Tag Archives: research

Accessible thesis template now available!

Written by Ellen Wildman, Digital Accessibility Skills Developer (ISS)

If you support students who need to submit a thesis, let them know there is now a digitally accessible template available that is also aligned with the formatting requirements that the University set. 

Accessible theses are created in a specific way so everyone can use them – regardless of background, circumstance, or disability. An analysis of academic papers sourced from different research areas found that about 98% had accessibility issues (Menzies et al., 2022). Making research available to everyone puts into practice Lancaster University’s lived value of respecting a diverse and inclusive community of communities.  

Student benefits 

As shown in the first page of the template below, by using this template, students will:  

  1. Align their thesis with the necessary layout stipulated by the Manual of Academic Regulations and Procedures. 
  2. Ensure their research is digitally accessible (when used appropriately). 
  3. Enable ease of navigation by using features of Microsoft Word, for example automatically create a dynamic table of contents with heading-use.

Thesis template document in Microsoft Word. The text shows the opening lines of the template which are customisable.

Direct relevant students to visit the Accessible thesis page on ASK to download the template and top-tips to make their thesis accessible. There is also a video to assist those students who might need support to use a Microsoft template. 

Reference  

Menzies, R., Tigwell, G.W. and Crabb, M. (2022). Author Reflections on Creating Accessible Academic Papers.ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing. doi:https://doi.org/10.1145/3546195.  

Improving Peer Online Forums Project

Written by Sam Pilgrim, Learning Technologist (FHM)

As Learning Technologists, we are asked to become involved in a wide variety of projects. One recent example is a research project I started working on in my previous role in Information Systems Services (ISS) and continued after my move to the Faculty of Health and Medicine (FHM).

The IPOF (Improving Peer Online Forums) Project on Mental Health Forums is a research project led by Professor Fiona Lobban in conjunction with NHS Berkshire’s SHaRON team, to investigate mental health forums and ways to improve them. More information on IPOF, its aims and outputs, can be found on the Lancaster University FHM research pages.

I worked with the research team and co-design group to develop a forum moderator training package using Xerte, online software that allows a user to create interactive learning packages. The package consisted of nine modules developed by lived experience experts and forum moderators along with LU academic and research staff on different topics including:

  • the moderator role;
  • moderator support;
  • mental health on online forums;
  • expressing empathy through language;
  • managing risk;
  • managing challenging situations;
  • encouraging activity; and
  • a final quiz.

Each module was reviewed and amended by the co-design group at monthly meetings, and the final design and content emerged from the feedback discussions.

Graphics and animations created by others in the team were embedded into the training package to aid understanding and increase engagement.

The final package was handed over to the NHS Berkshire who are now in the process of publishing it to their website.

Front page of a Xerte package created for IPOF. The package is called "Mental Health Forum Moderator Training".
The front page of one of the Xerte packages entitled ‘Mental Health Forum Moderator Training’