On this episode of The Big 5, Dr. Sarah Allen discusses her research on trauma informed teaching and student support in higher education. We discuss the types of trauma that students have experienced and how it can affect their learning and adaptation to university life.
For more on Sarah’s work you can visit her website here.
You can follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @thebig5_psych
You can also get in touch with the podcast team on gmail: thebig5.nupodcast@gmail.com.
Most students are aware that academic staff are highly qualified researchers and/or practitioners in their field. Within psychology, academic staff have typically completed an undergraduate qualification in psychology (or sometimes a related discipline). They have then typically, followed one of two routes.
Some academics have followed a career in research, usually this involves completing a masters programme and then going on to doctoral study, completing a PhD in a specific area of psychology. In the UK, such academics are then eligible to become Chartered Psychologists, under the research route.
Some academics have followed a career in applied psychology. This involves completing postgraduate study, along with professional practice to qualify as a practitioner psychologist. These include Clinical Psychologists, Occupational Psychologists , Forensic Psychologists and Health Psychologists, amongst others (See the BPS Careers Resource). These academics are often then chartered psychologists in their area, and may also be registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) as practitioner psychologists.
It is not uncommon for academics to combine these, and perhaps hold a qualification as a practitioner but also complete a PhD. But, regardless of the route an academic takes, a career in academia requires a move to a teaching and/or research role. Some may also continue practitioner work as part of this role, or do both part time. However, the common thread amongst academics is the expectation to engage in teaching and research as part of their work.
Academic careers can be very varied. Some may be in roles which involve mainly research, some may be mainly teaching and some may involve a mix of the two. In the psychology department at northumbria, a typical academic has a role which involves 40% teaching, 40% research and 20% administration and leadership. This means that a full time lecturer spends about two days a week teaching, supervising students, preparing teaching materials, writing assessments and marking students’ work. Leaving two days for research and consultancy work, and about a day a week for leadership and administrative work.
One question we often hear is, ‘but what do they know about teaching?‘ – this is a really valid question! All of the resources linked in the blog so far are about training in psychology, either in research or in the applied areas of psychology, but nothing about the qualifications we complete in teaching. Below, we explore how academics are trained to teach
There is a set of professional standards that apply to teaching in Higher Education. This is known as the UK Professional Standards Framework (The UKPSF)
The UKPSF sets out the standards for successful learning and teaching. These standards cover three main dimensions of professional practice which are:
Staff teaching and supporting learning, are able to apply for fellowship of the Higher Education Academy by demonstrating that they have met the requirements of each of the three dimensions of professional practice., There are different categories of fellowship, each with a different set of standards to be met.
A new academic in the department, as part of their probation, is expected to achieve at least Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy before their role can be made permanent.
Fellowship can be achieved in a few ways. Staff who have limited prior experience in learning and teaching will typically undertake a postgraduate qualification in learning and teaching. For example, staff at Northumbria will undertake the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP), which is fully aligned to the UKPSF and accredited by AdvancedHE, taking about 18 months to complete.
Staff who have a bit more experience already (usually more than two years teaching experience) can pursue fellowship through the experiential route, and submit an application to demonstrate their effectiveness. This is assessed via our Northumbria University Professional Recognition Scheme, which is an AdvancedHE accredited scheme, allowing staff to gain anything up to Senior Fellowship.
Some institutions also allow staff to complete external taught qualifications if their institution don’t have one, or make applications for fellowship directly to AdvanceHE, who are the awarding body for HEA Fellowship.
Regardless of the route, staff have to receive mentoring from a senior academic (who is at least a fellow, or senior fellow), and be assessed in the relevant areas of the UKPSF.
I spoke to staff in the department who have either gained fellowship, or mentored someone in gaining fellowship. They highlighted lots of benefits
As both a mentee and a mentor, I have found higher education teaching qualifications really help you to think about your teaching in different ways and to adapt your teaching practice. You might see something interesting that someone else is doing and think how you can apply it to your own teaching practices. Alternatively, you might receive feedback from a mentor or mentee that can enhance your own sessions. These schemes really help you to find new ways to create effective learning environments.
Dr Lee Shepherd
Mentoring encourages reflection both ways, and discussion of how different approaches work in different situations. So, it helps both the mentee and mentor to develop. Too often academics settle in one approach, whereas it is the combination of approaches that might achieve much better results
Dr Katri Cornelissen
One thing that I learned through the PGCAP is to make explicit (to myself and my students) my pedagogic choices and the reasons behind various teaching decisions. For example, I am now aware that I choose such exercise or such technological tool not only because I find it interesting or useful, but because it will help my students achieving such learning objectives or prepare them for part of the assignment. Importantly, I now share these considerations with my students, which I was not necessarily doing before starting the PGCAP
Dr Jeanne Bovet
The PGCAP session on Technology Enabled Learning (TEL) by the university TEL Team provided me with a lot of inspiration to reconsider my Blackboard set up to engage students and provide a better online experience. Similarly, we were introduced to TEL opportunities such as zeetings and mentimeter, which I have already incorporated into my teaching to increase engagement. As part of my PGCAP assessment I investigated the pro’s and con’s of asynchronous vs synchronous session, which provided evidence for the redevelopment of my first year module
Dr Ann-Katrin Kraeuter
The training helped me to appreciate the different needs that students have. It helped me to understand hidden disabilities, accessibility issues, and the different challenges that students face outside the classroom which might affect their studies
Dr Gillian Pepper
I am a senior fellow of the HEA, and as part of my application I had to really think about how I have influenced others in learning and teaching. One thing that I took away from this was to think about how I share my good practice. Its not enough to just find approaches that work, truly effective learning and teaching is about sharing your knowledge with other academics, within and beyond your own institution.
Dr Libby Orme
Another question we get a lot, is whether demonstrators and PhD students are qualified to teach. Again, this is a great, and very important, question.
Most academics started their learning and teaching journey by being a demonstrator, teaching assistant, or associate lecturer during their PhD. In fact, part of the training for PhD students is helping PhD students learn about all aspects of an academic role, including teaching and administration. Often, these types of staff don’t have responsibility for designing modules, programmes, setting assessment and other leadership tasks. But, they are responsible for making decisions about how they support individual students, how they deliver specific tasks and activities and how they mark or give feedback to students. Undeniably, all of this affects students!
As such, in the Psychology Department at Northumbria, we mentor our demonstrators to achieve Associate Fellowship of the HEA.
Usually, this involves demonstrating effectiveness in the Areas of Activity relating to teaching and supporting students, and assessing and giving feedback, as well demonstrating evidence of Knowledge in the subject material and effective methods of learning, teaching, and assessment. We also normally expect them to demonstrate some, or all, of the professional values, specifically respecting individual learners and diverse learning communities.
You might sometimes notice another staff member loitering in a class room, or lurking in the background in an online class. Once a staff member gains fellowship, their learning doesn’t end there!
At Northumbria, all academic staff have to engage in two rounds of Peer Support each year. This means being observed twice, and observing someone else twice. Sometimes one of these might include having a colleague review your teaching materials, or an assessment rather than a live class. The colleague provides feedback and the pair then discuss ways to improve moving forward.
We do the same for demonstrators, the module tutor they work with will be expected to observe them and provide feedback too.
There is also an expectation that academics engage in at least three training courses relating to learning and teaching every year. The university offers a series of workshops, but it might also include external training courses and conferences.
Some staff, like myself, also conduct research into learning and teaching to evaluate methods and share what we learn with academics outside of our own institution
Hopefully, this goes some way to show that academics aren’t just experts in the subject, they are also trained in teaching students about that subject and supporting students in their learning journey. But, we are always learning and trying to improve our teaching!
This is why receiving helpful and constructive feedback from students, with thoughtful suggestions on what is and what isn’t working, along with ideas for improvement, can really help to improve the student experience. You might find it a bit annoying to be asked for feedback, and sent surveys, getting questions from student reps, and online polls in classes – and these aren’t just an opportunity to vent – its us asking you to help us to develop the best courses we can
You can hear about educational research and learning and teaching issues in the Learning and Teaching section of the blog
You can also follow the Division of Researchers, Academics and Teachers in Psychology on twitter. If you are a member of the BPS, you may be able to access the Psychology Teaching Review journal, which contains current research on teaching in psychology.
Dr Libby Orme is an associate professor of learning and teaching and the deputy head of the psychology department, she also manages this blog!
Author: Dr Libby Orme is the Deputy Head of the Psychology Department, and an Associate Professor of Learning and Teaching
Teaching in higher education during a global pandemic has been a huge change for academics. The move from traditional teaching in a classroom, to almost exclusively online teaching has involved a shift in both theoretically and practically for staff and students. However, in the Psychology Department at Northumbria, we have been using blended approaches to learning for some time. In this post, I wanted to share some of the findings of my own research into the benefits of using Microsoft Teams when teaching research methods
This work is also presented as a case study in the Psychology Teaching Review, and was the reason I was shortlisted for Psychology Higher Education Teacher of the Year by the British Psychological Society in 2020.
As an empirical discipline, psychology courses have a strong focus on research methods. However, it is well documented that psychology students often lack confidence in relation to research methods. To support students’ learning and motivation in research methods, we usually get students to design and conduct their own research projects working in small groups. When I was an undergraduate nearly 20 years ago, we adopted the same approach, because we know this problem-based approach to teaching research methods work.
However, in my own modules I get the same feedback from students that I gave to my tutors 20 years ago.
“the other members of my group aren’t pulling their weight”
“the mark I received doesn’t reflect the effort I put into the process”
“we can’t arrange a time to meet as a group”
“we agreed we’d share the results by X date, and X didn’t send their data”
“why do I have to negotiate workload with my group”
These kind of issues are really common, and work has even been published around issues in group work saying the same thing. What students are saying here is that there is a lack of transparency, accountability and support in what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ when students are asked to work in groups.
So, in 2019, I read some of the research literature and spoke to different people from IT support, to experts in education and other people teaching similar modules elsewhere. I then changed our approach to teaching research methods via group work. There were a few key things we changed
Flipped Classroom: Rather than having me stand at the front of a class and taking up a quarter of the session telling groups what we’ll be doing that week, I moved to posting a recorded ‘briefing’ for the activity. We stopped teaching new content in the practical programme, and drew on what students were learning in other parts of the course to create a set of constraints in which students had to design a research project.
Tutorials: Rather than having 10 – 15 groups working in the same room at the same time. Each group has a weekly tutorial with a staff member where the group presents their work and actions for the next week are agreed. Here, the onus is on the group to move the project forward, and the staff member just facilitates their group work.
The use of Virtual Learning Environments: As well as tutorials, the groupwork is based around the use of Microsoft Teams. Students can work off campus, tag me as the module tutor or their lab tutor to ask questions, and have us review documents and give feedback. Groups can also meet virtually. Crucially, everything is transparent. We can see how each member has contributed to the project.
Yes! We saw a few key improvements
In the case study, I talk about all the data we collected. We surveyed students about their experience and looked at how this related to their marks. We found a few key things
“the lab classes are well structured. It’s nice to have tutorials with the lab tutor at the beginning, it’s really informative. The use of teams is excellent. It’s good to have the tutors available to help in the larger lab”
On the module evaluation survey, we saw huge improvemnts in the percentage of students who responded positively about every aspect of the module
That year was the most positive experience of teaching research methods that I have had in the 14 years I’ve been teaching it. For me, it was a huge shift in how I teach, not standing up in front of a class, and not having scheduled formal ‘classes’ with big groups. But I was so impressed at how well students engaged.
I’ve highlighted the changes in student performance on the module above, for me, the biggest improvement was a qualitative change in students’ work. We saw much more creative ideas and challenging projects, and students really taking ownership of their learning. I was particularly pleased to see that the increase in report marks within the module was far greater in the new method – so students improved from one project to the next within the module, much more than they did in the old method. Suggesting learning within the module was very much linked to the new approach.
Little did I know that the next semester we would be in a global pandemic that is still ongoing. However, having implemented blended approaches to learning, we were in a much better position to make the change to teaching online, and whilst it’s been a challenging year for everyone Its been great to see that students have still been able to engage in practical, experimental, group-based research projects over the last year.
You can read more about our Learning and Teaching by heading over to our blog
Dr Michael Smith, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology
According to the recently published Natwest Student Living Index, 64% of university students rated the stress of studying for their degree as seven or above out of ten. Other studies have estimated that up to 82% of UK university students suffer from stress and anxiety, and the number of students dropping out of university due to mental health problems is increasing.
The National Union of Students reports that the top three sources of stress among students are coursework deadlines, exams, and balancing study with other commitments. Going to university can also mean living away from home for the first time, less sleep, poor eating habits and money worries.
It’s clear that the majority of university students experience high levels of stress during their degree. But a few simple stress reduction techniques and small lifestyle changes can help with this. So if you’re a student, or heading off to university for the first time, here’s what you need to know about managing stress.
A major source of stress for university students living away from home for the first time can be a lack of perceived social support, if friends and family are no longer close by for a chat.
The most important thing if you start to feel stressed is that you don’t bottle up those feelings. Talk about it – with a parent, other family member, friend or a tutor. Or contact your university’s student well-being service.
Another approach could be to write about your feelings if nobody is around to talk to. Studies have suggested that writing about your emotions can be useful for managing stress.
A key source of stress is a perceived lack of control over a situation. Coursework deadlines and exams are an inevitable part of life for a university student, but by managing your time wisely, and not leaving your assessment tasks and revision to the last minute you can stay in control of these deadlines.
Rebecca Sharp, a psychologist from the University of Bangor, suggests that splitting a task into smaller, more easily manageable goals is a good way of organising your time and staying on top of university work.
Making time in your schedule to relax and socialise is also very important. Socialising may help you to build a network of people you can rely upon for social support. Creating some “me time” for socialising, relaxing and exercise is key to managing stress.
University students often have a comparatively poor diet. During those first few weeks of living away from home, it can take some time to adjust to having to plan and prepare your own meals, and bad eating habits can creep in.
University students also report getting fewer hours of sleep than the recommended eight hours a night. This is problematic because irregular sleep patterns are associated with poor academic performance at university and poor sleep quality is associated with increased stress.
All of this means that it is important to look after yourself, by exercising regularly, establishing a pattern of good quality sleep and eating healthily. A balanced breakfast, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and limited sugary and fatty snacks can help to optimise your brain function. This will help to keep your stress levels in check, and also help with your concentration in lectures and when revising.
One issue though, is that when our stress levels increase, it is easy to engage in “emotional eating” – consuming more sugary and fatty snacks and less fruit and vegetables. It’s important to try to avoid this vicious cycle where possible, and maintain a healthy diet through these periods.
Being mindful – paying more attention to yourself and the world around you by being “in the moment” – is known to reduce stress, and helps us to notice the signs of stress earlier. Research has shown that mindfulness training can reduce levels of distress in university students during exam periods.
Even if you haven’t had any formal training in mindfulness, it can be beneficial to practice mindfulness techniques by sitting quietly and paying attention to your body and your surroundings. Mindful breathing exercises can help with relaxation and reducing negative thoughts. Although not for everyone, activities such as yoga can also help with being mindful and being more aware of your breathing.
It is important to remember that the feelings we experience when we’re stressed are due to hormone responses that have evolved to help us survive by fighting off or fleeing from a predator. University life can be thought of as that predator – the stress response helps us to cope with and manage demanding periods such as exams and coursework deadlines. So a little stress is fine, and probably even beneficial, but if you’re experiencing frequent, high levels of stress, then do something about it.
Michael Smith, Associate Professor of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Northumbria University Psychology Department 