Summaries of Key Findings

This page provides a brief summary of the key features of each pilot project showing what worked about them and why, the success factors and next steps. For more information on evidence-base and evaluative process refer to the pilot projects page here. You will also find links to presentations that provide detail on the projects. Results will continue to be added – please keep checking back.

FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ON THESE PROJECTS, INCLUDING DATASETS, go to the Projects Page

THEME: STUDENT BELONGING

Photography Zine Project

by Yuxin Jiang

What Worked

The zine fair itself was the most successful part of the project for community building where students connected through shared purpose – they commented on the benefits of peer to peer learning as well as connecting with others outside of class settings.   It led to acts of kindness, while they sharing the experience; it led to them feeling confident to connect to others at the event.   Success factors: The number of participants (small numbers helped foster community), communicating around personal projects (developing professional confidence), support from staff, the pace, the buzzy atmosphere and its extra-curricular nature were central to its success.

Next Steps

The next steps will focus on developing the lead-up workshops to make them more relevant to the students and also to develop more relaxing community spaces in the run up to the fair   More regular curated opportunities will be explored that can be staged through the year to increase opportunities for students to benefit.   Facilitating further the cross-years connection.

THEME: Redesigning and Scaffolding Cross-Programme Units

Redesigning the Research Project

by Thomas Giagkoglou

What worked

A condensed unit led to many challenges, particularly as the unit was run cross-programme: scaffolding the unit was key to helping students through a complex project within one block, balancing the teaching of new skills, placing content at point of use (eg analysis) and supporting independent time for students to explore their own directions.   The evaluation showed that the pacing, the structured approach, the variety of teaching methods and retreat days were central to building confidence and keeping up motivation:  the student experience was good, levels of confidence remained relatively strong and students recognised they had learnt new and relevant skills throughout the unit.  The results were extremely positive for the first year of this unit. Success factors: Retreat days – for community building, structured and dedicated support, shared endeavour, carefully orchestrated events Tutor access – in different ways built into the structure , seminars, group tutorials, 1-2-1s, retreat days Checking in with students – ensuring they felt on top of the pace and confident with next steps Clear, staged approach – students felt this gave them confidence they could achieve this – while students still felt they had time to explore own direction

Next steps

Student journey – scaffolding from year 2 will be consistent across programme allowing for more knowledge building, extending learning and overcoming points of anxiety; consider also year 1 as start of journey Preparedness and readiness – Proposal from year 2 unit, which will have been assessed, means students will have made decisions/revisions earlier and start with more confidence Pinch-points – paying attention to support over winter break and start of spring term where assessment timing that cannot change but causes anxiety Timely support for specific content – certain areas emerged that need more support at the point they are used within the project and scaffolding and retreat days will take that into account – (analysis support) – the yr 2 unit will make this easier too.   Retreats – developing pedagogy – these worked very well – plan to refine full days based on learning and add in further shorter formats to increase regularity and support – with, for example, ‘snack writing’ to support reengagement after the break Consider options to support inclusivity further – eg where students miss sessions how do they get back into the unit – as supervisors will be allocated earlier so will have better way to identify at risk students here Explore ways to improve consistency in attainment across the 4 courses

Theme: EMPLOYABILITY

Embedding Employability for MA Journalism

by Lucia Vodanovic

What worked

Employability was already a key consideration for the course – this project focused on embedding it further and increasing awareness of the various offers within the course.   Success factors: comprehensive approach – from dedicated workshops, awareness raising sessions and resources sites; reinforcing journey led to much greater recognition of the skills being developed in class; using evaluation to raise awareness was also a success factor.

Next  Steps

Developing the padlet further as a live resource   Refining the offer around the student journey through the course   Exploring how to build student confidence further

Theme: P2P LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT

Tutorials, P2P Learning & Professional Practice

by Alexia Singh

What works

Embedded and scaffolded tutorials were highly effective for developing professional practice – supporting:   Student Experience – confidence building in showing, in critiquing each other, building strong P2P connection, inclusivity and building a sense of community   Student Learning – for ideas development and learning from peers, professional development from the gallery presentation   Success factors: Tutors good and consistent in approach, peer to peer learning nurtured over the unit, confidence growing through the term, effective for inclusivity and community-building, developed professional practice within the unit, working towards a show building community, postits for critique to build confidence displaying work effective.

Next steps

Gallery-quality output is now part of the assessments – (deals assessment clashes and confusions – as well as supports further engagement)   New assessment is aligned to industry and starts journey to yr 3 FMP (student journey)   Set points within unit to shoot elements (so will have work to discuss and show)   More process aspects worked into the tutorials earlier (eg paper choices etc.)   With this further scaffolding – students will feel less of a gap between tutorials and show, because they will have made more decision by end of unit

THEME: EMBEDDING ACADEMIC SKILLS

Embedding Academic Skills

by Alejandro Abraham Hamanoiel

What worked

Embedding the sessions meant more students received specific academic skills teaching at the point they might use them; confidence in identifying, finding and doing each skill was built up step by step in bite-sized ways and were closely contextualized within the unit modelling the work in main session, so it was very integrated.   Contextualising meant students understood relevance of the learning and started to use the terminology more confidently from this approach.   Success factors    Contextualising – linking to the unit itself and illustrating the skills in action within the session, using terminology regularly    Structure –carefully scaffolded, building step by step, breaking them down into smaller specific topics to concentrate on them and aid retention    Timing – not a slew of topics in one go at the start but spread throughout the unit at the point they would start to be used.

What next?

Student learning – developing this unit further so that it moves from an from academic essay to an academic portfolio – further reinforcing skills set and student confidence, ready to undertake essay in next theory unit   Practical teaching – Workshops should continue next year, with an emphasis on practical exercises   Further embedding Academic Skills Workshops  – consider this for further theory units and taught in context    To develop – Additional support should be given on the writing and structuring of academic texts as well as ways to work with academic support to help this alignment with the units; considering ways to extend learning for those who are already more knowledgeable

Theme: Building Student Resilience

Using Growth Mindsets

Julia Peck

What worked

Students engaged with the Growth Mindset concepts at the first session and linked it into their overall learning journey reflecting on challenges so far Students thought in-depth about their learning so far, and what things help them grow for the next block (eg getting support) Having the mid-year point as a place of reflection works well- with GMS providing some tools to think about experience so far and to think explicitly about what gives them staying power for longer complex units. This provides valuable understanding of confidence levels of students and their experience through the course so far  – a chance for listening Success factors – Timing so students have something they can reflect upon as they start next block; making it part of learning journey so they see one unit flow into the next Revisiting it mid-unit to remind them to think closely about how they overcame a challenge, what it was that gave them sticking power. Being responsive to what they talk about

What next?

Start to introduce concepts earlier in block 1 (large intake year) Build on this through year 1– one further checkins/reminder to reinforce within block 2 Continue to use as part of reflective process with current students moving from yr 1 to yr 2 to support yr 2 group project Staff can reference it in a more on-going way through units to embed further Consider ways to both use the postcards with new students (as advice is so positive, practical and full of good will), see if students put into practice their own advice Help students embed this and personalise it as a developmental process in their learning journey.

Theme: student confidence

Building Student Confidence in Skills Development: Sonali Misra

what worked

Students showed consistent growth in the SKM mapping, thus implying that their confidence has been boosted. It was an effective visual way to show students that they had developed their skillset through a unit. Student self-evaluation helped them introspect and critically evaluate their knowledge and skillset around subject area The survey mapped Unit LOs, thus reiterating the success of the teaching and course structure Text boxes in surveys helped customise some teaching to cater to differing prior knowledge levels Success factors Radar charts as a clear visual representation of growth A process for reflection that could be revisited and personalised with feedback linking it to the LO

Next Steps

This can be further emphasised in the next iteration through 1-on-1 chats with students about their reports to gauge their confidence levels and understanding of how the teaching addressed the Unit Learning Objectives This can also be used to link to the next unit – as students reflect and create new targets as their learning journey evolves. Planned activities in next iteration will be informed around skills gaps and differences in prior knowledge.

Theme: Student Learning –

Exploring Gen AI with MA Journalism Students – Simon Hinde

What worked

Interactive workshop got students discussing AI and developing confidence in using it critically. Key success factors: Using examples from Journalism – including examples of poor practice practical exercises covering the general principles of AI

Next steps

Run again updating exercises with current examples Spend longer on the exercises that went down well

Theme: student learning and student confidence

Developing Student Confidence with a Literature Review Bootcamp – Frania Hall

What Worked

Having 2 or more staff in the room available to support students with individual queries/projects/searches in 1-2-1 chats Being able to see students progress and get more immersed in their own ideas from concentrated work- staff could also keep checking back to see if students were moving forward Key success factors Setting goals throughout sessions Varying the day with different activities – structured to progress through the days Including academic support and the library Ensuring lots of 1-2-1 chats/follow ups

What Next

Make mandatory session at end of FMP teaching to support all students – to ensure attendance for the 2 days (which led to deeper learning and increased confidence) Continue to include with academic support and library – formalise their participation Retain structure which students liked but with more focus on writing activities

Theme: P2P learning

Developing P2P Learning and Student Engagement in the Innovation unit- Anna Faherty and Frania Hall

What worked

‘Buddy’ groups overall helped develop P2P learning within this unit. Attendance was improved Students learned a lot about each other’s ideas and enjoyed getting feedback Some particularly enjoyed this way of working, particularly brainstorming We could see ideas progressing (not just delivered at the end of the unit), could challenge students and were able to help student take ideas further Key success factors Planning the crit sessions carefully Engaging students in the process from the start

What next

*Set specific, staged, targets for the group sessions (relabeled) so they are working towards something they have to show each time (to avoid repetition) *Explain more about value of crits – confidence in experimentation *Consider also framing this as problem solving session *Prepare prompt cards to encourage more self-led discussion (so more interactive) *Change groups around to keep variety of ideas – and have students host discussions

THEME: STUDENT JOURNEY

STUDENT JOURNEY MAPPING AND PERSONAL MILESTONE PLANNING – Yuxin Jiang

What worked

*Co-creation of journey map divided unit up into sections and led to effective milestone creation *Personalising the milestones helped take ownership of journey and was found very useful *Students recognised the support available, where they might need it at what point – felt supported *Reviewing it was felt to be helpful by the students and staff – building habit of self-reflection *The large number of students participated – suggesting a level of inclusivity  – doing it on briefing  day was essential Key success factors *Spending time getting into the detail of the assessment and getting students to collaborate reinforcing learning required *Useing Miro or similar to create an active, collaborative space for students in the mapping activity *Letting students get really into the details of the assessment – engage with the shape of the unit and have dialogue with you about where they see challenges *Give the students something to take away – their personalised milestones worked well on paper *Plan in at least one check in so students can review the initial milestones and revise/iterate

What next

*Focus on developing the second session after Easter further to get more engagement – include, for example, more reflection which can be used in assessment; also review assessment submission and LO and concepts of situated practices again *Consider building in an additional short stage end of Spring term – to set out targets for summer before the break, capture Copeland responses (building into Copeland review session – building an arc of self-reflection *Possibly consider implementing similar approach for yr 3 to build on it, to build resilience further– as become more independent with learning *Considering a creative approach to student journey planning though zine-making