SUPPORTING STUDENT

WELLBEING IN A
DIGITAL LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT
A metanarrative of a research paper

Magdalena Balica, Jennifer Merriman

Research Department

11/10/23
OUTLINE
1. Aims of this session
2. The place of the paper in the wider research agenda on student
wellbeing
3. The paper: Supporting student wellbeing in a digital environment
• Level of evidence
• Paper outline
• Highlights
4. Metanarrative: evidence-based practices
5. Open Discussion

11/10/23
1. Aims of this session
• Sharing the paper
• Situate the paper within the IB policy research
• Share the thinking behind the paper
• Present some highlights and examples
• Reflecting on the evidence-based practice example
• Why an evidence-based practice?
• How can teachers read and use research?
• What are the benefits and limitations?
• Harvesting knowledge
• How this metanarrative resonates with your current or future work?

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2. The place of the paper in the broader
policy research agenda on
student wellbeing
Policy research
• IB agnostic
• Global education policies. Education
trends across the world
• Focus on evidence-based practices
• Wider audience with a focus on school
stakeholders
• Future focused. Building an open dialog
and awareness on topics that are not
necessarily “business as usual”, but there
is a potential for development within the
IB

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 2019 2020 2021 2022

Meta- Innovation LP&L

Resilience
cognition group: T
project IB
Growth
Wellbeing Strategy
mindset and 2030
Inclusion

Policy paper
series on socio- Policy paper Research
emotional
series on project:
skills Wellbeing in IB
(Inflexion)
student
wellbeing programmes Wellbeing
(M.Balica) (Oxford) Trial research

What is
Student
wellbeing?
Why wellbeing in a
wellbeing digital DP
matters in learning
review
times of environment
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• Level of evidence
• Paper outline
• Highlights
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 The paper reviewed over 60 scientific articles providing available evidence of:
• the impact of student wellbeing on learning in the school environment
Lev • the wellbeing of university students engaged with digital learning
el • student wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
of
evid Level of evidence
enc
e

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per
out
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e

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DEFI
NITIO
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5. Metanarrative: evidence-based practices
• What does it mean evidence-based? An approach which argues that policy and practice should
be capable of being justified in terms of sound evidence about their likely effects.
• Descriptive not prescriptive. Research can never tell teachers what to do, nor should it; it can,
however, help provide teachers and leaders with the ‘best bets’
• Scientific honesty. Not all the evidence has the same level of reliability.
• How may affect the users?

Local,
Understanding Inquiring the Robust Changing the
Being critical formative
the evidence why evaluation evidence
monitoring

Coe, R. and Kime, S. (2019). A (new) manifesto for evidence-based education: twenty years
11/10/23
on. Sunderland, UK: Evidence Based Education.
What we think evidence-based education is
and what it isn’t?
It is not… It is about…
• • To adopt an evidence-based practice we need
enough skill and determination and with the right
• A recipe adaptation and context
• Anything that requires compliance is unlikely to be
• An instruction evidence-based
• Recognising that different kinds of evidence should
have different weight in relation to particular
• A mechanistic, oversimplified view of the world claims
• Giving teachers knowledge that enables them to
• Neo-liberal disempowering of teachers make the best decisions for their students is both
empowering and professionalising
• Being mindful when making bold impact claims.
• A fashion/marketing slogan
Coe, R. and Kime, S. (2019). A (new) manifesto for evidence-based education: twenty years
on. Sunderland, UK: Evidence Based Education.
11/10/23
6. Discussion
1. How this metanarrative resonates with your current or future work?
2. What can we move forward with the evidence-based approach in our
programmes?
3. What are your final thoughts on this session?
•

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