Summer Term in Psychology: Building a Learning Community

As part of the series on the Summer Term Programme, in this week's MicroCPD, Dr Sally Adams (School of Psychology) discusses the activities which the School of Psychology offers in order to build a learning community.

The School of Psychology is delighted to offer a range of community building events and activities as part of summer term and the UoBxtra festival. In both the National Student Survey (NSS) and Postgraduate Taught Experiences Survey (PTES) for the 2022/3 academic year our students requested the opportunity to explore academic interests and to socialise with other students and staff in the school. This academic year we have hosted community building events for our undergraduate and postgraduate students, including informal drop-ins with academic staff with pizza, writing retreats for final year students and “talk to the head of school” events.

In June 2024 we will build on these events by offering summer term learning opportunities and extracurricular activities designed to foster a learning community in the School of Psychology.

Academic focused sessions will include “A Day in the life of… a Psychology MSci/MSc/PhD/Trainee”- a session designed to give first year students an insight into further study opportunities in psychology and “Meet your dissertation supervisor” for second year students to get an early induction to their chosen research area. For graduating students there will be a “The journey of a psychology alumni” event aimed at showcasing the career paths taken by our school alumni in psychology and beyond. Postgraduate students are invited to join our “Research and Impact” event in the school, which showcases the rich and diverse research and impact work undertaken by staff and PhD students in the school.

In addition to these extracurricular activities there will be school arranged trips to “The Exchange” to learn about the impact of public engagement and science communication in psychology and to “Twycross Zoo” which is home to the four great ape species that offer us a window into the development of human psychological processes and behaviour.

The School of Psychology is looking forward to welcoming all our students to summer term as part of our learning community.