strengthen students’ skills. 

To improve employability and skills development, the university follows four steps, which include modernising the curriculum to match industry needs, offering students internships and other collaboration opportunities with industry, and equipping students with technical skills and soft skills, such as leadership and communication. Integrating relevant specialised courses enables institutions to personalise learning pathways and fill gaps in curricula, he explained.

Providing training to educators is vital to improve employment outcomes, said Bùi Phạm Lan Phương, vice-president of strategy and global engagement at Van Lang University in Vietnam. Varying skill levels among faculty can affect the quality of education, so it is important to bring everyone to the same high standard.

Identifying in-demand skills is crucial to formulating strategies and integrating courses that set graduates up to excel in their careers, said Abhimanyu Veerakumarasivam, provost and professor of genetics at Sunway University in Malaysia. Employers are looking for graduates who have the perfect blend of interpersonal skills and professional skills, he added.

Sunway University implements initiatives such as its multimodal Career Readiness Programme to help graduates plan their career goals early in their academic journey, explained Veerakumarasivam.

In January 2024, Coursera published its Job Skills Report 2024, highlighting the skills that are likely to trend in the future. The report enables universities to make judgement calls about developing their academic structures to deliver the skills of the future, said Eklavya Bhave, director and head of Asia at Coursera.

Coursera has released a repository of curated specialised courses by universities and companies, such as the Generative AI Academy, to equip graduates with future-ready skills and reduce faculty shortages, especially in evolving fields such as artificial intelligence, noted Bhave.

Strong university-industry partnerships are key to not only personalising learning pathways but also widening experiential learning opportunities for graduates. Bùi explained that having important stakeholders such as faculty, industry partners and students on board is central to understanding industry demands and student needs.

According to the panel, unequal access to courses can hinder advancements in graduate employability. Improving access to online courses and translating courses into local languages can help address strategic challenges such as faculty shortage and language barriers, concluded Bhave.

The panel:


	Eklavya Bhave, enterpise sales head for Asia, Coursera
	Bùi Phạm Lan Phương, vice-president, strategy and global engagement, Van Lang University
	Alistair Lawrence, head of branded content, Times Higher Education (chair)
	Abhimanyu Veerakumarasivam, provost and professor of genetics, Sunway University
	Widodo, rector, University of Brawijaya


Watch the webinar on demand above or on the THE Connect YouTube channel.

Find out more about Coursera.

Institutions need to analyse data, diversify learning pathways and have open dialogues with industry to create work-ready graduates

Using insights from industry to close the graduate skills gap in Asia

In the last few months, the UK’s education secretary has been pushing for a ban on smartphones in schools. This move has come after a UNESCO report published last July suggested that smartphones were linked to distraction, disruptive behaviour and cyberbullying, although it also acknowledged their potential for enhanced learning experiences. While there’s no talk of a ban at universities, it is assumed that students should not be using their phones during lectures – some lecturers make this very clear on the first day of lessons. 

I find this somewhat puzzling. I often see students with laptops in class and no one seems to object to that. A laptop is considered a device for learning – when for all you know the student is on social media or watching Netflix – whereas a smartphone is seen as a device for leisure and distraction.


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Recently I went into a classroom at a university and spotted a sign by the door that said: “Turn off your mobile phone.” My heart sank. First, I very much doubt that any student (or lecturer for that matter) turns off their phone as they walk into a classroom. Second, it perpetuates the idea of the phone as a device that disrupts learning in a negative way. It assumes that students should be listening to their lecturer and that use of their smartphones will distract from that, which I would argue springs from a very old-fashioned, didactic view of what should happen in the classroom, inconsistent with an active, student-centred teaching approach. I use my smartphone in class and encourage my students to do so, too. 

How to integrate the smartphone into your lessons

Let’s decide that the classroom should be a place not for transmission of knowledge but where learning is facilitated in an engaging and active way. The smartphone can play a key role in supporting this in several ways: 


	Engagement: polling tools such as Mentimeter are very useful for pre- and post-main activity engagement. I use a quick anonymous poll for students to guess information about something we’re covering later. When it comes up, the students automatically engage in a process of comparing their guesses to the actual information, which makes it memorable. Post-activity, I use a quick poll to do some concept-checking or ask for feedback. 
	Research: I ask my students to look up information or real-life examples about the topic or key people using search engines on their browsers, which they then use to add to a discussion or group activity. I try to personalise this so that students have choices and different angles they can bring to the conversation. It is a great way to keep information current and up to date. It also helps them to develop critical evaluation skills. 
	Activation: this is where I ask learners to put the new knowledge into practice. Apps can help with this. For example, using museum apps, virtual tours and augmented reality to take part in virtual field trips; using virtual bulletin boards such as Padlet or Wakelet to summarise points or make contributions; or using their voice-activated personal assistants (such as&nbsp;Siri) to pronounce a word or interact with them in another language. Many apps will support students to create short presentations or generate content for contributions to group or individual activities. I’d advise&nbsp;staying away from social media because students will be guarded about keeping their personal accounts separate from learning activity, but you can use familiar concepts such as “pretend you’re going to post this on Instagram” or “create a short video of the type you might post on TikTok” to get students to summarise their understanding of a concept, identify key points&nbsp;or find&nbsp;suitable images to exemplify part of the new content.
	&nbsp;


Many teachers seem to favour using Kahoot! or similar apps to create interactive activities for their students. I find that the balance of teacher time vs learning outcomes is often heavy on teacher workload, so, unless you’re creating a resource that you can re-use several times, I’d advise against it. Instead, get students to create their own revision activities. For example, in teams of two or three, each team creates a revision guide, with questions, for a different section of the course content. By the end, there should be a full set of revision activities that they can all share in one set.

The more you can personalise your activities to fit with the students’ own personal interests and link them to the topic, the more engagement you will get. Students also like being encouraged to use their devices, as a contrast to more traditional modes of teaching.

Make it accessible

The use of the students’ own devices can help with accessibility. Users who require bigger fonts, higher contrast or other accessibility support will have those set up by default on their devices. The use of bulletin boards or open questions on polling tools can be an excellent way to encourage written contributions from students who find it difficult to contribute orally due to shyness, anxiety or lack of oral fluency in English.&nbsp; 

Of course, not every student will have a smartphone, and it’s important they don’t feel they are missing out. Doing the activities in pairs or small groups with one device will help guide a conversation among the students in terms of decision-making and keeping the focus on the task. Also, the cost and use of their mobile data might be a deterrent. Try to arrange access to the school wi-fi network to avoid charges to the student. 

Trust your students to follow the rules

Set ground rules for the use of mobile phones in the classroom. These are best established in collaboration with the students. Asking, “In your opinion, what is an appropriate use of your phone in class?” will elicit the sort of responses that will lead to sensible rules – which you can then remind them they helped to set up if there are instances of misuse. Sound, audio, focus on task and not distractions, messaging and access to appropriate materials are some of the possible issues for discussion when setting rules. 

Let your students know you trust them to use their devices for the task at hand. If I see a student messaging, I often say something like: “I assume you’re dealing with an urgent matter.” It’s only if the student seems distracted for a long time that I’ll approach them to check what they’re using their phone for. Don’t make assumptions – a student who’s looking at their screen may well be using a translator or transcription tool if they find it hard to understand you. 

Lifelong learning outside the classroom

Using the smartphone in class for learning purposes will help students realise how best to use it for additional learning or revision activity outside the classroom, or even beyond their formal studies. The skills to find and critically evaluate appropriate lifelong learning resources and apps are very rarely taught in educational settings, which is why including the use of the smartphone into teaching practice must be normalised – and encouraged.&nbsp;

Fernando Rosell-Aguilar is a senior lecturer in academic professional development at Arden University.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Make ‘switch your phone on’ a requirement of your lessons

Students are more likely to carry smartphones than pens when they walk into your class, so make use of their potential. Fernando Rosell-Aguilar outlines how to involve your students’ favourite device in active learning experiences

Student support provision plays a crucial role for the mental health, well-being and success of students throughout their time at university. However, engagement with associated services can vary depending on a range of factors. For example, mature and commuting students tend to struggle with adjusting to university life and are less likely to engage with wider opportunities due to work, family and personal commitments. 

Studies of student engagement and continuation have stressed the importance of representation and belonging within higher education. Centralising support or providing a one-stop shop that offers various layers of support can help to promote wider engagement with services and strengthen a sense of belonging. To achieve this, we need to understand students’ individual experiences, challenges and barriers and help break cycles of disengagement. That is why we established Study Together – a weekly workshop that supports all students with learning, well-being and networking – at the University of East Anglia (UEA). Here, we share our findings from running this programme. 

Background to UEA’s Study Together programme

UEA’s outreach and learning enhancement teams established Study Together to provide an inclusive space for students to drop in, study and meet one another when returning to campus after the pandemic. The learning enhancement team already ran multiple study-related interventions, such as study cafes, maths and stats workshops, peer-assisted learning programmes and one-to-one support, and the outreach team focused on building student networks. We decided to join these opportunities together to provide a more relaxed environment for students to study and/or network.


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Initially, we offered the programme during term time to small numbers of students who attended regularly. But soon, they began requesting sessions outside term time. Over the past 12 months, Study Together began incorporating crafting sessions, where we invite students to choose an activity to work on, such as cross-stitching, felting or journal-making. This broadened the programme further so students feeling overwhelmed with their studies could let off steam with their peers.

To implement such an intervention you would need an accessible space, a regular time slot and facilitators who have good knowledge of internal sources of support. Students can choose when to engage and how often, and making these activities regular increases the chances of repeated visits. Activities you could offer students could include arts and crafts sessions, film or popular programme viewings, and low-impact sports such as badminton. Some students may simply choose to drop in and chat with their peers. Around assessment periods, it’s a good idea to offer additional activities, such as table tennis or cards, to help them decompress and socialise between stints of revision.

The benefits of offering a programme such as this include:

Networking opportunities

Students are keen to meet others they can relate to on their courses and within the wider university community but find that the classroom isn’t the right place to do it. Not everyone wants to go to club nights or play sports to meet other students and may opt, instead, to do something more laid back. Furthermore, for those who might not have a network of friends on campus, these kinds of activities can reduce feelings of loneliness by providing an opportunity to meet other students outside their subjects of study and interests. 

These positive interactions can carry wider effects into the educational community. We have seen students encouraging their friends to come along and get involved and witnessed some amazing transformations throughout the past two years, with students initially feeding back that they didn’t feel confident in their skills and later flourishing into advocates who support their peers. 

This year, some of our regular attendees completed their courses and used the summer sessions to update us on their exciting achievements and future intentions. Many acknowledged that over time, they started to look forward to Study Together sessions and that participating made them feel like part of something bigger than their courses. 

Having student advocates to provide peer support within an educational community offers huge benefits such as supporting other students with soft skills and study technique development. These advocates can signpost students to important resources, building trust and increasing engagement. 

Creating a sticky campus

A sticky campus incorporates the concept of students being on campus for longer periods outside their contact hours, regardless of their living situations. Essentially, this means creating an environment where students will want to come and stay. In creating a sticky campus through interventions such as Study Together, universities can provide inclusive and enjoyable learning environments and can help students feel a sense of belonging. 

The benefits of Study Together are far-reaching, but a staff favourite is the opportunity to encourage students to get involved, try out new things and improve skills. The Office for Students has provided further examples for those wishing to establish their own centralised support interventions.

Gemma Standen is the widening participation officer for mature and commuting students at the University of East Anglia.

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Study Together promotes belonging and improves well-being 

By offering students a space to meet, study and socialise outside the classroom, universities can improve engagement and reduce feelings of loneliness on campus

How our Study Together programme promotes belonging and improves well-being 

At the University of Warwick, we’ve heard many international students in their first term ask, “Am I&nbsp;qualified enough or do I&nbsp;have sufficient skills and knowledge to contribute?” Our research shows that students often utilise silence as a solution in these cases.

We’ve been experimenting with design thinking, a human-centred approach to innovation based on deep empathy with the intended audiences, co-creating ideas and generating solutions, to help students like these. In doing so, we created the Warwick Secret Challenge methodology, a problem-solving workshop that uses design thinking to tackle innovation challenges through authentic student-staff co-creation. Here are some activities that have worked well.


  
      
  
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1. Asking generative questions

We drew on Emma Heron’s work with friendship and the Dragon Dreaming Institute method, which use generative questions. Generative questions are open-ended questions that reveal rich insight into a participant’s experience by providing a space to share a story, an example, and/or an experience that encourages insights that a participant might not have previously fully understood before answering the question. Generative questions prompt responses that allow the researcher to answer their research questions and reveal something about a participant’s experience or understanding.

Grounded in radical safety, a feeling of having space to develop inspired ideas and reflect on one’s lived experiences without fear of judgement, these questions naturally create wider pockets of conversations that allow us to tap into the core of an individual’s identity instead of dancing around the little snippets that they share widely. The image below demonstrates how, as students, we tend to keep our most authentic selves (the yolk at the centre) hidden away.


  
      
  
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What differentiates generative questions from the more commonly used open-ended questions is their inherent power to create spaces that allow an individual to reflect on their experiences, emotions and journeys and feel safe when sharing them, even if they “don’t make sense” or “don’t fit the scope of a structured question they come across in a survey”. Here are some examples of generative versus open questions.


  
      
  
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2. Sketching and mapping out activities

The low-tech social network is an excellent activity for any first seminar or workshop. It involves students and teachers using a Post-it or a sheet of paper to draw their avatars and add a few interesting facts about themselves, just like we would when creating a profile for a social network. This fun, visual activity helps participants mimic online behaviour and allows everyone to express themselves and say something about who they are outside their studies. It’s a great way to highlight the diversity in the classroom and help students find things in common with each other.


  
      
  
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Belonging maps, from Susie Wise’s #DesignforBelonging toolkit, capture student journeys visually and allow them to point out specific moments in their experiences when their sense of belonging improved or worsened. For this activity, students draw an X-axis representing the time from the start of their learning journey to the present day, and a Y-axis representing their sense of belonging, whether positive or negative. We created our own simple template, which you can see, along with a participant’s completed map, below.


  
      
  
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3. Show and tell

My significant object activity, inspired by associate professor Rachel Dickinson’s Images of Culture work and the Significant Objects project, involves students and staff presenting an image of an object that is significant to them, prompting them to share stories that give others a glimpse into who they are. This activity, which takes place on Padlet, facilitates the curation of a collection of images, connections and conversations even before the students arrive on campus.


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Storytelling dice, available in a range of designs and price ranges, can teach students about storytelling and are a great addition to any workshop. As tangible interactive objects, storytelling dice spark curiosity and serve as helpful conversation starters in small student groups even before any activities and instructions are introduced.


  
      
  
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It’s crucial that teachers and students do these activities together. We cannot expect students to get involved and be vulnerable, especially in those first few weeks of the academic year, unless we are willing to take off our academic armour, share our stories, and get stuck in. Be the first to post your object, join the low-tech social network, or offer an example from your belonging map. After all, we all have stories, experiences and expertise that might be hidden from others and yet universal in the context of teaching and learning. Think back to your moments of belonging and connection with your learning community. It probably started with having a joint experience or sharing a story.

We have learned that storytelling, integral to the practice of design thinking, can make a huge difference in unlocking a student’s voice. Exchanging stories allows students to express themselves and relate to others. A positive experience with these creative methods can boost a student’s confidence and interest in contributing to a range of co-creation and innovation opportunities within their institution.

Bo Kelestyn is an associate professor; Nikita Asnani is an alumna and project officer; Minali Sanghani is an alumna and project officer; Weiwei Su is an alumna and project officer; Janet Zheng is an alumna and project officer. All contributors work at the University of Warwick.

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Use design thinking to help international students

Exchanging stories allows students to express themselves and relate to others. It also boosts confidence and engagement

Use design thinking and storytelling to help international students find their voices

In the pursuit of academic excellence, our university sets its faculty a triple mission: teaching, science and patient care. And these must go hand in hand. Thus, experienced medical colleagues with continuous daily practice teach future doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals. These instructors are typically active researchers and successful specialists in their field, ensuring that students gain an early insight into the beauty and necessity of medical research. 

This triple mission is not, however, composed of three coordinated elements: high-quality education and research must benefit, and are subordinated to, effective patient care. As the largest healthcare provider in Hungary, Semmelweis University ensures that students can be continuously involved in the care of patients in its clinics during their undergraduate years. 

Hands-on education programmes: proximity to patients and job shadowing

Practice-oriented learning allows students to interact directly with patients and medical equipment. In this way, future physicians can develop clinical skills, bedside manner and the ability to make real-time decisions in a controlled environment. Engaging in practice-oriented education immerses students in the medical environment, familiarising them with the dynamics of healthcare settings, interdisciplinary collaboration and the challenges of patient-centred care. 


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While virtual-reality equipment can simulate scenarios and procedures, as a supplement to medical training, it may not fully replicate the complexity and unpredictability of real patient interactions. Practice-oriented education gives aspiring physicians opportunities to hone their clinical judgement, communication skills and physical-examination techniques. &nbsp;&nbsp;

At Semmelweis University, knowledge is acquired through experimentation or direct personal contact with patients in all subjects, including preclinical and clinical courses. Anatomy, for example, is taught in the dissection room where students have to dissect and identify structures on the body themselves. 


  
      
  
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Broad, solidly grounded preclinical education based on experimental evidence and personal experience paves the way for clinical education. For this reason, we have restructured our curriculum so that all preclinical knowledge must be acquired before starting clinical blocks. This enables students to learn in a pure block system; they are required to live in the department or hospital of their selected discipline for weeks, where they can focus on and follow the diagnosis and therapy of patients and shadow their tutor physician. 

Individualised talent management and students’ associations

The best ideas usually come from students. Their still-naive and ambitious mindsets, unconstrained by academic routine, are the driving force behind new discoveries. In both the preclinical and clinical years, students form small groups where two-way personal communication with the teacher and teamwork among students is maintained. Also, one of our major strengths is the one-to-one contact with students. Our students are welcome to join the laboratories of all departments of the university to broaden their scientific interests and launch their academic careers. 

Our most talented students are hosted by the Students’ Scientific Association. Students in the German- and English-language programmes have their own students’ associations. Students’ associations require their members to carry out their own research projects and present a summary of their results at annual competition congresses. More than 100 out of the 500 presentations have been delivered by international students at these conferences in recent years. 

In fact, more than a third of our 15,000 students enrolled today are international. The number of applicants to the German- and English-language programmes at Semmelweis University has been growing since its international programme was launched 40 years ago. In the past five years, the number of international students has expanded by 46 per cent, with the medical faculty receiving nearly twice as many non-Hungarian first-year students as Hungarian ones. 

Undergraduate scientific activity opens the door for our postgraduate scientific programmes; our doctoral school is welcoming more international students in all disciplines eligible for public scholarships. Yet, our talent support programme goes beyond scientific tutoring; our mentoring programme supports the top 1 per cent of students, even those who do not want to become researchers. In this programme, students are assigned a personal mentor from among the top academic staff. This opportunity provides personal, targeted support to our most talented future young colleagues to get their careers off the ground.

Alán Alpár is the vice-rector for international education and director and full professor in the department of anatomy, histology and embryology at Semmelweis University, Budapest. 

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How practical education supports medical students

A practice-oriented focus together with personalised talent support lead to success in medical education for local and international students. Here, Alán Alpár explains why teaching, science and patient care must go hand in hand

How practical education and talent management support medical students

Engaging stakeholders from the university community and beyond in academic programme design, redesign and validation is challenging. But when the university wants to make a swift transition to block delivery mid-year, ready to welcome new students on this mode the following autumn, the challenge becomes even greater. De Montfort University adopted Design Sprint methodology as part of its&nbsp;Education 2030 strategy, to switch to sequential block delivery for the start of the 2022-23 academic year. 


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The transformation has been swift yet effective. Between November 2021 and February 2022, the university validated 76 programmes to align with block design. Six months later, the team had validated a further 18 programmes, predominately for undergraduates and due to commence delivery from the start of the 2022-23 academic year. By the end of the year, in summer 2023, De Montfort had validated 68 2023-24-commencing programmes, the majority of which were postgraduate taught provision. 

Sprinting to academic quality

When validating almost 100 programmes in under 10 months, the quality of the outcome naturally comes into question. Within the university, the Department for Academic Quality worked with colleagues across all faculties to review the existing processes for programme validation and adapt these into approaches that could be used at pace. In doing so, we consolidated many steps into few, challenging some of these processes. At all stages of development and the approval events themselves, we considered external quality assurance requirements and consulted external advisers. Crucially, we viewed the processes though a critical lens to ensure that the curriculum in development could be robustly challenged.

The team held many approval events virtually, providing an opportunity to engage stakeholders in consultation and decision-making. The students’ union was able to contribute as student panel members, and support and operations between the university and students’ union improved as a result. We provided guidance for validation panel members, with colleagues embracing the opportunity to participate in panels, enhancing their understanding of the university and contributing to wider citizenship activity. 

Following the approval of new programmes, several areas of good practice emerged: 


	Curriculum design (including alignment with the university’s strategy and vision)
	Student support initiatives aligned to the curriculum and delivery 
	Employability embedded in the curriculum, informed by industry engagement.


Having validated these programmes, the university has hardly paused for breath. We were aware from past experiences, sector requirements and changing views from students and employers that we needed to remain mindful of potential barriers to success, as well as considering “the art of the possible”. One of these potential barriers ended up providing us with an opportunity to explore our capabilities – we found a way to be agile in our approach to modifying the curriculum, learning from the first phases of delivery in the new block approach.&nbsp;For example, team teaching in the first block allows students to meet and engage with a range of academic staff who act as representatives for the university, and assessment timing needs planning within and between the blocks to avoid bunching for students and staff.

The university introduced a more flexible curriculum modification process, allowing for the lessons we took from early experiences to inform curriculum reshaping as required. Although used infrequently, this process made it possible to change assessment design and reorder blocks more efficiently, improving the student experience.

How Design Sprints improved quality

Focusing on the outcome rather than the process led to a more agile and efficient programme approval process. Using Design Sprint methodology permitted more flexibility, challenging the lengthy systems currently seen across the sector without reducing the quality of the curriculum design and programme. Developing a leaner process for later curriculum modifications ensured that changes could be made to reflect the needs of industry and society, while also encouraging educators to adopt a more innovative and reflexive approach to programme design. 

Across all approval event outcomes, we saw more commendations and fewer conditions than under the traditional process. Academic reviewers, external advisers and industry experts highlighted the value of bringing together stakeholders in order to develop a curriculum to help address the question of what a graduate of this programme would need to know and do. Critical issues such as digital literacy, sustainability, decolonisation, academic scholarship and career development were embedded within the curriculum through the active engagement of relevant stakeholders during Design Sprints.

Looking at the hopes for the future in “Sprint to the finish: redesigning university programme validation”, we recognise opportunities for enhanced stakeholder engagement during the curriculum design process. We’ve sought to rationalise our approval processes for new programmes to support agile development, significantly reducing time from initial concepts to validation and ultimately delivery. The high number of positive commendations recorded during sprint validations has encouraged academic teams to develop a more quality enhancement-led approach. 

At De Montfort University, the former traditional process is no more: the Design Sprint is here to stay.

Zoë Allman is associate dean (academic) in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media; Leanne de Main is deputy dean in the Faculty of Business and Law and associate pro vice-chancellor in Education, both at De Montfort University.



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Sprinting in hindsight: lessons from validating at pace 

Having used a Design Sprint methodology for university-wide academic programme validation, has the dash to a photo finish improved quality processes? Zoë Allman and Leanne de Main share their experience

Sprinting in hindsight: what we learned from validating university programmes at pace

Encouraging engagement in a transnational first-year business class of 300 poses significant challenges. Despite previous efforts to encourage participation, I have often been met with silence and hesitation. I identified three potential reasons for this: first, students were still developing their English language skills and might have felt unprepared to express themselves effectively. Second, the class consisted of students from diverse backgrounds and programmes, resulting in varying levels of prior knowledge. Lastly, cultural considerations, such as the fear of losing face, could have influenced students’ reluctance to participate. In light of these, I sought alternative solutions to promote engagement.

Why Etherpad?

I explored various methods, including offering small mark bonuses for voluntary in-class participation. However, the impact of these initiatives proved minimal. While searching for a solution, I discovered Etherpad, a real-time collaborative document-editing tool that lets participants anonymously share their ideas without speaking aloud. Each participant’s contributions are highlighted in different colours, making the process visually engaging. It appeared to be a promising solution to address the engagement issues in my large class.

Studies have shown the positive impact of Etherpad on student engagement. For example,&nbsp;Bebermeier and Kerkhoff&nbsp;and&nbsp;Pymm and Hay’s research&nbsp;found that Etherpad fostered connections and improved communication. Motivated by these findings, I integrated Etherpad into my first-year module.


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Implementing the use of Etherpad

Before the lecture, I introduced students to the concept of real-time interactive participation using both verbal and non-verbal means. When no one volunteered to answer questions during the class, I directed students to Etherpad on our teaching and learning platform. They could freely edit and contribute answers anonymously. Soon, the Etherpad document filled up with diverse opinions and responses. It served as a solid foundation for further in-class communication and development.

The benefits of using Etherpad

The change in engagement was remarkable after introducing this tool; the number of students actively engaging in discussions and providing detailed responses noticeably increased. The Etherpad document became a vibrant space filled with diverse perspectives, It was a world away from the disengaged class I was used to.

Additionally, Etherpad improved the quality and depth of responses. The anonymity seemed to empower students to express their thoughts more freely and in greater detail. Contributions were more thoughtful, analytical and evidence-backed. For example, after a presentation from a guest speaker, I asked students to reflect on what was discussed. As usual, no student voluntarily answered the question. However, through Etherpad, some students raised thought-provoking points, including how to succeed in business while maintaining a personal identity.

Beyond engagement, Etherpad helped me achieve several of my pedagogical goals. It promoted inclusivity by providing a platform where all students, regardless of their language proficiency or confidence in public speaking, could participate equally. It fostered critical thinking and analytical skills as students had to construct and articulate their thoughts in writing. The collaborative nature of Etherpad also encouraged teamwork and cooperation, as students engaged in discussions, provided feedback and collectively built knowledge.

What students thought

The feedback I received about Etherpad was primarily informal, gathered through conversations with students before and after class. The general sentiment was overwhelmingly positive. Many students found the anonymity liberating and the discussions that came out of the activity enriching. It’s clear that Etherpad fostered a sense of collective learning.

The limitations of Etherpad

Although Etherpad proved to be beneficial in my experience, there are some disadvantages to its use. One is the potential over-reliance on written responses, which leads to an underemphasis on the development of oral communication skills. To address this, I invited students to complement their written discussions with verbal interactions.&nbsp;

Another issue I found was that the anonymity sometimes led to inappropriate or off-topic comments. I established clear guidelines and expectations for respectful and relevant contributions to mitigate this risk. Also, monitoring the Etherpad document during class allowed me to address inappropriate content promptly.

By leveraging technology to create an anonymous and collaborative space, educators can empower hesitant students to actively contribute and foster a more interactive and inclusive learning environment.

Ying Feng is an assistant professor of strategic management at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University’s International Business School Suzhou.

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Use Etherpad to improve engagement in large transnational cl

By leveraging technology to create an anonymous and collaborative space, educators can empower hesitant students to actively contribute and foster a more interactive and inclusive learning environment

Use Etherpad to improve engagement in large transnational classes

Best practice pedagogy for online and in-person teaching: academics from universities around the world share their advice, insights and experience

Teaching and learning

Best practice pedagogy for online and in-person teaching: academics from universities around the world share their advice, insights and experience

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