Hui Shing developed a pioneering project on student communities with pre-arrival group chats

During the summer of 2022, Dr Shing worked with three Economics students to look at how the Economics Department could improve student engagement. Students mentioned the need for an alternative, yet complementary, communication channel to the regular emails sent out by the department. As a result of this project, the Department decided to make use to instant chat. 

Two GCs were created, one for incoming students to use even before they arrived and one where notifications (summaries of significant emails that have been sent out) are conveyed. Students would not be able to post in the latter. The first GC would help students to hit the ground running on arrival, and the second one to keep them informed through official channels.  A lot of the literature on inclusivity focusses on pedagogy, curriculum design, assessment, etc. Inclusivity needs to happen at every step of the student life cycle. The GC created builds a sense of community and belonging before day one. 

Shortly after the details of how to access the GC were published, there were over 160 students signed up and the chat was a hive of activity. The GC was clearly facilitating community building. Students who were more familiar with campus life (for example campus geography, MS Teams, Moodle) were answering queries from other students. It was fantastic to see that students had already formed friendships before the first scheduled class. 

The feedback from students reflects what was mentioned:

“The groupchat was really helpful at the beginning of term when I was confused about things or when we didn't know where certain rooms were. It helped me find people in the same seminar groups as me. It’s nice to have there when struggling with work as usually someone understands what you’re struggling with and will reach out.” Ma – BSc Economics

“The group chat has ultimately benefitted everyone, allowing us to communicate when we have questions regarding submissions as opposed to Professors being emailed the same question multiple times. Furthermore, it has also enabled us (the economics cohort) to be able to connect with our peers just before we started the course. I found this particularly helpful as I hadn't joined any group chats prior because I came in through clearing and I believe this has helped other students too. 

I think having one for communicating between students and one for faculty announcements is great, as I do experience some problems with Outlook on my phone, for example missing some important emails because I keep getting logged out.” Mo – BSc Economics