Identifying the digital skills needs of study skills teachers through empathy mapping activities

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi37.1772

Keywords:

empathy mapping, professional knowledge, digital skills, teacher development

Abstract

Shifts in higher education policy have resulted in increased focus for study skills practitioners to support students with digital literacy alongside academic literacy skills. This emphasis on digital up-skilling has been exacerbated by the increased focus on artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education, for example, ChatGPT, and the need for students to develop greater digital literacy and academic integrity awareness (Salvagno et al., 2023). Study skills tutors arguably lack specific expertise in digital skills and may subsequently experience a challenge to their professional status because they are not seen to have specialist powers or prestige within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) (Ding and Bruce, 2017).

Empathy mapping, a design thinking tool, was developed to help service designers overcome an egocentric perspective and consider the viewpoint and experiences of individual users (Chen and Tsai, 2024), which can result in a human-centred response to user needs through reflection, observation and listening. Through empathy mapping, participants are given the agency to present their nuanced perspectives on any given sociocultural context (Gurjar and Elwood, 2024); for example, study skills practitioners reflecting on professional knowledge and developmental needs when faced with challenge and change. This poster showed how empathy mapping can be used with study skills professionals to reflect on any gaps around digital literacy in their domains of knowledge (Goodwin, 2010) and highlight where professional development opportunities can take place (Figure 1).

Author Biography

David Busby, University of Bath, UK

David Busby is the Head of Digital and Academic Skills in the Skills Centre at the University of Bath. Interests include teaching academic study skills/EAP, post-digital and GenAI skills, teacher education, and learner Agency and self-efficacy. David is a panel member for Trinity Diploma TESOL examinations and is SFHEA. He is currently working on his thesis for the EdD at the University of Bath.

References

Chen, M., and Tsai, M. (2024) ‘Applying team-based learning combined with empathy map to improve self-directed learning skills’, BMC Nursing, 23(1), pp.683-7. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02355-4

Ding, A., and Bruce, I. (2017) The English for Academic Purposes Practitioner: Operating on the Edge of Academia. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG.

Fallin, L., and Turton, C. (2025) ‘The transformative potential of design thinking in learning development’, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 34. Available at: https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi34.1314

Goodwin, A.L. (2010) ‘Globalization and the preparation of quality teachers: rethinking knowledge domains for teaching’, Teaching Education, 21(1), pp.19-32. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210903466901

Gurjar, N., and Elwood, S. (2024) ‘Equity-based empathy mapping in learning experience design, in M. Schmidt, Y. Earnshaw, M. Exter, A. Tawfik, and B. Hokanson (eds) Transdisciplinary Learning Experience Design. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp.145-167. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-76293-2_10

Salvagno, M., Taccone, F., and Gerli, A. (2023) ‘Can artificial intelligence help for scientific writing?’, Critical Care, 27(75). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13054-023-04380-2

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Published

30-09-2025

How to Cite

Busby, D. (2025). Identifying the digital skills needs of study skills teachers through empathy mapping activities. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (37). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi37.1772

Issue

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

Section

Conference Proceedings

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