Exploring the impact of disruption on university staff resilience using the dynamic interactive model of resilience

The unanticipated changes in Higher Education settings brought about as a result of COVID–19 resulted in a range of personal, pedagogical and organisational challenges. This paper reports on research undertaken within a university in South West England, exploring how the pandemic impacted the working practices of academic and professional staff, the implications of those changes and the factors the respondents interpreted as influencing their resilience. A mixed methods approach was adopted whereby data were gathered from 159 academic and professional staff members using an online survey. Nine respondents were then individually interviewed. The data were analysed using the Dynamic Interactive Model of Resilience (DIMoR) in order to explore protective and risk factors from the various systems surrounding the respondents, alongside their more personal vulnerabilities/invulnerabilities. The results highlight the importance of considering individual and wider contexts when analysing the potential for resilience to emerge in times of disruption. The significance of movement of proximal and distal influences depending on the individual and their context also emerged, offering implications for university leaders to consider in supporting staff within their institutions. The value of the DIMoR is discussed as a lens for analysis to support understanding and future action

Developing Effective Assessment Feedback: Academic buoyancy and the relational dimensions of feedback

This research reports on the second phase of a project exploring the effectiveness of tutor to student assessment feedback. It highlights the dynamic interaction of interpersonal and intrapersonal contexts in effective feedback processes. It proposes a holistic conceptualisation of feedback that considers the academic buoyancy and attributes of the recipient, and the relationships and opportunities for dialogue with the provider and the ramifications for practice. To explore the impact of the implementation of changes to practice suggested from phase one of the research, qualitative data were collected and analysed from student focus groups and individual interviews within a UK undergraduate education course. Links from this phase between feedback processes, affect, tutor input and the ‘Key 5’ indicators of academic buoyancy emerge, revealing the importance of reciprocal relationships and dialogic interactions. This demonstrates the need to acknowledge the individuals involved and the nature of the relationships between them

Developing academic buoyancy and resilience through the assessment feedback process.

Assessment feedback can be an opportunity to develop students' academic buoyancy (Martin & Marsh, 2008) - itself a part of students' academic resilience. Academic buoyancy refers to the ability to manage the everyday setbacks and challenges in education, such as a disappointing grade. This research builds on the findings and proposals for action from the first phase of research into the effect of assessment feedback on the academic buoyancy (ahmed Shafi et al. 2016) of undergraduate students studying BA Education Studies. This identified 5 indicators of academic buoyancy and 3 consequent suggestions for changes in practice for assessment feedback processes within a BA Education Studies course. This follow up research seeks to explore the impact of the changes to practice on the academic buoyancy of students at the end of one academic year. The data collection methodology is comprised of three parts; focus group interviews with students, individual student interviews and an analysis of National Student Survey (NSS) scores for the previous and current academic years. This research situates itself within the action research approach (Elliott 1991) within a desire to improve the democratic and virtuous nature of teaching (Elliott 2015), through critical reflection and the ‘theory-practice conversation’ (McAteer 2013 p.12). Consideration will also be given to a subsequent phase of research, to be undertaken to examine longer-term impact of the approaches examined within this phase. The changes in processes to the assessment feedback provided students with: a revised feedback sheet with an enhanced focus on strengths, reasons for achievement of grade and suggestions to improve the mark; teaching sessions with a focus on the development of academic buoyancy through the 5 indicators; and a tutorial structure where students are tasked with discussing individual self-identified development points derived from the feedback. This research seeks to identify the impact of this scaffolding approach (Bruner 1978) on students’ perceptions of the value of the revised assessment feedback process and how this relates to their academic development, their emotions and their overall satisfaction with the BA Education Studies course as a whole. The project aims to inform the professional learning of teaching staff through identifying the effectiveness of research-informed practice which may then be considered for use within their own courses and institutions

Developing assessment feedback literacy: The role of reciprocal relationships and dialogic interactions

This research is situated within the notion of ‘feedback literacy’ (Carless, 2016) and academic buoyancy (Martin and Marsh, 2009). It examines ways in which students respond to and use feedback in order to ascertain the potential for tutors to maximise its effectiveness. It builds on the first phase of this research which was designed to improve assessment feedback (Ahmed Shafi et al., 2017). Findings demonstrated that, alongside changes in practice derived from the first phase, the dynamic interaction of the social and personal contexts were key factors in feedback processes and academic buoyancy. Phase 1 highlighted the impact feedback has on students’ emotional state and identified five indicators of academic buoyancy (the Big 5). The findings showed that assessment feedback can support the development of these indicators and thus develop academic buoyancy. Based on these findings, changes to practice were implemented. This current paper explores the impact of these changes, which included: focused tutor input on the 5 indicators, revising the assessment feedback format and student devised action points for discussion within personal tutor meetings. To understand the impact of these changes with regards to feedback literacy, qualitative data were collected from 4 focus groups each comprising between 4-6 students and 8 individual student interviews across Levels 4, 5 and 6 of a UK undergraduate BA Education degree course. Findings indicated that changes to practice supported academic buoyancy and that additional input to develop the indicators would be beneficial. Additional emergent themes included the importance of contextualised dialogue (Ajjawi & Boud, 2017) and the significance of relationships with tutors in facilitating a more buoyant response to feedback. The research has led to a proposed model that conceptualises feedback practice and bases it on a revised set of Big 5 indicators of academic buoyancy and embeds it in a course ethos that recognises the importance of relationships between tutors and students and acknowledges the role of dialogue in providing both emotional and academic support. The model takes account of the individual attributes of students stressing the formative, personal and development potential of feedback and with a systems perspective. The relevance of these findings link closely to the idea of ‘value for money’ in Higher Education but importantly to how tutors can support students in their academic journey

The Role of Assessment Feedback in Developing Students’ Academic Buoyancy

Research reveals strong evidence connecting educational resilience (Wang 1994, 1997) and educational buoyancy (Martin et al. 2010) with academic success (De Baca 2010, Martin & Marsh 2008). The predominantly convergent nature (Delandshire 2001) of summative assessment is largely based on a deficit model where judgments of success are made by a perceived expert. This results in challenges and setbacks in academic achievement that can be seen as unexceptional aspects of the learning journey for some undergraduate students (Putwain et al. 2007) but for others can be potentially damaging. This research focuses on these typical challenges rather than more exceptional chronic issues which impact on academic learning and argues that academic buoyancy (Martin & Marsh 2009) is a key factor in academic success as it helps students cope with such setbacks. This research stems from an interest in the relationship between assessment feedback and academic buoyancy and a belief that in order to scaffold student's learning (Vygotsky 1978) and effectively support the development of their academic buoyancy, there is a need for a better understanding of i) the choices made by students following assessment feedback given by the lecturer, ii) what students are looking for in feedback and iii) the impact on students of assessment feedback as a result of different formats in which feedback is provided. The assessment feedback given by academic staff may focus on the mechanics of a task, but potentially miss an opportunity to develop the buoyancy of students. This research project aims to explore how undergraduate students view the usefulness of feedback, how they understand their strengths and difficulties as a result of feedback and their understanding of the feed-forward potential for their future academic work. After an initial pilot with a sample of 19 students emergent themes were identified which are now being explored further with 100 undergraduate students studying BA Education Studies. They are being consulted through the use of a semi-structured questionnaire with follow up focus group interviews. This student centred project aims to inform the professional learning of teaching staff in effective ways to offer feedback such that this repeated interaction between staff and students through the year is favourable and develops student buoyancy, thus facilitating assessment for resilience