Funded Projects 2022-2023

Understanding the barriers to inclusivity and belonging within team based assessments

Dr Folashade Akinmolayan Taiwo – Queen Mary, University of London

Abstract

The ability to enhance student employability skills is required by many degree accrediting bodies and teamwork is identified as one of the key skill for graduates. Teamwork activities can simulate an authentic learning experience that supports peer feedback and self-reflection. Within teamwork, there are a variety of elements that are challenging for students, such as, managing expectations and group dynamics, and these can lead to a breakdown in communication. Teamwork approaches that consider diversity and promote equitable participation by all students, enhance the culture of the learning environment and are more likely to lead to productive group interactions.

This project focuses on working with students to co-create supporting guidance on the explicit inclusion of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in teamwork activities. We will recruit a small group of students who will become collaborators through participation in online questionnaires and reflection and development groups. By reflecting on their lived experience, the findings from the questionnaires and reflection and development  groups will lead to the development of student-led recommendations of best practice to support understanding EDI through teamwork. 

The overall vision for this project is to explore the development of inclusive solutions, and by co-creation with beneficiary groups, the support guides developed can provide value to the wider society; educators will be able to critically review their teamwork activities in order to make them more inclusive. The outcomes of this project will be disseminated through internal and external student-staff co-authored conference presentations and journal papers.

The Meme-ification of teaching and learning: Using Memes to increase students engagement, understanding and knowledge retention.

Linh Tran – Swansea University

Abstract

Memes have become a major part of young people’s visual language and several recent surveys show that memes have become part of the language of 13 – 36 years use in social media.  Students in higher education institutions such as universities are often in this age group and there is scope for memes to be adapted and incorporated in teaching materials to communicate various concepts within a number of theoretical and numerical courses.  This enables students to learn new knowledge and skills in both an informative and fun way.  This teaching strategy will provide students with the opportunity to bring the social media skills they use on a daily basis into their teaching and learning.

The aim of our project is to conduct a study into the use of memes as a teaching and learning strategy for students studying an accounting topic and for students studying a finance topic.  Students will be split into groups for 2 separate studies and will use memes to explain a topic related to their studies.  The memes will be uploaded to a dedicated Instagram site and a review process will be undertaken with each set of students.  Students will be provided with an assessment sheet to assess the memes accuracy in presenting the concept. 

The study will take place at the start of the 2022-2023 academic year and our experience and good practice will be shared with colleagues and the wider academic community so that they may be able to implement our findings.

Building the Ideal Higher Education: A Creative, Imaginative Workshop for the LD Community.

Tom Burns – London Metropolitan University

Abstract

We are in times of certain uncertainty, with Higher Education (HE) in constant need of reflexive adaptation. The lack of an evidence-informed response post-pandemic – face-to-face, virtual, and hybrid – is becoming increasingly visible on the ground. These new realities have yet to be adequately defined let alone implemented with student-needs as the driver.  While Learning Development (LD) has evolved over the years and found its place, questions about its future are still raised, especially by those believing in remedial models of student support. This project seeks to actively and creatively imagine a different HE, one that has compassionate student support at its heart. The LD community will be invited to participate in a workshop to reflect on the current status of HE and, at the same time, to conceptualise what form a humane and integrated LD would take within that HE system. The outcome will be an open-source guide of HE models – real and idealised, and of the sort that would fit LD (informed by ALDinHE values). 

Final Report

Final Review

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