School of Psychological Science
Zoom Webinar, Sli.do, University of Bristol Timetabling
During 2020-2021, many courses took place online, with students expressing a need for community. The School of Psychological Science wanted to add human touch to how they disseminate news and communicate with students and colleagues - to create a shared space that would go beyond pursuing grades and that would foster a sense of community.
The School of Psychological Science decided to come up with a shared space that wouldn’t be linked to one unit, rather it would connect students and staff from the whole School to disseminate news, spark conversations, foster a sense of connection and increase motivation.
We wanted to have a shared space for the whole School to meet.
The School designed a School Assembly led by Dr Phil Collard. They decided that running it regularly at a specific time would provide routine and schedule, to address issues with motivation and engagement.
The School Assembly runs weekly, from 11 am to 12 noon on Mondays. This is scheduled in the timetable for every person affiliated with the School. The event is promoted over email each week, the morning before.
Each assembly has a number of hosts/speakers and each conversation/talk lasts approximately 10 minutes. The assembly welcomes information from the School, researchers, industry experts, career and wellbeing advisors as well as alumni, student reps and there is an opportunity for Q&As from students.
It is co-organised by two Senior Lecturers and the Head of the School. Planning and organising the Assembly takes roughly 3 hours a week.
The assembly has received positive feedback from both staff and students. Attendees appreciate it’s not just about sharing research information. Staff value the short 10-minute talks as an opportunity to get to know other colleagues. There has also been a very good response to all the informal careers interviews with alumni in the Assembly.
It’s story-centred and provides a glimpse of personal journeys.
From the student perspective, the most beneficial aspects of the Assembly have been the informal interviews with alumni. This will become one of the major focuses of the Assembly next year.
The turn-out was in three-digit numbers at the beginning of TB, down to 50 at the end of the teaching block (due to assignments and deadlines).
It has been a success and the School wants to run the Online Assemblies in a post-covid world. The online format has the clear benefits of flexibility and convenience.
