Kiu Sum

Doctoral Researcher, University of Westminster, United Kingdom

Interviewed December 2020 by Sandra Abegglen

SA Kiu, you host The Education Burrito podcast—can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit more about The Education Burrito?

KS I’ve just started my second year of my PhD at the University of Westminster in London, in the UK. My PhD looks to explore doctors’ nutrition and their diet and health during their shift work. In a nutshell, that’s my day job as a researcher. As Sandra also mentioned, I recently started a brand-new podcast called The Education Burrito, where we try to unwrap student engagement and the pedagogy approaches in higher education, and have a bit of fun at the same time. So, yes, aside from doing my nutrition PhD, I’m very interested in student engagement as a side project.

SA That’s a big leap from nutrition to student engagement. What bridges these two different interests of yours? 

KS If I may, I will take you back to where it all started. During my nutrition undergraduate study, I was approached by the wonderful staff at the university who had started a new partnership scheme called Students as Co-Creators. It was where students partnered up with academics to develop a project that mattered to them in terms of changing the curriculum or changing something in that institution that would enhance their university experience. For my first co-creators project with a few members of staff, we looked at mobile technology and its use in learning and teaching. This was a few years back before technology was a big thing. We aimed to determine whether or not using mobile technologies would be beneficial if we were to embed technology in our curriculum. After that first project, I signed up again the following year and I have done it a few more times since then, working on co-creators projects with other students and staff members on other related learning and teaching topics. Student engagement became part of what I do and became one of my major points of interest, aside from my degree. Nutrition is still the bread and butter of what I do, but while at university, these extracurricular partnership projects extend my knowledge and really define who I am, defining my skill set and experience in understanding the university and higher education systems. Through this initiative, I connected with other students studying degrees like architecture, social sciences, and music. It became a way for me to find out what was happening at the university. It became part of me as well, stimulating my interest as I navigated my journey through higher education.

SA I know that doing a doctorate can be quite a lonely endeavour and it must be even more so these days during the pandemic, especially now that the UK has gone into a second lockdown. Would you say it’s also something that’s true to your heart, still being a student yourself and working on quite an extensive piece? Would you say it’s still related to that desire to also connect to others and advocate for that?

KS Yes, it’s a very interesting question and it’s quite different, I think. As an undergraduate, you are very clued up in terms of everything that’s happening in your cohort or other cohorts in the undergraduate world. When I moved and completed my master’s at another university, this sense of belonging changed because you don’t know where you fit. You are just at the university for that one year for your master’s course, and so I found myself trying to fit in and figuring out who was who. Then when I started my PhD, I had a somewhat different feeling because I didn’t have a class as such. It’s you and your PhD. It was somewhat isolating at the start. I wouldn’t say my research is the same as others in the office. Other PhD students in school would generally have a lab to use due to the nature of their project, whereas for me, my research bridges both psychology and life sciences. Thus, the definition of “my lab” is somewhat different. I don’t do wet labs. I do the opposite. Everything is done on the computer, and I study people rather than cells and pipetting. No white coat is necessary, though I do miss wearing a white coat because it does make you feel like a scientist!

Although it was isolating at first, I got to know people through the PhD Society we have at our university. I started to connect with other students, and surprisingly, not with scientists. I signed up once again as a PhD student for the Students as Co-Creators Scheme to find that connection and that sense of belonging. Since March, I’ve been working at home, and it has been a good eight months now. It is strange that connection can sometimes be a bit distant when we are all working remotely. Lockdown was different because you have to do so online and through technology if you want to connect with people. I think as a PhD student during this pandemic, it is a different sense of belonging.

SA After the lockdown started, you seized this opportunity to launch an initiative, The Education Burrito.

KS Yes, during the lockdown, I started the Education Burrito podcast. I really wanted to find a way to keep working on my interests in partnerships and student engagement, and I thought, why not actually go and find people and talk about what they do? I know that people love talking about what they do, and I thought, why not capture it in a podcast? So, this is my side project, and it helps to keep my PhD sanity going. Otherwise, I’m just doing my doctoral research day and night. It gets me motivated, connected, and keeps me up to date as to what is happening in the sector. It’s something different and something that tests my skills and experience. I’m learning every time I’m doing it. I always love to try new things and get involved if I have the time to.

SA In discovering your interests and taking action to develop these into your learning or your life in general, what advice do you have for those wanting to do this? 

KS I think being proactive is something that I would encourage people to do. I remember when I was in the final year of my undergraduate degree, I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I still don’t, to be honest. I had opportunities to have conversations with new graduates and academics who really stimulated my mind in terms of being proactive and learning new things because, at the end of the day, everyone comes out with the same degree. When I think back, being proactive is one thing, but another potential risk is being too proactive. Even though you’re very passionate or active in what you want to do, you don’t want to commit yourself to too many things because you won’t have the energy to carry out these passions. I learned that I needed to focus on things that are beneficial and relevant to me, and of course, prioritizing tasks!

My best recommendation is to be proactive and find out what you want to do after your course. I have somewhat of an idea of what I want to do but getting there is another matter. This question still remains for me because I don’t know what will come up after my PhD. I don’t know where I will be. It’s quite difficult to know the future when you don’t know the future. We didn’t know that we were going to have a pandemic this time last year. So much has changed, and it is more about capturing the now, I think. I’ve learned to embrace the moments you have with people and embrace the moments you really enjoy. At the same time, I’ve learned that you need to find out what you want to do and seek to figure out how to get there. Be proactive and learn to embrace and reflect on everything that you do.

SA There is a lot of wisdom in that. Now that we are all at home online, what would you say are the good channels to connect, network, and get to know people? 

KS I think finding people is easy, but maintaining a network is the difficult part. I like to talk to people and find out more about what they do and who they’re connected to through seminars and events. Get involved in activities and committees. Talk to the people you meet as much as you can and follow up on the things you find interesting. The third thing is more about working up the courage to simply introduce yourself to people. I normally just say as an aspiring student, as an inspiring person in this field, I want to find out more about what you do. Social media is a good way to connect with people, especially the Weekly Wednesday Chat, #LTHEchat. They are a community of people who have got a wealth of experience in higher education, especially in learning and teaching!

SA What are the online tools that you find most useful? 

KS I use LinkedIn after I’ve been to conferences, so if I’m looking for a collaborator in a project, and that person fits, I will then go and search them up. Now that conferences and webinars are now all online, it’s a different situation in connecting with those who attend, but I still think it’s important to break down those barriers. I was in a webinar hosted by a university in Australia. Even though I was up at a ridiculous time just to be there, it was very helpful because the speaker invited everyone who wanted to connect with other PhD students to put their e-mail in the chat. I thought I’ve got nothing to lose. About a week later, when the organizer of that webinar distributed all of the attendees’ contacts, a group from that community ended up talking as a separate mini group. We ended up organizing a new group between us about procrastination during our PhDs, and despite our different time zones, we all share the same common goal, and it’s been really great to connect with others across the world in this way. I would definitely say that engaging in these conferences or events online is a great way to connect.

SA You’ve hinted that you are getting an idea of where you want to go in the future or what you may want to do. Where do you see your initiatives going? 

KS I have been in education nearly all my life now and I would like to stay in academia if possible. I think, from my undergraduate to my master’s and now doing my PhD and being part of different initiatives, it has just opened my eyes as to how much I enjoy the student engagement aspects, connecting with staff and students at university. I’m hoping to continue my initiatives as I progress throughout my career, if the opportunities arise. I know the challenges that this brings and the challenges of finding a job, so I can’t really say for sure. But that’s my aspiration, having met the people who have been helping me in my journey thus far.

Reflection

Without a doubt, the pandemic has changed the way we perceive our learning in higher education. As I reflect on my conversation following this interview with Sandra, remote working has become the norm, with fewer face-to-face opportunities due to uncertainty around the pandemic. The use of technology is becoming more dependable, with more opportunities to reach out to others, whether locally, nationally, and internationally, developing new connections for potential collaborations and nurturing our skills and experience through virtual meetings.

Working from home was something I never imagined doing for eighteen months during my doctorate. I am grateful to have had those in my communities and network who have been supportive during this unprecedented time. As such, working from home during the pandemic feels like a really (really) long, dragged-out weekend when you are not physically in the office. Nevertheless, the doctorate keeps me on my toes! Though I do miss working on campus and the opportunity to be in those random conversations with others, it is undoubtedly a learning curve. Yes, doing a doctorate can be an isolating journey, but learning to adapt to working remotely can be even more isolating if there is no strategy to overcome this challenge.

Being involved in student engagement and pedagogy research activities has undoubtedly enabled me to think more outside the box. It has been fantastic to collaborate with various staff and students, via Students as Co-Creators, across the university to work on projects that are directly and indirectly relevant in our discipline; but simultaneously, topics that influence our university experience. As mentioned in my interview, it is an alternative approach to making those connections and learning more about the higher education sector. Through this journey, an idea to create The Education Burrito was developed—this is a podcast that aims to discuss topics related to student engagement in higher education and an opportunity for those in the sector to share their stories and for listeners to learn more about them. As I write this reflection, the podcast will soon celebrate its first birthday—time has truly gone by! The podcast has enabled my learning about the education roles there are in the sector, something I did not know before. For example, this journey has shown that in this educational ecosystem, some roles are not as widely known as others and are often behind initiatives implementing changes and making innovative ideas into a reality. Furthermore, the podcast has provided me with the opportunity to develop skills and experiences that I did not necessarily set out to gain beforehand. The podcast has become a side project where I can learn more about the educational sector and provide a space for the community to share ideas, raising awareness of various topics of interest.

In summary, my perception of reflecting on my learning and teaching practice has evolved since my interview. Though the pandemic has nudged us to think about how we can work effectively and efficiently remotely, it has also shown the importance of collaborations, networks, and a sense of belonging in our community, no matter whether there is a pandemic or not.

About 

Kiu Sum is a doctoral research student in life sciences at the University of Westminster, in the United Kingdom. With a BSc (Hons) Human Nutrition and a MRes in Clinical Research, Kiu’s research interests are around public health nutrition, nutritional behaviour, mobile health, and cardiometabolic health. While studying for her undergraduate degree at Westminster, Kiu found her passion in student engagement and the opportunities to collaborate with staff members on various research projects. Whenever possible, Kiu is actively involved in learning and teaching projects and advocates for the “student voice.” She hosts The Education Burrito Podcast (https://theeducationburrito.podbean.com/) in her spare time, discussing learning and teaching in higher education.