Projects

Project lead

Ioannis Smyrnias (School of Veterinary Medicine)

Contributors

Sharmini Paramasivam (School of Veterinary Medicine)

Project outline

Online teaching and learning (or Hybrid Education) is a concept that is increasing within higher education(1). Covid19-related restrictions first imposed during the semester 2 teaching in 2020 required academic staff to alter their teaching delivery methods from the traditional face-to-face (F2F) interaction between teachers and students to that of online learning within Surrey University. Online teaching material includes pre-recorded lectures, non-lecture activities (e.g. feedback videos), and online engagement sessions on Surrey Learn for students to engage with.

Despite restrictions now changing and F2F teaching increasing, staff at the request of students are still widely using online learning to supplement F2F teaching in Surrey and to engage with the hybrid teaching model. Effective online teaching plays a role in contributing towards the student engagement with a myriad of content and having different levels of impact on the learning experience (2). It is important that this is mapped within curriculums.

Student experience with online teaching is captured through the MEQ scores and is evaluated at a module and programme level. However, while student experience is important, it is equally important to gauge the impact online teaching activities have on student academic performance.

Additionally, non-lecture online resources are routinely uploaded to contribute to the student learning (e.g. module handbooks, exercises, assessment briefs), but there is limited data on student engagement with this.

Hybrid education has been widely adopted at the School of Veterinary Medicine. However, there is a gap in understanding how student engagement with Surrey Learn teaching activities and the correlation it might have on impacting student academic performance.

Aim: To promote the use of high engagement practices within the online teaching resources on Surrey Learn that will contribute towards an improved academic performance within the BVMSci programme.

Research question: Does increased student engagement with online learning contribute to higher performance in undergraduate veterinary students?

Objectives:

1. Determine the correlation between student engagement with online-only lecture content and their academic performance.
2. Determine the correlation between student engagement with non-lecture activities (e.g. handbook, practical exercises) on Surrey Learn and their academic performance.
3. Compare engagement levels with online teaching between preclinical and clinical subjects.

To address these objectives, we will:

1. Identify teaching content and summative assessments within clinical and preclinical modules in years 1-4 during the 2020 and 2021 academic years (e.g. Structure and function modules, animal husbandry, pathology, clinical medicine, research, zoological medicine)
2. Determine average engagement levels for lecture content for every student, and make comparisons with their academic performance.
3. Determine the engagement levels of non-lecture online material (e.g. module handbook, assessment briefs, practical exercises).
4. Compare average engagement levels of students with online teaching in clinical vs preclinical subjects in years 1-4 and determine the effect on their academic performance

Project lead

Professor Peter Cockcroft (School of Veterinary Medicine)

Contributors

Dr Priya Sharp (Lecturer in Veterinary Clinical Skills)

Project outline

Introduction

Clinical skills laboratories are now used extensively in veterinary programmes to develop clinical skills that will be used on live animals. They contain a large range of models and simulations. The performance of each clinical skills is described in a procedural protocol which student are expected to follow and perform. Many of the models are developed ‘in house’ although some models have been purchased from external suppliers. There are 40 production animal activity stations, 30 companion animal stations and 35 equine stations. Validation is required to ensure that the functionality of the activities is ‘realistic’ and ‘helpful’ in preparing students for clinical practice.

The aim

The of the project is to validate the clinical skills training models and protocols used in the clinical skills laboratories using discipline specific veterinarian clinicians as experts.

Materials and methods

Five veterinarians with practice experience in each of the three species categories namely, companion animal, production, and equine, will be recruited for the project. The veterinarians will evaluate the activities and models within each of the three species categories. The evaluation will consist of three questions for each activity and will use Likert scales to record a rating. The three questions are:

1. Is the model realistic for the purpose for which it was designed
2. Is the protocol procedure realistic
3. Would the activity (the procedure performed upon the model) be helpful in developing the skill in preparation for clinical practice

Free text comment boxes will be used for each question so criticisms and suggested improvements can be provided.

Analysis

Summarised metrics will be generated from the Likert scale numerical ratings for each activity indicating the value attached to the three aspects by each group of veterinarians.

Project lead

Harriet Tenenbaum (Psychology)

Contributors

Sarfraz Jeraj (Psychology), Emily Williams (Health Sciences and Director of EDI), Ilknur Aktan (Veterinary Medicine), Nana-Fatima Ozeto (Psychology)

Project outline

Calls for decolonising the curriculum have been made recently (https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2020/07/23/miseducation-decolonising-curricula-culture-and-pedagogy-in-uk-universities/). However, there is no agreed operational definition of decolonising the curricula. For instance, some scholars highlight the importance of representing diverse perspectives and traditions (Gopal, 2021). Others highlight the need to expand common knowledge (Gokay & Panter, 2018). Overall, the common theme across most definitions is a focus on shifting teaching content from knowledge being western-centric to more diverse perspectives and representation (Begum & Saini, 2018; Le Grange, 2016).

Andreotti et al., (2015) highlight four approaches that people take to decolonising the curriculum. First, people who subscribe to the ‘everything is awesome’ space do not view decolonising as necessary; this space assumes that HE has a fair system with equal opportunities. Second, advocates of soft reform, who recognise difference and the overrepresentation of one perspective in the curriculum, which can be changed through inclusion. Advocates of soft reform do not acknowledge power dynamics and dismiss systemic changes. Instead, this perspective seeks to include marginalised groups by affording them access to knowledge, skills, and experiences to create inclusion by providing additional help and resources to historically excluded groups. Soft reform has been criticised for its failure to question a system that led to inequalities (Abu Moghli & Kadiwal, 2021). Third, the radical reform seeks to address epistemological dominance (Luckett & Shay, 2017). This perspective questions the use of existing institutional standards that led to exclusion. The radical reform space acknowledges power imbalance in knowledge and the role HEIs have played in the oppression of marginalised groups. According to Bhambra et al (2018), there is a strong emphasis on challenging those who currently hold power and decentring knowledge from the West. Abu Moghli and Kadiwal (2021) suggest that most UK universities adopt between soft and radical reform approaches to decolonising the curriculum. Often at the institutional level, soft reforms approaches are used, whilst radical reforms are often led through individual or student efforts.

Finally, the beyond reform believes that the current system is unfair and thus, adjustments are not enough. Beyond reformists believe there is a need for an alternative system that does not produce power imbalances in knowledge production (Tuck & Yang, 2013; Mbembe, 2016). For instance, Tuck and Yang (2013) argue that existing frameworks and discourses will fall short of achieving social justice because they are not enough to achieve decolonisation. Hence, an alternative system needs to be developed that does not produce power imbalance, exclusion, and the oppression of marginalised groups.

To create any movement toward decolonising the curriculum at Surrey, we will need buy-in from staff and students. This project seeks to do two things. First, we want to continue our previous research on the predictors of student support for decolonising the curriculum. Last year we conducted semi-structured interviews with students. To move this work forward, 96 students from across FHMS will complete an online questionnaire assessing their support for decolonising the curriculum. We will conduct regression models to examine the predictors.

Second, we want to conduct 30-minute semi-structured interviews with ten staff members to determine their definitions of decolonising the curriculum and what they see as the barriers and need for decolonising the curriculum. This study will be used to develop a future quantitative study.

Project lead

Emma Tallini (School of Veterinary Medicine)

Contributors

Stephen John (Y5 BVMSci student)

Project outline

ISBAR: Identity, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation is a standardised communication tool used in human healthcare to enhance patient safety and care by reducing the chance of human error. The study aims to determine whether ISBAR improves both case handover efficiency and handover perception in Veterinary students.  A pre-post intervention study was conducted to determine if there was a statistical difference in efficiency and perception before and after being taught the ISBAR tool using both objective and subjective measures. For the pre-post questionnaire, one student was shown a simulation consultation in which history, signalment and clinical findings were stated. Two subsequent handovers were given resulting in the ‘clinical team’ receiving the information and then being tested on their recall of information and perception of the last handover. The data analysis consisted of both pre and post intervention responses being marked against a mark scheme and compared for a statistical difference using the Mann Whitley U test. The categorical data set was analysed using a chi-squared test.

Project lead

Dr Ilknur Aktan

Contributors

Dr Charlotte Maile (Equine clinician)

Dr Alissa Cooper (Equine clinician)

Dr Chris Basu (MSK Veterinary Anatomist)

BVMSci Student (to be advertised)

Project outline

Surrey Veterinary students in clinical years (year 3, 4 and 5) needs solid understanding of Equine anatomy in order to effectively practice musculoskeletal medicine. As a result, there is a strong agreement amongst basic sciences educators (Veterinary Anatomists) and clinical educators regarding the importance and relevance of MSK anatomy education within veterinary education curriculum.

Veterinary schools traditionally utilise cadaveric dissection as the primary source for learning and teaching however in recent years veterinary schools use prosection and imaging methods in place of cadaveric dissection. Teaching of certain gross anatomy with cadavers is not always possible; this can be due to a number of reasons such as the size of the organ that is being taught, a particular required level of skill needed to dissect and examine the tissue of interest, and the effect of the fixing process on the cadaver and resourcing cadavers. It has become more necessary for gross anatomy to be taught using methods other than dissection due to ethical issues that arise by the use of cadavers, accessibility of cadavers and reforms to the curriculum leading to reduced teaching times (Ashwell, Halasz, 2004; Azer ,Azer,2016; Murgitroyd et al., 2015). University of Surrey veterinary school offers Anatomy teaching only in the first year compared to other traditional schools who offer anatomy teaching during the first two years.

Recent curriculum view of the BVMSci programme, indicated that our students are lacking MSK Anatomy knowledge as they enter the clinical years. Equine clinicians also raised concerns lack of distal Anatomy knowledge during MSK practicals (distal nerve blocking etc.). Lameness is the most common presenting complaint in equine practice. Performing diagnostic nerve blocks is an integral part of any lameness work-up, and is therefore an essential skill for equine practitioners. However, the opportunities for veterinary students to practice this skill are limited for the reasons listed above.

In order to improve students clinical MSK learning prior and during practical, a realistic model will be developed. Life sized fibreglass leg model will be bought and one of our students with such gift will be drawing important anatomical landmarks for nerve blocking (muscles, tendons, joints, arteries, veins and nerves). This will be an easy-to-use model that trains students effectively in distal nerve block procedures.

After models are created, next stage of this study will be to test students lower limbs nerve block clinical knowledge. Students will be put into two groups (n=20), first group (n=10) will study lower limb nerve block technique with current methods textbook and online video demonstration (as per current). Second group (n=10) will have additional training with the created distal limb models as well as textbook and online video demonstration. Students technique will be evaluated by our equine clinicians. The purpose of this investigation will be  to examine  how different painted life sized models influenced student perceptions about learning, and performance on MSK distal limb anatomy examinations. We hypothesised that the simulator would improve students' ability and enhance their confidence in performing nerve blocks.

Project lead

Dr Wendy Grosvenor

Contributors

Simon Downs – Paramedic Field Lead

Lisa Blazhevski – Adult Nurse Field Lead

Nicky Secrett – S21 student rep

Project outline

The prevalence of dementia is rapidly increasing (Prince et al., 2013), with healthcare systems internationally unprepared to meet the demand for care generated (Australian Government Department of Health, 2015, Chow et al., 2018, Department of Health, 2009, Health Labor & Welfare Ministry, 2015). An important component of this response is building the capacity of the future workforce (Alzheimer’s Disease International, 2019, World Health Organization, 2017).

Time for Dementia (TFD) is an educational programme developed for undergraduate healthcare students to address limitations which lead to poor care outcomes for people with dementia and carers (Banerjee et al., 2017). It involved students visiting a family affected by dementia in their homes over 2 years. Through these relationships, students develop skills, positive understanding, and attitudes to dementia (Banerjee et al., 2021, Grosvenor et al., 2021). Virtual TFD visits were developed due to the Covid pandemic in 2020 and replaced face to face visits in people’s homes.

Previous SEED funding supported evaluation of year 1 virtual visits. This project aims to build upon these findings, providing a unique insight into the longitudinal impact of this innovative educational intervention.

A qualitative approach underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm will explore year 2 of TFD virtual visits.

Interviews will be conducted with:

• 8 adult nursing students
• 6 paramedic students
• 4 mental health nursing students

An inductive approach using thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six steps will be used to analyse data.  A topic guide for the interviews will be developed based on a previous review of the literature. To assess its suitability, the topic guide will be reviewed by all members of the team which includes a student representative.

Timeline

• November: University REC approval, complete self-assessment.
• February: Recruit participants, recruit researcher, review of existing literature of virtual educational visits
• April - June conduct & transcribe interviews, analysis initiated
• July: Complete interview analysis, write/submit report, write publication (longitudinal impact of virtual visits), apply to present – conference

Project lead

Mary John (School of Psychology)

Contributors

Hannah Frith, Associate Professor

PsychD Trainees

Project outline

Context

The Clinical psychology doctorate is taught PGR programme. The students are in practice two and half days a week and for the remainder of the week undertake academic development and doctoral research projects.

The programme has developed a more inclusive admissions policy which has seen the diversity of the students increase significantly across all protected characteristics. This reflects the NHS commitment to support the training of clinicians and researchers to reflect the populations they serve. This is also recognised by Welcome¹   One of the aims of the programme is to support the graduates being psychological research leaders of the future who are culturally attuned to establish new evidence.

In this context we need to articulate our research culture. Currently we don’t define it so understandably it is a challenge for students to engage and recognise if they have connected with this agenda.

It is recognised that a sense of belonging, which supports students having a sense of involvement which is integral to their identity is crucial to sustaining a culture². This is pertinent to this context. The benefits are also linked to positive outcomes including self- confidence³, academic performance⁴ and engagement.

The diversity of personal and professional experiences of our students provides an opportunity for us to understand what research culture means and how a sense of belonging to this culture can be achieved.  UKRI⁵ recognises the value of people and culture to research and innovation.  Leeds University,⁶ has engaged with the meaning of culture and have articulated their perspective. Given the different context this provides an opportunity to explore and determine comparisons with their profile of factors.

The timing of the project is influenced by the PRES results which have highlighted limitations in how the students embrace the current research culture which impacts on their overall learning.  Unless addressed this learning resource will continue to be compromised.

The project would have two phases, the first undertaking a pedagogical scoping review to determine key features that supports the development of a research culture across various professional training contexts. This will inform the interview schedule adopted in the second phase of the project.

The second will be to adopt a qualitative approach to learn from students what their understanding is of a research culture and how academics and their peers can support engagement and belonging to the culture. Attention will be given to gathering an understanding of the facilitators and barriers to cultural engagement. There will be exploration of the pedagogical mechanisms which might be adopted to enable engagement as well as the role of supervision and mentorship.

Collaborative Stance

The students will be consulted to determine if individual interviews or a focus group methodology should be adopted. 

Data Analysis

A reflexive thematic analytic approach⁷ would be followed to determine themes to address the question ‘How does the clinical doctorate develop and maintain a research culture that is relevant for a diverse PGR population?’

Dissemination

Faculty Teaching and Learning events and Clinical Psychology Journals

Project lead

Dr Jia Doulton (School of Health Sciences)

Contributors

Dr James Fisher (Lecturer B,  PA PGDip)

Dr Ian Rodd (Consultant paediatrician, Winchester) and paediatric trainee

PA students, years 1 & 2

Project outline

Aim

This aim of this project is to start to build a library of short films which support learning about child health for all health care professionals.

Need

There is a particular need for entry-level resources for students who have limited time and opportunities for study of this important and challenging medical specialty.

Background

The Physician Associate PGDip programme is only two years in duration and there are only four weeks in year 1 for case-based learning about paediatrics followed by three weeks of practice-based learning in year 2. This is insufficient experience to form a consistent approach to safe clinical practice which is tested at the Royal College of Physicians National Examination for PAs.

In August 2022 we were offered the link to some home-made videos made by one of the consultant paediatricians at a partner Trust hospital which supports student practice placements.

These fifteen videos aim to offer students:

• ways of thinking about information pertinent to paediatric practise
• specifically, ways of thinking about things that a generalist needs to be able to deal with
• ways of thinking about particular clinical questions

Examples of the topics included are:

• Developmental assessment in a toddler
• Examining an unwell 2 year old.

Pilot

Surrey PA students (n=30) who were progressing into year 2 in September 2022 were sent the link and have found them to be a useful resource to support preparation for their learning at the 3 week paediatric hospital placement.

Plan for the project

We propose to develop this idea by collaborating with 1^st and 2^nd year students and our consultant colleague to expand the scripts and storyboarding, use a mix of face to camera filming, footage of student ‘actors’, some relevant b-roll and graphics.

Initially we would plan to prepare up to five films and complete the filming in one day using resources available to us in the University.

The funding would be used to cover the cost of editing by a professional.

Future plans

Further development would be to consider submitting the videos to a platform with global reach such as Osmosis on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/osmosis

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Project lead

Dr Nicola Swann (School of Biosciences and Medicine)

Contributors

Dr Kikki Bodman-Smith

Project outline

Academic support has potential to improve attainment but uptake of support from academic staff is often low, with students citing lack of confidence approaching staff as a primary cause. Postgraduate research students (PGRs) are well suited to offer support as they tend to have recent experience of undergraduate study and have developed academic skills necessary for higher degrees. This makes them more akin to a peer than a member of staff, which may make them more accessible and approachable as a source of support. There is also a benefit to PGRs undertaking the advisor role, providing them with experience of areas of concern for students, helping them to develop interpersonal and tutoring skills and increasing their own awareness of the academic environment and available sources of support. PGR academic study advisors are effectively utilised in other parts of the University and a previous transfer of good practice from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) in Semester 2 2022, offering study support advisor appointments for a short trial period, showed promise in terms of positive feedback from individual students and from the advisors. However, the opportunity to develop the trial of support occurred very late in the academic year (after week 9 of Semester 2, within and after the spring break), such that there was limited scope for promotion and much of the support time crossed vacation and revision or exam periods. As a result, uptake was very low (20-25%), likely not a true reflection of how such support could be used and valued through teaching and assessment periods, and therefore it was not possible to evaluate the provision in any detail or determine the most effective ways to provide such support. This project aims to employ two trained postgraduate study support advisors within the School of Biosciences and Medicine.

The study support advisors will each provide two hours of bookable appointment time and a further hour each week for administration and preparation (following the model utilised in FASS). They will be supported by the Senior Personal Tutor and will provide study support through select teaching weeks of the semester, in order to help students during a key period of preparation for assessment, in particular written coursework style assessments. The advisors will offer appointments via in person drop-ins and online, to explore student preference, and student and advisor perspectives and feedback will be sought after each appointment. The aim of the project is to evaluate undergraduate student perceptions of bioscience-specific postgraduate study support advisors to determine whether this could be an effective support strategy that could improve student experience and student outcomes.

Project lead

Laura Simonds (School of Psychology)

Contributors

Catherine Huckle, School of Psychology.

Students from the clinical psychology doctorate programme.

Project outline

Rationale and Aim: A critical goal of contemporary higher education is to equip graduates to work effectively within an increasingly multicultural society. In the healthcare context, effective multicultural practice has a direct impact on patient outcomes because health behaviours are influenced by cultural background¹. In education and practice contexts, the attainment of effective multicultural practice has often rested on the concept of ‘cultural competence’. However, the utility of this concept has been increasingly critiqued. The most pertinent problem is the categorical or threshold nature of competence which is inappropriate given that culture is constantly evolving². Cultural competence may therefore not be an appropriate goal for educators or practitioners. Increasingly, educators and practitioners emphasise instead the development of ‘cultural humility’ in healthcare students.  A core aspect of cultural humility is critical self-examination of cultural awareness and power imbalances in relationships. The development of cultural humility therefore requires the cultivation of active self-reflection given not only the continual evolution of multiculturalism but also the intersectionality of identity e.g., race, socioeconomic status, faith, gender, and sexual orientation. It is vital that students can reflect on their own cultural identities and how they might impact the therapeutic relationship³. Moreover, it is important for educators to be aware of how their cultural identities influence their relationships with students.

An essential component of clinical psychology training is regular reflective practice groups. An increasing focus in these groups is consideration of effective multicultural practice, the complexity of which often creates uncertainty and a fear of ‘getting it wrong’ in students. Given that fear impedes effective learning, it is important that educators include students when developing curricula and pedagogical strategies in personally relevant, complex, and sensitive topics. This project will therefore use co-production between students, teaching faculty, and visiting qualified practitioner-educators to inform the development of cultural humility within the context of a reflective practice module.

Methodology: the tool to gain increased knowledge about the development of cultural humility curriculum and pedagogy in clinical psychology will be a community of practice (CoP). An educational community of practice is considered most appropriate for this project because the work of a CoP has a focus beyond the immediate context of the University (i.e., it connects the educational and the practice contexts), and it has a focus on lifelong learning which is the goal of cultural humility.

This project would involve seven CoP meetings that would focus on ways to foster and develop cultural humility in mental health professionals in training, the development of reflective learning prompts and self-awareness exercises to develop cultural humility, and pedagogical approaches to support students effectively. These meetings will be recorded and transcribed to provide a record of the content and process of curriculum and pedagogical developments. The working relationships required to convene an effective CoP have already been developed as the applicant has organised and led a curriculum working group in the past year to develop projects to decolonise the curriculum. This group comprises programme lecturers, qualified staff in the NHS, and students.

Project lead

Dr. Chris Trace (Surrey Institute of Education (SIOE))

Contributors

Sara Healy (PGR)

Dr. Nick Selemetas (Teaching Fellow, School of Biosciences and Medicine at Biosciences, University of Surrey)

Project outline

Throughout the course of a Biomedical Science, Microbiology or Medicine degree programme, students are provided with a wealth of information pertaining to the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of human diseases. Being able to transfer this information from the classroom to a clinical setting is an essential skill required of professionals working in the public health sector, but this skill requires considerable practice.

We have developed a digital learning tool using the software programme Xerte, which provides students with the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge to work through the diagnosis of fictional clinical cases in a relaxed, informative way. Each case begins with a patient’s history and presenting symptoms, after which students must select the most appropriate steps along the way to gather the information required to reach a correct diagnosis. If the students select an inappropriate test or action, feedback is provided to guide them back on to the correct path. A summary is provided at the end of each case.

In order to establish whether the tool meets its aim of enhancing student development of diagnostic decision making skills, we are looking to gather feedback from 30 students in their final year of study in Biomedical Science or Microbiology. The data obtained will be used to further enhance the tool, and potentially be provided to all students in relevant degree programmes as part of the course materials.

Project lead

Dr Nick Selemetas (School of Biosciences)

Contributors

Dr Jorge Gutierrez

Project outline

Pirbright Institute runs various instructor-led and eLearning training courses, which are associated with the diagnosis of viruses affecting livestock or the health of farmed animals. These courses are modular, allowing students to progress at their own pace. The high quality, interactive material includes formative questions and answers to test the knowledge of students as they go. Also, a certificate is awarded to all students successfully completing all modules of a course.

This project will provide BMS3074 (Animal infectious diseases) students with access to Pirbright online training courses. BMS3074 is a compulsory module for Veterinary Biosciences BSc and optional for Biological Sciences BSc and Microbiology BSc, aiming to provide students with a greater understanding of scientific basis behind approaches to control animal infectious diseases that impact human health and safety. These online courses will be offered to all BMS3074-enrolled students via SurreyLearn and the management of attendance of courses and successful completion will be regulated by the Module leader (Dr Nick Selemetas).

This pedagogic project will evaluate the effectiveness of these online courses as pedagogic tool by assessing students’ performance in their final exam (2-hours exam of 6 essay-type questions - 3 on bacterial and 3 on viral diseases). The project will compare students’ performance in viral diseases’ exam questions (where students will use the lecture material and the interactive material of the online offered courses) against the performance in bacterial diseases’ questions (where students will use only the lecture material). If there will be a significant increased performance in the viral diseases’ exam section and students highly recognise the efficacy and usefulness of the Pirbright training courses and provide positive feedback in their NSS and MEQ reports, this will indicate the importance of these online training courses as a student-centric pedagogic tool of teaching.

Project lead

Anita Combes

Contributors

Wendy Grosvenor

Kathy Poole

Project outline

University of Surrey, Adult Nurse UG programme includes the principles of In hospital Life support however, Mental Health Nursing does not. With NMC Standards in 2018, all nurses are required to safely and competently assess and respond to changes in condition (3,7).   ALERT will be integrated in Curriculum 2021 and Curriculum 2017 (Yr 2 &3) for Adult and Mental Health Students. 

• Confidence will be measured Pre and post course attendance using a validated questionnaire, it will be measured and recorded using a Likert scale of 1-5 to determine if confident improved in assessment of the deteriorating patients following attendance
• Focus Group – themes identified from analysis of the survey will be used to inform focus group questions

Project lead

Anya Bricknell (School of Biosciences)

Contributors

Dr Barbara Engel

Emily Betts

Caitlin Jeary

Project outline

Undergraduate nutrition and dietetics students undertake clinical simulation sessions to support their learning and application of theory to clinical practice. There is little literature about the use of simulation in dietetic education, and not all universities have the facilities to offer this opportunity to students. Students often report anecdotally about how they enjoy the simulation sessions and how helpful they have found them (through verbal comments and module evaluations). The aim of this project is to objectively assess the impact of clinical simulation in dietetic education on confidence in fulfilling basic clinical tasks and subsequent readiness for placement.

The purpose of investigating this further would be twofold:

• Provide the evidence base to support funding applications to continue and further develop the sessions
• To add to the evidence base within dietetic education allowing identification and sharing of good practice for the benefit of the wider student and registered dietitian community, and their patients

The project is designed around online questionnaire completion before and after the simulation sessions, addressing students understanding of dietetics as a career and their confidence in completing tasks that are taught on the programme and consolidated in simulation (such as taking a diet history, maintaining confidentiality, interpreting a hospital menu etc).

SEED funding would be used to hire a short-term research assistant who would support with data analysis and writing up for publication to ensure the data is collected, analysed and shared in a time efficient manner.

Project lead

Jennifer Oates (School of Health Sciences)

Contributors

• Jonny Green, Lecturer in mental health nursing, U of Surrey
• Nina Nwaosu, Service Lead Managing Emotions Programme & Recovery Colleges, SABP
• Rebecca Owen Childs, Service User, SABP
• Lauren Sirey, Lecturer in mental health nursing, U of Surrey

Project outline

Proposal

For Recovery College (RC) service user lived experience colleagues to co-produce a block of taught content for the second year of the BSc Mental Health (MH) nursing programme with academics from University of Surrey School of Health Sciences.

This will comprise 3 co-production workshops with the RC and UoS and co-delivery of 3 study days for 2^nd year students, embedded in their June-July 2023 teaching block.

What is a Recovery College?

Recovery Colleges help people improve their health and wellbeing through courses on a range of mental and physical health conditions. The colleges are a partnership involving voluntary, NHS and local authority organisations, and existing Recovery Colleges.

All courses are run by staff from the partnership organisations and are developed and delivered alongside our recovery coaches who all have lived experience of mental or physical illness, or are supporting someone with a mental or physical illness.

(from https://www.sabp.nhs.uk/our-services/recovery/recovery-college )

Project Aims

For students

• To develop skills to collaborate with and learn from lived experience service users
• To appreciate the value of co-production and service user led education
• To understand mental health in contexts (social / temporal/ historical)

Link to BSc year 2 Programme Aims:

• Consider the impact on the person, their family and how to actively support and empower self care. Explore the concept of empowerment and its application to contemporary adult health care practice.

Link to BSc Year 2 Programme Objectives

• Understand and evaluate the principles of holistic care and assessment promoting individuals' rights, dignity, interests, preferences, beliefs and cultures, developing an understanding of human identity using a person-centered approach.
• Build partnerships and therapeutic relationships with service users, carers, families and other professionals to ensure safe, effective and non-discriminatory care.

Link to Module content

• Self management and empowerment
• The challenges of empowering patients with complex mental care needs.
• Service user and carer focused approach to understanding and relieving psychological and physical distress.
• Self-management, empowerment and behaviour change theories for people living with mental health conditions and impact on families and carers

Project lead

Dr Debbie Gooch (School of Psychology)

Contributors

Riya Peruvelil (Final Year Psychology BSc student)

Project outline

This Student-Staff Research Partnership (SSRP) aims to address the current Surrey Equality, Inclusion and Diversity initiative to decolonising the curriculum. By reviewing and diversifying current reading lists/research presented in lectures we can ensure our students hear a wide variety of voices and perspective which will ultimately improve their knowledge and global/cultural intelligence. Taking a SSRP approach will also help to ensure that suggested content is both student-focused and research informed.

Funds would be used to pay for a student research assistant (via unitemps) to work with myself (module convenor) for 50 hours over this semester to review current lecture materials/reading lists and conduct literature reviews on key topics to find related research from different cultures/communities which could then be incorporated into lecture material/reading lists to provide a more diverse perspective on topics.

The outcome of this project will be two-fold. 1) A revised and decolonised curriculum for the Psychology and Education module which will provide a more diverse and inclusive view of global educational contexts and how research has informed practice. 2) The opportunity for a talented and motivated final year psychology student from a low-income minority background to develop experience and key skills which will be of use to her as she aims to pursue her interests in educational innovation and further study in International and Comparative Education.

Project lead

Dr Andrew Hulton (Department of Nutritional Sciences)

Contributors

Riya Peruvelil (Final Year Psychology BSc student)

Project outline

I have been successful in gaining funding to utilise an industry standard Performance Analysis software within a L5 module. In my opinion, this will not only add to students employability and improve their skillset within this domain, but it also engages within the digital environment. However, to justify the financial and time cost of such software, I would like to evaluate the use of the industry standard software and ensure that students are utilising this to its maximal extend and explore whether they are developing their skillset to enhance their employability. Therefore the outline of the project is as follows:

1. Questionnaire One: Seek students initial expectations of the module. What are they expecting to gain/learn/develop. When: Start of module.
2. Questionnaire Two: Understand student use of the software whilst supporting their assessment and their general feelings with the software. When: Approximately week 8, once assessment is submitted.
3. Focus Groups: Based on the responses from the Questionnaire One & Two, I would like to conduct a semi structured focus group to explore the students perception of this applied module and the use of industry standard software. When: End of module.

Project lead

Dr Barbara Engel (School of Biosciences)

Programme Director for BSc Nutrition and Dietetics, Be Your Best Lead at UoS

Contributors

Anya Bricknell (Lecturer in Dietetics, student and facilitator organiser for Be Your Best)

Dr Sarah Bath (Lecturer in Public Health Nutrition)

Project outline

BACKGROUND

Students in the final year of the undergraduate nutrition and dietetics degree take part in a public health programme that has been commissioned by the Surrey County Council Public Health team since 2020. This is part of a public-private initiative between the University, Active Surrey and Children’s & Family Health Surrey to target childhood obesity in the county. Students teach a set of online group sessions for both adults and children in families who struggle with childhood overweight and obesity.

The students take part in the programme as part of their ongoing professional development and placement experience. Students experience being involved in a commissioned public health programme working with experienced dietitians and nutritionists to support local families. The project also provides experience of group working and paediatrics.

RATIONALE AND AIM OF PROJECT

To our knowledge, no other dietetic teaching programme in England offers this kind of educational experience to students. Due to its uniqueness, it is important to evaluate how students have found this experience. We have anecdotal reports from students that this is a positive learning experience, but we lack student evaluation data. Therefore, this project aims to collect and analyse such data to evaluate the effectiveness and value of this learning experience.

METHODS

This project would specifically evaluate the learning that students have gained from the programme (e.g. clinical and transferable skills) and any impact on their opinions around working in public health and working with families and children.  It would be quantitative research which would recruit from amongst the current final year dietetic students (who have all completed the placement experience). Ideally an already-approved questionnaire could be found and used in this project to support completion in a reasonable timeframe.

Project lead

Lisa Blazhevski (School of Health Sciences)

Contributors

Dr Wendy Grosvenor – Director of Nursing Studies

Emily Hilling – Adult nursing lecturer

Project outline

Student nurses must meet many requirements to achieve both their University degree and nursing registration (Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) 2018). Part of the standards for education require students to work in a team and participate in clinical practice placement.

Through MEQs and feedback from student reps we know that students struggle with finding peers to talk to in practice areas, evidence suggests that a sense belonging in clinical practice can have a positive impact on perceived stress for the student (Grobecker, 2016).

The Adult Nursing Together (ANT) Project was developed to support students to build relationships and peer support in their placement localities. The project involves the formation of placement groups to work together throughout semesters 1 and 2 of year 1 on a series of innovative evidence-based, and problem-based learning classroom activities. The aim of the project is to support the formation of established peer support groups prior to placement. Informal feedback suggests that this project has helped student feel sense of belonging to the community of adult nursing students in theory learning however we do not know if this will transition into placement learning support.

A qualitative approach underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm will explore the impact of the ANT project on adult nursing students transition from theory to practice learning. Two focus groups will be conducted with approximately 10 adult nursing students.

An inductive approach using thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six steps will be used to analyse data.  A topic guide for the interviews will be developed based on a previous review of the literature. To assess its suitability, the topic guide will be reviewed by all members of the team which includes a student representative.

Literature on nursing education group work focuses predominantly on areas such as peer assessment, outcomes, teacher expectations, and advantages and disadvantages of the group work experiences. There is a gap in the current literature to examine if group work supports students’ transition into placement learning.

As nursing students progress through their program, educators must research innovative approaches such as the ANT project to increase awareness of the significance of the group work aspects of the nursing profession. Thus, preparing undergraduate nursing students to practice nursing in the 21st century requires a focus on the process of working in teams.

Project lead

Nicola Swann (School of Biosciences)

Contributors

Simon Lygo-Baker (Surrey Institute of Education)

Project outline

Introduction

To support evidence-based practice, teaching and learning of research methods has become integral to many health sciences programmes. Effective learning of research methods is facilitated by student engagement. With a focus on student-centred learning, flipped learning has been suggested as an approach to increase engagement and promote higher level learning. However it is unknown how best to motivate students to engage in the prior independent study required for effective flipped learning, and this is particularly relevant to subjects that create anxiety like statistics. This proposal will provide students with evidence of potential learning gain (if any) through a focus on altering how they study research methods. The aim is to test the hypothesis that engagement with research methods course material prior to attendance at dedicated real-time webinars for discussion within a flipped learning framework improves the formative and/or summative exam scores achieved by veterinary students. It is recognised that an appropriate confirmatory study may not be possible within the confines of the resources available. Therefore, the specific objective of this proposal is to conduct a pilot study, that tests the same hypothesis on a small sample of students, specifically to provide knowledge of the likely ‘effect’ sizes to inform the sample size requirements of larger scale confirmatory research.

Materials and methods

The target population is third year veterinary students. The specific study population is 150 students enrolled on the 2021/2022 offering of the Veterinary research and evidence-based veterinary medicine at University of Surrey (Module code; VMS3008). Flipped learning of research methods took place during Semester 1 in 2021/2. Interaction with students occurred in weekly real-time webinars where students attempted multiple choice questions and received feedback on their responses. Students were required to login, such that default access statistics from Surrey Learn and Panopto were recorded, and can now be collated for each student on a weekly basis. Measures of engagement will include proportion of all available content items visited, proportion of lecture recordings accessed, and total time spent viewing lectures. The outcome of interest will be student-level proportional scores achieved in the formative multiple-choice quizzes and summative exam scores.

Data visualisation and analysis will use R. Analysis will consider different parameterisation of measures of engagement. For all outcomes described, univariate and multivariate analyses of student-level data will use standard approaches to the chi-squared test and logistic regression respectively.

Ethical considerations

This study uses observational data available to the PI as module lead. This data is generated solely by student engagement in required course activities, and does not include personal information. Arrangements for access to course materials and activities is the same for all students.

Individual students will not be identifiable to third parties in the results. The study will be logged with the University of Surrey Self-Assessment Governance and Ethics for Humans and Data Research.

Project value

Flipped learning has been adopted as a resilient approach to providing inclusive teaching but evidence is lacking on how it should best be applied to encourage engagement. Achieving pedagogical excellence is dependent on applying evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning. Therefore, the ability to demonstrate the efficacy of flipped learning in terms of learning gain would be useful to inform how/if this approach should be developed in the future. It could also justify the approach to students to influence learning behaviours.

Project lead

Andrew Hulton (School of Biosciences and Medicine)

Project outline

Following discussions with senior colleagues, I will attempt to improve student engagement within modules and increase staff-student interaction. In order to achieve this, I plan to introduce the concept of a Student Leader or Leadership Group within a current semester 2 module (BMS2075 Performance Analysis; one student volunteered already) and evaluate the effectiveness of this, or further idea’s in how staff and students can engage better.

With the lack of face-to-face teaching that some current year groups have experienced, I feel this has resulted with a reduction in staff-student interaction and I have certainly felt that semester 1 lacked any meaningful engagement.

I envisage the Leader or Leadership Group to be a route that students can take if they feel they are not comfortable to approach me directly, and vice versa, I can garner opinion on teaching ideas and tasks prior to conception by utilising the Leader/Group to discuss these and gain feedback. Within the module, there are several practical’s that are open for discussion and are able to be tailored to the students’ needs and this is an area I would like to exploit further, which may create a slightly different outlook each year.

I will attempt to gain feedback from three sources. The academic, the student leader/group, and the class. I will preform a simple questionnaire with the class on their thoughts of the initiative, followed by a focus group that will also include the student leader/group and the academic to discuss together the positive, negatives, and ideas to improve.  

It is the hope that this initiative will foster relationships and create an effective learning environment.

Project value

This project and the information gained from the evaluation can help assist the development of innovative, learning environments, both on and off campus, by listening to the students with an attempt to add and amend content within the module. With a student leader or group, it is hopeful that any student feedback or concerns can be provided and acted upon in a more timely fashion to make changes that will directly help the current cohort, rather than wait for the MEQs at the end of the semester.

I also hope that by using the Student Leader or Group it will support the development of students feeling able to share their opinions, independence, and build networks with other students and staff.

Project lead

Jackie McBride (School of Health Sciences)

Contributors

Dr Wendy Grosvenor (School of Health Sciences), Emily Winter (Professional Lead for District Nursing, Procare Community Services), Emma Budd, (Clinical Lead, East Waverley, Procare Community Services)

Project outline

Healthcare service delivery is increasingly complex due to growing demand on services, ageing populations, longer life expectancy and global fiscal challenges. The current model, which relies heavily on secondary care over burdens hospitals, contributes to extensive waiting times and creates barriers to accessing health services (World Health Organisation 2016).

Recognition of these limitations has shaped future health policy planning, resulting in shift of focus towards delivery of services in primary and community care. In response to this undergraduate nursing programmes and clinical placement sites must ensure nursing students have high quality community nursing exposure during their programme to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary to work a healthcare system that is moving towards a community focus.

Students’ experiences of community placements will not only influence their perceptions of this working environment but will affect their

motivation to learn and achieve their learning outcomes (Dickson et al., 2015). Therefore, high quality practice placements are in the interest of academic staff, community practitioners and students alike as good learning environments promote optimal learning and skills acquisition (Doyle et al., 2017).

To promote optimal learning for students in their community placement, Procare developed an innovative community rotation for adult nursing students. The aim of the rotation programme was to support student nurses to develop a good understanding of different areas of community practice and gain a holistic picture of a patient’s journey. To achieve this, students were allocated to spend time with different nurse specialists and allied health care professionals. Rotation also supported exposure to a broad range of clinical and leadership styles together with different

ways of working. Students were involved in the co-design of the rotation programme. The objective of this collaborative study with practice, is to explore the experiences of pre-registration adult nursing students of this innovative community-education placement.

A qualitative study using focus groups will be undertaken, and themes will be generated deductively from the research questions, and iteratively from transcripts.

Participants will be recruited from adult nursing cohort; focus groups (FG) will explore the subjective experiences of community placements. 2 student focus groups, 16 adult nursing students.

An inductive approach using thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six steps will be used to analyse data.

Timeline

• February: University REC approval, complete self-assessment. Advertise researcher (Unitemps)
• March: Recruit participants, recruit researcher, start narrative review of existing literature of community placements
• April – May: complete narrative review, use themes to support focus group guide
• May: conduct & transcribe FGs
• June - FG analysis initiated
• July- Complete FG analysis, write/submit report,
• August – Nov write publication, apply to present – conference; present to Faculty Cluster (Long Term Conditions)

Project value

Community nursing placements play an increasingly important part in pre-registration nursing students learning experience as health care delivery continues to migrate to community care settings. Nurse education programmes and health services must ensure that adult student nurses are exposed to high quality community placements that provide suitable learning experiences for students to acquire the skills and knowledge required for the health service of the future.

There has been limited exploration of community experience from the perspective of pre-registration adult nursing students. As potential key service providers, it is important to identify factors which influence how pre-registration nurses view primary care placements in the community and as a potential career option. The quality of pre-registration practice learning experience is highly influential on career choices at the point of qualification. Fifty per cent of learning takes place in practice, community providers have a crucial role to play in supporting future nurses to work in the community.

The project is student-centred as they will inform future development of community placements. with an emphasis on practice-based learning.

Project lead

Wendy Grosvenor (School of Health Sciences)

Contributors

Laurence Drew (School of Health Sciences), Simon Downs (School of Health Sciences), Nicky Secrett (School of Health Sciences), Lisa Blazhevski (School of Health Sciences), Annette Davies(School of Health Sciences)

Project outline

The prevalence of dementia is rapidly increasing (Prince et al., 2013), with healthcare systems internationally unprepared to meet the demand for care generated (Australian Government Department of Health, 2015, Chow et al., 2018, Department of Health, 2009, Health Labor & Welfare Ministry, 2015). An important component of this response is building the capacity of the future workforce (Alzheimer’s Disease International, 2019, World Health Organization, 2017).

Time for Dementia (TFD) is an educational programme developed for undergraduate healthcare students to address limitations which lead to poor care outcomes for people with dementia and carers (Banerjee et al., 2017). It involved students visiting a family affected by dementia in their homes over 2-years. Through these relationships, students develop skills, positive understanding, and attitudes to dementia (Banerjee et al., 2021, Grosvenor et al., 2021). Virtual TFD visits were developed due to the Covid pandemic in 2020 and replaced face to face TfD visits in people’s homes.

Virtual visits involve groups of 8-10 students who ‘visit’ virtually with a person living with dementia and their carer to share their experiences of living with dementia. The visit is facilitated by the Alzheimer’s Society who help to support the focus of the visit – for example, symptoms that led to seeking help, diagnosis, experiences of health and social care, adaptations made to home environment.

A qualitative approach underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm will explore the effect of virtual visits on students’ knowledge and understanding of dementia. Peoples’ experiences shape our understanding of a problem, and through narrative means, greater insight can be gained from their perception of their own reality.

Participants will be recruited from S21 cohort of students who participate in TfD virtual visits.

Focus groups (FG) will explore the subjective experience and effect of virtual visits on students of nursing and paramedic practice.

• 1 focus group, 5-10 adult nursing students
• 1 focus group, 5-10 paramedic students
• 1 focus group, 5-10 mental health nursing students

An inductive approach using thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six steps will be used to analyse data.

Findings will help to inform future development of virtual visits and address a gap in the evidence of the effect of virtual visits involving service users with dementia on students’ knowledge and understanding of dementia.

Timeline

University REC approval (self-assessment form completed).

• March: recruit participants, advertise and recruit researcher (Unitemps), start scoping review of existing literature of virtual educational visits involving service users
• April – May: complete scoping review and write up for publication, use themes from review to write focus group guide
• June – July: project team conduct & transcribe FGs, complete thematic analysis (researcher to support)
• August – September: write/submit report of findings, write publication, apply to present – conference, present results to faculty (learning lunch). Poster – display findings of the study in Kate Grainger.

Project value

The School of Health has taken a progressive approach by implementing an important innovation driven by the pandemic to develop dementia virtual TFD programme of visits. As far we are aware it is the first study to explore virtual visits with people with dementia in healthcare education; addressing a gap in the evidence. Virtual visits support the faculty’s education strategy’s emphasis on practice-based learning, supporting students’ experience of learning from ‘experts by experience’.

The project aims to explore the effect on students of virtual visits, supporting the universities values of supporting innovation and service user engagement.

It will explore the impact of an intervention which aims to promote how they think differently and more critically about living with dementia to support them to meet their needs and positively impact on society as future healthcare practitioner.​ The project is student-centred as results will inform future development of virtual visits. with an emphasis on practice-based learning and service user involvement.

Visits are a way to make education more socially accountable, broadening curricula to involve the expertise of service users. Although the virtual visits focus on dementia, this could be used as an exemplar for visits involving service users with other long-term conditions.

Project lead

Eleanor Ratcliffe (School of Psychology)

Contributors

15 students will be invited to join the project as research participants.

Project outline

Background and aims

The topic of restorative environments (settings that facilitate psycho-physiological recovery from everyday stress and fatigue) is a significant component of environmental psychology teaching at Surrey. Nature is emphasised as an ‘ideal’ restorative environment but growing literature suggests that cities can also be restorative and pleasant. Teaching also emphasises two key theories in the area (attention restoration theory and stress reduction theory) that have received significant criticism in recent years. To keep pace with these developments there is a need to encourage students to think critically and innovatively about this topic. Creative activities such as model-making or world-building can enhance learning by helping students to express theoretical concepts in physical form, think critically about those concepts, and make links between theory and practice. This project uses a model-making framework in order to:

1. Increase understanding of the types of environments in which restoration may be possible;
2. Explore what applied examples of such innovations might look like; and
3. Identify theoretical concepts that might explain why.

Method

N = 15 final-year UG/PGT psychology students will be asked to participate in an exploratory model-making task, conducted over Spring vacation (11-29 April 2022). Participants will be invited based on enrolment in Semester 1 PSY3072/PSYM137 modules (Key Questions in Environmental Psychology), ensuring that they have a baseline level of knowledge regarding restorative environments.

Participants will be asked to imagine a restorative environment within a city, and to construct their vision of this setting within a shoebox. They will be provided with a box, cardboard, glue, and paints as initial resources, and can supplement these with their own supplies if desired.

Participants will be asked to complete free-response questions about their understanding before and after the three-week task. They will be asked via online questionnaire:

• What places comes to your mind when you think of a restorative environment? Write down as many examples as you can.
• What is it about these places that makes them restorative? For example, what properties/physical attributes?
• Which theories do you think explain the links between those properties and restoration? What are the strengths and weaknesses of these theories?

Responses will be content analysed and compared pre- and post. It is expected that, after the task, participants will generate more examples of restorative environments, and that responses about theory why places are restorative will be longer and more diverse.

During the three-week task, participants will be asked to keep notes in an online or physical diary format about what they are doing and why, supported by photos or sketches. Data from these diaries will be content and/or thematically analysed to examine links between the design process and theoretical understanding of restorative environments, including key moments of insight, critical thinking, or advances in understanding.

During a final plenary session participants will be asked to “show and tell” about their environment boxes. They will be asked for their feedback on the design task, and whether and how they feel it has affected their understanding of restorative environments.

Project value

This project is important to test the utility of creative model-making as a tool to enhance students’ critical thinking and ability to innovate within the field. If evaluation shows that students’ understanding of, and critical engagement with, restorative environments practice and theory improves after the design task, this can be implemented within environmental psychology teaching (e.g., PSY3072/PSYM137) in the academic year 2022/23 as an evidence-based pedagogical strategy.

The project addresses the Faculty’s strategy aim of supporting students to achieve “excellent critical, analytic, creative […] capabilities”. Specifically, it uses a design task that integrates theory and practice in order to achieve “an evidence and research-based approach to acquiring, questioning, and generating new information”. Through creative, practical tasks it addresses Aim 1 (ambitious programmes) in order “engage students as active learners” and “utilise physical […] resources designed to facilitate and enrich learning”.

Project lead

Andrew Hulton (School of Biosciences and Medicine, Department of Nutritional Sciences)

Contributors

Angus Uren (Lead Student), Harri Cizmic (School of Biosciences and Medicine), Dr Ralph Manders (School of Biosciences and Medicine)

Project outline

Due to the inception of hybrid teaching, and reliance on digital media and online content to support students, I have employed activity guides, based on previous work from Professor Naomi Winstone, across my modules. Acting as a module map throughout the semester, the activity guide illustrates the weekly topics and learning objectives, with literature links, short video clips (academic questions answered, TED talks, movie clips), and tasks. There are also links into the specific sections within the modules SurreyLearn site, enabling students to navigate the site quickly and effortlessly to ensure they find the correct content for a given week or session.

The activity guide was primarily designed to add additional content to support hybrid learning and facilitate further student engagement in the topics. However, it may also support inclusivity by supporting students who may not be as digital native and find it difficult navigating through our virtual learning environment. Therefore, all content is accessible through hyperlinks on one platform. Further, to improve student engagement and inclusivity multiple methods of information is available from simple videos to more detailed literature, using a variety of sporting and/or scientific examples throughout, with clear attempts to use a balanced mix of expert speakers within the videos (gender and ethnicity), illustrating further diversity and to inspire all students.

Positive feedback for the use of the activity guides have been received via MEQ:

• Organisation of this module on SL and through the activity design tool (Very handy to have the link to those extra resources) was great
• Organized, helpful resources such as scientific journals to help us with our understanding.
• Out of all modules studied this semester this one seemed to be the most well organised

However, no formal evaluation has taken place to understand students’ opinions and interactions with the guides. Are students’ indeed using these, if so, why, if not, why not? Can we look to build on the positives from the activity guides and evolve these further, or if they are not used to a great extent, can we explore other options that would support their learning or develop the guides further with further student/staff partnerships.

To enable us to achieve this we aim, we will produce a questionnaire and offer this to the students taking BMS2071 or BMS3069 at the end of semester one. These questions will be used to assess the use of the guides and student perceptions. From these results, we would then hold focus groups in a semi structured format to delve deeper into the response from the questionnaire. We hope to receive feedback from these focus groups to either improve and evolve the activity guides or create additional materials that the students feel may support learning further.

Project value

A key component of the universities mission statement for education is to provide talented and motivated students from all backgrounds and nationalities an outstanding education. Further, it emphasises the importance to support our students and create the conditions for all to realise their goals. We believe these activity guides can support learning, creating further conditions for success, that can ultimately promote a university priority which is to drive the student experience.

The activity guide will host additional content to prepare students for their main weekly learning content, but also review and integrate their understanding with further resources and tasks. Ensuring this additional content is inspiring, challenging and thought provoking, we can provide a learning environment that supports the universities objectives. Building on the hybrid education model, these dynamic, digital, and practical guides can be embedded in existing practice showcasing the innovative and inclusive approach for student study and support.

By evaluating these activity guides with the involvement of strong staff-student partnerships, we can ensure the outcome and evolution of the guides are student-focused and providing outstanding educational support.

Project lead

Cathrine Derham (School of Health Sciences)

Contributors

Simon Bettles (School of Health Sciences), Jackie Mcbride (School of Health Sciences), Claire Tarrant (School of Health Sciences)

Project outline

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) allow competency assessment of clinical and communication skills through direct observation. A fresh approach to OSCE assessments is required for the new undergraduate  programmes in nursing, midwifery and paramedic science and thus the intention is to work in partnership with students to ensure an improved and appropriate assessment.

It has been well established across the sector, that student experience surveys frequently indicate dissatisfaction with assessment and feedback (Pitt and Norton 2017).  By inviting senior students to  help design this year 1 assessment, it is anticipated that a clear, meaningful, effective and  authentic examination can be created.  Students will also be in a position to advise about particular difficulties their peers might have in complying with the requirements of the examination that might not be obvious to the academic team.

A series of workshop with students will be held to discuss and agree upon each stage of the formative and summative assessment process, which will include: the nature of the assessment ‘stations’,  marking criteria, the format of feedback and guidance which will be made be made available students.

Every attempt will be made to ensure a representative sample of students, to ensure the assessment and OSCE process does not inadvertently disadvantage any group of students or lead to attainment gaps. Through engagement with students in this way, we aim to develop the assessment process and design to ensure inclusive cultural competence and practice.  This will be achieved by ensuring the activities students are involved in are small, manageable in the time identified and will take place online. This will ensure the opportunity to take part in this partnership work is attractive to all.

All parties are likely to benefit from partnership working through an increased a sense of belonging, engagement and motivation (Mercer-Mapstone et al., 2017).  Partnership working also enables students to develop graduate attributes and gain employability skills. For staff it also provides opportunities to develop aspects of the educational and student experiences which can support promotions, fellowship applications and awards.

Project value

Within the School of Health Sciences there is a strong ethos of listening to the student voice through various forums. This project seeks to build upon current practices and initiatives to encourage partnership working through a collaborative  process, where all participants have the opportunity to contribute to curriculum development, as inclusive assessment practices are co-designed with  students. This will help to develop  a culture of shared enterprise and a position of greater collaboration. It is envisioned that this will encourage others to work more collaboratively to  enhance educational practices  and the wider student experience.

The University’s  Education Strategy identifies an ambition for an inclusive educational experience, where pedagogic and curriculum development engage students as partners. This project offers opportunities to achieve this strategic aim by encouraging a student-centred culture of transparency, openness, shared understanding and ownership. The  corporate strategy identifies values which underpin the concept of students as partners: respect, ambition, collaboration, integrity and excellence.

‘ We will embed the practice of co-creation in shaping our pedagogic practices: Identify pedagogic activity to encourage engagement and co-creation with students, including the creation of digital materials and curriculum development activity’.

Project lead

Dr Abel Ekiri (School of Veterinary Medicine)

Contributors

Dr Giovanni Lo Iacono (School of Veterinary Medicine), Dr Martha Betson (School of Veterinary Medicine), Dr Simon Lygo-Baker (Surrey Institute of Education)

Project outline

Background

In veterinary medicine education, specifically in teaching of veterinary epidemiology, there is little data on student engagement, yet we know that student engagement with learning or course content in and outside class contributes to good practice in undergraduate education and is critical for student achievement and for continuation of studies to completion (Chickering & Gamson, 2002). The contribution that students make towards their learning is crucial to student success in their studies (Krause and Coates, 2008) and student engagement has been linked to positive academic outcomes including academic performance and persistence in school (Fredrick et al., 2004; Carini et al., 2006; Pascarella et al., 2010).

“Animal in Society 2: Concepts in Epidemiology and Public Health, VMS2008” is an introductory course in veterinary epidemiology and public health offered to second year veterinary students at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Surrey. Through my previous experience, initially as a student (veterinary student and postgraduate student) and later as a teacher of epidemiology, I am aware and have observed that epidemiological concepts can be difficult to understand, take time to understand, and that veterinary students sometimes struggle to connect the concepts to the clinical elements and may not attach the same level of relevance as they do for clinically orientated modules. These experiences combined with my current teaching experience on this module (VMS2008), anecdotal observations, and feedback received have led to a fundamental question: Is the level of student engagement with learning in veterinary epidemiology optimal from a student perspective? What aspects of student engagement are working well and is there room for improvement? What changes can instructors make to improve student engagement? The study proposed seeks to examine these questions by evaluating the relevant measures of student engagement among students undertaking the module, VMS2008.

Study approach

A qualitative study approach will be used to investigate student engagement in learning of veterinary epidemiology, and to identify potential ways to improve student engagement. The qualitative research approach will involve collection of data from second-year veterinary students using semi-structured interviews of a subset of students followed by focus groups with students. The use of focus groups will allow for exploration of the data collected in the interviews as a way of triangulating the data and getting more detail.

At the end of the study, data will be cleaned and summarised. Interview data will be transcribed, and thematic analyses performed. An inductive approach will be applied to examine patterns in the data as described by Braun & Clarke 2006 and Swart 2019. The results of thematic analyses will be categorized in alignment with the study objective to generate codes under each theme.

Expected outcomes

This study will directly involve students and generate information on what is working well and what is not working well with respect to student engagement in learning of veterinary epidemiology and ways to improve student engagement. Subsequently the results will be used to design and implement targeted interventions to improve student engagement in learning of veterinary epidemiology.

Project value

Understanding how we can improve student engagement has potential to increase the ability of teachers to implement approaches to reduce the risk of disengaging from veterinary epidemiology learning. In the module VMS2008, different approaches are utilised by instructors during delivery to promote student engagement with learning, including asking questions, use of case studies, group discussions, and use of technology (Pollev, Jam boards, etc). Identifying which of these approaches are considered effective with respect to student understanding and incorporating those formats in teaching may help students better appreciate the relevance of the module and improve student engagement with learning and course content in and outside and beyond class.

In alignment with the recommendations from the Faculty’s NSS 85 Plan 2021/22 and the five key dimensions of the Curriculum Framework, findings of this study will be applied to develop effective student engagement and facilitate the formation of students as critical thinkers and life-long learners. Crucially, the student Module Evaluation Questionnaire (MEQ) scores for this module for the last academic year, 2020/2021, were just slightly above average (overall percent positive = 67), indicating a need for improvement. The study findings would therefore contribute to identifying ways to improve MEQ scores of this module.

Project lead

Harriet Tenenbaum (School of Psychology) 

Contributors

Sarfraz Jeraj (School of Psychology), Neesha Oozageer Gunowa (School of Health Sciences), Emily Williams (School of Health Sciences), Ilknur Aktan (School of Veterinary Medicine), Kourosh Ahmadi (School of Biosciences and Medicine)

Project outline

Decolonising the curriculum is an especially pressing topic facing higher education (Begum & Saini, 2019). A “decolonised” curriculum needs to be fully inclusive and cannot privilege the experiences and knowledge of people from WEIRD (i.e., Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic) backgrounds. Despite the clear and urgent need for decolonised curriculum content, awareness of this need is low among HEIs and only a few universities have begun the process.  Similarly, many academics at Surrey lack the awareness and/or confidence to embark on this type of curriculum review. This project will focus on two aspects of modules (i.e., the module guide and the reading list) as a drive towards creating a more welcoming and inclusive environment for all students.

Our first focus will be on module guides (or handbooks) because they are one of the first pieces of information that students receive. Module guides serve as a contract between students and instructors, a permanent record, and a learning tool (Parkes & Harris, 2002). As a learning tool, the module guide provides an overview, informing the student about the tasks that they will need to accomplish, and provides insight into the aims and scope of the module as well as the module convener’s philosophy and approach to education (Parkes & Harris, 2002). Module guides can welcome students from a variety of backgrounds, and deconstruct a “white only” experience of the discipline (Education, 2020). Ours will also highlight the inclusion of readings from non-WEIRD academics. Building on current work (Syllabus Review, 2020), our plan is to develop five sample module guides from PG and UG modules (two from Psych and one from each of the other schools). We purport that it is also imperative that we include student voices in this process (Shay, 2016).

Methods to be Employed

Across FHMS, we (Ahmadi, Aktan, Oozageer Gunowa, Jeraz, Tenenbaum) will change one module guide each using a tool previously developed (Education, 2020). We will examine each others’ guides for inclusivity. We will also make sure that the new module guide includes at least 25% readings either focused on non-WEIRD populations (without a deficit model) and/or written by non-WEIRD academics. Williams will also look at these guides.

We propose to utilise the requested funds to:

1) Employ a PhD student to conduct four action focus groups (5 students each; one group per School) to evaluate the module guides and receive recommendations for improvement. We will then change the module guides and again conduct one focus group to have students (2 from each school for a total of 8) review the guides.

2) Outcomes, including example module guides and the focus groups, will be utilised to develop a set for recommendations for the Faculty to lead us in enhancing the inclusivity of all module guides. We would also hope that we can make recommendations for the catalogue from what we learn. The PhD student will help develop these guidelines.

Project value

The FHMS Teaching Strategy seeks to increase students’ global and cultural intelligence. The strategy suggests that students should be able to learn to engage with others from varied backgrounds and to be engaged with diverse perspectives. The Teaching Strategy also seeks to support all students from all backgrounds, including those from minority or under-represented groups. Decolonising the curriculum and becoming more inclusive will help empower staff and all our students to engage with others from different backgrounds. To support students, we need to model how to embrace cultural diversity. Making students aware of culture diversity and its benefits can support students in learning to value cultural diversity, be open to cultural differences, and to gain greater perspective-taking skills needed to develop knowledge and critical understanding of the world (Barrett, 2020). We believe that be creating a more inclusive environment, we will be better able to develop and deliver richer and more relevant curriculum that are accessible to all students and in doing so, reduce our Black, Asian and minority ethnic awarding gaps.

Project lead

Ioannis Smyrnias (School of Veterinary Medicine)

Contributors

Sharmini Paramasivam (School of Veterinary Medicine)

Project outline

Online teaching and learning (or Hybrid Education) is a concept that is increasing within higher education(1). Covid19-related restrictions first imposed during the semester 2 teaching in 2020 required academic staff to alter their teaching delivery methods from the traditional face-to-face (F2F) interaction between teachers and students to that of online learning within Surrey University. Online teaching material includes pre-recorded lectures, non-lecture activities (e.g. feedback videos), and online engagement sessions on Surrey Learn for students to engage with.

Despite restrictions now changing and F2F teaching increasing, staff at the request of students are still widely using online learning to supplement F2F teaching in Surrey and to engage with the hybrid teaching model. Effective online teaching plays a role in contributing towards the student engagement with a myriad of content and having different levels of impact on the learning experience (2). It is important that this is mapped within curriculums.

Student experience with online teaching is captured through the MEQ scores and is evaluated at a module and programme level. However, while student experience is important, it is equally important to gauge the impact online teaching activities have on student academic performance.

Additionally, non-lecture online resources are routinely uploaded to contribute to the student learning (e.g. module handbooks, exercises, assessment briefs), but there is limited data on student engagement with this.

Hybrid education has been widely adopted at the School of Veterinary Medicine. However, there is a gap in understanding how student engagement with Surrey Learn teaching activities and the correlation it might have on impacting student academic performance.

Aim

To promote the use of high engagement practices within the online teaching resources on Surrey Learn that will contribute towards an improved academic performance within the BVMSci programme.

Research question

Does increased student engagement with online learning contribute to higher performance in undergraduate veterinary students?

Objectives

1. Determine the correlation between student engagement with online-only lecture content and their academic performance.
2. Determine the correlation between student engagement with non-lecture activities (e.g. handbook, practical exercises) on Surrey Learn and their academic performance.
3. Compare engagement levels with online teaching between preclinical and clinical subjects.

To address these objectives, we will:

1. Identify teaching content and summative assessments within clinical and preclinical modules in years 1-4 during the 2020 and 2021 academic years (e.g. Structure and function modules, animal husbandry, pathology, clinical medicine, research, zoological medicine)
2. Determine average engagement levels for lecture content for every student, and make comparisons with their academic performance.
3. Determine the engagement levels of non-lecture online material (e.g. module handbook, assessment briefs, practical exercises).
4. Compare average engagement levels of students with online teaching in clinical vs preclinical subjects in years 1-4 and determine the effect on their academic performance

Project value

By understanding the relationship of student engagement with online teaching and student performance, we have evidence to better support academics on how to develop a more engaging and higher quality online learning space for students. This is in line with the education strategy to develop an innovative learning environment within the hybrid education model. Our research will build on the University’s key activities to carry out learning analytics and student success as part of the Education Strategy. 

Data on the effectiveness of non-lecture learning material is very important as these are uploaded routinely without addressing how much time students spend on it.

Developing and disseminating your learning and teaching ideas (PDF)