Sensitive topics can be full of triggers. A person who is triggered cannot learn effectively. Hence, it’s important to keep a learning environment respectful so that we don’t trespass on anybody’s boundary of safety. However, controversial and sensitive topics may come up during class discussions, and students may have strong opposing views. Because of this, it is important to first set ground rules that can frame discussions and create ‘safe but brave’ learning communities, where students are able to maintain differing opinions.
Zeeshan Tirmizi, Masters student at Sussex 2023-4
Introduction
Respectful and meaningful learning communities encourage open dialogue, critical thinking, and empathy, where all members of the community respect diversified viewpoints and all community members feel like they belong in a conversation. It is important for students to feel that they belong in their course and in their modules. When teachers take time and effort to create a safe space, it makes students feel that they can get the most from their learning environment. Being part of a respectful and meaningful learning community will help prepare students for future challenges in society. In this way, studying at university not only gives students knowledge of their subject matter, but helps them recognise that challenging and uncertain situations can provide positive learning experiences and an opportunity for growth. This blog post provides guidance on creating respectful and meaningful learning communities in your teaching spaces. It was co-created by colleagues from Educational Enhancement and the University of Sussex students who took part in the project: Supporting the International Student Experience at Sussex and Beyond.
Meet the University of Sussex students who created this resource.
Listen to Liwen describe how safe, but brave, learning communities enable students to talk freely.
Transcript
Liwen: For myself, I think brave is a scenario [where] you can talk. That no one will say you cannot talk, even though other people don’t agree with that. But you can still talk. This is other people’s decisions for that. Safe means you feel like you are not threatened. You are not forced to say those words. You just want to explain that for yourself. So, I think those things still need to exist together, I think, even though other people maybe do not agree [they] respect you.
Zeeshan explains how safe, but brave, learning communities allow people to express their opinions without fear of consequences.
Transcript:
Zeeshan: Having a safe, inclusive, and brave space allows people to feel that kind of sense of safety, that my opinion is going to be acknowledged, and I will not face any consequences for that. And it is okay to be different than others, and it is okay to hold a different opinion. So, having a safe and inclusive space would allow us to not be confined by any kind of boundaries and not think about what the consequences would be having a different perspective of things. When we are talking about learning sensitive topics, I think people mostly feel threatened to hear different things than what they have been believing. So I think it is very difficult to get over our own biases, prejudice. So having a safe space where we can express ideas without fear allows us to look at things from different perspectives which we would have otherwise ignored.
Five recommendations that can help facilitate safe, but brave, learning communities
Welcome your students into the class and make space for them to get to know one another’s backgrounds. Making students feel they are welcomed is crucial, especially for international students, who may not have the same background knowledge and networks as home students. Being from a different cultural background can make it harder for students to feel comfortable when they interact with others. You can help students feel more comfortable with one another by undertaking welcome activities that require students to work in groups and start mixing with their peers. Here are some recommendations for how this can be done across a module:
Before teaching familiarize yourself with your incoming students by sending out a short ‘Getting to Know You’ survey, and providing a space (e.g., a discussion board) where learners can introduce themselves to you and to one another.
At the start of the module pace your introductions, allowing time for the cohort to get to know one another through activities that foster understanding and empathy.
At the start of the module learn to pronounce your students’ names via taking the register and requesting that every student repeat their name back to you, so that you (and the class) can hear how to pronounce their name correctly.
Throughout the module invite students to speak with you privately, or in small groups, during your office hours.
Acknowledge your own positionality with your students. Modelling your own vulnerability as an educator is key to creating safe but brave learning communities. By acknowledging your positionaility, you are showing that it’s okay to not have all the answers.
Before teaching reflect on how your identity (e.g., race, educational background, gender, class) has shaped your teaching methods, expectations of your students, and interactions with them.
At the start of the course discuss your positionality with your students and encourage them to privately reflect on their own.
Throughout the course periodically reflect on your teaching experiences and consider whether your approaches to teaching and your interactions with students have changed over the course of the term. What has caused this change? What have you learnt from this experience?
Co-create (with students) clear class rules to maintain a structured and secure environment. You can set class rules by:
Starting a dialogue about students’ positive and negative experiences of classroom discussions (you could ask students to do this in groups and feedback in a class discussion).
Discussing what kind of learning environment students would like to foster in the classroom and what rules would protect such an environment.
Writing the ground rules into a class contract or charter and store them on Canvas for future reference.
Provide context for any challenging material and help students understand its relevance to your teaching. This can be achieved by:
Using real-world examples, objects, narratives, or multimedia to introduce the topic in a relatable way.
Providing guidelines for respectful engagement, such as active listening, acknowledging diverse viewpoints, and avoiding personal attacks.
Presenting a variety of viewpoints to encourage balanced and critical engagement.
Equip students with the resources they need to engage confidently with challenging material. This can be achieved by:
Using guiding questions or sentence starters to facilitate discussion. For example:
What might be the reasons behind this perspective?
How does this idea connect to what we’ve already learned?
Providing access to glossaries, summaries, or introductory readings to help students understand complex terminology or concepts.
Use role play and debate to put students in others’ shoes: Pippa Morgan suggests using role play activities to broaden students’ viewpoints. You can facilitate debates in which students are randomly allocated to one side of an argument. This type of activity can allow students to explore points of view that they don’t hold themselves. For example:
In a mock negotiation or debate, students must listen carefully to their counterparts to craft appropriate responses.
Following on from the debate, discuss the role of listening in the outcome of the activity and provide feedback on how students engaged.
Manage potentially emotive conversations by:
Asking questions to understand the students’ perspectives, which also allows additional time for you to choose how to respond.
Summarising the issues with the statement and state whether you agree or disagree.
Stopping conversations if they are becoming too emotive and refer to the ground rules.
Redirecting the conversation back to the initial focus of the discussion.
Some of this guidance has been adapted from the University of Sussex webpage, Teaching sensitive subjects. Please see this web page for further information.
This resource was generated from an Education and Innovation Funded project aimed at closing the international awarding gap. To help understand why this gap exists, ten international students participated in a focus group to discuss their experiences at the University. A key theme from the focus group was the importance of understanding assessment expectations and knowing what steps to take to succeed. Drawing on the focus group discussions, the students then worked hard to develop resources aimed at helping you welcome your students to Sussex. They hope you find these resources useful.
The Learning Matters Podcast captures insights into, experiences of, and conversations around education at the University of Sussex. The podcast is hotsed by Prof Wendy Garnham and Dr Heather Taylor. It runs monthly, and each month is centred around a particular theme. The theme of our forth episode is ‘scholarship for science teaching’, and we will hear from Prof. Zahid Pranjol (Professor of Biomedical Science) and Dr. Luis Ponce Cuspinera (Senior Lecturer in Engineering) as they discuss teaching and scholarship in the sciences.
Welcome to the Learning Matters podcast from the University of Sussex, where we capture insights, experiences, and conversations around education at our institution and beyond. Our theme for this episode is scholarship for science teaching. And our guests today are Professor Zahid Pranjol from Life Sciences and Dr Luis Ponce Cuspinera from Engineering and Informatics. Our names are Wendy Garnham and Heather Taylor, and we are your presenters today. Welcome, everyone.
Heather Taylor 0:42
Right then. So, Zahid, can you tell us a little bit about the context of your scholarship?
Zahid Pranjol
So my teaching is based on student centered learning. And in my teaching, which I do on anatomy and some of the human physiology areas such as the cardiovascular system and others, I really try to bring in an Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) element to my to that and, it’s student centered so it’s all done through co-creation, through a lot of active learning. So in terms of my teaching it’s my scholarship, they’re quite intertwined, and it’s based on the philosophy that I want our students to be involved. Teach them global perspectives and co-creation and all of that.
Heather Taylor 1:40
So then same question to you Luis.
Luis Ponce Cuspinera
So I teach 2nd year students in electrical and electronics engineering. Most of the subjects that I teach have been traditional living, kind of, very theoretical, and I try to do more hands on activities, and I get the students to use simulation and more addressing the problems kind of like the way they will as engineers in the real world. So that is the things that I try to bring into the classroom.
So the students still get theoretical knowledge but they do spend quite a few hours, doing hands on activities and simulating engineering problems.
Wendy Garnham 2:15
So given that context what issues do you see as being particularly pressing in science teaching?
Zahid Pranjol
So a major challenge, if you’re talking about EDI teaching and inclusivity, one of the major challenges we have today is what we teach and how we teach it. So for example, eurocentric curriculum. I think a lot of our materials are based on what’s been done in Europe, and the knowledge that stems from Europe and not the knowledge that we have in other parts of the world.
So the challenge is how do we bring that into our curriculum, and how do we get our staff and students to engage with that new materials. Well it’s not new materials but the materials that have been hidden away for a long time. And then bring that back to life. So that is the that is the major challenge, and the reason why it’s a challenge, is that, we want our students to graduate and be competent in the context of the global market. They need to learn global perspectives, they need to be able to appreciate the different perspectives of science, they’ll be working with people from different backgrounds, they’ll be working on patients who are from different backgrounds and so I really need them to engage with that knowledge and understanding and appreciate that difference.
Wendy Garnham 3:44
Yeah. I think that that resonates I think across a number of areas of teaching as well. I think that’s a really topical issue. I’m going to pose the same question to you, Luis. What issues would you say are particularly pressing in your field of science teaching?
Luis Ponce Cuspinera
I would like to highlight two. I think that one of them is that, obviously, we have learning and understanding as some of the key elements of teaching and learning. And because of the advances in technology, having information such at hand, having so many tools that can do very advanced stuff, particularly in engineering. I think that to some extent that this disengages the students, you know, and, they tried to do very advanced things because that’s the things that are living in the day to day.
And we try to approach things by teaching the fundamentals because we believe that the understanding of the fundamentals will lead them to do these kind of greater things. So I think that is one of the main challenges that we have with so much information, so many tools that we have available to solve complex problems, how do we get them engaged? And how do we get them to understand the subjects so that these tools become really, really powerful? And the second one that I want to highlight is that, normally when we’re thinking about engineering, we are thinking solving problems.
And I think that is embedded from very early days, solving problems. And I think that we don’t always focus or emphasize the problem formulation. And I think that is another element that we’re missing. A lot of our students, and I think that probably all the students, all the engineering students around the world, they get a problem and they want to find the solution rather than trying to formulate the problem, really understand what is the thing that they have at hand and how to tackle it or how to address it. So I think that these are two key things that I tried to solve with my scholarship.
Wendy Garnham 5:33
I’m particularly interested in, that idea of sort of there being so many tools and so many technological advances and that idea of sort of being able to support students in how to use them effectively. I think that is going to be increasing important.
Heather Taylor 5:51
So, Zahid, can you give us an idea of what scholarship projects you are or have been working on?
Zahid Pranjol 5:59
So in Life Sciences, the main project that I’ve been doing since 2020 is integrating decolonised and inclusive content into our curriculars. And we’ve done that through our EDI committee as well as a lot of work with students. So for example, we created this race equity action plan, and part of that action plan we had several themes and one of the theme was teaching and learning. So part of that theme, and also these themes are created through collaborative work with students, so co-creation again. But one of the things we wanted to highlight is to teach a variety of cultural and scientific traditions within our curriculum.
For example we teach about DNA, the history of DNA discovery. And we always talk about Watson and Crick, but nobody mentions Rosalind, so there is this sort of hidden agenda almost that it was a male centric discovery when actually it wasn’t. So we highlight these things and we also highlight discoveries of vaccine, you know it wasn’t done by Jenner, it was actually done by a slave from Africa, who was brought to America and he saved a lot of lives. And so these are all historical scientific discoveries that are not taught to our students and that they need to know the true history of science.
So what we’ve done is in all subjects, in all courses, we have a module dedicated to teach students about the true history of science, different ethical aspects of clinical trials that went wrong and really appreciate that these things were not correct. So the knowledge that we have today, some of it may have stemmed from that part. However we don’t eliminate Eurocentric knowledge. That’s not the point of decolonising the curriculum. What the issue is that you know what we want to do, what we’re going to achieve is integrate and include more of these different works done by ethnic minority scientists, female scientists, and bring them from all around the world and show how it works differently.
So and on a practical point of view what we did, so these are obviously theories we implement them, embed them in our curriculum, But also when it comes to teaching we do two things. One, we have a lot of case studies, case study based group work. And these case studies are not just plain simple patient case study you know, Mister Watson or Mister James had this cardiac arrest. We actually bring in the ethnic side of things.
So we try to introduce somebody who’s from an Indian background or maybe African background. And so we bring in this diversity and that shows genetic diversity but also precision medicine which is where you have the treatment that is not the same for all. There are different treatments for different people for the same disease. So we highlight these things and also we talk about personal experience and experience that exists within communities. So an ethnic minority person who is pregnant might have a different experience than somebody who’s from, lets say, a local Caucasian background. So we tend to highlight these with case studies and stories.
And the second thing we are about to do is called global class rooms. So we are inviting groups of students from India, to join a couple of our courses online at live hybrid seminars, so that students can engage knowledge of the local initiatives and local perspectives and things that happen locally. For example malaria, we teach them about malaria. Yeah great it’s textbook stuff but really we want to hear from students from southern India and Africa. Tell us how they deal with malaria, what are the access to healthcare issues, you know there are barriers to access to healthcare, there are barriers to, there are cultural elements as well. So you bring those into the classroom for our students to actually see the world with a different lens that you know what, the things are very different out there and that’s what you want to achieve in the end and this is a couple of things we’ve been doing in in the School of Life Sciences. We’ve had some successes but we continue to push for more.
Wendy Garnham 10:28
Sounds amazing. Really opens their mind to the global picture rather than just the, as you say, just the textbook knowledge.
Heather Taylor 10:40
I think as well it’s just great that we’re told as teachers to, you know, decolonise the curriculum, sometimes it’s not that straightforward how you do it. I’ve done projects myself with students doing co-creation stuff, and evaluation of modules, related to that.
But, you know, the idea that you’ve got some really, really practical things, practical steps to take. So, Luis, can you give us an idea of what scholarship project you are or have been working on as well, please?
Luis Ponce Cuspinera 11:16
Yeah. So one of the main things I try to do with my students in electrical engineering is that I deliver the theory a little bit, kind of like in the normal context, but then they have a lot of hands on activities that range from doing some experimentation with real electrical machines. So they will do the tests, they will gather data, and they will understand how the theory matches with the experiment. And then I give them multiple scenarios from real engineering problems where they have to do simulations using tools such as MATLAB, and then they will be solving these problems. But rather than just solving the problem, like the way we see it in the classroom where you’re given a set of data and you just know how to solve the problem, I asked them, or I pose the question, like, if there are engineers working already, so they have to validate or they have to test something, and they will gather the data from the real world rather than from the classroom.
They do go through a process of learning and struggling, you know, kind of translating the theory into the real world. And, but I also prompt them into the kind of that engineering practice where I say, this is not far from what you will face when you become an engineer and you start working in industry. There are going to be some things that will come very straightforward to you. I know what to do. There are other things that you’re going to struggle a little bit more.
You also need to learn how to self learn, but also be able to ask for help, whether it’s through colleagues or to line managers. So I encourage that they talk to each other. I encourage that they come and ask me questions as if I was their line manager. So give it a go because you don’t want to be the person that is nagging the line manager all the time, but, at the same time, you don’t want to be stuck forever not giving the results to your line manager. And, it tends to work quite well, most of my students do get engaged, and I think that part of the self learning and self development is quite embedded into the way I teach.
And towards the end of the module, they actually design and make a physical implementation of one of the devices that they have to design. So it’s a full process where I take them from, this is how the real world works, this is how we normally operate in the engineering world with using simulations and so on, and now it’s your turn to take from scratch to design something. And they tend to be quite good at that design element, I guess, because they have gone through the learning process at the beginning and in the middle. I think that’s in a nutshell, that’s how I will describe it.
Heather Taylor 13:50
Yes. Brilliant. And I mean, it must be something like you’re saying is valuable if it’s in the real world, and it must be something that like the working world, and it must just be something that they, employers, must be very pleased, I would imagine, about this. I mean, whether they know or not, I don’t know. But, when they get someone who’s come from university into a job, and they’re like, oh, I’ve worked through problems practically, yeah, it’s great.
Wendy Garnham 14:15
Yeah. I was going to say, employability aspect is pretty strong, which brings us to our next question, in fact. So maybe we’ll start with you this time, Luis, in talking about the impact that you think your scholarship will have or that you hope it will have.
Luis Ponce Cuspinera
I think that one of the main things that I have seen already in my students is that they get more engaged in the module, which was a little bit concerning, especially just kind of pandemic, post pandemic, where the engagement was suffering a little bit. And they do learn a lot about their self development and self learning, which is a life skill. So that will help them whatever routes they end up taking, in their lives. So I think that is really, really good. And the fact that they learn how to formulate their problems.
I think that whenever they go to an interview or they’re discussing a potential job or they’re discussing with their managers, the way they’re thinking is slightly different because they’re not just thinking ‘this is how I solve the problem’, but rather ‘this is how I tackled the situation that I have in front of me’. And whether it’s breaking it down, whether it’s just having different approaches, using simulation, running to the lab and doing some testing or designing something, you know, building a prototype. I think that those skills, employability, of course, are very variable for them. So this is one of the main things that I want them to get out of my scholarship.
Wendy Garnham 15:40
I suppose it’s good as well that they have the oversight of the whole process rather than just one sort of problem solving aspect of it, it’s looking at that whole process from how you work through from the initial identifying what the problem is right the way through to the end.
Heather Taylor 15:57
Do you see more confidence in the students, do you think, as a result of them doing it? Maybe it’s too early to tell, you know, from if you’re doing it all within the same year group. But I just wonder if it would give them better confidence entering the workplace?
Luis Ponce Cuspinera
I hope it does. I definitely see them more confident as they go through the semester. And, they do struggle at the beginning, I have to say, because it’s quite unusual. They’re very used to kind of traditional A levels, you know, especially when you are facing already ‘I’m going to do engineering or mathematical sciences’ kind of thing. They are so used to just solving the problems, you know, numerically, that when they have to face the real data, and I give them data sheets, that come from manufacturers and things like that, they start to see that not everything is exactly the way we teach it, but, they can bridge that. And that’s the aim, you know, that they bridge that and they do quite well towards the end of the semester. I think that they gain more value and they have that confidence, and normally, at least from informal experience, I say students that meet me on the following semester, they say how much, they appreciate now the skills that they acquire through that module and how that has helped them in sort of facing the 2nd semester and even their final year.
Heather Taylor 17:25
Oh, amazing. That’s great.
Wendy Garnham 17:28
It’s like the strongest form of active learning, really, isn’t it? Just dropping them in at the deep end with a proposal, I like the sound of that a lot. So I’m going to pose the same question to you, Zahid. In terms of your scholarship, what impact do you think it has had or will have or what do you hope it will have?
Zahid Pranjol 17:48
So the ultimate goal is to have our students learn about holistic science. Science is not just you get in the lab, it’s also about learning the history of science, and knowing that science is a global thing and we want them to be global citizens and global workers. So you know we have a lot of group projects and group work, group activities, and these are majority of them, at least in my modules, and I know that it’s done across the school now as part of the new curriculum which is great, is to teach students, for them to work together on ideas and cases or patients cases that really highlight the global perspective, so how things work differently in another country and how does it work here in the UK, even in the UK how does it work for different communities, you know what is the acceptance rate, why is there a hesitancy in taking COVID vaccine in certain communities, and why is Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and treatment different in different communities and why do you see that difference in morbidity and mortality rate.
So the idea is for them to work in real world context. Now have I seen any impact yet? We have a couple of students that came back to me, they graduated last year. And they said actually when they went to the workplace they’re more able to sort of appreciate the differences. And they could quickly pick on that, ‘oh actually this person is from ethnic minority and they have a different result compared to this group of people, so that means, oh actually, yeah, we did learn that there are differences’, so I think that’s what we want to achieve, we want them to appreciate the differences and we do live in a world where as you can see there’s tensions and political tensions globally right? What else, what more can you want at this point, you want your students to learn? How to respect, how to live in peace, how to understand each other’s views and appreciate those differences. So yeah I think that’s the plan, we want them to be holistic scientists or employees who have all the skills. And I think maybe in 5 to 10 years time we’ll see a much bigger impact going forward.
Decolonisation is not just a Sussex thing, it’s happening all across, and especially in science there’s a big push now because you could decolonise. I can’t say it can decolonise easily but you could decolonise subjects like social sciences, but it’s really tough to challenge some of the views that exists in science. How can you challenge a professor who’s so big in their field and tell them ‘actually you know what you should do things differently’. It’s very challenging but we start small and we expand and you make it big and you get people to accept it and engage with it. So for example – I’ll give you one example in Life Sciences. When we first started talking about this decolonising curriculum, the uptake was very low and I was faced with some challenges. You know I faced some challenges. So for example, somebody came to me and said, ‘do you really want me to erase all the reading materials that are written by white scientists?’ And because I can’t do that. I’m like, well, that’s not the point. Just so you know, it’s about including, more diverse materials. And then when I did that actually and he showed it to me, ‘do you think it’s okay?’ I’m like, yeah, sure. It’s great. So it’s all about engaging with them at a micro level to start with and then expand and work with students because they’re the ones who have the voice to make a difference.
So co creation. So that’s the impact I hope to achieve that they will become very employable in the context of this diversity, the globalisation and the real world contexts.
Wendy Garnham 21:58
I suppose the impact there is also for staff as well. It’s just clarifying what it means to have a decolonised curriculum and how to practically go about ensuring that as well because it sounds as though the staff are benefiting as well as the students from this input that you’ve had with the scholarship. So, yeah, it sounds like it’s a double whammy.
Zahid Pranjol 22:19
That’s the plan.
Heather Taylor
In the future as well, I just think that teaching students this now and you’re providing greater representation, but you’re also just giving them really valuable perspectives like you said that they can use practically, and will be important to people practically, but also the problem you were talking about earlier about how the theory and research is very Eurocentric. Well, hopefully, in the future, as a result of this kind of work, it will move away from that and this will be – it’s not a problem that will never go away. It’s an evolving thing as culture changes and so on. But I mean, yeah, the idea that we can more easily access and know about multiple perspectives in the future, I think starts here so you could have a massive impact in the future, you know? Yeah, it’s great.
Zahid, what advice would you give to anyone regarding scholarship in science teaching?
Zahid Pranjol 23:21
I think it’s very important to be open minded. That’s number one advice because scientists we tend to focus on one thing, you know. I can spend my whole life on one protein. Or one antibody and you know, and so I think we need to be open minded.
We need to be open to ideas that are not very ‘sciency’ in my own specialisations. So it could be, you know, educational matters in science. So I think we also need to listen to students, they have lots of great ideas, and you know if you can involve them as well in our work we can really make something big and something different from it. Which is what we’ve seen in our work, that when you involve students they’re fantastic, they have so many great ideas and so yeah and I think that’s what we need as science educators, we need to be more open minded, open to ideas, and especially you’re open to challenges, you know, challenge yourself a little bit. The things you are teaching is great, but what if we did that differently?
What if we change the way we taught and the things we taught. And I think that’s very important and you know, the curiosity comes from our science, but I think we should pass that curiosity a bit more onto how we disseminate knowledge and we are the ones who are influencing all these people, all these young minds. So they need to be more open minded and have a bit more student-centred approach. And I think then you could do different things differently with big impacts hopefully in the future.
Wendy Garnham 25:04
I think sometimes it’s that element of risk taking that we need to be brave and just be prepared to take a little risk with the knowledge it may not always work out exactly as we want, but if you don’t take that risk, you don’t move things forward.
Heather Taylor
Yeah. Definitely.
So same question to you then, Luis. What advice would you give to anyone regarding scholarship in science teaching?
Luis Ponce Cuspinera
There’s not much to add, to be honest, to what Zahid has said. I think he has covered quite a few points that I was thinking, he was mentioning them already. Maybe we’re connected because we’re just sitting next to each other. But, Wendy also mentioned that the sort of being brave, try to explore, and be open with the students, and if the students are involved in the process as well.
I have to say that I probably had it a little bit wrong the first time I thought this way. My students were very, very stressed and everything. Even though I had used some students to try to kind of gauge whether it was suitable or not. I would say that to some extent, I got it wrong.
But I adapted, and I was trying to adapt as I went through. I fixed some things as kind of on the go almost for that first iteration, and then the subsequent situations worked much, much better, and the students were enjoying the benefits or are enjoying the benefits, without an amount of stress, because this is something that I definitely don’t want. And I wanted also to take away the stress that they have from exams. So I got rid of the exam for a reason. So I didn’t want to bring stress levels elsewhere.
So I think that’s, yeah, be brave and be adaptable, you know, adapt as you go. Keep the communication open with your students, especially the first couple of times that you are implementing something new because, you are also learning. Right? Because you are exploring something new.
Definitely. And I think they’re the sort of skills that employers are looking for anyway. So you’re sort of really feeding into that employability agenda, I guess.
Heather Taylor
Yeah, brilliant.
Wendy Garnham
So, I would like to thank our guests, Zahid and Luis, and thank you, everyone, for listening. Goodbye.
This has been the Learning Matters Podcast from the University of Sussex, created by Sarah Watson, Wendy Garnham, and Heather Taylor, and produced by Simon Overton. For more episodes as well as articles, blogs, case studies, and infographics, please visit The Learning Matters Forum.
This blog is part of a series on ‘New Proposals for Digital Pedagogies’ that launches the Sussex Digital Pedagogies Toolkit.
This toolkit conceptualises new ways to think through digital teaching and learning, gathering data from members of the University of Sussex community who shared their thoughts, fears and hopes about digital pedagogy. This toolkit has been created collaboratively by a staff-student research team and uses material from a series of online workshops with members of the Sussex community, including faculty, professional services and students. Those who took part will be introduced as ‘participants’ to emphasise their active participation in knowledge production for this project.
This post will explore the challenges and proposals for teaching and learning with technologies in relation to building community, as well as some questions for reflective practice and resources to explore these ideas further.
‘Pedagogy is about human relationships.’
Workshop participant
Challenges
Throughout the workshops, participants shared that the humanness of learning is often lost within digital environments. Lower passion and attendance was recognised in Zoom lectures, with an example from Covid that online learning took away all the good aspects of School. ‘I hadn’t heard a teenager laugh in 8 weeks! Covid and online schooling took all the joy away and given them only Shakespeare.’
In this section, we will explore how digital pedagogies can change when we set the personal, the human, and the emotional as fundamental aspects of digital teaching.
Digital Logics
Breakout rooms were criticised as a failure in copying the aspects of seminars onto a digital platform. People tend to engage variably in breakout spaces.
Furthermore, Bates (2015) calls for the renovation of teaching models and a change in mindset regarding how tools are used within learning. The core component of teaching, whether online in synchronous sessions or in person, should be about facilitating discussions, and teaching materials should be used to supplement this. However, currently the value is on the materials, and discussions, especially online, are seen as ‘extra work’.
There is a need to move towards a pedagogy based on digital logics. One step towards achieving this is to have open conversations on the platforms currently used in lectures. An example was raised about online classes, with an indication that students’ turning off their cameras has become a norm. Why use an audio visual setting when many students don’t want to be seen online?
Group Work
Student feedback suggests that students are rarely enthusiastic about group work. There have been issues reported by students about the struggles of finding a time to meet and a member not showing up, resulting in uneven workloads and stress.
Whilst assessed group work might be common across the university, there is a need to think about how we can create a setting for people to want to work with each other. A topic that should be discussed is the obligatory nature or willingness to do group work.
Cohort based learning was raised as a successful example of working in small groups. It is a new trend in online learning, where cohorts are built within communities which enables people to learn together and build a community of trust. Cohorts not only help individuals within their community, but have access to wider areas of interaction with other cohorts. It has proven valuable with consumers of online learning and is expanding its influence.
Existing Tools
The creation of new tools is costly and time consuming. Therefore, there is a need to utilise existing tools, as well as train and share information around digital literacy. A range of digital tools were suggested to build community and interactivity in digital learning environments.
Gather Town
A creative virtual space where you navigate different areas as an avatar. This gives more options for liminal spaces and asynchronous interactivity than Zoom, which has become the norm since the Pandemic.
Talis Elevate
A collaborative reading tool embeddable into Canvas, which allows annotations on articles uploaded onto the interface. This enables students to add and respond to questions posted on the article, and helps them to understand difficult texts together online.
Loom
An asynchronous alternative to Zoom. Loom enables screen/camera capture with a chat room underneath. Presentations can be recorded, and it enables room for specific discussions associated with the topic.
Panopto
A tool which many teachers are familiar with, mainly used for recording lectures. In addition to screen and presentation capture, Panopto also has a space for collaborative discussion.
Padlet
A tool that offers opportunities for sharing ideas in a group and comparing work across groups. It works well in both synchronous and asynchronous environments, and across them e.g., students who are absent from a synchronous session can still contribute later.
There is a need to find a midway point between having too many and too few platforms used for online learning, which relates to setting clear boundaries between digital platforms used for personal use and for educational/work purposes. A solution suggested was creating a “My Sussex” platform used for all University related work.
Questions and Resources
How could you avoid simply replicating in-person logics in online platforms?
How could group work be embedded more consistently?
How are relationships and communities built during teaching?
What do students want from their online teaching? What tools and practices might help to build more community and liminal spaces in online environments?
Deema Sonbol is a Lecturer in Strategy and Marketing at the University of Sussex Business School. In June 2021, Deema obtained her PhD in Media and Communication from the University of Warwick, where she also worked as an Associate Tutor to support MA students. In 2015, she worked at the University of Business and Technology where she developed and led courses such as Conceptual Communication, Research and Evaluation, Brand Strategy and Marketing Management. Prior to an academic career, she worked as a Marketing Research Strategist within the communications sector.
Her research interests focus on women’s entrepreneurship, social constructionism, discourse and power, Critical Discourse Analysis, essentialism, social mobility, precarious work, and draws upon several disciplines such as media and communication, gender, cultural, business and feminist studies. Deema was nominated for three categories in the 2023 and 2024 Education Awards: Teaching to Disrupt, Inclusive Sussex, and World Readiness.
What I Did
Supporting students’ wellbeing goes beyond academic guidance, it’s about creating a safe space where students feel genuinely heard and supported. I embarked on a journey to support student wellbeing more actively by becoming an ASPIRE mentor and obtaining a certificate from the Mental Health First Aid UK programme. My primary objective was to offer guidance and approachable support for students facing personal and academic challenges that could impact their progress. My role involves facilitating conversations with students, often starting with a simple, “How are you feeling?” and allowing the dialogue to develop based on their needs. This mentorship program has allowed me to serve as a source of encouragement and to help students who might otherwise feel isolated.
Why I Did It
I believe that caring for students’ wellbeing goes hand-in-hand with academic support. Academic success is often interwoven with mental and emotional health. My approach is guided by a sense of empathy and the desire to foster a supportive, inclusive environment. I’ve found that sharing my own minor struggles, such as time management or motivation, helps in breaking down the perceived power dynamics between students and faculty, allowing for more open and honest conversations.
There is often a need for students to connect with someone who can offer reassurance without judgment. Some students, especially those with low perceptions of themselves, face significant obstacles to their academic progression. By actively listening to their concerns, I aim to empower them to take ownership of their challenges, knowing they’re supported.
Impact and Student Feedback
The feedback from students has been positive, both verbally and in written forms. Many have expressed relief in having someone to talk to who genuinely listens and who respects their autonomy in decision-making. For some students, having someone listen without immediately offering advice has been transformative, as it allows them to explore their own solutions and feel more in control.
Through both online and in-person sessions, I’ve observed that many students benefit particularly from face-to-face interactions, especially when discussing sensitive issues. These in-person sessions foster a greater sense of connection, which can sometimes be challenging to achieve in online settings.
Future Practice
I am committed to continuing this mentorship approach and intend to engage in more professional development workshops and explore new mental health resources to enhance my mentorship skills.
Top Tips
For anyone looking to provide similar support to their students, here are my top three tips:
Take initiative by breaking down the power dynamics and becoming more approachable.
Really listen to what students are saying and let them figure out what they can do to help themselves rather than being compelled to give advice immediately.
Engage in personal development workshops to listen to other colleagues’ experiences. We can learn a lot from others.
If you’re a staff member at the University of Sussex and are concerned about a student’s mental wellbeing you can consult your School’s Director of Student Experience as well as guide students to the Student Centre for support. Human Resources also offer a range of training opportunities for staff.
This blog is part of a series on ‘New Proposals for Digital Pedagogies’ that launches the Sussex Digital Pedagogies Toolkit.
This toolkit conceptualises new ways to think through digital teaching and learning, gathering data from members of the University of Sussex community who shared their thoughts, fears and hopes about digital pedagogy. This toolkit has been created collaboratively by a staff-student research team and uses material from a series of online workshops with members of the Sussex community, including faculty, professional services and students. Those who took part will be introduced as ‘participants’ to emphasise their active participation in knowledge production for this project.
This post will explore the challenges and proposals for teaching and learning with technologies in relation to critical digital literacy, as well as some questions for reflective practice and resources to explore these ideas further.
I don’t use things critically/strategically – I just adopt it.
Workshop participant
Challenges
There was a mix of responses in terms of participant confidence with using technology and critically accessing information online. Some participants acknowledged a sense of being uninformed when they access and collect information online. Participants feared that digital tools were already available that might make their life easier but that they haven’t yet found them or had the time to try them.
Others indicate an awareness that they tend to see information that ‘the internet chooses to show’ them so they try to vary their sources. Some felt more confident about their use of technological tools and shared an ‘obsessive’ tendency to read technology blogs and play with different software and tools.
Use of AI
People were particularly fearful of the ways in which academia was being automated, with the rise of software like ChatGPT and how AI produced content is received as ‘fact’ (Hasanein and Sobaih, 2023). Participants shared a need to try new things, as well as being critical and challenging sources that come from certain places.
They also discussed how students can be encouraged to question sources and build their own sense of digital literacy: Where did a source/data come from? Who wrote it? Is the author/source reliable? What have others said about the topic?
Proposals
Incorporating critical digital literacy was acknowledged as an important part of creating a broader introduction to life at university. Frequently considered difficult to pin down (Pangrazio et al., 2020), digital literacy is defined as ‘socially situated practices’ which are ‘supported by skills, strategies and stances that enable the representation and understanding of ideas using a range of modalities enabled by digital tools’ (O’Brien and Scharber, 2008: 67). An induction module, that students can receive credit for, was discussed, where students could engage in activities across year groups on how to navigate university, on topics like: developing their critical digital literacy; how to engage in university-style learning; how to conduct research; and how to write academically, in a project-based environment.
Questions and Resources
How do you question the platforms you use and the sources you find?
How could you try new things using online and digital tools?
How can you promote critical digital literacy in students?
How could you induct students into university structures and practices?
O’Brien, D. and Scharber, C., (2008) ‘Digital Literacies Go to School: Potholes and Possibilities’. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52(1): pp. 66–68.Pangrazio, L., Godhe, A-L., Ledesma, A. G. L., (2020) ‘What is digital literacy? A comparative review of publications across three language contexts’ E-Learning and Digital Media, 17:6.
This blog is part of a series on ‘New Proposals for Digital Pedagogies’ that launches the Sussex Digital Pedagogies Toolkit.
This toolkit conceptualises new ways to think through digital teaching and learning, gathering data from members of the University of Sussex community who shared their thoughts, fears and hopes about digital pedagogy. This toolkit has been created collaboratively by a staff-student research team and uses material from a series of online workshops with members of the Sussex community, including faculty, professional services and students. Those who took part will be introduced as ‘participants’ to emphasise their active participation in knowledge production for this project.
This post will explore the challenges and proposals for teaching and learning with technologies in relation to student engagement, as well as some questions for reflective practice and resources to explore these ideas further.
‘How could engagement be recorded differently?’
Workshop participant
Challenges
Despite ‘interactivity’ being a buzzword linked to the digital, a lot of loneliness and disconnection was observed by teachers in online contexts, with the teacher feeling like they had to carry the discussions. How do teachers disrupt the likelihood of passivity in online settings?
Participants shared how they learn best, and discussed how various aspects (setting, content, emotions, etc.) affect their engagement levels (Boler, 2015). One opinion was that content and passion affects learning outcomes, alongside if the learning arose internally (from curiosity) or externally (they were told to do so). Space and engagement have a close relation, and people are more likely to be passive in bigger settings such as large meetings, webinars, or lectures.
While these opinions were based on the individual’s ability to learn, clear expectations set by the teacher were a big factor in enabling confidence. For example, clear expectations of interactivity using a chat function or speaking aloud increases engagement in online lectures.
Participants felt that there was a lack of emphasis on the differentiation of each learner. Some learn well reading alone rather than collaborating in classrooms: ‘Sometimes it’s best when I’m left completely alone to investigate and explore.’ This was a heightened difficulty with digital technology, which demands significant adaptation and attention from both teachers and students (Haleem et al., 2022). Therefore, there is a need to recognise these differences and create an environment which is attentive to each students’ needs.
Managing limitations to one’s attention was particularly challenging with online learning, where individuals are overwhelmed with a variety of notifications and content, and their attention tends to be dispersed. Participants agreed that how we learn is dependent on too many cultural/social factors, and although useful for self-reflection, a set learning style cannot be applied all the time. Adapting content and format for a set learning style in a classroom or online setting increased pressure on staff to figure out what works for the majority.
Connection and flexibility
Throughout the workshops, participants came up with two solutions: ways to promote more connection and flexibility; and a call to change the existing mindset about how passivity and engagement is measured and recorded.
One of the participants shared a successful case from their own experience that disrupted the passive student role. ‘I found a huge shift in engagement from students when I shared tasks that I could see happening and students could collaborate on’. Creating online tasks where the teacher can see work happening in real time, or where students can collaborate together, is usually one of the best ways to promote interactivity in online spaces. Traditional learning formats should be challenged; lectures could be more dynamic and interactive, rather than a passive space where students sit and listen.
Instead of creating a set learning style for each individual, it is best to be flexible and create opportunities and choices for students and teachers to figure out what works for them in different contexts and situations.
Measuring Engagement
Participants identified a difference between passive and active engagement, with teachers noting that when students didn’t seem to engage actively, teachers didn’t feel seen. The notion of active engagement should be problematised for ignoring that of more passive learners.
A more welcoming mode of measuring and recording engagement should be created, assessed in a more human way, with one to ones or small group meetings, rather than focusing on current engagement data as the only appropriate mode of engagement. Three approaches to measuring engagement that could work in tandem:
Data collection: statistics such as attendance, library data and grades.
Self reflection: give the space for students to self reflect on their research journey based on the data collected as well as their personal experiences.
Human intervention: create a space of support to keep students on track. Statistics can have a negative impact on students, and they need a place of contact and adaptable support.
Questions and Resources
How is your students’ attention and engagement impacted by their use of digital technologies?
Can you collaborate with students when setting expectations and intentions of certain spaces and invite them to share experiences of their engagement (anonymously, in one to ones, small groups)?
How is engagement measured and recorded in your teaching and learning setting?
How is your teaching and learning setting supportive to those who might be passive rather than active engagers?
Haleem, A., Javaid, M., Qadri, M.A. and Suman, R. (2022). ‘Understanding the role of digital technologies in education: A review.’ Sustainable Operations and Computers, 3(3), pp. 275–285.
Tobey Ahamed-Barke is a student on the Contemporary History MA course. He is entering his second year as a Race Equity Advocate for Media, Arts and Humanities, a role which involves advocating for students of colour at Sussex and working with staff and students to reduce the awarding gap and improve the experience of students of colour.
The Race Equity Advocate (REA) project began in 2020 to help close the significant awarding gap between students of colour and white students at Sussex. As of 2022-23, the awarding gap between black home students and white home students at Sussex is 25.8%, meaning that black home students are 25.8% less likely to receive a good degree (First or 2:1) than their white home student peers, even when entry levels are considered. This gap is higher than the sector, which sits at 22.4% (2022/23).
Students who work as REAs develop projects with the Students’ Union and staff at the University to help improve the experience of students of colour. As an REA for Media, Arts and Humanities (MAH), I have spent the past year working with fellow REA Abby Keyla and SU Equity and Inclusion Coordinator Arham Farid on a range of projects towards this goal. This has included representation and advocacy roles, such as involvement in the MAH Student Forum and meetings with senior leadership. We also focused on improving the understanding of race equity and the awarding gap at Sussex by recording a podcast about liberation with students and SU staff (soon to be published). However, the issues that students of colour face are structural and embedded within University pedagogy, and we believe that non-inclusive teaching practices adversely impact the experience and success of students of colour, so one of our central projects focused on curriculum redesign and ‘decolonising the curriculum’.
We spent the Spring semester running a ‘decolonise the curriculum’ pilot study with the History department. This focused on the first-year History BA Making of the Modern World module, with great help from then-module convenor Professor Jim Endersby. Four students of colour who had completed the module were recruited for five hours of paid work, in which they reflected on the module and provided feedback in two meetings. The participants discussed what decolonisation meant to them, how the module could be decolonised, and how the History course could be decolonised more broadly too. Abby and I wrote these findings up into a report, linked below, which outlines the key findings of the pilot study and their implications for decolonising the curriculum. These findings show best practice that tutors can take up to facilitate inclusive, decolonised teaching.
Recommendations from the Decolonise the Curriculum Study
Content Warnings and Distressing Content
Participants appreciated when tutors used content warnings at the start of lectures and seminars for ‘difficult’ and offensive language, like outdated and derogatory terminology, as well as for distressing imagery, such as photographs of violence. They concurred with their tutors’ decisions not to vocalise offensive language and felt that distressing imagery is better suited to seminars, where it can be discussed and unpacked collectively, rather than being displayed in lectures.
To avoid Eurocentrism and the othering of Global South topics and people of colour, the participants felt that there should be more regionally and culturally diverse content throughout modules, rather than Global South topics being ‘tacked on’ at the end of lectures or in the final weeks of modules. These topics must be examined with equal analytical rigour as white, Western topics and must be approached as self-sufficient, not always discussed in reference to the West. They should also not just focus on Global South elites and elite culture, but more grassroots approaches where possible.
Readings
The participants felt that essential readings are still dominated by white, male authors. Essential readings should have more diverse authorships, not only from academics of colour/from the Global South, but also non-academics with lived experiences of the topics. Participants appreciated when other forms of media were used as ‘essential readings’, such as videos, photos, and blogs, as this can de-privilege elite forms within modules and improve the diversity of cultures and topics being represented.
Staff diversity
There needs to be more efforts to increase the racial diversity of staff in the History department and at Sussex. The participants explained that the lived experiences of tutors of colour facilitate the introduction of decolonial perspectives into the curriculum and affects the diversity of topics taught during the degree, as well as providing representation and avenues of aspiration for students of colour, so improved diversity needs to be prioritised at Sussex.
Next Steps
The REAs highly recommend that tutors integrate these findings into their modules wherever possible. Improving the diversity of module content can improve the inclusivity of modules, while handling distressing content sensitively can avoid the alienation of students of colour. While staff diversity is not an issue tutors can as readily address themselves, it is important that departments, faculty, and the senior management of the University prioritise hiring staff of colour and break down the barriers that prevent students of colour from continuing to further study and careers in academia.
There still needs to be more work done on how specific courses and modules can be decolonised. Different courses have different needs, and some of our findings are far from unanimous – for instance, there are differing opinions on the benefits of content warnings. For this reason, the REAs have proposed a Connector Project that would look at modules across MAH undergraduate courses. Like the pilot study, this would enable students of colour to give feedback on how the curriculum should be decolonised. Any work on decolonising the curriculum should also feed into guidelines on module design and approval, while tutors’ efforts to decolonise their own modules should be built into their Planning of Annual Workload (PAW) hours.
It is the responsibility of all staff to decolonise their teaching and help address the awarding gap. Many staff are already doing their bit to decolonise the curriculum and make Sussex a more inclusive space, but progress is slow and the awarding gap is persistent. Decolonisation therefore needs to be made a crucial part of Sussex’s central strategy through active implementation of decolonial pedagogy and inclusive teaching practices, to address the structural barriers that work against students of colour.
Get in Touch
I will be continuing as an REA for this coming academic year. If you have any questions or would like to contribute to work around decolonising the curriculum, please get in touch at tobey.a@sussexstudent.com.
This blog is part of a series on ‘New Proposals for Digital Pedagogies’ that launches the Sussex Digital Pedagogies Toolkit.
This toolkit conceptualises new ways to think through digital teaching and learning, gathering data from members of the University of Sussex community who shared their thoughts, fears and hopes about digital pedagogy. This toolkit has been created collaboratively by a staff-student research team and uses material from a series of online workshops with members of the Sussex community, including faculty, professional services and students. Those who took part will be introduced as ‘participants’ to emphasise their active participation in knowledge production for this project.
This post will explore the challenges and proposals for teaching and learning with technologies in relation to accessibility and culture, as well as some questions for reflective practice and resources to explore these ideas further.
‘We forget that we are actually dealing with people.’
Workshop participant
Challenges
Participants shared that groups from certain backgrounds, contexts or countries may be more susceptible to surveillance, especially racialised groups, and may be subject to further marginalisation as a result. Considering the context from which students originate is a useful way to safeguard students. One participant shared that, instead of creating safe spaces, they talk to their students about creating ‘accountable’ spaces, in which people are invited to share freely but can be challenged for the things they say that might harm others.
Making online sessions accessible was discussed, both from the perspective of including those with financial issues (who may struggle to access a laptop or have problems with reliable Wi-Fi connection) and those who are neurodivergent, disabled or have a mental health condition. Students should ideally be involved in any modifications to ensure specific adjustments are beneficial for the student, but the time implications of managing multiple, sometimes conflicting, needs and complicated technological interventions can be overwhelming for staff.
The intersection of disability and racial politics coincides in the use of attendance records: the home office usually sets attendance as a condition of international students’ visas and attendance records are typically lower for disabled and neurodivergent students, which typically leads to further intervention from the university. Although this data gathering can be useful for staff to reach out to students to offer further support, these structures of oversight can have the opposite effect for students who can feel policed and ashamed for their low attendance (Macfarlane, 2013).
Proposals
A key component of teaching involves caring for students, which is often an unpaid and underappreciated part of supporting students, made particularly challenging during the Covid-19 pandemic (Gray, 2022). Some participants noted that it is useful to consider small details in a student’s day, such as how they travelled to campus, to discuss how even the journey to the classroom (how far students travel, the disruptions to the flow of their day, how hungry they might be) locates how they are able to learn. It is important to humanise these day-to-day practices in the classroom, to check in and connect with students to build community amongst students and teachers. These tend to be lost in both synchronous and asynchronous digital learning environments, but this does not need to be the case.
Questions and Resources
How might students’ needs be better assessed?
How can content/format/structure be modified to support disabled students?
Gray, B., (2022) ‘The University Cannot Love You: Gendered Labour, Burnout and the Covid-19 Pivot to Digital’ in G. Veletsianos & S. Koseoglu, (Eds.) Feminist Critical Digital Pedagogy: An Open Book, EdTech Books.
Macfarlane, B., (2013) ‘The Surveillance of Learning: A Critical Analysis of University Attendance Policies’, Higher Education Quarterly,Volume 67: Issue4, October, pp. 358-373
This blog is part of a series on ‘New Proposals for Digital Pedagogies’ that launches the Sussex Digital Pedagogies Toolkit.
This toolkit conceptualises new ways to think through digital teaching and learning, gathering data from members of the University of Sussex community who shared their thoughts, fears and hopes about digital pedagogy. This toolkit has been created collaboratively by a staff-student research team and uses material from a series of online workshops with members of the Sussex community, including faculty, professional services and students. Those who took part will be introduced as ‘participants’ to emphasise their active participation in knowledge production for this project.
This post will explore the challenges and proposals for teaching and learning with technologies in relation to format of teaching, as well as some questions for reflective practice and resources to explore these ideas further.
‘What does the digital or a platform offer specifically?’
Workshop participant
Participants reflected upon the difficulties and possibilities produced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Expectations were to migrate in-person teaching to online settings, with limited provisions or training on how to do so. This meant that the experiences of both those teaching and learning in online settings was particularly challenging, with limited acknowledgement of the difficulties of getting to grips with new technologies and the stresses of living through a pandemic, along with the unknown distinctions and possibilities that online learning could offer in comparison with in-person.
Pros of online learning
The need driven by Covid-19 meant people were able to explore technological solutions in ways that were previously unimaginable.
Online learning means that people can take part from all over the world.
Only the space in front of the camera needs to be presentable!
There is a comforting sense of anonymity if you want to engage more passively with the camera and mic off.
At the same time, being able to see people’s names online helps teachers to keep track of who is talking in a way that is more difficult in person.
Historically, teaching was written like textbooks. Online tools allow the creation of non-linear, differentiated journeys to (re)think how teaching takes place.
Cons of online learning
Participants discussed the difficulties of meeting students’ needs with online learning, with students indicating they prefer an in-class or in-person ‘presence’.
Online videos produced by teachers can feel like a textbook for some students.
Those who teach online expressed the difficulties of being unable to see or hear students with cameras and mics off, with a lost sense of atmosphere.
It is more difficult to maintain students’ attention or gauge engagement on Zoom.
In Zoom, only one person can talk at a time which can sometimes mean people talking over each other, affecting the confidence of speakers.
Chats with neighbours during small or large group sessions to check understandings – what one participant called ‘liminal spaces’ – are missing.
Questions and Resources
What is distinct that can be done in-person and what can be done online?
How might you share reflections with students around how/why the space is being used?
How can clear expectations be set on how the online space of teaching should be navigated and can this be co-created and adjusted if necessary?
This blog is part of a series on ‘New Proposals for Digital Pedagogies’ that launches the Sussex Digital Pedagogies Toolkit.
This toolkit conceptualises new ways to think through digital teaching and learning, gathering data from members of the University of Sussex community who shared their thoughts, fears and hopes about digital pedagogy. This toolkit has been created collaboratively by a staff-student research team and uses material from a series of online workshops with members of the Sussex community, including faculty, professional services and students. Those who took part will be introduced as ‘participants’ to emphasise their active participation in knowledge production for this project.
This post will explore the challenges and proposals for teaching and learning with technologies in relation to student agency, as well as some questions for reflective practice and resources to explore these ideas further.
‘Students don’t have any autonomy in their learning journey.’
Workshop participant
Challenges in Student Agency
When considering digital pedagogies, the role of the student in the classroom is vital: how might students be more critical or involved in their learning and education? Participants noted a certain amount of passivity in students. This passivity was not necessarily in terms of engagement or class participation, but rather something that arose from the structure and content of student’s education, which is often entirely reliant on the teacher. The student is usually only assessed through quantitative data, such as attendance and grades. Yet it was pointed out that this method of recording data does not actually reflect students’ own academic and personal journey at university. The quantitative data produced primarily serves the needs of the university and the teacher as opposed to the student.
Proposals for Student Agency
Participants suggested a range of solutions to re-engage students and encourage them to reclaim agency in their education. Participants felt it was important to place students in an active role, where they would be able to take agency in recording their own learning journey (Gibson et al., 2016). A digital model was suggested as a space where students could explore their learning journey. Students could:
Write week to week academic reflections about what they have learnt or struggled with.
Upload a selection of their favourite work or readings, and then reflect and self-report on these.
Have access to their own metrical data, for example how many readings they have downloaded and how many seminars they have attended. Students would be able to see their different engagements and narrativise these experiences.
Access their learning journey without institutional or teacher oversight. It was debated if this could be marked, with suggestions that it could be built into part of a contributory grade.
Participants raised concerns that this kind of student learning journey tool might be difficult in some ways for students. Looking at data that confirms low attendance or submission rates can further isolate and demotivate students. Therefore, this kind of tool needs to be promoted alongside confirmation that it is okay to make mistakes or not meet expectations, as part of a broader process of community building. This kind of community building might look like autonomous chat groups in student cohorts, as they provide spaces for students to talk freely.
Questions and Resources
What role does the teacher play in sessions? How much space do they take up?
What role does the student play in sessions? How much space are they invited to take up?
How could students be more empowered to take ownership over their learning journey?
Gibson, D., Coleman, K. and Irving, L., (2016) ‘Learning Journeys in Higher Education: Designing Digital Pathways Badges for Learning, Motivation and Assessment’ In D. Ifenthaler, Foundation of Digital Badges and Micro-Credentials: Demonstrating and Recognizing Knowledge and Competencies, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp. 115-138.
