While the Covid restrictions may be consigned to the past, the shockwaves of the pandemic are still being felt, with the students now arriving at university having experienced many months of disrupted learning and long periods of forced isolation during vital developmental years. The sudden pivot to online delivery across higher education provided valuable lessons in designing more flexible modes of teaching and student support. Six years on, how can institutions apply tools at their disposal to support a generation whose formative teenage years were blighted by Covid, with all the associated challenges to learning, social skills and mental health?
Get students back to class
Lecture attendance remains stubbornly low post-pandemic and, while it is hoped that students who do not attend in person then catch up online, some educators fear this is not happening while others question the quality of engagement and learning via digital channels. So how can lecturers get students back to class? Here, academics share thoughtful, creative approaches that show signs of promise.
Build community into the curriculum to improve in-person attendance: If the lecture theatre is empty, it’s time to get more innovative in our delivery, says Gemma Ahearne of the University of Liverpool. Here, she offers approaches that show students the value of attending.
Entice students back to the classroom with community quizzes: In this post-pandemic landscape, how can we encourage students to turn up to in-person classes and teach them how to learn together? Mark Lechner of Simon Fraser University believes community quizzes are the key.
How to create extracurricular activities students will want to attend: Participation and enthusiasm are the goals of those hard-working volunteers, staff and faculty who organise campus activities and events. Here are 12 tips from Martyna Iwanicka of the University of Warsaw to boost university student engagement.
We used a hybrid escape room to dramatically boost student attendance: Low class attendance has been a growing trend since the pandemic, so how can we encourage students to come back? Educators at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University share their innovative strategy.
Want students back in the classroom? Don’t give everything away online: Empty classrooms are an unfortunate reality of post-pandemic universities. To stop this, we need to explain the fundamentals of learning and tempt students back, writes Harriet Dunbar-Morris.
Covid should have taught us that campus needs to be a treasured space: If we’re to tempt stay-away students back to the physical campus, we must recognise that place and places matter following disasters, say the University of Liverpool’s Gemma Ahearne and Treasa Kearney.
Blended learning done right
Blended learning can offer students the best of both worlds, with face-to-face and online teaching working in tandem. While critics worry that offering this hybrid approach to teaching could reduce attendance further, proponents point out that it widens access to higher education through greater flexibility and self-paced learning. But it must be done well. These resources offer advice on effective blended learning based on educators’ experiences of what works.
‘I just wish all lecturers would use the VLE in the same way’: A consistent approach to blended teaching and learning across the whole institution can shift the student experience. Alison Torn of Leeds Trinity University shares a way to achieve it – from page templates to staff training.
Partnering with students to build belonging in a blended learning environment: A sense of belonging and community plays a major role in maximising student engagement. But how can educators cultivate an authentic community? Reimala Sivalingam of the University of Manchester offers some answers.
Let’s talk: how to connect with your students in a blended learning environment: Teaching is about connection, and blended learning offers educators the chance to create a dialogue with students. Kyrin Liong and Victor Wang of Singapore Institute of Technology show how.
Nine tips for a successful, accessible blended learning field trip: A guide to planning and implementing field trips that successfully integrate on-site and online students, by Alette Willis and Alex Penland the University of Edinburgh.
Three blended learning challenges and how to overcome them: Tips to improve student retention, engagement and participation drawn from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University’s blended and online introductory computer programming courses, which cannot rely on in-person labs.
Support for student well-being
Young people’s mental health suffered during the pandemic, resulting in higher levels of depression and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties in the aftermath, research from the University of Oxford shows. Awareness of what some have labelled a mental health epidemic among the young has prompted universities to review their student support and well-being services. Find out here what more can be done to create a happy campus.
What does it take to encourage students to use their voice? The National Student Survey tells us students want their voices heard, but what if they don’t take up opportunities for feedback? The University of Southampton’s Sam Perry looks at challenges of integrating student input (and wonders if chocolate is the answer).
How to run an effective student well-being campaign: From reaching out to the local community to making it interactive, Christina Chant of Edinburgh Napier University offers seven tips for effectively promoting your university’s well-being services.
From tree rings to tree pose: exploring varied approaches to well-being in universities: Institutions should employ a varied range of psychosocial support and well-being therapies to support students with diverse needs and improve mental health literacy, Kathleen Chim and Benjamin Chan of Hong Kong Metropolitan University write.
How to combat the mental health crisis on campus: From staff training to nap pods and on-campus emotional support animals, universities can use both well-established and novel ways to help students to better mental health and well-being, writes Montclair State University president Jonathan Koppell.
What self-determination theory can do for post-pandemic college students: Incoming university students are more stressed, anxious and distracted than ever. Here’s how to support their psychological needs, by Cathy A. Pohan and Melissa Samaniego of Chapman University.
How Mozart and the arts can help students feel less awkward: Music and dance give the post-Covid cohort low-stress opportunities to face each other in potentially antagonising – even agonising – set-ups. Educators at New York University share how a multi-sensory curriculum helps students combat feelings of isolation and impostor syndrome.
Engage Gen Z students
While a recent upturn in young fiction book sales contradicts common accusations that Gen Z attention spans are shrinking, a survey conducted by TikTok of its users revealed that 50 per cent of them found videos lasting longer than a minute “stressful”. When bombarded with so much digital information daily, perhaps it is more a question of what cuts through the noise. So, how can educators ensure their teaching captures the attention of a doom-scrolling generation? Or perhaps, even, lure them away from their screens?
Dear educators, Gen Z here. Could you please teach us like it’s 2026? Learning has changed drastically in the past five years, but teaching practices haven’t caught up. From your students’ perspective, Sara Brownell of Arizona State University and her students explain how to adapt.
Help students disconnect from their tech: Find out how a “digital fast” can give students time and mental clarity – and how to support them through the process, from a team at the University of East Anglia.
Harness the power of the cliffhanger to hook Gen Z’s scrolling minds: Learn from Gen Z’s social media use to engage their attention. Keep it bite-sized and high-impact – and leave them wanting more, write Tasnim Mustafa and Mariam Shadan of Dubai Medical University.
Which specific Covid disruptions impacted motivation and engagement? Lockdowns, isolation, remote learning and more have impacted various aspects of students’ lives. Knowing what and how puts educators in a better position to offer support, explains Andrew J. Martin of UNSW Sydney.
Do you speak Gen Z or are you a noob? Students want to study with academics who understand them and speak their language rather than learn from people they feel are out of touch. Jennifer Pulkkinen of the University of Derby shares how to align your lingo and foster engagement.
AcademiaTok: how to inspire Generation Z with academic research: Explaining research in a short social media video is a major green flag for the Covid-19 generation. Lina Filippidi of the London School of Economics and Political Science explores how to use existing resources to hit TikTok and Instagram.
The rise and rise of the lecture-tainer: Falling class attendance and shorter student attention spans present challenges for university teachers. Sandi Mann of the University of Central Lancashire offers advice for tackling the boredom conundrum.
Thank you to all Campus contributors who shared their expertise in this guide.
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