Student Internship Project 2025: ‘Enhancing Online Learning Through Student Voice’
As the online provision continues to grow across the University, understanding the lived experience of our students is essential for designing learning that is effective, supportive, and inclusive. To deepen our insight into the online student experience, TEL’s Digital Education team hosted a postgraduate intern in summer 2025 to carry out a research project to enhance student voice in online learning.
The internship project
With support from the Careers Centre, we welcomed Missy McLaren as our student intern, an MSc International Education student with prior experience as an online learner. Her dual perspective as both a researcher and a student brought valuable insight to the project.
The internship involved two stages:
- Reviewing existing survey feedback to identify key themes
- Running focus groups to explore these themes in more depth
The internship findings
The focus groups provided rich insight into what supports online students’ success, as well as areas where small changes could make a meaningful difference.
What students valued
- Flexibility: Online students value flexibility since they are often balancing study with a mix of work, caring responsibilities, health conditions, and/or personal goals.
- Tutor presence: Students valued opportunities to engage with tutors through live tutorials, bookable 1-2-1s, and formative feedback, appreciating teacher responsiveness.
- Support services: Students appreciated the range of support services available beyond their academic studies.
“Support is part of what you’re buying, St Andrews isn’t just selling education, they’re selling service.” Participant D
What students found challenging
- Lack of structure: While flexibility was valued, a lack of structure or support could also lead to feelings of isolation.
- Inconsistent tutor support: Students highlighted inconsistency in the level of contact and support they received from teachers across different modules.
- Inconsistent use of forums: Engagement in online discussion forums varied widely – some were dynamic and helpful, while others were largely inactive.
“Some tutors are great (open calls, office hours) but others offer nothing.” Participant B
What students suggested to improve their courses
During focus groups, students made their own suggestions of how their online learning experience could be improved:
- Add built-in planning tools or timeline features in Moodle
- Standardise tutor engagement (e.g., minimum live contact hours)
- Improve visibility and access to student support services
- Include preparatory materials before tutorials
- Clarify assignment expectations with mid-point check-ins
“These assignments are long and open-ended. It would help to know mid-way if you’re on the right track.” Participant A
The impact of the internship
Impact on the team
Based on the valuable insights provided by this project, the Digital Education team are now in the process of implementing the following:
- Engagement plans: As part of our design process, we encourage staff to complete an ‘engagement plan’ which outlines how they will engage with their students throughout the module (e.g. forums, live tutorials, online 1-2-1s, formative feedback).
- Updates to online module template in Moodle: We continue to improve the navigation and usability of the template we use to design online modules in Moodle based on student feedback and insights.
- 2026 Student Intern Projects: This year, we have welcomed a further two interns to continue gathering feedback from our online students. In 2026, the projects will focus on:
- Online sense of community
- Online student perspectives on GenAI
Missy’s experience and reflections
Missy also shared her reflections on the internship experience and how it shaped her thinking.
How would you describe your internship experience to others?
I would describe it as an iterative learning process, and an opportunity to develop professionally, personally and academically. I felt equally like a learner and active participant in the process and the responsibility given helped me to grow and learn especially in uncomfortable or new environments. The effort you put in will reflect the growth and learning opportunities you get!
Has this internship influenced your thinking about your future career, study, or interests?
Yes – this internship completely confirmed what I want my career in education to look like. In workplace atmosphere/culture and in digital education itself.
This internship has reinforced the importance of listening closely to our online students and using their insights to shape meaningful enhancements. As we continue this work through our 2026 intern projects, we look forward to collaborating with colleagues across the University to design online learning that is engaging, inclusive, and responsive to student needs.