The impact of departmental academic skills provision on students' wellbeing
Student wellbeing in UK higher education is of serious concern, with high rates of stress and anxiety recorded among students (Pereira et al, 2019). This is compounded for international students who speak English as a second or third language. However, international students are an integral part of...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE)
2022-10-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education |
| Online Access: | https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/978 |
| _version_ | 1797946239931645952 |
|---|---|
| author | Louise Frith Leah Maitland James Lamont |
| author_facet | Louise Frith Leah Maitland James Lamont |
| author_sort | Louise Frith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Student wellbeing in UK higher education is of serious concern, with high rates of stress and anxiety recorded among students (Pereira et al, 2019). This is compounded for international students who speak English as a second or third language. However, international students are an integral part of higher education in the United Kingdom. Strategies that are specifically designed for international students that support wellbeing are somewhat lacking across the sector (Shu et al, 2020).
The aim of this initiative is to embed academic and communication skills into students’ programmes of study in the form of weekly 2-hour academic skills classes. This small-scale study is based on the experience of teaching MA Education students, 95% of whom are Chinese. Classes focus on developing students’ understanding of critical thinking and writing, supporting their academic reading and ensuring that they understand academic conventions in the UK such as referencing and academic writing structure. Classes also provide another layer of support and social interaction for students which we hope support student wellbeing. We surveyed 40 students about how the classes support their participation and interaction, alleviate anxiety and help to develop their sense of belonging. We followed this up with students interviewing each other on their experiences of academic skills development classes. Members of the teaching team observed the interviews and took notes. This paper will report on our findings and make recommendations for how to further improve support for international PGTs.
|
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:07:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8a54dfa8e29f4132b6e07be8d7e51194 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1759-667X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:07:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-8a54dfa8e29f4132b6e07be8d7e511942023-01-22T00:52:23ZengAssociation for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE)Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education1759-667X2022-10-012510.47408/jldhe.vi25.978The impact of departmental academic skills provision on students' wellbeingLouise Frith0Leah Maitland1James Lamont2University of YorkUniversity of YorkUniversity of York Student wellbeing in UK higher education is of serious concern, with high rates of stress and anxiety recorded among students (Pereira et al, 2019). This is compounded for international students who speak English as a second or third language. However, international students are an integral part of higher education in the United Kingdom. Strategies that are specifically designed for international students that support wellbeing are somewhat lacking across the sector (Shu et al, 2020). The aim of this initiative is to embed academic and communication skills into students’ programmes of study in the form of weekly 2-hour academic skills classes. This small-scale study is based on the experience of teaching MA Education students, 95% of whom are Chinese. Classes focus on developing students’ understanding of critical thinking and writing, supporting their academic reading and ensuring that they understand academic conventions in the UK such as referencing and academic writing structure. Classes also provide another layer of support and social interaction for students which we hope support student wellbeing. We surveyed 40 students about how the classes support their participation and interaction, alleviate anxiety and help to develop their sense of belonging. We followed this up with students interviewing each other on their experiences of academic skills development classes. Members of the teaching team observed the interviews and took notes. This paper will report on our findings and make recommendations for how to further improve support for international PGTs. https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/978 |
| spellingShingle | Louise Frith Leah Maitland James Lamont The impact of departmental academic skills provision on students' wellbeing Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education |
| title | The impact of departmental academic skills provision on students' wellbeing |
| title_full | The impact of departmental academic skills provision on students' wellbeing |
| title_fullStr | The impact of departmental academic skills provision on students' wellbeing |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of departmental academic skills provision on students' wellbeing |
| title_short | The impact of departmental academic skills provision on students' wellbeing |
| title_sort | impact of departmental academic skills provision on students wellbeing |
| url | https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/978 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT louisefrith theimpactofdepartmentalacademicskillsprovisiononstudentswellbeing AT leahmaitland theimpactofdepartmentalacademicskillsprovisiononstudentswellbeing AT jameslamont theimpactofdepartmentalacademicskillsprovisiononstudentswellbeing AT louisefrith impactofdepartmentalacademicskillsprovisiononstudentswellbeing AT leahmaitland impactofdepartmentalacademicskillsprovisiononstudentswellbeing AT jameslamont impactofdepartmentalacademicskillsprovisiononstudentswellbeing |