Month: August 2022

Evaluation of Disability Services

Fiona A Wilkie Leave a Comment
The team

Alexa Wong (lead); Asma Lali (support), Rebecca Nasterlack (support), Peter Bratby (supervisor)

Department

Natural Sciences

What happened?
The EDS UCL ChangeMakers project was proposed to evaluate existing support services available for neurodivergent/ disabled students in the hopes of making the Natural Sciences Department more inclusive. We aim to identify existing policies, practices and resources that make a positive difference for students with neurodivergence and evaluate shortcomings in wellbeing services. This project was proposed by students in response to student feedback about wellbeing services. The project saw Natural Sciences students and staff come together to understand the experiences and needs of persons with a disability/ neurodivergence through research, surveys, and one-on-one interviews. Through conversations with the Student Wellbeing Services team and departmental mental health services, deeper insights were gained into the inner workings of support systems. Findings from the surveys and individual interviews will be compiled into a report which will be used to advocate for changes to Natural Sciences Departmental policies and practices with the goal of strengthening support systems to better meet the needs of students. By working closely with staff to analyse data, especially thematic analysis, a report analysing both the quantitative and qualitative data will be created alongside recommendations to improve such services. This report will be shared within the Natural Sciences department to increase awareness about these needs, with the potential of disseminating our findings to the larger MAPS faculty.
What advice or encouragement would you give to someone thinking of doing a ChangeMakers project?
My first tip is to find a team of people who are equally passionate about your project and committed to the cause. Juggling your project on top of academics will prove challenging at times, but being surrounded by dedicated people who remind you of the project’s importance will allow you to find it rewarding in the end. Secondly, maintain good communication between your entire team, including staff/ student partners. Thirdly, keep an organised checklist of things to be done and ensure everyone keeps to deadlines!

AstroSyndicate

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The team

Students: Nancy Yang, Maurane Gisiger, Nasko Stefanov, Patrycja Lakomiec.

Staff: Prof. Giorgio Savini, Dr. Steve Fossey.

Department

Physics and Astronomy

What happened?
The goal of the AstroSyndicate was to bring together astrophysics students from across different years of study. Events were catered to our shared interests in astrophysics and were held around campus and at the observatory. Examples include astrophysics talks and observing nights.
What advice or encouragement would you give to someone thinking of doing a ChangeMakers project?
Starting something from scratch can be difficult but don’t give up on it. Take note of what works and what doesn’t and don’t be afraid to change your plans slightly as you go along.

SWANA Forum for Social Justice

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The team

MPhil/Phd Student – Reem Ben Giaber: Co-lead Doctoral Candidate – Nidal Al Haj Sleiman: Co-lead Doctoral Candidate – Jumana Al-Waeli: Co-Lead Staff Partner – Professor Eleanor Hargreaves: Staff Partner at Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment (IOE)

Department
Department of Learning and Leadership (IOE)
What happened?

The SWANA Forum for Social Justice has emerged out of a perceived need for a community of scholars from South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region interested in education and social justice. With a specific focus on the SWANA region, members would be aware of the similarities and differences between countries in this vast geographical area (often too reductively and easily lumped together) and speak about/from specific countries to draw out practical opportunities for positive change in context. The co-founders of SWANA-FSJ find that one of the most exciting parts of this ongoing project is developing a monthly Webinar Series where two Guest Speakers from or working in the region present their thoughts and research on issues of social justice and education in the region. The Webinar Series hosts a range of scholars, practitioners and activists which draws in UCL students from a range of faculties and degree levels. One of the aims of the Webinar Series is to encourage aspiring academics from the SWANA region at UCL and beyond to find a community of shared interests – a place that values their voice and visibility in such an effort. SWANA-FSJ also organised a Focus Group discussion with UCL students to evaluate the need for such a Forum and the value of our activities. The findings where both encouraging and thought-provoking when the main themes from this discussion where issues of belonging, visibility of minorities in a big university like UCL and the importance of finding and building community action and solidarity – we have work to do.

SWANA FSJ Flyer_Reem Ben Giaber

What advice or encouragement would you give to someone thinking of doing a ChangeMakers project?
Be organised: decide how many hours you would like to dedicate the the ChangeMakers project and stick to it – it can easily take over!

The Mediterranean and Beyond: Improving diversity in the Greek and Latin curriculum

Fiona A Wilkie Leave a Comment
The team

Caterina Pellò (staff, lead) Annemarie Schunke (PhD student), Mridula Gullapalli (UG student)

Department

Greek and Latin

What happened?

We organised a speaker-series where students and staff gave mini lectures to improve the diversity and inclusivity of the current Greek and Latin courses. Ancient Studies cover a wide geographical territory, which is culturally and politically diverse. As such, this subject provides an opportunity to explore a broad range of human experiences. The aim of this lecture series was twofold: first, we invited speakers to give talks on unresearched topics so as to create new teaching resources that would improve diversity in the Greek and Latin curriculum. Talks focused on neglected ancient figures and topics, such as gender, race, age, disability, class, religion, and sexual orientation. Second, we created a platform where staff and students could reflect on the limits, approaches, methodological issues, and new challenges of decolonising the field, as well as create teaching resources to improve existing modules. Finally, this was also meant as an opportunity for students to gain teaching, writing, and speaking experiences, and to receive constructive feedback on their work from their colleagues and peers.

What advice or encouragement would you give to someone thinking of doing a ChangeMakers project?
1. We organised the series online due to the pandemic. However, I believe this series would benefit from in-person meetings and informal discussions over lunch, or tea and coffee.
2. One thing I would consider is whether to use part of the Changemakers funding to pay the student speakers. Preparing these talks is hard work for them and their commitment should be rewarded.
3. One could also organise a longer speaker series, with more than 3 sessions, depending on how many students sign up to contribute.
4. Organisers could also develop more systematic guidelines for students to prepare their talks and for staff mentors to give feedback to their mentees. In this way, the teaching resources and materials collected would be more homogeneous and easily reusable by lecturers.