A digital LMS course for the first year of studies at The Faculty of Science.
Academic integration/belonging, Financial needs, Personal mental health/well-being, Social integration/belongingOnline tool | Online | Recorded / Asynchronic
Time lineWhat is the main idea or gist?
What does this initiative/support/project look like?
The Study Club’s main purpose is to support the students at The Faculty of Science through their first year of studies and increase their well-being and sense of belonging through relevant topics, reflections, and proactive support.
Description
The study club is technically a course in the learning management system Itslearning, that all new students at The Faculty of Science gets access to when they are enrolled. Practically it is a resource that they can use as they want – both in regards to their study start but also throughout their first year of studies.
They are introduced to a new theme every month throughout the first two semesters. Examples of themes are: Study start and the mixed feelings about that, the balance between studies and free time, exams, grades, decision-making, student life on a budget etc.
The Study Club contains polls with different focus:
It also contains videos (students, researchers, TedTalks, and articles e.g., about study techniques and student life.
Background
The Study Club was developed as part of a wellbeing-project in 2021. The aim is to enhance the student’s well-being by preventing and generalizing challenges that are perceived as individual.
The Study Club is a digital guidance tool, because it is easily accessible and demands few resources and maintenance once it is fully developed. The student guidance office at the Faculty of Science also uses it as a resource in their guidance session – both individually and in groups. If The Study Club were to be held as physical workshops it would be more resource demanding and a challenge to get the students to participate.
What are the goals?
The concrete goal is to enhance the students’ well-being and sense of belonging through knowledge, reflection, and deindividualization.
How are students involved?
In the development of The Study Club there were five students from the Faculty of Science involved. They took part in a focus group where they tested the concept and assessed the themes.
Students are also involved as participants in videos, where they share their experiences as students.
What underlying constructs or ideas inspired the design?
The initiative is first and foremost a product of the experiences that the Student Guidance Office at The Faculty of Science has made through years of experiences with guidance sessions with new students and the stuents’ experiences, successes and challenges. But it is also inspired by the work of other units at SDU, a bi-annual questionnaire on the study environment at SDU and study programmes, the national institution of Student Counselling Service and national research on student well-being and the importance of the first year of studies.
What the success criteria and the points of attention?
Positives: Flexibility, relevance and engaging
That the course and the content is digital which makes it more flexible to use and engage in (no restrictions in time or/and space). It also decreases the use of resources.
The topics and content are experience and research based which ensure its relevance and connection to students’ experiences during the first year.
Challenges: Awareness and connection to existing activities
At the Faculty of Science they also have a digital study introduction course from the national organization Student Counselling Service. There is an ongoing process with integrating the themes from The Study Club in the introduction course – this will serve as an improvement of the introduction course but will also increase awareness among students on The Study Club.
agree
(How) is this initiative/support/project evaluated?
Yes. The LMS (Itslearning) provide data on students’ activity, duration and frequency in the course, and the guidance service has analyzed the data provided to create an overview of which topics and time periods have the most activity and which has the lowest. The data is combined with a student questionnaire with open-ended questions on positives and challenges on the Study Club’s form, topics, and content.
Based on the evaluation in 2021 (2nd semester students, new topics published bi-weekly) the Tudy Club now publish new topics monthly and is integrated in a digital introduction module in the LMS instead of being a separate learning module.
Based on the 2022 evaluation the project managers have worked on increasing awareness and introduced the Study Club and its content to students at the beginning of their studies through meetings, newsletter, and a deeper incorporation of the content in the student introduction course.
How is it communicated and advertised?
The Study Club is advertised through meetings with students and newsletters, but the work with integrating it into the introduction course is ongoing e.g., to increase awareness.
What is the current and ideal timing and duration?
The Study Club runs throughout the first and second semester at all programmes at The Faculty of Science. A new topic (articles, polls, videos etc.) is published monthly in the digital course.
Before regular ‘school’ hours.
What resources are needed to run this initiative?
Skills needed: target group knowledge, knowledge on research in well-being and transitions. Communication. E-learning skills or/and e-learning and tech support.
Estimated time of development: 4-6 month parttime with 1 employee.
Funding for developing the video materials. And students who want to participate in the video material.
Is it easily transferrable to other contexts or groups?
We think it is easily transferable to other contexts or groups.
Aspects that impact transferability positively:
The content is based on international research on digital well-being and Positive Psychology.
The structure with monthly publishing (can be set in advance with time and date).
The didactics with variation in activities and engaging activities.
Possible challenging aspects:
Might be minor content adjustments regarding the educational and cultural context that we are not aware of.
Digital literacy skills – students access to computers or the LMS platform and internet.
You need an LMS system or something similar.