Developing a cross-discipline approach to building student belonging by combining the performing arts with science

Abstract

Strong peer connections are central to students feeling a sense of belonging at university. When students feel part of a community and have positive relationships with their peers, they are more likely to remain and succeed at university. Keen to facilitate students forming supportive student communities from their first day at university, we drew on the expertise of performing arts lecturers and teachers to provide a series of interactive tasks from a drama-based curriculum for our Biological Sciences Foundation Year students. We have run these sessions for two intakes of students with overwhelmingly positive feedback. Such is their success that from the next academic year, these sessions will be offered to students across the institution. In this paper, we reflect on our approach to delivering these activities, providing recommendations for others who may want to adopt similar approaches to building a sense of belonging amongst their own incoming student cohorts.