We have made an executive decision as a department to actively select tutor and lab groups in a measured and appropriate manner that can provide an even distribution of international students. This has been a decision made by the Chemistry department committee as an active attempt to improve intercultural and international integration. This will require selecting students work groups prior to the start of each year and making sure that there is the opportunity for student engagement with different cultures and ethnicities within the learning environment. We hope this can negate the propensity for ‘cliques’ of international students to form, which is a natural reaction to studying abroad. However, we feel that the best engagement with the student experience and with the course is by embedding individuals within diverse settings.

At the end of the introductory day the new group is consulted to see whether they would like to be included in the formation of a WhatsApp (or other social media type platform) group. The purpose of this group will be for the group to support each other in between taught elements of the programme. It might be a place where the students can informally discuss the teaching content and assignments. We also suggest that it can be used as a platform for setting up a buddy system for assignments where the students pair up to proof read each other’s work prior to submission (eg: checking referencing and typos, critiquing etc) It is also suggested that it is an opportunity to practice the attitudinal qualities of mindfulness in particular compassion for all members of the group.

In the Chemistry department, every student in their 1st year has compulsory intercultural training as part of their core modules.

In the Chemistry department they are recruiting Chinese project officers to help with the attainment gap and with other situations relating to integration.

As a whole, our 2nd year cohort have encountered consistent difficulty with a particular assignment in my module. This is largely accounted for by assignment timing (after the Christmas vacation and an early January exam) and poor time management by students- however, this results in less-than-optimal coursework for students (in terms of format and summative/formative objectives) and a potential wellbeing for both staff and students. By reviewing assignment objectives, constraining the time demand of the assignment, but not compromising its ability to differentiate and challenge students, we have created a more resource-efficient/wellbeing-consistent assessment for both staff and students.

Students writing an essay on a negotiated topic are required to have the topic agreed by the module leader before the end of term, and to provide a draft essay structure and an indicative list of sources. In order to ensure there are no last-minute crises, I use this approach to ensure that a) students have a good source base for topics that can be very varied (and perhaps not covered in detail in the module and/or the module reading list), and b) aware of the extent of the topic as set by the essay question.

The Student Devised Assessment (SDA) offers students a personalised chance to display their critical engagement with the themes and theories of modules and to take a considered approach as to how they might practically apply what they have learned in a medium of their choosing.

This pedagogy involves creating an audio or visual rubric for assessment briefs to replace the traditional written style. This aims to facilitate a more inclusive environment for those students who learn in different ways and encourages a less daunting feeling when it comes to assessments.