Academic and learning support during COVID-19 pandemic: Collaborations and personalisation that work (Slides)

Background/context. Despite the considerable scholarship generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, little appears to have been published about the potential value of collaboration between academics and learning skills staff in enhancing students’ learning experience during pivots to a completely online environment. Previous research has highlighted the value of in-person collaboration between academics and learning skills staff in enhancing student learning, skills development and employability (Pham & Tanner, 2015). It is crucial to better identify models of academic and learning support collaboration that are beneficial to students (Picton & Kahu, 2021). The initiative/practice. This qualitative study explores staff perspectives of the extent and impact of academic and learning support provided to students during the pivot to remote online teaching. Methods of evaluative data collection and analysis. Phenomenographic methods guided data collection and analysis, with 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with staff (10 academics, 2 learning skills) in a research-intensive Australian University. Rich insights were generated into the value of collaboration and personalisation in supporting student learning during the pandemic. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Evidence of outcomes and effectiveness. Collaboration between academic and learning skills staff enhanced student support, such as co-creation of skill-building videos that students accessed at their convenience. Importantly, these co-created artefacts were specific to lesson outcomes and assessment expectations. Findings shed light on the extent and variety of personalised support, formal and informal, staff provided to students, occasionally at cost of their own wellbeing. Staff found virtual consultations to be more effective and engaging compared to face-to-face, citing reduced travelling time between multiple campuses to meet students, and students being less distracted during consultations. This study provides recommendations to improve academic and learning support in the context of ongoing or future transitions to online teaching and learning.