Evolution of the journal club: a creative approach to ever-changing student needs

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi37.1737

Keywords:

journal club, iterative approach, interdisciplinary, student feedback

Abstract

Building on a paper about an interdisciplinary journal club presented at the ALDCon23 (Winter and McLay, 2023), we explored the innovative ways in which we have adapted this approach to allow students to engage more easily. 

 

Feedback from the conference session and proceedings inspired ideas for developing the journal club model we had been using. A strength of the club was the involvement of staff from across our Learning Development team (LD librarian, LD adviser and maths and statistics specialist), but with limited staff availability, running four sessions was challenging. This, alongside feedback from student participants about the difficulty of attending multiple sessions, doing pre-reading and needing additional support for reading and analysis, pushed us to think creatively about how to adapt. 

 

Consequently, in 2024/25 we replaced the four-session model with a standalone workshop requiring no pre-reading. The workshop starts with a skim reading activity and makes use of an article analysis document, developed to empower students to understand and critique articles more effectively through discussion with their peers. This new format maintains the original aims and cross-discipline approach of the journal club, while giving both students and staff greater flexibility to engage. 

 

It also inspired several spin-off resources and workshops, including a statistics glossary, an innovative online reading room and a statistics workshop at a dissertation event. 

 

This session was of interest to delegates who support students with critical reading and analysis, considering how this approach could be employed despite resource and time shortages faced by many LD teams. 

Author Biographies

Katie Winter, University of Surrey

Katie Winter has worked as a Learning Development Librarian at the University of Surrey since 2019, providing embedded support for students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and one-to-one support for students across the university. Katie has a keen interest in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), chairing the EDI group within Library and Learning Services at Surrey and being a member of the ALDinHE EDI working group since its inception.

Jen McLay, University of Surrey

Jen McLay joined the University of Surrey’s Learning Development team in 2017 after a varied career in industry, including academic publishing and event management. Jen is primarily affiliated with the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences and delivers a range of learning development support for the faculty from embedded teaching sessions to one-to-one support. On a wider level, Jen is actively involved in the diverse range of activities and programmes that the Learning Development team at Surrey are engaged with, including multi-disciplinary journal club, resource development, events, workshops and more recently Academic Integrity practices. Jen was awarded FHEA in 2020.

Alice Batchelor, University of Surrey

Alice Batchelor joined the Maths and Statistics Advice team, part of the Learning Development team at the University of Surrey, in 2022. Prior to this, she worked as a statistician in contract research organisations. She delivers embedded maths and statistics teaching across a variety of courses and disciplines, as well as providing one-to-one support and facilitating open-to-all workshops. She also contributes to wider Learning Development team initiatives, such as the multi-disciplinary journal club. Alice was awarded FHEA status in 2024.

References

Winter, K. and McLay, J. (2023) ‘Fostering belonging: an interdisciplinary journal club’, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 32, Available at: https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi32.1473

Downloads

Published

30-09-2025

How to Cite

Winter, K., McLay, J., & Batchelor, A. (2025). Evolution of the journal club: a creative approach to ever-changing student needs. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (37). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi37.1737

Issue

No. 37 (2025): Special Edition, ALDinHE Conference Proceedings and Reflections

Section

Conference Proceedings

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).