This session showcases a significant increase in engagement, in response to an intervention targeting student dissertations at Nottingham Trent University’s School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences. The school has a high proportion of Widening Participation students, with 49% disclosing a disability and many entering via non-A-level routes. Historically, in-person dissertation drop-ins had very low attendance, despite students expressing a need for support.
In collaboration with course teams we embedded library-led online Q&A sessions into timetabled teaching, ensuring equitable access and reducing the stigma of requesting assistance. Following student feedback, taught content on key dissertation topics such as literature reviews, methodology and data analysis was added to some sessions, session length was extended and an in-person element was added to further meet student needs.
Data collected showed that average session attendance in Term 2 of 2024/25 was more than nine times higher compared to Term 2 of the previous year.
For 2025/2026, we have further enhanced the intervention by scheduling weekly taught lectures within the Q&A sessions and providing asynchronous resources such as session recordings, session slides, and checklists. This has been associated with a further uplift in attendance, with a weekly average of 78 students attending sessions delivered to date.
In this session, we will demonstrate how, through curriculum integration and responsive design, we have enhanced engagement with library-led learning support.
Presenter: Tracy Lowe, Academic Skills Tutor, Nottingham Trent University
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