On Day 3 of the Advent calendar, we have a blog post on peer support for postgraduate dissertations and a poster exploring peer assessment in a first year chemistry lab.
Academic allies: a peer support project for postgraduate dissertations
Dr Jordan Canning, Craig Houston, Dr Sharon Greenwood, Professor Julie Langan-Martin
Writing a dissertation is an essential component of many postgraduate degree programmes. It requires a lengthy period of rigorous planning, research and writing, and can be an isolating and stressful time for many postgraduate students. Stress experienced by students in higher education is often multifactorial, with academic and social pressures shown to negatively impact mental health and wellbeing (Barbayannis, et al. 2022). Studies have reported that a substantial number of students in higher education experience psychological and emotional distress, feelings of anxiety and depression, and increased risk of burnout (Douwes, et al. 2023).
Crucially, social relationships and connectedness with peers have a positive role in academic adjustment, performance and retention (Makara, et al. 2015). Peer support, whereby ‘support is provided by and for people with similar conditions, problems or experiences’ (Pointon-Haas, et al. 2023)is therefore a highly effective tool in higher education. Formal peer support creates a supportive environment for students to convene, share knowledge and discuss worries and concerns with each other, subsequently building social contact and connectedness associated with positive wellbeing, mental health and academic outcomes (Pointon-Haas, et al. 2023).
Nurturing a supportive environment for postgraduate peer support at the University of Glasgow is therefore mutually beneficial and aligns with the Learning and Teaching Strategy: ‘evolving approach to student-centred active learning’ and ‘collaboration across staff and student communities’. This blog will discuss the development of a peer support project for postgraduate dissertations within the School of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow.
In 2023/24, two postgraduate students from the School of Health and Wellbeing led a peer support pilot for Global Mental Health MSc students. The pilot involved the creation and delivery of three dissertation-focused sessions, covering common dissertation barriers, how to structure a dissertation and guidance on oral presentations. Feedback was positive and the sessions described as a ‘non-judgemental environment to ask daft questions and to share concerns and worries’.
The 2024/25 peer support project for postgraduate dissertations will build on this pilot; expanding to include students on other postgraduate programmes, increasing the number of sessions delivered and evaluating the effectiveness of the sessions. The aims of the project are to:
- Co-create and deliver four dissertation-focused sessions led by postgraduate students to on-campus postgraduate students within the School of Health and Wellbeing, with emphasis on sustainable collaboration.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of these peer-led, dissertation-focused sessions.
- Apply learning to create a good practice guide for designing inclusive peer support for the dissertation project.
The 2024/25 peer support sessions will be offered to on-campus postgraduate students on the Masters in Public Health and Global Mental Health MSc programmes within the School of Health and Wellbeing. Resources used to deliver sessions for the pilot will be updated by members of the project team (one postgraduate student previously involved in the pilot and one staff member) and an additional writing incubator session will be added. The sessions will focus on:
- What makes a perfect dissertation and the barriers to achieving this
- The structure of a dissertation
- Presentation tips
- A writing incubating session
The sessions will be delivered by eight postgraduate students in total (two students per session), recruited as peer supporters, including a Global Mental Health MSc alumnus involved in the pilot. In preparation for the sessions, peer supporters will complete the Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Leader Training provided by the University of Glasgow Student Learning Development (SLD) team, which covers the PAL Leader role, learning theories, session planning and signposting to university services. Peer supporters will be further supported by postgraduate convenors from the School of Health and Wellbeing and be paid for approximately twenty hours of work.
Feedback will be collected from postgraduate students and peer supporters using an online, anonymised survey, with ethics approval for the project having been obtained from the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS) [MVLS200230457]. Feedback obtained from students that attended the sessions will be used to inform the delivery of future peer-led sessions to meet the ever-evolving needs of postgraduate students and continue to support their wellbeing and academic success.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the contributions of Dr Heather McClelland, Bob Imbur, Mia Wilson, Ailsa Foley, Dr Laura Sharp and Dr Jack Ambrose.
References
- Barbayannis G, Bandari M, Zheng X, et al. (2022). Academic stress and mental well-being in college students: correlations, affected groups, and COVID-19. Front. Psychol. 13: 886344.
- Douwes R, Metselaar J, Pijnenborg GHM, et al. (2023). Well-being of students in higher education: the importance of a student perspective. Cogent Education. 10: 2190697.
- Makara KA, Fishman B, Karabenick S, et al. (2015). Students’ interpersonal connections with peers and staff at the start of higher education. Paper presented at the QAA International Conference on Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education, Glasgow, UK
- Pointon-Haas J, Waqar L, Upsher R, et al. (2023). A systematic review of peer support interventions for student mental health and well-being in higher education. BJPsych Open. 10(1): e12.
Peer assessment of practical skills in a first-year chemistry lab: implementation and evaluation
Tess M S Lynn, Claire E Johnston, Cosma E A Gottardi and Beth Paschke
Evidence suggests that traditional assessment of labs (reports, online quizzes) do not adequately assess or provide feedback on practical skills. In this second entry for Day 2, the authors present a poster summarising their project exploring this area, presenting a new assessment emerging from it and sharing some preliminary evaluation results.
There is also a PDF download link here.
Festive Song: The Christmas Song
On Day 3, we keep things mellow and smooth with The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole. 🎄🌰🔥
Lead editor: Colin Mack
Editors: Louise Sheridan, Shaun Bremner-Hart & Edward Beggan