Working as a group and developing research communication skills

Students from the 2024 Spring School reflect on the things they learnt about longitudinal research on the course, their favourite group activities, the importance of teamwork and how to communicate effectively using infographics.

What was your favourite part of the Spring School?

The Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) spring school was an immersive in-person experience that gave me the opportunity to network and socialise with peers in a university setting. On the course we were given the chance to engage with lots of great snacks; the best I’ve seen from a university so far! And, perhaps more importantly, we were taught information from knowledgeable individuals about longitudinal research. Over the course I experienced an incredibly welcoming atmosphere and very interactive sessions; an example being given the opportunity to make our own infographic.

My favourite part of the experience was gathering information and presenting it to an audience acting as policy makers. During this roll-play activity, the other groups questioned me and my team about our proposed policy which was centred around dementia and its links to childhood cognition. It was really fun to engage in a Q&A and be exposed to a variety of other policies the other groups decided on. Overall, I enjoyed having to depict the key points of information from our research and collaboratively assign roles within a group in order to present information in a concise way, with the aim of convincing the “policy makers” to implement our ideas!

Written by Zeenat

What was your experience of creating an infographic like? 

For me, communication is the main key that helps people to understand each other and work together. My experience of creating an infographic was ‘engrossing’ and challenging at times. We shared ideas and brainstormed concepts all together, while having jokes and sharing the same interests, that we could link to the infographic. This experience made us more connected to each other.

The research content was provided to us in advance, so our main job was to focus on the design of the infographic, which I enjoyed a lot. We bound our creative ideas together, which then became our final infographic. In the end, we presented a captivating and informative infographic that we were proud of. We learnt data and information about the topic, which we successfully applied to the infographics.

Each team member had a designated role in making the infographic and we helped each other along the way. Each member of our group was free to share unique ideas and get feedback from each other, which brought us closer and helped us to get to know each other better. This helped me personally in accepting new ideas and helped me to communicate and socialize with my peers better. Overall, my experience in creating an infographic was beyond amazing. I learned new things and improved some of my skills, even in the short time we had.

Written by Malliah

What part of the summer course did you enjoy most?

I particularly enjoyed presenting the valuable infographics we had created at the end of the course. Over the course of the seven weeks, we learned about the broad range of topics from physical health to social inequalities, presented to us by wonderful UCL researchers, who provided us with resources to expand our knowledge further. I had the amazing opportunity to present an infographic with newfound knowledge of the CLS cohort studies on the topic of Midlife Health Inequalities between Britain and the USA. I found this very interesting as it allowed me to express my creativity and initiative when designing the infographic and helped me develop more eloquent communication skills within a team setting. The experience was insightful and seeing my peers demonstrate efficacy when presenting informative and engaging information was a very enlightening and memorable experience.

Written by S

What would you like to communicate to your peers about things you learnt on the spring school?

Creating an infographic on social inequality as part of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) spring school was a deeply engaging and enlightening experience. The process involved learning about the research done on the British birth cohorts to understand how different aspects of social inequality, such as income disparity and parental education, are linked to child development. This research highlights stark differences in children’s development between social groups which are already apparent early in life.

I found the challenge of distilling complex information into clear, concise visual elements fun. Using both creative and analytical thinking was a new and interesting experience, as was making sure that information was presented in a visually appealing and easily understandable way.

The most rewarding aspect of creating the infographic was presenting it to the rest of our cohort and teachers and raising awareness about this important topic. Visual storytelling through infographics is a powerful tool for communication, and the spring school introduced me to a new way of getting a message across.

Written by A