Learning & Teaching Enhancement Programme 2024/25

Enhancing the Accessibility of Teaching Materials for Education Students

Faye Hendry and Alyson Young, and student assistants

School of Education

Initial Teacher Education programmes at the University of Aberdeen combine taught classes and school-based placements in order to prepare students to become qualified teachers. We have a diverse range of students including many with specific learning differences and additional support needs. As much of our teaching is in person and interactive, and involves a range of concrete materials and resources (such as PowerPoint presentations, handouts, printed readings, concrete materials, mindmaps, posters, etc.), a key goal is to ensure these materials are accessible for all students, particularly those who are neurodivergent and/or have specific learning differences such as dyslexia. This is important for the students’ learning, but also as a pedagogical modelling tool so that students can subsequently emulate and utilise these inclusive approaches to resource-creation in their own teaching practice. This is why this project aims to collaborate with students through participatory action research to gather feedback on our current materials and how accessible students find these, and to work with them to create new materials and guidance for tutors about their use.

Breaking the silence: Exploring help-seeking behaviours among health professionals in training.

Dr Louisa Lawrie, Dr Anita Laidlaw, Professor Amudha Poobalan, Dr Kathrine Gibson Smith

School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

This study explores the perceptions, barriers, and facilitators of help-seeking among health professional trainees, including students from Medicine, Dentistry, Health Psychology, and Physician Associate programmes. Previous research highlights that medical students often avoid seeking help for mental and physical challenges, even when necessary (Sheldon et al., 2024). This is concerning given their heightened vulnerability to mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, burnout, and suicidal ideation, compared to the general population (Aljuwaiser et al., 2023). Fear of stigma, discrimination, and being perceived as "unfit to practice" are key deterrents to help-seeking in medical students (Shahaf-Oren, Madan & Henderson, 2021). However, there is limited research on whether similar patterns exist across other healthcare and professional disciplines. By examining help-seeking behaviours in students from diverse fields, this study seeks to uncover whether these challenges are discipline-specific or influenced by broader cultural and professional factors. Using semi-structured interviews with approximately 20 purposively sampled participants across study stages at the University of Aberdeen, the research aims to identify how professional identity, academic experiences, and disciplinary cultures shape attitudes towards help-seeking. Analysis will be guided by the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), providing a nuanced understanding of the drivers behind these behaviours. Findings will inform strategies to promote well-being and self-care, offering actionable recommendations to foster supportive educational environments and enhance mental health resources across disciplines.

Virtual Café: enhancing Online PGT student experience & inclusion

Dr Janet Kyle, Dr Caroline Franco, Dr Leone Craig, Dr Shelley Farrar

School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

Online postgraduate students have highlighted a need to improve the quality of their interactions and enhance their sense of community. This project aims to evaluate and develop an online student hub (virtual café) to support a geographically and culturally diverse postgraduate learning community who typically study in the evenings and weekends whilst juggling work and family commitments.

Our key question is “Can a virtual café bring together and build our students’ sense of place and community voice within the University of Aberdeen?”. This directly addresses University of Aberdeen’s education principle 2 (community building) and contributes to our current strategy to widen online learning across the University.

This project will evaluate our virtual café pilot scheme to better understand our student experience, its potential impact and to identify future development needs, with the aim to further strengthen and enhance learning for online students.

Translation Software in Higher Education

Dr Sandie Cleland, Dr Zeshu Shao

School of Psychology

This project aims to investigate the use of translation software by students who have English as an Additional Language (EAL). We know that many of our EAL students use translation software to aid their academic writing and to translate lectures and academic materials; however we do not have a clear picture of how translation software is used and the impact that it has on education. While translation software has potential as a useful tool to enhance students’ academic English skills, there are situations where its use could raise questions around academic integrity. This project aims to better understand both staff and student’s views of the benefits and potential pitfalls of translation software across a range of disciplines and institutions. The findings of this project can inform guidelines for students and staff on the appropriate and effective use of translation software, and ultimately contribute to recommendations on the factors that Higher Education institutions should consider when developing codes of practice around translation software.

Building My Skills: Preparing for Success in Higher Education

Dr Heather Branigan, Dr Jacqui Hutchison, Dr Sally Middleton, Anna Johnston, with support from Debbie Marr, Amy Stevenson and Hannah Agnew (North East College Scotland)

School of Psychology with support from Access and Articulation and NESCol

This project aims to develop student-led resources focusing on transferable skills, for the purpose of supporting student transitions from college to Higher Education (HE). The School of Psychology has a clear focus on transferable skill development across our programmes, and this project aims on extend this support to students pre-entry, preparing students to succeed in HE. With support from LTEP, we will hire a student intern who will (1) talk with students at college and university to scope out useful resources, and then (2) develop student-generated resources that will focus on development of an identified transferable skill. This resource will be combined with existing resources and other support materials currently in development and will be compiled into a set of resources to support transitions and outreach.

Developing resources and tools to support students' use of AI technologies in their career learning and development.

Tracey Innes, Professor John Barrow, Ghina Elkasti, Rhona Gibson, Julia Leng, Kate Robertson, Matthew Macculloch

Careers and Employability Service

This project will explore students’ use of AI in relation to their career learning and development, building understanding of the benefits and challenges students face in its use and exploring how it impacts on their career readiness and confidence. Findings will be summarised in a report and used to inform the development of a suite of tools and resources to support students and graduates to develop the skills and insights needed to be able to benefit from and avoid the pitfalls of using AI in their career development and learning.