Editorial: oSoTL 5(1)

Vicki Dale¹, Matthew Barr¹, Mark Charters² and Nathalie Tasler¹

¹ University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
² Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK

This Winter issue brings you 12 articles, with contributions by authors from across the UK, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands, and Norway. The articles cover a range of topics – from students’ sense of belonging to artist-teacher identity, student evaluations of teaching, registered reports, competencies required for science communication graduates, ways that staff can support student neurodivergence and mental health, and implications of open educational resources (OERs) and artificial intelligence for higher education. A strong theme recurring in this issue is online learning, and how educators have evolved their practice post-pandemic, with a view to using learning technologies in transformative ways to engage learners and support relationship building and inclusion, as well as building capability within the institution and wider higher education sector.

McDonald and colleagues used an exploratory qualitative approach to investigate how co-curricular opportunities can enhance students’ sense of belonging in psychology, and physics and astronomy. The study highlighted the importance of inclusive pedagogy, inclusivity beyond the core curriculum, and relationships and broader support networks.

Artist-teacher identity was the focus of Cairns’ study, which used the Artist-Teacher Likert Scale (ATLS) as a visual research tool to investigate the hidden lives of artist-teachers in UK higher education. Themes included identity negotiation, definitions of artist-teachers, and time allocation between roles.

An open, collaborative education community reflection by Abegglen and colleagues takes us on a journey through a series of individual vignettes, exploring the ‘postdigital’ classroom. Reflections from members of the #CreativeHE community explored changing pedagogical practices following the Covid-19 pandemic, where technology is harnessed for equitable, student-centred learning, rather than for its own sake.

A mixed methods case study by Allison explores students’ experiences of Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) in language teaching, highlighting different biases between Chinese and UK students. He argues that we cannot assume that students from east and west will share the same interpretation of satisfaction, engagement and quality, when conducting student evaluations.

Registered Reports are the focus of Verheyen et al., who used a ‘Paper In A Day’ (PIAD) writing workshop and consensus meetings at the end of a psychology research methods course. Students reflected on the benefits of Registered Reports, indicating that they helped scaffold research skills, enhanced motivation and instilled open science values.

A review of science communication courses in the UK by Lindsay and colleagues examined master’s provision by several universities. In the context of employability skills, they identified two core attributes; digital skills, and professional practice, and nine other communication attributes that science graduates need to exhibit.

Drawing on signature pedagogies and transformative learning frameworks, Mavroudi and Wagstaffe present the outcomes of a systematic literature review, in the context of emergency remote teaching, to support digital metamorphosis in higher education. Findings highlight the importance of understanding educator expectations around learning technology use, reconceptualising faculty preparedness and competence to teach online, and viewing digital transformation as an opportunity.

Odedra and Soler describe their staff-student partnership approach to creating an e-resource in the context of the pivot online during Covid-19. They reflect on the success of working with a student on the interactive resource, present student evaluation outcomes, and offer a design protocol for other educators creating online learning resources.

Neurodivergence and mental health issues are an increasing concern, note Mack and colleagues – they highlight the benefits of staff role models sharing their personal experiences of neurodiversity and mental health, and offer three strategies: panel events for staff to disclose their conditions and coping strategies, focus groups with students focused on strengths and support to meet challenges, and a neurodivergent staff poster.

Nerantzi and colleagues take a creative approach to reflecting on implications of UNESCO’s draft Dubai Declaration on OERs. Drawing on visual metaphors, they identify three themes of the Declaration - Transparency, Translation, and Teamwork - offering an enhanced understanding of OERs and Artificial Intelligence, and their implications for higher education.

Best practice in synchronous online learning is examined by Proctor, who conveys the outcomes of a research project following the barriers to relational online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study themes highlight the importance of creating an online culture, designing curricula appropriately, and facilitating student engagement. Proctor also offers good practice resources for effective synchronous online learning.

Finally, Mitsa and colleagues reflect on the success of an immersive 360-degree virtual mass spectrometry facility, to help students develop the appropriate knowledge and skills for working in research laboratories after graduation. They describe how they developed the virtual laboratory and present the outcomes of student evaluation, which highlighted the usefulness of content and sense of reality associated with the resource.

Once again, a sincere thanks to all our authors for sharing your work with us. We anticipate that these outcomes will be of benefit to other educators looking to enhance students’ wellbeing, and successful learning and skills development required for the workplace.