PRaES members have recently won university funding for their project on social anxiety at university.
A new Partnerships in Learning & Teaching (PLanT) project in the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences (PCLS) is bringing students and staff together to explore how social anxiety affects engagement in undergraduate Psychology teaching – and what can be done to make learning more inclusive.
Led by student partners Emily Evans and Jenifer Alvarez (BSc Psychology, Part 2), alongside staff partners Dr Katie Barfoot and Dr Shannon Wake, the project focuses on students’ experiences of in-person learning activities such as seminars, group discussions and oral assessments. These are core elements of Psychology programmes, but for many students – particularly those experiencing social anxiety – they can present significant challenges.
Social anxiety is a common issue across the undergraduate cohort, influencing confidence, participation and sense of belonging. Previous research within the School has shown that students with higher social anxiety are more likely to use “safety behaviours”, such as avoiding eye contact or keeping cameras off, which can limit engagement and learning. However, students’ lived experiences of these challenges, and how teaching practices might better support them, remain under-explored.
Using a collaborative, student-led approach, the PLanT team will work with Psychology undergraduates across year groups to better understand these experiences. Student partners will co-design the research, co-facilitate focus groups and interviews, and work alongside staff to analyse the findings. Together, the team will identify practical, evidence-based strategies to support more confident and inclusive participation in interactive teaching and oral assessment.