Student Experience of Learning, Assessment and Support during the Covid-19 Pandemic. : Creating a New Reality Phase One Report

March 2020 saw the start of a pandemic in England which has impacted on every part of society. In Higher Education online teaching, meetings and engagement with students and colleagues became the norm. All face to face teaching was suspended at 5pm on Friday 20th March 2020. Since 2014 the University of Northampton has been moving towards its current institutional approach to learning and teaching: Active Blended Learning. This approach has eased the transition to online learning and provided a firm foundation on which to build (JISC, 2020). However, translating this into online teaching was new for us all and capturing academic and student experience within the Early Years subject area was crucial to shape teaching in the forthcoming academic year and beyond. This report presents the findings from phase one of the research. They suggest that students missed the opportunities afforded them by face to face, campusbased sessions. Long sessions were difficult for both students and academics. Whilst the majority had appropriate technologies for online learning, this was not the case for all. In fact, academic staff also faced internet challenges which could impact on the students learning experiences. The key recommendations of this report are a focus on the basics of ensuring accessibility, developing student’s skills and familiarity in using the online tools and continuing to match the supper supportive environment provided face to face through online alternatives. The student voice and lecturers’ experience enabled the team to reflect and innovate for the new academic year and develop a flexible working module that would support online or face to face teaching. Shorter whole group sessions, small group work, tutorials and bespoke support, where necessary is now embedded and constantly reviewed. This ensures the model adapts to the continual shifting landscape that we current find ourselves in within Higher Education.