Learning from the Open Space: Reflections on an Innovation Project in B209

What problem were we trying to solve?

Many students studying online face challenges that go beyond understanding course content. Feelings of isolation, limited opportunities for informal peer interaction, competing work and family commitments, and uncertainty around assessments can all affect engagement and confidence. These challenges may be particularly significant for students from underrepresented backgrounds, including some Black and ethnic minority students, who can experience barriers to developing a sense of belonging within higher education.

During the 2025–26 presentation of B209 Entrepreneurship and Innovation, an undergraduate Open University module that introduces students to entrepreneurship, innovation, and the process of developing new business ideas, we introduced the “Open Space” initiative as part of a SCiLAB Innovation Fund project exploring new approaches to student assessment support in online learning. 

Building on previous success

The Open Space built on a smaller pilot previously introduced in B205, the predecessor of B209, and sought to embed support more fully within the student learning journey. Weekly posts, assessment-related resources, discussion activities, and targeted communications were developed around key assessment milestones. The project also involved collaboration between the module team, tutors, and entrepreneurship alumni who came together to support entrepreneurship students.

Creating a more inclusive learning community

An important dimension of the project was its focus on inclusion and student belonging, particularly in relation to Black and ethnic minority students within online learning environments. The initiative was partly developed in response to wider discussions around the awarding gap and the barriers that some students may experience in engaging confidently with assessment and university learning communities. These barriers can include a lack of visible role models, reduced confidence in participating in academic discussions, feelings of not fully belonging within the university community, and limited opportunities to develop informal peer networks that often support learning and persistence.

The Open Space therefore aimed not only to support assessment preparation more generally, but also to create a more inclusive and supportive environment where students from underrepresented backgrounds could feel more connected, visible, and supported within the module community.

What happened?

While the project was successfully established and a range of resources and activities were developed, overall student engagement with the Open Space remained significantly lower than anticipated. Despite repeated reminders sent through email, module communications, and the online learning environment, regular tutor engagement, and efforts to promote the initiative across the module, participation levels remained limited throughout the presentation. 

However, the project generated valuable insights into the realities of student engagement within online and distance learning environments. One of the clearest lessons from the project was that creating additional support spaces, even when carefully designed and strongly aligned with assessment, does not necessarily translate into sustained student participation. Students already navigate multiple competing demands within online study, and optional parallel spaces may struggle to become part of students’ regular learning routines. Many distance-learning students balance their studies alongside employment, caring responsibilities, and other personal commitments. As a result, students are often highly selective about where they invest their limited study time, making engagement with secondary or optional spaces more challenging.

Lessons for future innovation

The project also highlighted the importance of integration. Future initiatives of this kind may benefit from being embedded more directly within core tutorial and teaching materials rather than existing as additional optional spaces. Greater involvement from the wider tutor community, earlier student co-design, and stronger incorporation into assessment preparation activities may also help strengthen visibility and participation.

Importantly, the project reinforced that innovation projects do not only provide value when outcomes are fully successful. Equally important are the insights gained when interventions do not work as intended. The Open Space provided an opportunity to reflect critically on assumptions about online community-building, voluntary participation, and student support in distance learning contexts. These reflections are particularly relevant as institutions continue to explore how best to support student belonging, confidence, and engagement in increasingly digital learning environments.

Looking ahead

Isidora Kourti, PhD

Isidora is a Senior Lecturer in Management at The Open University Business School. Her research focuses on inclusive employment, entrepreneurship education, organisational collaboration, and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). She is particularly interested in how organisations and educational institutions can create more inclusive environments that enhance participation, belonging, and outcomes for underrepresented groups.

Francesca Calò, PhD

Francesca is the Interim Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and a Professor of Public Management at the Department of Public Leadership & Social Enterprise at The Open University, where she brings academic experience from posts held in the UK and Italy. She is the PI of European funded project ENCASE where she leads co-creation activities and she is a team member of the Mumentum project.

Aqueel Wahga, PhD

Aqueel is a Senior Lecturer in Management at The Open University Business School, where he serves as Director of the MBA Programme and Director of the Centre for Social and Sustainable Enterprise (CSSE). His research focuses on entrepreneurship, sustainability, innovation, SME development, and enterprise education.