Levelling the playing field: Embedding academic skills for post graduate students

Academic skills at university level often involve expertise from different
professional areas. Whilst the academic librarian (information literacy) and
learning development tutor may coordinate their sessions, they often deliver
content separately. The model we chose to adopt with one particular cohort
was to deliver some aspects collaboratively by team teaching, in addition
to facilitating separate sessions; this allowed the students to understand the
difference in our expertise as well as the synergy that exists in our roles.
The cohesive approach supported students’ academic skills development;
it also allowed evaluation of the sessions to consider different perspectives,
which helped when planning future content.

Normally we prepare sessions in isolation from students’ perspectives, as
the skills requirement is informed via a dialogue with academic staff. This
article outlines the value of a collaborative approach in gaining an initial
understanding of competencies at level 7 and in being responsive to needs
of the students. The authors involved all stakeholders in this process, as
sometimes the needs of the students are interpreted differently by academics
than by the students themselves. This approach produced organic and tailored
sessions to level the playing field amongst the students.