Dear Colleagues,
We are seeking offers to undertake a blind peer-review of the following submissions to the JLDHE (Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education).
If you would like to complete a review of any of these articles, please email the designated contact editor below.
If you haven’t reviewed for us before, please include a brief description of your interest in the topic, your relevant qualifications, expertise and/or experience in relation to the submission (up to 200 words). This might include your knowledge of the subject and/or your experience acting as a peer reviewer for academic papers or as an author or researcher in the field.
Please also join our register of reviewers and list your interests.
New reviewers are welcome and we provide a very developmental environment for those interested in this important community service – why not try something new today!
| ubmission | Title and abstract | Editor to contact |
| #1301 Paper | Discovering how students use Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools for academic writing purposes The aim of this project was to identify ways in which students are using Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) technologies for the planning and researching stage of essay style assignments. 30 students from various subject areas and levels of study, and with different self-reported levels of confidence in using GAI tools were chosen as participants. Each student was given 3 essay questions to choose from and 50 minutes to research their topic, use and make notes from any sources, and put together a plan for the essay, using GAI tools if they deemed them useful. Their screens were recorded, and they were encouraged to narrate what they were doing and why. Of the 30 participants, 21 (70%) used GAI technologies within their process. ChatGPT (Open AI) was the most frequently chosen, with 18 students (60%) using this. The most popular use of GAI was asking for definitions, explanations or examples; or creating an essay plan or structure. The study also provided insight into student’s searching process, revealing that the majority of students (30%) chose to start their search in Google, journal articles were the most popular source type (used by 80% of participants), and skim reading a section of a source was the most common method used to decide if it was relevant, with 63.3% of students doing this. 80% of the students included some form of references in their essay plan, but none of the students created references for any GAI tools they had used throughout the process. | Dr Maggie Scott M.R.Scott@salford.ac.uk |
| #1314 Opinion piece | Transformative potential of Design Thinking in Learning Development In this opinion piece we argue that as Learning Developers we ‘design’ our support and contribute to the design of our services. If we view our practice through a design lens, we can develop a more critical awareness of our role within that design, and identify potential for more student-centred design. Design Thinking (DT) is a well-established area of practice and research, widely adopted across other areas of Higher Education that provides a framework for us to explore and embrace design within our roles. We start by unpacking the methodologies, tools and practices that are brought together under the umbrella of DT and address the tensions inherent in adapting processes that have evolved largely out of business. Nevertheless, we argue that by bringing the learner-centred values of Learning Development (LD) to the practices of DT, there is ample scope to embrace the creativity, innovation and collaboration inherent in DT, and develop new LD practices that have the potential to involve learners more fundamentally in transforming both our services and the scholarship of LD. | Dr Maggie Scott M.R.Scott@salford.ac.uk |
| #1385 Paper | Understanding the factors and consequences of student belonging in higher education – a critical literature review Student belonging is becoming an increasingly prominent concept in how universities pursue policies and practices to ensure student success. Through this increased prevalence, there has been a substantial increase in research output on this topic in recent years. This critical literature review aims to provide a comprehensive and accessible synthesis of research around the factors that affect student belonging and how it links to student success. Utilising a systematised search and appraisal protocol, 147 studies were included and reviewed. The existing literature has robustly shown the connections between belonging and many different aspects of student success – including student engagement levels, wellbeing and retention. Critical synthesis of the studies shows that the factors affecting student belonging are also multiple, although only some – such as experiential pedagogies and personalised support from staff – have been replicated in studies across multiple contexts and with experimental research methods. Importantly, there are also factors which negatively impact students’ sense of belonging – such as experiences of being stereotyped by staff. Utilising these findings around factors that influence student belonging, this study provides a set of recommendations for practitioners and identified gaps for future research on student belonging. Overall, this study contributes to understandings of how to impact students’ sense of belonging and how this links to student success. | Dr Carina Buckley carina.buckley@solent.ac.uk |
NB: it is essential to be respectful of the writers of submissions to our journal, especially when they are at the draft stages. Please do not comment publicly on the list or elsewhere on any aspect of the paper title or abstract above.
Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you!
With warm wishes on behalf of the Editorial Board,
Alicja
Dr Alicja Syska
Editor-in-Chief
JLDHE