Personas Jennifer

Amelia completed their undergraduate studies in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Alberta, Canada, before they studied for a PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. They are now working as a Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences at a Scottish university. As part of her employment contract, they had to complete a 30 credit course on pedagogy in Higher Education, in order to become a Fellow at the Higher Education Academy. While at Ulster, they worked as an E-Tutor and became familar with online teaching tools but they have used them very little since.

Sarah did well in high school and entered university straight after graduating. While at school, she worked as a cashier and was involved in several school committees. She is currently reaching the end of the second year in her undergraduate studies. She has decided to major in Classics.

They contribute to the teaching of different courses within their department and are the module lead for the postgraduate course Statistics for Biomedical Sciences. This means they have to frequently liaise with other members of staff to co-ordinate classes. They also supervise the work of tutors who teach tutorials on the Statistics for Biomedical Sciences module. In addition to teaching, Amelia supervises several students and research assistants who work on research in their lab.

Sarah is an undergraduate student at a university in New York. She is the head of the Classics Student society at her university and works in the university library to earn additional money.

Amelia has worked in online teaching before and is thus familiar with the process of using forums, wikis, and online meeting rooms to engage with students. However, they have no experience in designing a module curriculum for online teaching and are unsure how to structure course elements.

Sarah's assignments always had to be submitted online and she finds this an easy process. She has access to a good computer, a webcam, and a good internet connection. Additionally, she has good research skills and finds it easy to access material that is available online. Sarah occasionally uses services like Z-Library or SciHub to access books and articles she cannot get access to through the library.

They are familar with different programming languages and find it easy to adapt materials for online presentation. As the university has moved towards online submissions of assignments a few years ago, they are familar with online marking and plagiarism checks through TurnitIn.

She has developed excellent research skills, which makes it easier for her to access study materials. Having worked in the library, she is very familar with their system. Her job has now been moved online, and she helps other students gain access to materials. This means she is always one of the first to learn new methods and find out about new library tools.

Amelia wants to ensure that the curriculum they develop will allow students to take in information and solidify their newly acquired knowledge. As part of her employment contract, they had to complete a 30 credit course on pedagogy in Higher Education, in order to become a Fellow at the Higher Education Academy. While at Ulster, they worked as an E-Tutor and became familar with online teaching tools but they have used them very little since.

Sarah wants to complete her degree successfully. She hopes to go on to study law after completing her undergraduate studies and will need good references to support her application.

Short-term: Transition the Statistics for Biomedical Sciences to online-teaching, train tutors to run tutorials online. Liaise with other module leads to discuss what lectures they usually cover and that need to be moved online. Establish opportunities for students to engage on a social level.

Long-term: Assess impact of changes on students and staff, both positive and negative. For example, could continous assessment replace more exams to facilitate knowledge retention? Could lecture recordings be implemented permanently to promote equality?

Short-term: Transition to accessing study materials online, gain access to materials required to complete course work.

Long-term: Complete degree successfully and study law.

The country is in lockdown and communication with other members of staff is more difficult at a distance. Staff who need to home-school children have less time available, while others are dealing with family and friends fighting Covid-19. The mental health of both staff and students is suffering and the university has yet to establish a distance counsellig service.

Amelia also requires specific program licences and a server set up with specific configurations to continue supervising thesis and research students. The IT department has started to address some of these issues but further work is needed and it is a slow process.

Many of the books she would usually access in the library are not available online. Some of the books that are available online are difficult to read. Continuing work for the Classics Society has been a problem, as people seem more reluctant to engage online. This means her time on the committee may not be as successful as it may have otherwise been, which could have a negative effect on her success with academic and professional applications.

They live with a flatmate in a comfortable flat, with enough space for a home office. They do not have any children and are happy to work around the schedule of colleagues who may currently have additional commitments, e.g. home-schooling. Amelia has previously tutored online and thus has some experience in online teaching.

She has direct access to the latest advice and updates in the library. As she worked in addition to attending high school and university, she has developed excellent time management skills. Her committee work has also provided her with the ability to work effectively in a team.