Here at East London Students' Union, we're always looking for ways to engage students and understand what's going on in their lives. We also know that the typical ways of gathering data and insights can sometimes be a little bit boring.
That's why this summer, we're bringing you... "Life at UEL: The Game" - a fun, interactive experience open to anyone studying at UEL!
Technically, this is the second Education Conference led by outgoing Education Officer Aswin Mathew. In reality, it's going to be a fun game that's all about understanding your priorities, motivations and decisions as a student. We'll provide the tea and coffee!
We are looking to work with students from as many backgrounds and courses as possible. It will make for a more dynamic and exciting game, and for more meaningful outputs to help us with our campaigning work. There are only 30 spaces available, so sign up now!
How does it work?
Participating students will navigate their way through an academic year in game form, encountering different real-world scenarios and challenges as they work to achieve goals like making friends or securing a grad job. You'll experience a series of decisions and trade-offs as the game goes on, which we'll ask you to respond to the same way you would in your real life. This not only provides us with an insight into your priorities whilst studying, but will give you a fun way to reflect upon your time at university.
This is how we'll be collecting insights for our future work: the activity aims to reflect the lived experiences of university students, providing deeper insight into the reasons why certain activities, tasks, and commitments are prioritised over others. It will also help us to understand the role of various economic, social, and time-based constraints that shape your decision making as a student.
Don't worry, the staff who created the game will be on hand on the day to give you all the details you need!
How will the insights be used?
Both during and at the end of the game, you'll be invited to engage in reflective discussions to share experiences, decisions, and any challenges you faced during the game. Insights gathered here and throughout the game will allow us to better understand the motivations and obstacles that influence student engagement at the University and within the Students' Union.
We'll use our findings (anonymously, of course), to inform our future campaigning and lobbying work with the University and beyond.