Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 11 Summer 2019 | Page 32

Learning to be social: Creating conversations for compassion and change Zoe Robinson ([email protected]) Abstract: Social learning requires us to connect on a very human level, as individuals and the social animals that we are. We spend much of our days in conversation, yet few of us have received any formal training in conversation skills or reflect explicitly on how we converse with others and how we can have better conversations. We seem to assume that we develop these skills naturally, yet we are all aware at times of not been listened to and not listening to others. In higher education, outside of several areas of professional practice, ‘communication skills’ development is seen as synonymous with ‘presenting’ and disregards the one-to-one communication that is fundamental to every aspect of our lives. This session draws on the findings of a HEFCE-funded project which explored pedagogies of one-to-one communication. The session will summarise the impacts of the project in creating real change in personal and professional behaviour and practice in the 150+ participants, from undergraduates through to academic and professional services staff; as well as immersively explore the conditions and activities that can create conversations for compassion and change. The findings are relevant to establishing effective conditions for social learning in many different settings. Social spaces for sustainability learning: Classrooms, campus accommodation and coffee shops Sarah Briggs ([email protected]) Abstract: Learning doesn’t just take place in the classroom. In the field of Education for Sustainable Development, there is an appreciation of the different spaces for 32  sustainability learning - from the formal curriculum, the informal curriculum, to the hidden curriculum (the environment in which students live and study); and the importance for congruence in the messages we give to students through these different spaces. The complex interactions across these spaces for learning require effective partnership working between different stakeholders creating its own social learning and understanding of different perspectives, but can also create tensions for example the space between students’ public and private lives. This session explores how social learning leading to broader learning and change has taken place in these different settings at Keele University, led at different times by the University, Students’ Union, and students themselves. Examples range from solutions-orientated campus-based group projects, to student-led campaigns and initiatives, many of which have taken flight in an informal space for student sustainability activism, the sustainable student bungalow - a student-led project designed for students to be able to ‘live what they are learning’. “Simulated physiotherapy practice assessments: unexploited collaborative learning opportunities?” Anne O`Brien (a.v.o'[email protected]) Abstract: Background: Simulation is used in many health- related learning environments for teaching and assessment purposes. Students in the School of Health and Rehabilitation (SHAR) “model” as patients for each other which provides opportunities to refine handling and communication skills (Fejzic & Barker 2015; Reitz et al, 2013) also facilitating practitioner competence to be assessed. This study aimed to explore student beliefs/ experiences of “modelling” as a learning opportunity during examinations. Method: Following ethical approval, physiotherapy students were invited to participate. Semi-structured interviews, were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach (Braun & Clarke,