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Abstract
University student wellbeing has been of growing concern to the higher education sector; heightened in the last year in the context of a global pandemic and widespread adoption of blended and online models of teaching by campus-based universities. Over the last six years or so, international and UK-based literature has increasingly directed attention to ‘whole-university’ approaches to student wellbeing, and the need for us to consider the relationship between wellbeing and learning, teaching and assessment. This approach is supported in the UK-based University Mental Health Charter (Hughes and Spanner, 2019).

But what does this mean for those of us teaching university students in blended and online environments? How can our teaching practice positively shape student wellbeing? This Winter Sandbox will: explore ways of thinking about embedding wellbeing in the curriculum; the relationship between wellbeing and academic practice; and provide the space to explore practical ways in which we can embed wellbeing in our curriculum, having taken a wellbeing lens on our academic practice.

About the Speaker
Dr Alison Gilmour is a Lecturer in HE Learning and Teaching at the University of Greenwich with specific expertise in enhancing teaching practice in online and blended contexts and supporting student engagement at a distance and in dispersed learning communities. Based in Greenwich Learning and Teaching, Alison works with staff across the university to enhance teaching practice, teaches on a PGCert in HE Learning and Teaching, and leads a cross-institutional project: Embedding Wellbeing in the Curriculum including research on introducing compassion focused pedagogy. During 2020, Alison co-ordinated the university’s Adjusting to Blended Learning Environment self-paced online CPD. She previously worked at Queen Mary University of London and as a Learning Enhancement Manager at The Open University in Scotland, including leading cross-sector enhancement projects commissioned as part of Quality Assurance Agency Scotland Enhancement Theme work: Staff: enhancing teaching, Student perceptions of ‘good’ feedback and The use of data and evidence in retention and progression.