Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Oxford

CENTRE FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Sichen Liu,St Hilda’s College,Final Year Undergraduate, BA Cell and Systems Biology, Remote Working

Work Projects

I performed postproduction for three promotional student experience videos that were distributed to all teaching staff across departments at the University. I also planned, hosted and analysed a 90-minute focus group discussing survey uptake strategies, was in charge of student recruitment and

communication, produced a 10-page report commended by the University strategy working group, and I planned and conducted a webinar for lecturers and administrators in a team of 6 students. We were working in two groups of three and each group had a supervisor. We had one whole-team meeting and one team meeting every week.

Daily Life

It was remote the whole time. Working from home was not easy, as I had a fair amount of distraction and it felt lonely at times, and isolated from my colleagues. However, the team welcomed us in and gave us brilliant induction sessions, which eased the process. I settled into a daily routine based on the core office hours. Outside of work, I enjoyed cooking and experimenting with new dishes.

Lasting Impressions

I really enjoyed the internship. I have made friends, achieved personal growth and worked on projects that I had never done before. I think it is a great enrichment of my CV and I gained an insight into the university operation. This was my first experience in administration, and it has been immensely useful. Although it has not changed my career ambition, the skills I have learned from this experience and contacts made will surely be useful for further study and careers in the near future.

Michael Fuller,Pembroke College,Final Year Undergraduate, MMath Master of Mathematics, Remote Working

Work Projects

I was involved in two main projects during my internship at the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), which I proposed and structured collaboratively with the other interns. The first was a video-making project: we tasked ourselves with making a short series of videos supporting the guidance outlined on the CTL's webpage regarding remote teaching and learning. The videos consisted of students talking about their experiences with remote lectures, tutorials, and classes in Trinity Term 2020: what went well, what didn't go so well, and what could have been improved.

The second was a research project, for which we produced a strategic paper on survey uptake. The motivations for the paper were clear: the Trinity Term 2020 survey attracted only 18% of students, yet the data collected was used by the CTL to plan for remote teaching and assessment provisions in the academic years ahead. With a minority of the student population filling out surveys, we proceeded to conduct a small focus group with Oxford students to explore their motivations when it comes to filling out different types of surveys. We also spoke to numerous university administrators at other Higher Education institutions to discover what works well, and what doesn't work so well.

Daily Life

My internship was carried out remotely, which was a new experience for me and all of the interns on our team. For the first few weeks, I was still in my Oxford accommodation, which was great because it meant that I was able to meet some of the other interns who were also still in Oxford. When I returned home, I was fortunate enough to have room outside my bedroom for a small workspace. I found it useful to separate my work environment from my recreational environment, as I always seem to be more productive when I am in the designated "work" room.

Our core office hours for the internship were Mondays-Thursdays at 10-12, 2-4pm UK time. We then made up the rest of the 30 hours per week whenever it suited us the most. I enjoyed this flexibility: it allowed me to structure my week more easily and gave me more time for commitments that came up outside of the internship.

Outside of work, I enjoyed going on walks around the coastal town in which I live and letting off steam by weightlifting regularly. I also cherished the interns-only Teams meetings we scheduled, as they added a social element to the internship that was otherwise lacking.

Lasting Impressions

One of the comments that all the interns made in our interviews was about the uncertainty of remote working. In all honesty, this was the least of my concerns during the 12-week internship with the CTL. I enjoyed remote working and the flexibility that came with it. The induction period was not overwhelming, and the tasks we were initially set were enjoyable and allowed us to use our creativity. For example, we were given an assignment to create an alternative dashboard and course webpage for Canvas: I used this as an opportunity to learn HTML/CSS and present a modern, responsive design.