Contents
Anita Fromm
In response to a student poll conducted in October 2021, the Student Futures Commission (2022: 8) proposes ‘activities inside and outside the curriculum that build skills, networks and communities’ as one of the key objectives to support the success of HE students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Carolan et al. (2020), King (2022) and Fromm (2022) maintain that the lack of opportunities to socialise during the pandemic was stressful for most students that had implications for their wellbeing. Subsequently, a noticeable lack of engagement including poor class attendance at UK universities has been reported (Williams, 2022). Engagement of widening participation students has been of particular concern, especially with regard to awarding gaps (Sousa et al., 2021).
Despite the challenges students have faced during and since Lockdown, ten mature Black students explain how they were able to engage in and benefit from a communication skills club facilitated by a tutor outside timetabled learning sessions. A series of online meetings was held in early 2022 in which the international and home student club members on a pre-registration nursing programme could discuss their academic work, socialise and make new friends.
Findings suggest that participants improved their engagement in online learning, which also enhanced their confidence and collaboration between their peers and tutors.
This presentation reveals some of the findings of a qualitative doctoral study based on individual semi-structured interviews with these student participants. Questions of how further similar clubs or initiatives may be facilitated at other universities in future will be raised.
The 20-minute presentation will culminate with inviting attendees to ask questions about the findings to enhance discussion about HE student engagement.
References
Carolan, C., Davies, C. L., Crookes, P., McGhee, S., & Roxburgh, M. (2020) ‘COVID-19: Disruptive impacts and transformative opportunities in undergraduate nurse education’. Nurse Education in Practice. 46. pp. 102807-102807. Available at: https://doi-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102807
Fromm, A. (2022) ‘Facilitating Online Academic Conversation Clubs for first year international university students recently arrived in Britain: A tutor’s reflections during COVID-19 lockdown’. LINK. 6(1). Available at: https://www.herts.ac.uk/link/volume-6,-issue-1,-april-2022 (Accessed 6.12.2022).
King, I. (2022) ‘Mental health, loneliness and challenges of postgraduate research students during the COVID-19 pandemic’. MSc Dissertation. Swansea University. Available at: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59981 (Accessed: 28.11.2022).
Sousa, S. de, St John, J. and Emovon, E. (2021) ‘Exploring the ‘unexplained’ awarding gap through understanding BAME students’ experiences’. Widening participation and lifelong learning. 23(3). pp. 57–67.
UPP Foundation Student Futures Commission (2022) A Student Futures Manifesto London Student Futures Commission (Accessed 12/03/23)
Williams, T. ‘Class attendance plumets post-Covid’. Times Higher Education. [Online] 9.6.2022. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/class-attendance-plummets-post-covid 9.06.2022 [Accessed 9.6.2022].