My panning is always flaky a best (hello ADHD!), so i never really wrote down a plan of action; however, I did have a clear idea of wanting the research driven by students experiences, and not so heavily influenced by my own expectations or UAL policies. In a way the loose planning allowed for a more organic evolution of the research, guided my my findings.
The starting plan was to conduct a questionnaire, followed by an interview, followed by a focus group, with data analysis in between each stage to inform the content of the next step.
The aim was to come up with suggestions for practical actions we could implement to empower Neurodivergent (ND) students on the Contour course.
1. Questionnaire
Collecting information through a questionnaire would allow open and honest answers thanks to anonymity. I also gave the students the option to contact me and reveal their avatar name, so I could retrieve their questionnaire answers if they were happy to discuss further with me.
I built the consent form into the questionnaire itself, giving the participants several options to share their experience fully or just for statistical purposes, and to hide their identity in case of a focus group, whilst still sharing the experience with the group.
I included some questions that would allow me to verify the various ND conditions and diagnosis status, however I mostly included open questions to foster an open conversation. I asked students about how their diagnosis had impacted them, and to share positive and negative aspects of living with the condition(s).
The uptake was very low, only 2 students at first answered the questionnaire, before the Winter break. After another round of emails 5 more students participated on the return from Winter break. I took a very long break in the project due to extenuating circumstances, and tried to get more responses to collect more data at the end of the academic year, once there were no competing deadlines, however there were no more participant and I concluded with a total of 7 participant out of 146 students on the course. This is about 5% of the students, whilst my estimate is that ND students amount to 10-20%. It was disappointing, and not statistically representative, however the nature of the open questions has still given me sufficient data to work with.
I considered offering rewards to increase the uptake, like we do for CSS and NSS, however I concluded this was not ethical in my case as it would upset the power balance in our academic relationship; It also would not be possible when combined with anonymity. Students often complain of feeling overwhelmed by competing priorities (multiple assessments, work, home life), which would be particularly exacerbated for a ND student, so I had to accept the low uptake. I could possibly have given them time during a session to fill in the questionnaire, but as I don’t have regular sessions with year 1 and 2 students, and not all students would be taking part (undermining anonymity), that would also not have been a good solution.
One thing I regret is not including a video to introduce the questionnaire, as my email, information sheet and the introduction to the questionnaire were all very lengthy, and that may have put off some students from even getting interested. However, my own executive disfunction meant it was taking me so long to record the video, I was loosing too much time and opted to omit it.
As well as reading through the questionnaire answers and scanning for common points, I found the use of Forms helpful: it translated the answers into a visual presentation, creating graphs and word clouds that were helpful pin pointing key themes – this is AI driven and required editing on my part, but the exercise of visualising the answers was very helpful to me.
From the questionnaire responses I identified accommodations and community spirit to be key aspects of the ND experience for our students, and designed 2 key questions to ask in interviews:
- Which accommodation did your find most helpful with your condition(s)?
- Do you feel like you are part of a community?
See also my blog on the questionnaire results for further information.
2. Interview with colleagues
The following step was meant to be interviews with volunteers from the questionnaire participants, however, given the low uptake, I decided to introduce an extra layer into the research. As well as several ND students, we also have a number of ND staff on the course – which goes hand in hand with my theory that Contour is a ND “magnet” discipline. So I conducted two interviews with colleagues, as I would do with the students, to identify any differences or similarities.
See also my blog about these interviews for further information.
3. Interview with students
Following that experience, where I had successfully road tested the 2 questions, I conducted 4 interviews with students from the questionnaire participants. These were all graduates, who came forward at the time of the questionnaire as willing to participate, but I had left aside during my study break. I considered that they were probably more comfortable talking to me than other students because they knew me better, having had more time with me as their tutor than year 1 or 2 students who don’t know me very well.
The interview with colleagues proved a successful format, so I continued with the same for the students, with the addition of some follow on questions from their individual questionnaires (They had disclosed their Avatar name, so I could identify them).
These were very interesting and informative. In a way, the fact that all 4 but one had already graduated (one has deferred) probably meant that they were more relaxed and happy to be open with me. Conversations took between 15 and 30 mins, in accordance with their availability, but were fruitful.
The main takeaway from the interviews were:
- ND students don’t feel disabled
- There are positive and negative aspects to the conditions, the trick is finding a balance.
- Accommodations are important and extremely helpful, and the variety of measures is also important because ND involves a spectrum of different needs.
- Community spirit is empowering; isolation makes things very difficult and negative.
- The Contour team is doing a good job with supporting students. Openness is key.
4. Focus group / workshop
I have run out of time to implement a focus group, especially as students had broken up for the summer and were no longer on campus, so I propose to run this in the new academic year. Although the ARP unit will be concluded (granted, if I actually pass!), I am committed to improve the experience of my fellow ND Contour specialists. Any improvement we can implement to their university experience is bound to empower them in their career.
Given what I know from the research so far, it would run like a workshop, aimed at designing together any intervention that was felt helpful or necessary. Based on the conversations I had with the students, I can envisage this being along the lines of:
- Information sharing opportunities (pin board, group meetings, buddy systems)
- PR – making current and future students aware that ND is widespread, destigmatizing the condition
- Facility and system improvement (better working spaces, better designed resources)
I look forward to doing this as the students who have participated in the project were very excited at the prospect of improvements to their experience. I also feel I owe it to little old me. Furthermore, It would be interesting to see if any intervention can be implemented in work places.
5. Results
Ultimately the results of the project are still pending, but I have collected enough understanding to guide a workshop towards some concrete actions, by highlighting the aspects of the condition that are most felt by the students.
The results are in line with my expectations, but they are more broad and rich with nuance than I would have elaborated on my own. I will probably lose the momentum in student participation, starting again in the new academic year, but the fact that the themes are student driven should aid with engagement on their part.
It is also just one step in the journey, as there is much to be done to aid and empower ND students and make them feel cared for and welcome.
6. Actions
Whilst waiting for the opportunity to run the workshop, I have identified 2 immediate actions.
a. Quiet hours in the machine room.
Sensory overstimulation is an issue for many ND individual, and the machine room can be very loud. Whilst it is not possible to silence the machines, it is possible to have quiet time when chatting and music are not allowed, to reduce the level of noice.
We have implemented this immediately, starting from Block 2, with Saturday mornings dedicated to quiet hours. This was well received by students and adhered to with no issues. The technician in charge of those hours has reported good behaviour and a pleasant atmosphere, and students welcomed the intervention with favourable comments.
b. Visibility
At the beginning of year 1 we have a welcome session with the students where we introduce them to the course and faculty. We do cover ISAs and encourage them to come forward if they have, or think they have learning differences that require special accommodations. However, I understand that it is still difficult for students to be aware or feel comfortable at this stage.
I intend to be a more active participant in this part of the session, and propose myself as a ND champion to students, addressing awareness, support and ownership of the condition. Making myself known, showing vulnerability, has proven to be effective in fostering a safe environment.