Student interns work to improve teaching at UCL

Anoodth Naushan and Robert Vilkelis are working together to improve UCL Arena, UCL’s professional development scheme for staff who teach or support teaching.

They are spending three months observing two different strands of the programme, Arena One and Arena Two, and reviewing staff feedback in order to develop a learning framework and feedback form. As well as hosting a focus group with participants, they will be documenting best practice including writing a case study of their work to share with other universities.

They are part of a group of six interns working in pairs to look at the Centre’s three key initiatives: UCL Arena, UCL Connected Curriculum and UCL ChangeMakers. Although each pair focusses on one specific initiative, they also meet up and share their work and outputs with each other.

Dilly Fung, Professor of Higher Education Development and Academic Director, UCL Arena Centre for Research-based Education said: “The Arena Centre encourages and funds opportunities for students to work in partnership with staff across departments, through both its Connected Curriculum and UCL ChangeMakers initiatives. As our work aims to enhance education at UCL for all students, it's vital for us as a centre to work in partnership with students, too. We're already benefiting from their input and ideas on the work that we carry out through UCL Arena, the Connected Curriculum and UCL ChangeMakers.”

Anoodth and Robert share their thoughts on what they hope to gain from the internship.

What are you studying at UCL?

Anoodth (AN): I'm completing my Master’s in Social Policy and Social Research at the IOE.

Robert (RV): As a first-year undergraduate Psychology and Language Sciences student, I love facilitating teaching and learning by putting theory into action.

How long will you be interning with UCL Arena Centre?

AN: Our student internship runs until the end of April, but it's my hope that the projects we have started will continue beyond our tenure.  I think it's exciting that students have been given the chance to shape teaching at UCL, because we are not passive consumers of our education, but rather, the experts on our own experiences and expectations.

RV: I’ve been working with the UCL Arena Centre as a student intern since January, attracted by a shared set of aligned values. My internship lasts until at least the end of April– though I’d be lying if I said I’m not developing projects to stay actively involved in the future!

How has this changed your view of teaching at UCL? Do you think by the end of the internship you will view teaching differently?

AN: Being involved with the UCL Arena Centre has given me a deep appreciation for how teaching is modelled and developed at UCL. Knowing the programs in place to support teaching staff at all levels makes me feel more confident in the teaching I am receiving, and in the knowledge that professors are actively committed not just to research, but to bettering their teaching practice and supporting student learning. That being said, enrolment in the UCL Arena programme could be higher, and it makes me wonder if teaching at UCL, like all other research-intensive universities, is just undervalued when compared to research. We need to create an institutional culture where teaching is as highly valued.

RV: With a business coach and consultant background, it’s been rewarding and stimulating to focus specifically on the Centre’s Arena program where educators are educated. Working in my capacity as a student intern presents teaching at UCL through the “other side of the looking glass,” where I experience and discuss the strategy that goes into teacher learning – an aspect of teaching at UCL I otherwise wouldn’t see! My work with Arena One particularly shares a new appreciation for – and possibilities to relate to – postgraduate teaching assistants as I move forward.

Being a part of the UCL Arena Centre has fundamentally changed my identity as a student at UCL. I feel that I’m in a space where I can authentically express myself in all my facets as a student, as a consultant, and as a mentor. I find that being a student intern has honed my focus on what I want to accomplish moving forward – and at UCL, that’s revolutionising feedback, aspiring to my vision where students and teachers consistently share high-quality, actionable feedback with less energy and time expended. I look forward to my internship continuing to play a pivotal role in catalysing me to be a catalyst for the growth of my institution.

Has it made you appreciate more the teaching you have received?

AN: Definitely. Watching how the Connected Curriculum unfolds in the design and content of my courses is really interesting. Knowing the research and logic behind all of this makes me appreciate the deliberate structuring of my lectures and seminars, and how the learning activities we're asked to do each week helps us connect to the institution's research, and across disciplines. 

RV: In my classroom learning, my internship helps me more greatly appreciate how the Arena Centre has impacted my learning through the Connected Curriculum, which is responsible for the most engaging classes in my degree: lab sessions. This being said, I still feel that UCL and higher education broadly has a long way to go in transforming – if not retiring – the outdated lecture model of teaching which I continue to find hard to appreciate in an age where we’re shifting from a focus on informative to transformative learning.

What do you think makes teaching at UCL distinctive (compared to your friends in other universities)?

AN: I'm Canadian, so nearly all my learning and teaching experience has been in Canada. What really stands out is the emphasis on innovation, peer-based learning and interdisciplinary learning at UCL. This is especially true at the IOE. I've also found my professors really relatable and willing to help. I have to say though, that the marking schemes and summative assignment process was really new to me. It was shock at first to learn that one assignment could count for my whole grade, but the amount of feedback and support I've received on all my draft assignments has meant that I've been able to produce pieces I'm really proud of.

RV: What I love most about UCL’s teaching is the relationship I share with my teachers. While at many institutions there is the sense of an implicit hierarchy between students and staff, at UCL I feel the freedom to build and share peer-to-peer relationships with my teachers: we are all learners on a journey. This kind of relationship really does so much to facilitate learning through connection.