The potential and pitfalls of learning analytics as a tool for supporting student wellbeing

Learning Analytics is a growing field in UK Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) with many implementations focusing on Early Alert and Student Success, but is this putting the cart before the horse? In the 2017 #StepChange report Universities UK suggested that learning analytics should be aligned to student wellbeing. With reported increases in incidents of student mental ill-health and extra demands being placed on student support services as a consequence this seems an appropriate application of this technology. However, there are a number of concerns related to student privacy and the interpretation and presentation of the analytics. Also, who will be designing and performing interventions? At a time when there is growing concerns around the wellbeing of staff, should we be adding a further burden? Do we risk being eaten by the analytics crocodile? It is clear that to utilise learning analytics in this way poses a number of challenges, but in the information age, when this data is available to us is it moral or legal to remain the caterpillar, knowing nothing of who our students are? With Institute for Public Policy Research stating that “…a majority of HEIs should take measures to ensure that the nature of course content and delivery does not result in academic rigour being sought at the expense of students’ mental health and wellbeing.” we should be doing all we can to adequately and pro-actively support our students.

Reinterpreting ‘Using Concept Maps in Law Schools to Foster Meaningful Learning: Evidence from a Pilot Study’ (Deplano, 2018)

A reinterpretation piece: For Rossana Deplano, learning goes beyond memorisation and her article wishes to provide an alternative that can help students shift from learning for tests to learning meaningfully. The article considers the method of using concept maps, which are similar to mind maps, but are formed as hierarchies, starting with the topic and expanding to various points. Rossana also believes that the road to meaningful learning needs the involvement of the teacher to help the students make connections between the prior and new knowledge. Taking all of this into consideration, the article inspired me to think about my own learning experience, and I reinterpreted the piece in the form of a poem, called ‘Cycle’. It is loosely linked to Kolb’s learning cycle, simplified as ‘do, think, conclude, adapt’.

Co-teaching in higher education: Reflections from an early career academic

Co-teaching has been regularly used as a pedagogical tool in K-12 and postsecondary learning environments for decades, yet its practice in higher education institutions has only recently started to grow in popularity. This paper builds on recent recommendations for effective co-teaching in tertiary teaching settings by offering critical reflections and suggestions for practice from an early career academic that specialises in academic literacies. Key concepts explored include developing co-teaching norms and pedagogies through a community of practice, establishing two-way dialogue, diversifying strengths of teaching teams, and enforcing continual reflection and feedback. The paper also provides contextualised guidance notes, so that university educators and program managers have a clearer direction as to how co-teaching teams could be implemented across a range of higher education teaching programs.

Closing the Feedback Loop: Collaborative Design of a Musculoskeletal Revision Course

Clinical Teaching Fellows (CTFs) at Leicester Medical School decided to supplement the learning needs of first year students on the musculoskeletal (MSK) module. Mid-unit evaluation had demonstrated that students had remarked positively on CTF teaching and many requested further anatomy teaching and demonstrations using prosections. It is increasingly important to provide students with evidence that their feedback is being acted upon, therefore CTFs collaborated in providing additional learning resources in the form of CTF-led revision courses while the MSK module was still ongoing. A survey was designed which aimed to engage students and to further explore their learning needs when developing the course. Based on these responses, two half-day CTF-led revision courses were designed, which included educational methods and topics the students themselves had suggested. CTFs collaboratively developed eight different stations, with one CTF designing and delivering the teaching material. Attendance was high and feedback indicated this was a valuable learning experience for students, with particularly positive responses about the interactive nature and high quality of the teaching. This experience demonstrates the benefits of working in partnership with students when developing learning activities, closing the feedback loop to improve student satisfaction, and collaborative planning when designing revision resources.

Does Sketching promote student learning? A review on undergraduate geology students

Sketching is an important way in science and other disciplines for illustrating complex concepts with more digestible formats and has therefore long been engrained in the field of Geology either for research or teaching purposes. The following report outlines an assessment of a compulsory second year undergraduate geology module where illustrations are implemented and form a key part of the student’s learning process. The intended learning outcomes are assessed through the submission of a practical folder and an exam including a practical component. The module receives critical but highly positive reviews from the student cohort who achieve overall good marks. However, a key difference in student performance between the practical components of the exam compared to that of the coursework is apparent. Practical components are problem-based and intended to offer the students an opportunity to engage with the complexity of a given task and sketching is intended to increase the student-learning process through exploration. The benefits of sketching are unequivocally clear but it remains open whether students use illustrations to enhance the learning process to their full potential. Introduction of a learning-cycle approach appeared to have improved student performance and is recommended to promote student learning.

Information about the team

Editorial team and background information about the journal

Editorial for the Second Issue, First Volume: Critical reflection as learning

Editorial piece introducing the articles in the second issue of JLTHE.

Walking Several Inches Taller: Student Reflections on a University Conference on the Lived Experience of Refugee Children and Families.

The development of higher order thinking skills is an important pedagogic outcome of Foundation and BA degrees within the UK as it enables students to work positively with complex issues within early years practice. Our annual conference, held at a university within the West Midlands, is one strategy for this development. The conference under consideration was held in 2017 and was entitled ‘Lived Experience of Refugee Children and their Families.’ This offered students an experience of understanding at first hand the plight of refugee children and families and the implications for practice. At the end of the conference the students were asked to critically reflect on their experience and to present this as a 500 word piece of writing during the fortnight after the conference. Using a hermeneutic and interpretive approach to analyse the writing, three key themes emerged which included: the impact of learning through first-hand experience, changes in perspective previously informed by negative media coverage and developing politicisation and positioning of self as a result of the conference. Students identified a number of actions they would take as a result of their learning. The value of a critically reflective opportunity after conferences was highlighted as an essential part of developing higher order thinking and gaining maximum impact for the student learning from the experience.

Considerations of the challenges, conflicts and competitions when expanding student-staff partnerships across an institution: Perspectives from three UK Universities.

In this paper we explore three major challenges for institutional student-staff partnership work. Firstly, we consider the example of partnership that arises from the ownership of a partnership scheme, comparing ownership by a central unit of the university, at local level by departments and shared ownership between the University and Students' Union. Secondly, we consider the importance of inclusivity in such schemes to prevent them exacerbating attainment gaps and undermining democratic processes. Thirdly, we consider the related issue of reward and recognition, considering the tensions created when working with paid ambassadors and student volunteers.

Using Concept Maps in Law Schools to Foster Meaningful Learning: Evidence from a Pilot Study

Despite its many applications in various higher education settings, concept mapping is not used for teaching predominantly theoretical subjects like Law. Given the peculiarities of learning legal subjects, this article discusses the benefits of using concept maps as a core component of an undergraduate curriculum in Law. Specifically, it presents evidence from a pilot study aimed at assessing the impact of concept mapping as a tool for enhancing deep learning on students enrolled on the compulsory Constitutional and Administrative Law module. An argument is made that utilising concept maps as an integral part of small group teaching activities may be effective in helping students shift the balance from predominantly rote learning to predominantly meaningful learning.