Resilient Learning Communities

QAA Enhancement Theme for Scotland 2020–23

This Enhancement Theme commenced as the world was in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. At Edinburgh Napier University we sought to develop our organisation resilience to support staff and students with the transition to online/blended learning and teaching through the establishment of our Digital Support Partnership project in 2020. This project recognised the wealth of online education experience in Edinburgh Napier and sought to build networks to collate and disseminate that knowledge, along with research-based evidence on what works when teaching online. There is a natural connection between this ongoing project and the objectives of the new Enhancement Theme and we intend to align our institutional work between the two.

Our new learning and teaching strategy (Shaping Our Future) seeks to build on our reputation as an accessible and applied University, strengthening our external links with businesses and employers and creating opportunities for upskilling, work-based education and life-long learning that is fundamental to the skills agenda in Scotland. The Enhancement Theme Resilient Learning Communities provides an excellent opportunity to align our activity with objectives aligned to this emerging strategy.

It is important to us that the Enhancement Theme provides opportunities for staff and students from across the University to influence and shape our institutional activity. We seek to ensure that our own community is able to determine its own definition of what a resilient learning community means to them and to showcase initiatives and projects demonstrating what this looks like in practice for us all to learn from.

We are also committed to working in closer and more effective partnership with our Edinburgh Napier Students Association (ENSA). Our ELIR outcome report​ published in early 2020 highlighted a number of recommendations related to student representation and engagement and we have made positive strides during the course of the following year. The Enhancement Theme offers another opportunity to continue to work in partnership in developing resilient learning communities.

Enhancement theme work and strands:

• working with ENSA for the development of the student buddying scheme​, implemented from Autumn 2021 (2020–21, 2021–22)
• evaluating the Digital Support Partnership (2020–21)
• embedding the Curriculum Enhancement Framework​ (2021–22)
• mini-projects (2020-21; 2021-22)