NEON Diverse Learners Working Group

NEON Working Groups

Workshop Title: Beyond Skills: Understanding Student Habits to Support Academic Success

This working group serves to provide a space for addressing the challenges of establishing better outcomes for ethnically diverse learners in Higher Education and explores innovative approaches to developing good practice in this area by way of practical discussions, research/case study analysis, and peer support.

Agenda

Welcome and Introductions (Karen Lipsedge, Kingston University, Chair)

Matt Cunningham (Lecturer in Drama and Creative Writing, Kingston University)

Workshop Summary:
Academic skills workshops are a crucial support for students across all disciplines, helping them navigate university expectations and develop confidence in areas such as essay writing, critical thinking, and presentation skills. At Kingston University, the Writing and Oral Skills (WOS) programme delivers academic skills workshops to a wide range of students, both through bespoke sessions embedded within individual courses and through open-access workshops available to all students across the university. These workshops provide tailored support to students from different disciplines, backgrounds, and levels of study, ensuring that academic skills development is both accessible and relevant to their diverse needs. However, developing these skills is not just about instruction—it’s also about understanding student behaviour, habits, and psychology. Why do students procrastinate? What motivates them to engage with their learning? And how can we, as educators, support not just their academic skills but also their mindset and working habits?

Drawing on fifteen years of experience delivering university-wide academic skills workshops, this interactive workshop will explore strategies for engaging students at different levels, disciplines, and experiences. The workshop will focus on practical ways to help students manage procrastination, improve motivation, and develop productive learning habits, offering insights that participants can take back to their own institutions. The workshop will also be interactive and give participants the opportunity to trial some of the practical strategies suggested by Matt and consider how they may be adapted for the specific needs and requirements of their student and the educational sector in which they work

Short bio: Matt Cunningham has been teaching for the Writing and Oral Skills academic support programme at Kingston University for over ten years. A practicing playwright, he also teaches for Drama and Creative Writing at Kingston.

Breakout groups

The breakout session provides colleagues with the opportunity to come together to discuss the project and how they could incorporate and develop the strategies provided at their institution. In your discussions, please consider the following topics:

• Have you ever encountered unproductive overlap between competing strategies designed to promote diversity and inclusivity?
• Have your efforts to diversify the materials your students are engaging with been curtailed by the still relatively limited availability of less well-known texts in an accessible format?
• Can you see any areas in your own institution where Work Related Learning/Employability initiatives might actually function as a way of promoting accessibility and inclusion?
• Are there any aspects of today’s discussion that you adapt or apply in your own practices and/or share with your networks

Feedback and Q&A

AOB and next meeting

This working group is organised by the University of Kingston.