Researching experiences of Cambridge education

Photo of a pair of glasses and a pen resting on an open notebook. A phone and laptop are by the side on the desk

Between March and July 2021, CCTL led a short, focused project to explore students' and staff experiences during the pandemic, in order to inform enhancement activities over the next three to five years. The project included three strands: 

  1. a rapid evidence review, synthesising existing evidence and literature on digitally enabled teaching and learning in Cambridge 
  2. interviews and focus groups to explore Cambridge practices and cultures around teaching and learning in person and online during the pandemic 
  3. interviews and focus groups to explore patterns of institutional support and training put in place for teaching staff and students 

Read the project report (pdf download, opens in new window)

Project findings include: 

  • in many subjects, digital submission and marking of supervision work enabled students to receive and reflect on feedback before the supervision, providing a foundation for more advanced activities in in-person supervisions 
  • digital availability of lecture materials (whether recorded live and uploaded later, flipped learning models, or specific short pre-recorded lecture content) should be retained 
  • there should be further exploration of pedagogically beneficial approaches to using online materials to enhance lecture and class learning 
  • students and staff hoped for continued increases in the availability and accessibility of online library materials 
  • students valued clear, single-access points for the curation of online course materials