Wonkhe @ Home: The expectation gap

15 July 2020

As UK universities plan their offer to students for the coming academic year, much of the traditional student experience that mingles formal learning with sociability and personal development will disappear or look very different.

All students will now be put in the position of commuter students, part-time and mature students, and those with comparatively lower social capital or disposable income. So there is an opportunity to rethink learning environments to address the needs of these students and improve students’  learning experience for the long term.

This Wonkhe @ Home event, in partnership with Pearson, will consider the student experience from the perspective of the students who have been thrust into the world of online learning, asking how “the student experience” might be reimagined to address the immediate challenges of the pandemic, and enhance higher education provision for the long term.

Who should attend?

Academics, learning support and student experience professionals; senior leaders with oversight of learning, teaching, and the student experience; students’ union staff and student representatives.

Agenda

10.00 Welcome

10.05 Unpacking the research: what do we know about how students are engaging with learning in the time of Covid? What do students expect for September?

The findings from a new survey of students and insight from a focus group of students’ unions will be shared in advance of the event.

• Debbie McVitty, Wonkhe
• Anna Jackson; Pearson
• Tansy Jessop, PVC Education, University of Bristol
• Esther Jubb, Head of Academic Services, Pearson

11.00 Break

11.15 How students are thinking about their learning experience – breaking down the NSS

• Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor Wonkhe
• Tahmina Choudhery, Middlesex SU
• Jessica Davies, final year student, University of Reading
• Ceri Bailey, VP education, Bath Spa SU

12.00 Transition into and through HE: equipping students to engage with online and blended learning

• Neil MacKenzie, Head of Advice and Representation Sheffield SU
• Michelle Morgan, independent consultant
• Jessica Yarbro, Research Scientist, Pearson

12.45 Close