Student Experience and Engagement Strategy

I was appointed as a university faculty fellow between 2017–2019. One of my tasks was training the staff of the Division of Undergraduate Education to practice student-centered services. Instead of adopting a lecture or workshop-based approach, I developed an action research project for the staff to learn and apply the design methodology to solve a real problem. The aim of the project was threefold: 1. Train the staff to perform student-centered practice, 2. Develop a strategic view in defining High-Impact Educational Practices in the undergraduate student learning experience, 3. Identify an intervention that targets the root cause of compromised student experience.

The staff chose the student engagement as a problem space in enhancing the quality of student experience as well as the retention rate. Over the sixteen weeks, I met with 10–15 unit leaders weekly and led them to define a research question and to collect data accordingly. The defined question was How might we provide ongoing consolidated communication that is timely and relevant to Sydnei’s needs? Sydnei was a persona generated from the process and represented the characteristics of the majority of IUPUI students.

Since this engagement focused on exposing the staff to the human-centered design approach, not mastering design research skills, I took on the role of synthesizing process data that connects each step of the process. Thus, the staff was able to experience the entire design process.

The final proposed solution was to develop a multichannel communication strategy that includes a peer navigator system and outsourcing a chatbot service system. The university is currently implementing the proposed solutions.

Role Design Research Lead
Date January- May 2019
Design Research Team Maria Meschi
Project partner the University College at Division of Undergraduate Education