{"id":2132,"date":"2021-11-16T16:05:53","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T16:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/itl\/?p=2132"},"modified":"2021-11-17T14:10:35","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T14:10:35","slug":"in-it-together-creating-a-sense-of-inclusion-for-students-learning-remotely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/itl\/2021\/11\/16\/in-it-together-creating-a-sense-of-inclusion-for-students-learning-remotely\/","title":{"rendered":"In it together: creating a sense of inclusion for students learning remotely"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ specialty=”on” _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ specialty_columns=”2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax__hover=”off” parallax_method=”on” parallax_method__hover=”on”][et_pb_row_inner _builder_version=”3.0.47″ locked=”off”][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax__hover=”off” parallax_method=”on” parallax_method__hover=”on”][et_pb_post_title comments=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ locked=”on”][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n

\"DrIn\u00a0<\/b>her<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>recent post<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0Jo Hicks\u00a0promised that we would\u00a0be\u00a0sharing\u00a0some of the\u00a0great examples of practice from colleagues that\u00a0were\u00a0highlighted in the recent\u00a0OfS\u00a0exercise on\u00a0the teaching and learning we delivered to our students in 2020\/21.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>We\u2019re delighted to bring you the first of these\u00a0examples,\u00a0as we hear from Mark Dilworth, Lecturer in Maternal and\u00a0Fetal\u00a0Health. Mark talks\u00a0here\u00a0about\u00a0what the\u00a0MRes\u00a0in Reproduction and Pregnancy team did to create a sense of community and inclusion for their students, particularly during a pandemic, and which of their approaches they\u2019ll be keeping as we move forward.<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n

When planning for the 2020\/21 academic year, much\u00a0of our\u00a0focus revolved, understandably,\u00a0around the best ways to effectively teach students.\u00a0Whilst clearly important, I was confident that our programme could continue to deliver an excellent standard of teaching in a largely remote\u00a0manner\u00a0should this need continue.\u00a0Social integration\u00a0though\u00a0was an entirely different matter!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In March 2020,\u00a0the switch to\u00a0remote\u00a0teaching and research projects clearly presented\u00a0us\u00a0with enormous challenges. However, at least the students had already formed social bonds and integrated themselves into our department. When\u00a0planning for\u00a02020\/21,\u00a0how do you\u00a0effectively\u00a0look after\u00a0each\u00a0student’s wellbeing and foster an inclusive environment,\u00a0having not even met\u00a0many of\u00a0them in person? This was especially important for our\u00a0PGT\u00a0programme,\u00a0which prides itself on providing an immersive experience and ensuring students are integrated into, and form an important part of, the research centre.\u00a0How do you re-create that\u00a0face to face\u00a0interaction with students and between students? Short answer – you can\u2019t. You can,\u00a0however,\u00a0make a real difference to their day-to-day experience.\u00a0\u00a0Here\u2019s how we did it and my honest appraisal of what worked\u00a0and what didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Building relationships<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h6>\n

Firstly,\u00a0we held\u00a0online\u00a0Q&A events before the students joined us. This allowed\u00a0me\u00a0to begin to develop a working relationship with the\u00a0students and\u00a0afforded them the opportunity to meet each other. At\u00a0the online induction\u00a0in October, we adapted team building games\u00a0and students\u00a0were asked\u00a0to tell us\u00a0interesting facts\u00a0about themselves.\u00a0These answers\u00a0then formed\u00a0a quiz in\u00a0the second part\u00a0of their induction,\u00a0to test their knowledge of each other. At this induction, we\u00a0also\u00a0had honest conversations. Whilst\u00a0we could not predict whether\u00a0we\u00a0would face further disruption\u00a0during the\u00a0academic\u00a0year\u00a0or whether further lockdowns would happen (spoiler alert\u00a0– they did!),\u00a0we did promise\u00a0our students\u00a0that we\u00a0would be\u00a0there for them;\u00a0and they\u00a0later told us that the feeling that \u2018we had their back\u2019 was\u00a0really important\u00a0to them.\u00a0In order to do this, I protected a fixed time each week for drop-in sessions so students could discuss any issues\u00a0and\u00a0also\u00a0carried forward an open-door policy, albeit that the open door was a square box on Zoom.\u00a0For taught sessions, I\u00a0opened\u00a0Zoom links early to allow informal discussions and\u00a0opportunities to build\u00a0rapport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Social events and the logistics of integration<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h6>\n

We arranged an online\u00a0quiz\u00a0night\u00a0and\u00a0assigned\u00a0students\u00a0into teams,\u00a0using\u00a0WhatsApp\u00a0video calls\u00a0for this purpose.\u00a0Running\u00a0the quiz\u00a0in this\u00a0manner\u00a0meant\u00a0the students\u00a0could play as a team,\u00a0rather than\u00a0being one among many\u00a0in\u00a0a sea of individual faces on a screen.\u00a0We also had a\u00a0staff\u00a0team,\u00a0made up of\u00a0members of the programme team and academic\u00a0advisors,\u00a0to add an element of competition.\u00a0The staff team won, which I considered bad form!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I wrote\u00a0one\u00a0round\u00a0of the quiz\u00a0with a question based upon\u00a0each of our international students\u2019\u00a0country of\u00a0birth,\u00a0a simple gesture that made them feel included. Also,\u00a0I\u00a0utilised\u00a0some ideas I found online:\u00a0I got the students to tell me their favourite songs,\u00a0and\u00a0then\u00a0played\u00a0them\u00a0in the background\u00a0of\u00a0the quiz.\u00a0All of this was designed to let the students know that we were thinking of them and that\u00a0they were not alone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In more practical matters, we assigned\u00a0two\u00a0student reps,\u00a0rather than the usual\u00a0one,\u00a0to share\u00a0responsibilities.\u00a0The\u00a0student reps had\u00a0a crucial\u00a0job, probably more so than in any other year,\u00a0in terms of arranging social\u00a0meetings, primarily online.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We also\u00a0switched the\u00a0MRes\u00a0Journal\u00a0Club, run by PhD students in the centre, to an online format. This continued throughout the year,\u00a0and we ended up teaming up\u00a0MRes\u00a0and PhD students\u00a0to form\u00a0a buddy-like system.\u00a0This meant that even when learning was remote, we could still ensure students were integrated into the department\u00a0before they physically\u00a0arrived\u00a0for their research projects in February.\u00a0This was reinforced by\u00a0weekly Zoom seminars within the centre, to which students were invited,\u00a0alongside\u00a0lab-group meetings and social meetings early on in their programme.\u00a0This\u00a0doesn\u2019t usually happen until January in a \u2018normal year\u2019!\u00a0<\/p>\n

What worked, what didn\u2019t, and moving forward<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h6>\n

Most of these things really worked.\u00a0Feedback from students suggested that the social\u00a0aspects were\u00a0much\u00a0appreciated and helped\u00a0reduce feelings of isolation. The events also fostered a level of openness which meant that students came to us to let us know when they were struggling, particularly in terms of their mental health. This allowed us to effectively signpost help at a relatively early stage.\u00a0The only aspect I wouldn\u2019t bother with again would be the protected timeslots\u00a0as these weren\u2019t utilised, with the\u00a0open door\u00a0policy working better.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A couple of key questions are whether\u00a0this type of support\u00a0is\u00a0feasible for all programmes,\u00a0and\u00a0whether it is\u00a0sustainable\u00a0in the long-term? As an\u00a0MRes\u00a0programme,\u00a0we\u00a0typically\u00a0teach\u00a0in the region of 16-20 students per year,\u00a0which makes these activities and\u00a0types of\u00a0support easier\u00a0(though\u00a0not easy!)\u00a0to manage. Clearly, to replicate this kind of\u00a0individual\u00a0support on a larger scale is a challenge. In terms of how sustainable these practices are, there is no doubt that considerable extra effort went into\u00a0planning and to\u00a0repeat this kind of effort annually means that other aspects of the job\u00a0have to\u00a0take a back\u00a0seat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Final thoughts<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h6>\n

As I write this now, our current 21\/22 cohort are having a much more \u2018normal\u2019 year and I am struck by how much calmer things feel.\u00a0Despite the additional stresses, it was a real pleasure to lead such an engaged team,\u00a0who\u00a0pulled together to support students during an incredibly challenging time.\u00a0I think we made a real positive difference to the experience that the students had during their time with us.\u00a0Ironically, I felt a stronger bond with these students even though I didn\u2019t meet\u00a0most of\u00a0them in person until February!\u00a0When I look back at the pandemic, I will always be proud of how we supported\u00a0our\u00a0students.\u00a0We did our absolute best for them and that,\u00a0really,\u00a0is all you can ever do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Contact Us<\/h4>\n

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+44 (0) 161 306 6000<\/p>\n

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Find Us<\/h4>\n

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The University of Manchester
Oxford Rd
Manchester
M13 9PL
UK<\/a><\/p>\n

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