In this extra post, Marcello Crolla and Stuart Nicol from Educational Design and Engagement, Information Services, describe a recent project to scope students’ experience and needs in accessing and finding training content across the University. The outcomes of their student focus group showed the importance of eliciting student feedback in designing a student training platform, which takes into account students’ concerns of accessibility, clarity and discoverability.
The development of skills, alongside academic qualifications, is well-documented as an essential part of the student experience, and is vital in terms of developing a range of capabilities, including creativity, curiosity, and employability. This is why the Skills for Success framework is such an important aspect of the University’s Strategy 2030. It is also why a vibrant, comprehensive, and – most importantly – easily discoverable and accessible, programme of student training is such an important part of the University’s offering to our student body.
Looking forward
Over the past few months, the University has begun to look more closely at what this student training offering should look like going forward. Following conversations with EUSA, Student Wellbeing and Careers, a project led by Information Services Group (ISG) was initiated to investigate the implementation of a student training platform. This would be a place where students can find and access all the training courses that are available to them, whether online, hybrid or in person.
As part of this investigation, and in consultation with EUSA, Student Wellbeing and Careers, the project team conducted a focus group with students from a wide range of areas of the University and levels of study. The aim of the focus group was to establish what the current landscape and experience is like for students in terms of accessing and finding training content, whilst also discussing what students are looking for from a training platform.
It was important at this stage not to focus on any technical or platform-specific details because we wanted to get a sense of how the students felt about the training available to them: is this a positive/negative experience; what are the challenges that they regularly come up against, etc.? Understanding the lived student experience a little deeper will help inform what things we, as a University, should focus on to make this a much more engaging experience. With that in mind, we split the questions into two sections:
The first set of questions aimed to elicit general information on how participants find the current training landscape at the University:
- When and how are you made aware of the any mandatory or optional student training?
- Do you know where to find student training from your School and from other departments?
- What type of student training do you do or would you be interested in?
- Are there any similar or duplicate training activities you see advertised across departments?
- Are you informed of training completion? If so, how?
- Particularly for skills development training, would you be interested in a certificate or digital badge at the end of the course?
The second part of the focus group centred on the ideal student training experience, and participants were asked:
- In an ideal world, when it comes to student training, what is it you’re looking for?
- Would you expect to access training in the same space as your academic courses, or in a different online platform?
Student feedback
Through these focus groups, students communicated that they want training to be clearly communicated to them, easy to find, and as accessible as possible to engage with. Students find the current process somewhat unclear and difficult to navigate. Students also noted that it can be difficult to identify whether a training course is mandatory and essential for their degrees or if it is highly desirable that they take the course. This can cause undue stress and confusion.
Based on our current research, we know there are over 400 training courses made available to students. These are hosted and delivered in various places, formats, and using a range of approaches to pedagogy – and andragogy. Training courses are therefore challenging for students to find and often unclear as to how relevant they are to different aspects of a student’s ongoing journey with us.
Students are looking for learning pathways that are clearly defined in the online platform with an overview of what they have, or have yet, to complete. When discussing what this looked like, the group did not show any preference to a specific platform, only that it is something that would be a consistent home for the training materials that they can be directed to. Much like their experiences with credited courses, they want everything in a place that is straightforward to access.
The student voice has enabled us to build a picture of the current student experience of training as well as how they would prefer to experience it. As we continue to investigate solutions, there is no doubt that continual feedback from students will prove pivotal. We want this training platform, in whatever format that ends-up being, to be one that is useful for students and enables them to build skills that will lead them towards a rewarding and successful future.
Marcello Crolla
Marcello is an Instructional Designer in the Online Course Production (OCP) team within Educational Design and Engagement (EDE) at the University of Edinburgh. He has an extensive background in both Further and Higher Education in developing online courses and multimedia production.
Stuart Nicol
Stuart is the Head of the Educational Design and Engagement (EDE) section in Information Services Group. EDE are responsible for delivering a number of services to the University, including: advice, consultancy, and training for learning technologies; Learning Design (ELDeR); support for online learning, including MOOCs; and support for open education resources. Stuart joined the University of Edinburgh in 2007, initially in the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology, moving to what is now EDE in 2011. He has a master’s degree in Digital Education from the University of Edinburgh, and continues to have an interest in critical approaches to open education and practice.
