{"id":79838,"date":"2026-05-11T12:39:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T11:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/?p=79838"},"modified":"2026-05-11T13:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:05:41","slug":"working-on-placement-with-the-learning-skills-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/library\/working-on-placement-with-the-learning-skills-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Working on placement with the Learning Skills Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Second year history student, Lee Batchelor, has been undertaking a work placement as part of the applied humanities: employability in practice module. Read on to find out more about his placement with the learning skills team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I chose this placement for two reasons. First, I am a regular user of the library. Not just for the books themselves but, because it is a great workspace. The ability to use real computers with keyboards and two screens means that I can achieve a huge amount of high-quality work rather than using a laptop at home. Also, making the break from your home space to a focused workplace means you concentrate more intently; the simple fact that you have made the effort to go to the library in the first place means you want that effort to pay off and are therefore more likely to study. The second reason is that I have always had a keen interest in training, helping others to study and sharing knowledge and wisdom that I take for granted having a forty-year career behind me. I was tasked with user testing for a new look Learning Skills Hub<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lee Batchelor and Darcie Muller gathering student feedback<\/em>. Photograph: Michelle Crowther<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most surprising thing I found out was how the Learning Skills Hub has over three hundred individual pages. Like many organisations the use of the internet has grown organically over the last couple of decades. As such their web presence often grows into something of an unwieldy monster. Many organisations fail to coherently review their IT infrastructure, sometimes with challenge of from the ground up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restructuring the architecture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the most interesting thing I found out was how the Library intended to restructure the architecture and I was impressed that they had taken the bold step of completely rebuilding the Learning Skills Hub to better serve the students in navigating their way not just through the Hub pages but to improve their learning skills.       <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would strongly recommend a placement like this to other students. The training received was first rate and we were guided every step of the way as to our objectives. I attended several training sessions about the project, UX (user experience) testing, Google analytics and social media before we were \u2018let loose\u2019 on the students. We were tasked with gathering feedback on the proposed redesign of the Learning Skills Hub, first by a graphical overview and a QR code web form survey and then another exercise where students would try to navigate to the required information to test ease of use and structure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gathering feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were some challenges along the way. Being late in the year many students had already finished their attendance for this semester so numbers of participants was sometimes less than we would have hoped. However, as a couple of our sessions were held in conjunction with events outlining the changes due to take place in the library this year, we managed to get quite a number of students to engage in feedback. The library is, and should continue to be, a vital part of the learning experience for students. Especially those that did not have the opportunity to study A-levels or have spent some time out of education. The skills in the Learning Hub are all useful, either as a reminder or as added information on how to make the best of your studies. Learning about the Library and its functions and structure will give you an insight into how higher education works and will aid you in future learning at a Masters or Doctoral level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lee Batchelor gathers student feedback from second year English literature student Rosie Bond. <\/em>Photograph: Michelle Crowther<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did I learn?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am lucky in that, over my extensive career, in several dissimilar roles and levels meant that I already had much of the required skills and knowledge. That said, most of my previous engagement with others has been over the telephone or in a work environment with colleagues. I found it challenging and stimulating to engage with people face-to-face, especially when some were too busy or not sufficiently engaged with what we were trying to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst this placement has not changed my view of a future career, I did pick up some new skills which would be useful in most settings, such as interacting with audiences face-to-face and gathering feedback from students. There were some interesting ideas put forward!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee and Darcie are gathering more feedback in the library on Monday 11 May and Wednesday 13 May in the afternoons so come and find them, you may even get a muffin!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thank you to Claudia Espana, Gaynor Williams, Steve Peters, Anthony Irwin, Vicky Mason, Emily Wareing and Michelle Crowther for making this placement possible.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banner image: People Girls Women – Free photo on Pixabay<\/a> by\u00a0StockSnap<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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