Building StudySkills@Sheffield through partnership: student-centred development of a university skills hub

Abstract

At the University of Sheffield, skills support for learning is delivered by more than one department. Previously, this required students to navigate multiple websites to discover the range of skills support available to them. For the 24/25 academic year we launched StudySkills@Sheffield, a new collaborative skills support website, bringing together skills development resources from across the university. With the aim of delivering skills support in a student/task-focused way, student input was key and they were directly involved in the planning and design of the site. This included mapping activities which gave insight into what topics students felt should be included, how these should be grouped, and the language that students use when discussing study skills. This also revealed similarities and differences across disciplines. This information was used to develop the site structure and assisted in balancing the presentation of resources in a cohesive way with ensuring students know where to go for further information. Close collaboration was required across a number of services: the University Library, 301 Academic Skills, and the English Language Teaching Centre taking on a coordination role. It was also necessary for stakeholder buy-in to link the project to institutional strategy and priorities, specifically the Sheffield Graduate Attributes and the mySkills portfolio. This paper will outline how the student voice was incorporated throughout the project, plans to continue the inclusion of the student voice in evaluation, and will provide a brief showcase of StudySkills@Sheffield and the collaborative work that was key to its success.