Live Brief case study: Essex County Council

ARU Psychology students

ARU Psychology students participated in a Live Brief with Essex County Council.

The brief:

Students worked with Essex County Council's Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy and Innovation team to research current scientific evidence on the following topics and produce infographics to present their findings simply to non-psychologists:

  • Understanding Your Teenage Brain
  • Puberty Blues
  • Pushing Back on Peer Pressure
  • Caring for Your Future Self
  • Understanding Yourself and Your Identity
  • Critical Evaluation and Conspiracy Theories
  • How to Think Positive
  • The Psychology of Prejudice
  • Overcoming Stereotypes
  • The Psychology of Groups
  • Changing Attitudes / Changing lives
  • Understanding Interpersonal Attraction
  • The Pursuit of Happiness

How the Live Brief benefited Essex County Council

Lianne Canning, Emotional Wellbeing & Mental Health Coordinator for Essex County Council’s Social, Emotional & Mental Health (SEMH) Strategy Team, selected seven of the infographics produced by ARU students for use in educational settings within Essex.

The infographics focused on Getting Enough Sleep, Parent-Teen Conflict, Decision-Making, Peer Pressure, Feeling Blue, and Mobile Phones.

Have a look at some of the students’ work here:

Lianne explained:

“Taking part in the Live Brief was a rewarding experience. It provided us with the opportunity to support and encourage those who will potentially make up our future workforce and gave valuable insight to the creative ways that students can gain practical, real-world experience in the field.

“The work the students produced was of a high standard and gave a fresh perspective on our projects. It is also worth mentioning that the support and communication from ARU was fantastic, making the process smooth and enjoyable.”

How the Live Brief benefited ARU students:

BSc Psychology student Lovell Jones described the positive difference she feels the Live Brief brought to her studies:

“Having a Live Brief for an assignment was a breath of fresh air. It felt immediately more purposeful and important than other academic assignments.

“I felt more motivated to complete the assignment knowing that I was fulfilling a live need and that it could go on to help someone. The Live Brief made me reconnect with the idea of post-university life and career prospects.

“It’s easy to get lost in a sea of assignments at university, and I feel the Live Brief reminded me of the reason I was doing my degree and its future applications.”