Introducing McGraw Hill’s Student Ambassadors
Content, practice and delivery in the education and teaching space is built to be resilient. It experiences change and adapts to new research and instruction all the time. Recently, we have all experienced a level of change and resilience that took us by surprise and transformed teaching and learning forever.
To ensure we embed these new forms of learning into our educational practices, it is essential that we look back and utilise these experiences to support and empower those that come after us. Student development and success is at the top of that list, and for that reason, we at McGraw Hill have re-launched our Student Ambassador programme to encourage students to, putting it simply, help each other.
What is the Student Ambassador Programme?
The Student Ambassador programme aims to create a peer-led space of advocacy that will help students on their journey to academic success.
Student Ambassadors will share their stories, provide insights, and offer tips to help students study smarter while using our digital solutions. This can range from helping their peers navigate the McGraw Hill Connect® platform, complete SmartBook 2.0 reading practice assignments or use the dissection tool in Anatomy & Physiology Revealed® (APR).
It’s all about students helping students!
Partnership with University of Westminster (UoW)
Image of Dr. Joan Liu (UoW), Dr Clara de Pascale (UoW), Jessica Troy (McGraw Hill), Parveen Bhambra (McGraw Hill), Dr Heidi Sowter (UoW), Dr Tony Madgwick (UoW), Sherdil Asif (SA & NPI), Jane Wilson (UoW), Dr Nadege Presneau (UoW) Elena Cami (McGraw Hill) and David Selbie (McGraw Hill). Also Dr Nasrin Berruien and Nadeen Shaikh Solaiman (UoW)
When communicating the new Student Ambassador Programme to our network of instructors and module leaders, we were approached to collaborate on a very exciting project.
Dr. Joan Liu, University of Westminster, (well-known in her teaching field and amongst the McGraw Hill team), believed the programme aligned with the values and goals of a student-focused project she has led in the past. The Near Peer Scheme calls on students, who have achieved success in the first year of their course, to return the following year in the capacity of a teacher. They join introductory sessions to help their peers settle into the platform and advise them on how best to use them throughout their course.
By becoming a Near Peer Instructor, students can gain valuable employability skills to set them up for the future, akin to the 21st century skillset they will develop as a Student Ambassador.
A few discussions, planning sessions and training opportunities later, a partnership between McGraw Hill’s Student Ambassador Programme and University of Westminster’s Near Peer Scheme officially kicked off on 27th September!
“With the additional training offered by McGraw-Hill, our Near Peer Instructors were able to confidently explain and demonstrate how McGraw Hill Digital Tools may be used in class and for independent studying, “ explains Dr. Liu. “ The majority of our students were able to register and use Connect after the first teaching week, as well as monitor their learning progress through Smartbook 2.0’s Analytical Dashboard.”
Image of Sherdil Asif presenting a Connect tutorial to a class of first year students.
Dr. Liu kindly invited a few of us from McGraw Hill to observe one of the Student Ambassadors, Sherdil Asif, present for the very first time to a group of first year students on the first day back on campus. He presented a tutorial on how to use Connect; accessing their accounts, navigating the platform, finding APR 4.0 and getting started with some activities.
Several sessions have been held where four of our University of Westminster Student Ambassadors presented similar tutorials, and helped their peers in class.
Alongside this activity, they will also support McGraw Hill with various tasks to deliver that all-important peer support, ranging from presentations to blog articles.
"I enjoyed my Near Peer Teacher (NPT) sessions very much. I enjoyed explaining the many different aspects of the McGraw Hill platform to students who were very enthusiastic to start learning. I also developed public speaking skills and increased my confidence as a result of these sessions."
So, who are they?
|
Nils Lenoch, Graduate Recently graduated and joining us as an alumni ambassador, Nils used SmartBook 2.0 as part of a research project in his final year. He excelled in his remote study and found the question, summary and marking tools in the SmartBook 2.0 to be very effective. |
 |
|
Tracy Nwokoma, Graduate Now a working professional, Tracy is joining us to share her experience of using Connect, SmartBook 2.0 and APR 4.0 in her studies, with the goal to help others learn to the best of their ability. |
 |
University of Westminster Student Ambassadors & Near Peer Instructors
Keen to help their peers get the most out of our solutions, our University of Westminster Ambassadors found success on the course last year while using Connect, SmartBook 2.0 and APR 4.0. They have joined us and the University’s Near Peer Scheme to channel their experiences into being a Student Ambassador and Near Peer Instructor.
|
Sherdil Asif, 2nd Year Having found success during his first year, Sherdil is keen to share his knowledge of Connect, SmartBook 2.0 and APR 4.0 with his peers, so they can also excel in their course. |
 |
|
Fiona Nashie, 2nd Year Fiona is very excited to help other students use our digital tools the same way she used them. By accompanying SmartBook 2.0 and APR 4.0 activities with her independent visual learning, she is ready to share how she succeeded last year. |
 |
|
Mohamed Ali, 2nd Year Recommended by Dr. Liu for the programme, Mohamed was reluctant to venture into a fully digital study solution but once he did, he loved it! Another Student Ambassador who now swears by our digital tools. |
 |
|
Josipa Baketaric, 2nd Year Josipa is our final Student Ambassador. She is very eager to showcase just how supportive and innovative Connect, SmartBook 2.0 and APR 4.0 are, and how beneficial they are to digital learning and independent study. |
 |
Find out how our Student Ambassadors can support your students this term and beyond by visiting our Ambassador section on our Student Support page here.
Sign up to our Newsletter