Bridging programmes are often new for institutions and may provide unique opportunities for learning. Before getting started, it is important to define the nature of the bridging programme: is it solely an access project or does it have broader goals? Action-research whereby research feeds into activities and activities feeds into research can be a fruitful way of ensuring that knowledge is generated and reflected upon during the process. Similarly, bridging programmes can offer important possibilities for students on ‘regular’ programmes to contribute to an exciting and meaningful project –there might also be pedagogical reasons for this given what is known about high value added of peer mentoring and learning (Boud and Cohen, 2014; Terrion and Leonard, 2017).

The FFA action research FFA was keen to engage with the Mastercard Foundation Scholars hosted at each of the three universities (Makerere, AUB, Edinburgh). Alongside their formal programmes of study, these Mastercard Foundation Scholars are provided additional support that focuses on developing them as leaders who are transformative, and encourages them to be active contributors in their communities. It was the programme team’s desire to incorporate them meaningfully into FFA. As such, early questions asked included:  – Could the Mastercard Foundation scholars and potential FFA students join the course development groups and provide feedback?  – Could they possibly perform other assignments too (e.g. research)?  – Could this be a leadership/ development opportunity for the Mastercard Foundation scholars with stipends, and potentially paid ‘internship’ positions for FFA students and the Mastercard Foundation online scholars without stipends? From the onset of FFA, these scholars were involved in the development of the programme, including acting as student researchers during the visit to Lebanon in 2019 to learn from the experiences of AUB’s PADILEIA. These Mastercard Foundation Scholars conducted field research in Lebanon, transcribed and coded the collected data, and reviewed literature on refugee education. As such, they performed a vital role in the research efforts associated with FFA.As for the design and teaching itself, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars were embedded on course teams and contributed to the overall development of the course content. They assisted the tutors in the teaching of the course. They offered insights and provided feedback routinely. Incorporating these scholars into the fabric of FFA in both research and teaching proved impactful both for the programme and for the development of these scholars.

Boud, D., & Cohen, R. (2014). Peer learning in higher education: Learning from and with each other. London: Routledge.

Terrion, J. L., & Leonard, D. (2007). A taxonomy of the characteristics of student peer mentors in higher education: Findings from a literature review. Mentoring & Tutoring, 15(2), 149-164.