Jannah Aljafri, Anna Judd-Yelland, Penelope Lee, and Catriona Matthews ~ Learning Designers
The days may be getting colder and darker, but the Christmas season is upon us, plus we’ve just enjoyed some great virtual ‘fireside chats’ during The Open University’s Equitable Outcomes Challenge Week. 🍵🔥 Colleagues from across the University shared their projects on how we can better support our Access and Participation Plan (APP) student groups and students in their first year of study. We’ve compiled a few highlights and reflections from the team from the various presentations.
Brew and Breakthroughs webinar (Day 1)
Anna: One module informally tested assessment café forums in the last presentation year and added it to the tuition booking system for this year. The cafés were run on a flipped classroom drop-in model, allowing students to lead. Tutors can bring FAQs, which were later recorded and pinned to a forum for students to come back to. There were two cafes per cluster, each is an hour long and scheduled one week before the assessment submission date.
Building Student Community and Study Confidence Within Workshops (Day 1)
Jannah: Lots of great tips, reminding me that giving options and keeping the feedback channel open for students are part of being inclusive and accessible. Also, we shouldn’t be afraid of trying new ways and making mistakes. In a way, this can help contribute to a sense of belonging; students can feel more connected to us (especially important for distance learning environments) and see that we’re also learners.
Assessment Specific Checklists: Snog, Marry, Avoid? The Mid-season Cliffhanger (Day 2)
Catriona: “A small change which has had a big impact on student confidence and for some modules, assessment submission rates and average scores. Great to see student feedback being implemented to develop the checklists further. Strong signposting and a desire to have assessment guidance and the checklist in the same location was my main takeaway. The project still has a third phase so it’ll be exciting to see whether the data continues to be so positive!”
Penelope: “Catriona’s captured it really well there. We now recommend assessment checklists and where to place them in the Module Design Toolkit … stay tuned for the new iteration launching in January. The team are currently collating further guidance, evidence and examples to strengthen this area. Attending the recent Assignment Checklists session enabled us to forge valuable links with the team who delivered the talk, and this collaboration will support the expansion of our exemplar and evidence base.”
From Invisible to Understood: Creating Belonging Through Student Voice (Day 2)
Anna: “The session focused on creating Ahn & Davis’ (2020) style of belonging at the start of a module. An ‘Understanding me as a learner’ template was provided to students to complete with an option of sharing with their tutors. The focus is on strengths, values – relational – continuation – equity – pedagogy. The session also introduced ‘Understanding me as a tutor’ template for tutors to share their authentic selves – useful as a role model tool – especially where the tutor is from a marginalised community.”
My Thesis – What’s the Story? Exploring Inequality in Outcomes Through the Narratives of Black and Brown Students in Online Learning (Day 3)
Jannah: “Rehana’s thesis compiles the key barriers experienced by Black and Brown students in the context of online learning. I noticed that many of the barriers apply to most students (though the effects are likely amplified for marginalised students) showing that enhancing inclusivity can benefit all students. However, there are unique barriers experienced by racially marginalised students which is important to take note; I have heard many times from well-meaning people who claim that the disadvantages Black and Brown students experience are really related to their socioeconomic status, and so inadvertently downplaying the racism and discrimination aspects.”
Methods and Tools for Engaging Level 1 Students (Day 4)
Catriona: “I just caught up with the recording and it was such a joyful and inspiring session! It really emphasises, as so many of the sessions this week have, the important role that tutors play in building our student’s confidence and creating a personalised and welcoming module environment. The key points which came out from discussions about the show and tell induction activities was personalisation, consistency and providing space for student voices, skills and strengths to be recognised and celebrated. There was also discussion about AL (tutor) communication and the key points were about trickle communications, working on relationships first and then imparting information, and visibility.”
Student-facing dashboard – Co-creation and how students can use the dashboard for study success (Day 4)
Jannah: “This sounds like a particularly innovative project! I was intrigued to find out that the Student Progress Tool (a new version of the Early Alert Indicators) is actually student-facing, so students can track their own learning. It seems empowering, a little bit like Fitbit for education, and the outcomes of the pilots indicate that the students feel that way! For me it raises a question of what makes this tool different to the module study planner in the VLE which also aims to help students to manage their learning. Could features from both products be combined? The predictive analytics part of the dashboard is also interesting. What does ‘success’ mean? If a student doesn’t follow the ‘success pattern’, what kind of impact could that have on them and what kind of intervention is best? I am staying tuned.”
These opportunities for good practice sharing are incredibly valuable to us in the Learning Design team. We hope that passing along these snippets will pique your interest to learn more about the different and creative ways we can all work towards equitable approaches and improved outcomes in Higher Education.
If you’d like to talk with the Learning Design team at The Open University about any design related support you’d find useful for your organisation or department, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us at: [email protected].
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