Mental health and well-being

Advice on effective mental health support for students and staff to create a happier, healthier campus. Find out how universities and academics can promote well-being, protect their campus community from spiralling stress, minimise the risk of burnout and build resilience - from institutional practices that create a culture of care to personal self-care tips and healthy habits for overworked academics and students.

By dene.mullen, 18 March, 2022

Want students to exercise more? Make it part of their course

Cycling, running and other forms of exercise can be encouraged among university students by tutors who offer academic credits for exercise

The body hears everything the mind says, so it is said. That is certainly true when teachers offer extra academic credits in return for physical activity, says Roberto Villaseñor-Roldán

Reading time

3minutes

By Eliza.Compton, 18 March, 2022

Emotions and learning: what role do emotions play in how and why students learn?

illustration of outline of heads showing different emotional states, detail, emotions and learning

If educators understand the factors that interplay with emotional states to affect learning, they can work with this to enhance the learning experience. Here are six strategies to manage the role of emotions in learning

Reading time

5minutes

By Eliza.Compton, 15 March, 2022

How to disagree about Covid vaccination and manage other difficult university staff discussions

Group of protesters illustrating article about vaccine hesitancy, difficult conversations, empathy, listening

Jonathan Lord outlines the role of empathy and listening skills in navigating potential conflict when colleagues disagree about sensitive issues such as vaccination

Reading time

5minutes

By Miranda Prynne, 14 March, 2022

Four ways to address breakout room anxiety

How to address breakout room anxiety: advice for teaching academics

Ari Badlishah draws on her recent experience completing a master’s degree largely online to offer advice on how educators can help minimise students’ anxiety about virtual breakout rooms

Reading time

3minutes

By Miranda Prynne, 11 March, 2022

WhatsApp and campus trails: supporting students in building peer-support networks

Advice for educators to take proactive steps that help students form social bonds and support networks, in person and online

Group activities and social networks help students to feel supported. Here’s how to facilitate interactions that build peer-support networks

Reading time

4minutes

By Miranda Prynne, 10 March, 2022

A trauma-sensitive approach to teaching and learning

Advice on taking a trauma sensitive approach to teaching

A four-step framework for taking a trauma-sensitive approach to teaching in universities, explained by Kitty Wheater

Reading time

4minutes

By Eliza.Compton, 9 March, 2022

What Wordle teaches us about the power of success

Arrow leading up steps illustrating article about Wordle, mastery experiences, the power of success

Offering more mastery experiences will greatly reduce the mental and emotional fatigue that permeates so many post-Covid university classrooms

Reading time

3minutes

By dene.mullen, 7 March, 2022

Slowing down earlier in the pandemic went well – so why speed back up?

Academia showed it can slow down in the early days of the pandemic, so why has higher education gone back to warp speed again now?

The online tools adopted in the past two years do have positives, but they’ve also created a new kind of pressure – the pressure to be everywhere at once

Reading time

3minutes

By dene.mullen, 4 March, 2022

Meritocracy in the academy isn’t fit for purpose – but we can fix it

Meritocracy in higher education is not fit for purpose with minorities of all stripes finding an unsafe environment

Institutions need to think about who they’re picking and foster both literacy and competence around minority issues as the first steps to a true meritocracy

Reading time

4minutes

By Miranda Prynne, 1 March, 2022

What parents need to succeed in academia and how universities can help

Recommendations for support measures universities could put in place to support working parents among their staff

From working hours that fit in with childcare to a place to pump, Nadia von Benzon explains how universities can support staff who are parents

Reading time

4minutes

Mental health and well-being